Boat painting course

[Phil Speight]

I attended one of Phil Speight's courses in January of this year (2010) and this is my opinion of it, coloured by my own character flaws.

 

The course was presented at the Bonded Warehouse in Stourbridge by Phil Speight and his gorgeous assistant (no photo available).

 

The location was excellent, the premises good, with generous parking, and easy access to the town centre. The area itself is somewhat sad, with what looks like extensive canalside areas that have been taken over by other industry which has then moved out leaving lots of empty buildings. The town centre is somewhat benighted as well. [if there are any jackpot winners out there, please come and do a major canal-based reinvigoration project on the whole area.]

 

The course was described variously as "LEARN HOW TO PAINT YOUR BOAT! – A weekend with Phil Speight" and "Over two days, Phil will explain, illustrate & demonstrate all of the tools and techniques used in our own paint dock. He will share all the secrets, tricks and skills that he has acquired since he first picked up a coach painting brush over 40 years ago – from preparing bare metal to sign-writing & decoration, ".

I found the latter to be the most accurate description in that most of the course is devoted to how Phil, an expert painter would paint your boat, not how you as relative novice would do it. This is important, this was not primarily a course to teach beginners to paint their boats.

For example, on the second day Phil demonstrated how he does sign-writing, with minimal setting out, which of course is impossible for the average novice, who needs to lay it all out before the painting begins.

 

No attempt was made to comprehensively review techniques for decorating your boat, such as using vinyl, but no claim was made that it would.

 

Of the 30-odd attendees only 3 admitted to being recent sailaways, and 1 admitted over coffee to have been painting boats for years. (And one, after I had been snide about safety regulations, pointed out that he was a BSS inspector.)

 

At £65 (plus board for me), what do you get?

 

A description of how it is impossible to get the right conditions to paint your boat. It was highly entertaining to have a course start with a description of how the target was impossible! Even in a heated polytunnel you are still doomed!

 

A demonstration of applying paint. Just this simple demonstration was valuable to those of us who have never painted a boat. Get the paint on fast! And then stretch it over the metal.

There is a perfect "fluidity" that the right mix of paint can provide that can give the best results, and a professional like Phil can "feel" that mix and correct it if not ideal.

 

Lots of background information on painting single-colour panels and borders.

 

A demonstration of how a professional can do sign-writing quickly with an amazing lack of detail outline drawing.

 

An extremely entertaining demonstration of a character flaw resulting in near-genius. Phil suffers from a deep insecurity that drives him to insane lengths in attempting to reach perfection in the area that he has chosen to attack, narrowboat painting. He freely admits that he does not do it primarily for the sense of achievement on seeing the completed work. Nowhere else have I seen a presenter take time out to comfort a client (with total sincerity) during a course.

 

An account of narrowboat painting history, with exhibits, which I found dull, dull, dull, - but which drew an unprompted ovation from the rest of the audience!

 

An understanding that the painting perfection that Phil esteems so highly is not 100% precision but a deliberate "hand-paintedness" that reflects the artwork of old working boats. As a newcomer to the canal scene I don't share this view but it fits in with the "traditional" obsession I see everywhere.

 

A extremely tatty handout. Content good, presentation abysmal.

 

A distinct impression that Craftmaster paints are as near to the perfect paint that Phil's obsession can make them – but no clear idea as to the size of the difference between them and other brands, or to whether the cost difference is worth paying.

 

Conclusion. The two-day course is good value for money, primarily as entertainment in watching a near-genius perform, but also for the incidental hints on painting narrowboats and for the implication that there is nothing impossible about it. It is not really angled as a general course on how beginners should paint their boats but still contains most of what they need to know.

 

Highly recommended.

Why thank you. I think !

Sorry about the notes , it`s a valid point - I will improve them. We usually include an audio CD as well but have trouble finding someone recently who will produce them economically for us. That should also be addressed by the next course with any luck. I do invite anyone who has attended a course to ring me when they are painting if they need any advice about things they may have missed or forgotten.

I never make comparisons between our paint and others because I have always felt that it would be unethical to do so. You pays your money and takes your choice - my aim when teaching is to demonstrate what you can achieve using a good quality paint and following a method, as well as explaining the need for all the various stages . I demonstrate professional techniques rather than amateur ones in the hope of showing that the proper way is perfectly attainable given concentration and a sensible plan. The implication that there is nothing impossible about it is the whole point. I hope !

As to my character flaw - I have many of them and, if insecurity is one, it is, I hope , the least detrimental to those around me ! It is more manifestly obvious I think where Alfa Romeos are concerned ! Where`s me polishing cloth.........

All the best

Phil

Edited March 31, 2010 by Phil Speight

[MoominPapa]

WWe usually include an audio CD as well but have trouble finding someone recently who will produce them economically for us. That should also be addressed by the next course with any luck.

These days, for most people, that could be solved for free simply by emailing them an MP3. Maybe keep aside a few CDs for the technologically backward (and some wax cylinders for the real laggards......)

 

 

MP.

[Phil Speight]

Don`t know why the above has magically appeared - HELP !!! Actually the offending repeat is about three items above. I`m going home........

 

These days, for most people, that could be solved for free simply by emailing them an MP3. Maybe keep aside a few CDs for the technologically backward (and some wax cylinders for the real laggards......)

 

 

MP.

Look - I can`t even get posts right on the group never mind MP3 players.

Edited March 31, 2010 by Phil Speight

[Neil Corbett]

I did the course a couple of years ago and took down 11 A4 pages of handwritten notes as well as taking a few photos of Phil signwriting and some close ups of the letters themselves. I'm just about to paint my boat in a week's time (I am very very scared!) and my notes have been invaluable in preparing and planning.

 

I don't know how well my painting will turn out - all I can say is that I am absolutely sure that I would have made a lot more mistakes - some of them disastrous- had I not been on the course. My tip would be to learn the skill of note taking as otherwise you'll quickly forget it all. Even Phil's CD can't cover what he said over 2 days.

[David Schweizer]

These days, for most people, that could be solved for free simply by emailing them an MP3. Maybe keep aside a few CDs for the technologically backward (and some wax cylinders for the real laggards......)

 

 

MP.

Technically Backward person here. What is an MP3?

 

Don`t know why the above has magically appeared - HELP !!! Actually the offending repeat is about three items above. I`m going home........

 

 

Look - I can`t even get posts right on the group never mind MP3 players.

Join the Technically Backward Club Phil.

 

What you do is by it's nature old fashioned, but requires far more skill than most of these "techniocally advanced" people could ever manage.

[MoominPapa]

Technically Backward person here. What is an MP3?

 

A computer file representing music/sound. The "mp3" refers to a method of compression which makes them small enough to easily store/send. (A complete CD is about 700 Megabytes, compressed as an MP3 it would be a tenth of that, less for mono spoken word quality sound. That's small enough to email easily.

 

The process of going from an audio CD to an mp3 file is called "ripping" and there are plenty of tools around to do it, because mp3s are what the young people exchange on "file sharing" systems as an alternative to paying the music industry vast amounts of money for CDs. Mp3s can be played back on any computer or on a Ipod or equivalent personal music player.

Join the Technically Backward Club Phil.

 

What you do is by it's nature old fashioned, but requires far more skill than most of these "techniocally advanced" people could ever manage.

I'm not arguing with this, but as a professional computer programmer, I would point out that real programming is a craft skill and a good programmer is just as much a craftsman as any other. Becoming a good programmer is a function of talent and experience in just the same way as any other craft.

 

MP.