My boat is a 1232 that I got in January when I started working on it. I started out replacing the lights that were already on it. When I did that the entire electrical system fell apart on me, so I had to rewire it completely. I got a set of KC's to put on it. I went to the in-law's house and scrounged up some 3/4 square tube steel and welded a light bar and put it on. The out-law's also had some old aluminum signs that have been there for years. I grabbed them up and built a floor out of it. I put wood underneath so they don't sag when you walk on it. I primed and covered them with liquid rubber. On top of that I sprayed it with truck bed liner in a can to give me a rough texture for grip.
On to the blind. It is 3/4 conduit. I bent it where I needed and put 1/2 in inside it so it doesn't sag. Welded the joints and added a roof. Now with a 1232 size boat, weight is a major consideration plus you probably won't stand to shoot (unless you want to swim) so everything is made with weight in mind, plus the blind comes up to eye level so I can sit to shoot. The roof is set to give me plenty of head room so it sticks out on the side about 4 to 6 inches. Now, I wanted to make the blind as versitle as possible so I used the ole' imagination and made some brackets to hold one side up. So with this blind I can use it any of 3 ways. I have a pull strap that runs across the middle (pull it and both sides fall), I have the strap with the brackets I made which holds one side up (so pull the strap and one side will fall), and I put hole pins where the two sides cross (both sides stay up and just push the roof back to shoot). I put some pipe insulation on the frame to keep it from crashing so bad and camo duck tape on for frame camo.
Next was the paint. I got some stencils from a very nice forum guy here (find his stencils in the classifieds). I also got some Parker's paint and went to town. 2 coats of Parkers rolled on and on to the stencils. It was a fun project. I don't have the camo material yet but I'm gonna put some camoclad on it with raffia. Let me know what you think.
On to the blind. It is 3/4 conduit. I bent it where I needed and put 1/2 in inside it so it doesn't sag. Welded the joints and added a roof. Now with a 1232 size boat, weight is a major consideration plus you probably won't stand to shoot (unless you want to swim) so everything is made with weight in mind, plus the blind comes up to eye level so I can sit to shoot. The roof is set to give me plenty of head room so it sticks out on the side about 4 to 6 inches. Now, I wanted to make the blind as versitle as possible so I used the ole' imagination and made some brackets to hold one side up. So with this blind I can use it any of 3 ways. I have a pull strap that runs across the middle (pull it and both sides fall), I have the strap with the brackets I made which holds one side up (so pull the strap and one side will fall), and I put hole pins where the two sides cross (both sides stay up and just push the roof back to shoot). I put some pipe insulation on the frame to keep it from crashing so bad and camo duck tape on for frame camo.
Next was the paint. I got some stencils from a very nice forum guy here (find his stencils in the classifieds). I also got some Parker's paint and went to town. 2 coats of Parkers rolled on and on to the stencils. It was a fun project. I don't have the camo material yet but I'm gonna put some camoclad on it with raffia. Let me know what you think.
