Varnish then Paint, or vice-versa?

[Vincent Serio III]

I've finished priming the hull on my Hampton One Design with Interlux 404/414.

The stem on the boat will be varnished.

Do I varnish the stem first then paint the hull (Brightsides-roll and tip), or should I paint and then varnish?

I imagine the issues here are:

1. Taping

2. Removing any stray drops that end up on the other side.

Here is a pic of where I am starting from:






And what the final result should look like:




Any advice on how to proceed is appreciated!

[dmede]

The only thing I know about this is it's easier to clean (or paint over) the varnish if it gets on the hull than it will be to get the white paint out of the raw wood. I'd put down at least one coat of varnish before painting so that any stray paint that gets on the stem will not soak into the wood grain and need to be sanded out.

[mike hanyi]

it is easier to clean paint off of varnish, if any paint creeps under the tape thne it is hell to clean off of bare wood, put on most of the varnish first, then paint and then tape the paint and then the last coat of varnish will be perfect
tip- use medium sanding blocks instead of paper-10 for 5 bucks thru harbour freight, I COMPLETLY did my boat with sanding blocks and it is far better then paper

dont ask me how much I love to varnish!

[Lew Barrett]

The other reason to varnish first than paint is that paint can be harder to tape over. Tape will pull paint before it will pull varnish. I'd complete all varnishing, burnish the tape edge and then paint to it. If you can avoid taping to paint, that's always a plus.

[almeyer]

I agree with what everyone else is saying, varnish first, then paint. As stated above, if any of your paint creeps onto bare wood that you wanted varnish, a lot of sanding/scraping will be needed. And if you accidently apply varnish over white paint, it won't go on clear, but will show up as a yellowish tint.
Al

[Vincent Serio III]

Thanks to all--my thoughts exactly!