Painting over old bright work???

[wildcard]

The latest in my long list of questions for Y'all. The boat has some realy old bright work, most of which is in fair shape but some is very rough. Other boats like mine have painted over the wood sides on the fore and aft cabins and it looks good. Several people have also recomended this as the best route to go.
SO... For the rough wood, it's a lam panel that is split and pealing some, Im thinking I need to strip the loose wood, sand it down then epoxy the loose edgs down thin fill the voids? Product recomendations please. Then, after sanding down the teak what should I seal then paint with?
Thanks again for all you help!

[sailaway21]

If it's teak, it's probably not a laminate. There is a procedure for painting teak and it involves prep work due to the natural oils in the teak. Recognize that if you paint any "raw" wood you will be consigned to painting it forever, as you'll never get all the paint off without sanding deeper than desired into it. Teak does just fine without any coating at all, if you don't mind a grey weathered look.
If it's laminated it's likely some form of plywood and the substrate will probably not clean up as nicely as you'd like. And paint will magnify any sanding imperfections you leave behind.
As far as epoxy goes. West System will soak in and preserve it very well and they have product literature that instructs in this area. You will need to top coat it as the epoxy is subject to breakdown from UV light. Moisture to missle attacks it will resist, but UV will have it's day. You can also get additives to mix with the epoxy to bulk it up and then sand it fair. One of them comes out white/lt. cream and the other a medium brown.
Your deck paint would adhere to the epoxy.

[wildcard]

Yes, the sides are solid but there is one piece on the aft cabin that is lam and it's the problem child. I could do just it but others like mine have all white and look great.
Thanks for the great info.