A topsides paint question, from a forty years' wooden boat owner discovering GRP...

Kukri

Kukri

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The GRP topsides of the new-to-me boat are said to have been "Awlgripped" six years ago. The colour (red) has faded but seems to come back with a quick polish, as here:




However there are a couple of bare patches which look like parking scrapes. What do I touch them in with?

( I suspect that "Awlgrip" is a term much like "Hoover" in English or "Frigidaire" in French or "pitch pine" in brokers' descriptions of wooden boats, for any two pack paint on GRP..)
 
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Suggest you google Awlgrip which is now a brand of Akzo Nobel. It is not a generic in the way you suggest, although there are competing 2 pack systems. There are basically two types, one you can polish and one you can't. Although it is usually sprayed believe you can apply with a brush. Pretty sure you will find details on application and repairs on the website.
 
Thanks.

I tried their website, realised that as a "doityourselfer" (their term) they didn't want to have anything to do with me, spotted that they want me, or rather a professional employed by me, to use one of their magic products to wash the topsides with, and found absolutely nothing about touching up scrapes.

My brain hurts.
 
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You can touch in the scrapes with anything. Bear in mind the red will likely have faded, so the touch-up won't match.
But any one-tin paint will have to be fully removed should you ever get the boat repainted in 2 pack paint.
 
If it is Awlgrip it will probably stand rubbing with 3M cleaner wax or similar, probably best hand applied; even easier though I have reservations about it, is a paint reviver like 'Polytrol' which is basically an oil which applied to the surface brings back the pigment color, there are other makes sold for reviving faded car paintwork.
It might postpone a repaint for 4 or five years?
 
Tranona said:
Suggest you google Awlgrip which is now a brand of Akzo Nobel. It is not a generic in the way you suggest, although there are competing 2 pack systems. There are basically two types, one you can polish and one you can't. Although it is usually sprayed believe you can apply with a brush. Pretty sure you will find details on application and repairs on the website.
Click to expand...

My Awlgrip is G-Line done 18 yrs ago, & still very good condition, i use McGuire's every year at haul-out. the retroussé transom was done without my knowledge with Awlgrip acrylic ( so they could buff out ant thing that may have settled on it), that is soft & doesnt keep a shine, hacks me off every time i polish it
 
There's Awlgrip and Awlcraft. 2 products from the same stable, now owned by Akzo Nobel. Awlgrip is harder, lasts longer but more difficult to repair. Awlcraft softer, less durable but far easier to repair. I had my boat done in Awlgrip last winter and was given some touch up in a small tin to use should need it. Not too difficult, but if you have never painted anything it might be tricky. But polishing to get the oxidized red off is a good start. On my white (chosen for not fading as red pigments almost always do), just washing with mild detergent gets it clean.
 
Thanks. This stuff seems very hard so I suppose it is indeed Awlgrip.


In forty- five years of wooden boats, I have painted a lot of topsides, so touching up an area the size of my hand doesn’t scare me, but £45 for enough paint for one square foot does!

Red would not have been my choice but it will do!
 
Thing is, even if you have the correct touch up paint it stands out badly against the faded paintwork, not only is the colour wrong but the new paint exhibits the original gloss.
If you have any artistic bones you may well do a more convincing job mixing up standard gloss paint and flatting it later.

Geoff -

I have some original paint and hardener which is still usable after 10 years. It was sealed, triple wrapped and kept in the freezer.
 
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