Beneteau "blue" gelcoat

[wiggy]

Each year I seem to cut back, Polish and wax, it looks beautiful, 6 months later I'm back to chalky blue despite a couple of interim wax applications. Any recommendations on a product that will protect the blue from the nasty UV?

 

[Heckler]

Each year I seem to cut back, Polish and wax, it looks beautiful, 6 months later I'm back to chalky blue despite a couple of interim wax applications. Any recommendations on a product that will protect the blue from the nasty UV?

We have used Autoglym car resin polish for years now. It stops the white going chalky so should do the same for the blue.
S

 

[wiggy]

Ive tried lots of different car polishes with little success, has anyone tried this http://www.goldeagle.com/product/303-aerospace-protectant came across it whilst trawling through Google.

 

[richardbrennan]

I have a dark blue hull and found Megguires Premium Marine Wax to be very effective. More recently I have tried G-Technic products (www.gtechniq.com) which uses nano technology and have been impressed so far.

 

[djrussell0]

+1 for G-techniq products

have seen used on hi end sports cars, the Gtechniq C1 Crystal Lacquer + is awesome on cars, bit expensive to use on a boat but they do have much cheaper products like C2 Liquid Crystal that need Appling more regularly.

don't know what the difference is between the marine version of C1 Crystal Lacquer + and the car version same price any how.
what I do know is cars treated with it after a mop and polish look like new for a good couple of years.
I'm going to give the C2 Liquid Crystal a go in the spring let you know how I get on

Dave

 

[Marine Reflections]

Each year I seem to cut back, Polish and wax, it looks beautiful, 6 months later I'm back to chalky blue despite a couple of interim wax applications. Any recommendations on a product that will protect the blue from the nasty UV?

There is a couple of points here that may be worth noting.

I don't think you are doing anything wrong, sometimes certain gel coats just need more than others in order to keep them just so.

Gel coats vary between builders and also they can use different gel coat for each year. Sometimes it is clear to see when better gel coat has been used. Sadly this isn't going to be clear until you are well into ownership.
This doen't mean that it can't be made good, just that it will take more and perhaps that protection needs to be applied more often, or switching to a product that has a higher UV resistance.

This is some Beneteau blue gel that is mid correction, you can see that although it looks as if things are going well, but there is more going as can be seen with a closer picture.
To put it bluntly, not all gel coat is equal.




View attachment 48117


View attachment 48118



There is another issue.

When using various compounds and polishes, many have oils in them that assist in the 'slip' of the product so they don't require misting with water and also fill in the tiny fissures at a microscopic level.

It is these fillers that cause a problem.

After you have compounded and polished a surface it is important to wipe over with a degreasing agent such as acetone. This will remove all grease and any fillers that may have given you a false finish and given you the impression you are ready to move on in the stages

If you protect before the surface has actually been corrected properly, then the oils that have filled in the surface defects will evaporate, the true condition of the surface will return quite quickly regardless of the final protection used.

As ever it is the condition that is more important than any protection application.

 

[wiggy]

There is a couple of points here that may be worth noting.

I don't think you are doing anything wrong, sometimes certain gel coats just need more than others in order to keep them just so.

Gel coats vary between builders and also they can use different gel coat for each year. Sometimes it is clear to see when better gel coat has been used. Sadly this isn't going to be clear until you are well into ownership.
This doen't mean that it can't be made good, just that it will take more and perhaps that protection needs to be applied more often, or switching to a product that has a higher UV resistance.

This is some Beneteau blue gel that is mid correction, you can see that although it looks as if things are going well, but there is more going as can be seen with a closer picture.
To put it bluntly, not all gel coat is equal.
View attachment 48113



View attachment 48117


View attachment 48118



There is another issue.

When using various compounds and polishes, many have oils in them that assist in the 'slip' of the product so they don't require misting with water and also fill in the tiny fissures at a microscopic level.

It is these fillers that cause a problem.

After you have compounded and polished a surface it is important to wipe over with a degreasing agent such as acetone. This will remove all grease and any fillers that may have given you a false finish and given you the impression you are ready to move on in the stages

If you protect before the surface has actually been corrected properly, then the oils that have filled in the surface defects will evaporate, the true condition of the surface will return quite quickly regardless of the final protection used.

As ever it is the condition that is more important than any protection application.

Your middle picture looks just like areas of my Gelcoat. I think this year I may try GTechniq or Aerospace 303.