Coloured gelcoat

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Toryboy1

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My boat has a coloured gelcoat- it's called ivory which means a light cream colour. It is hell to repair because it seems almost impossible to get a good colour match. It is not possible to get original gelcoat and in any case I imagine that the colour will have faded over the years. I have got close to it using artists acrylics to tint white gelcoat, but it seems to darken quite quickly afterwards. I have a number of small dings and flakes that need repair. Is there any majic trick to get a match, or is there anyone who can match as they do for paint- though taking a 32' boat to the local B&Q might be a bit of a problem. Any advice appreciated.
 
I have the same problem.
My Birchwood is Ivory.
Have tried various pigments but never quite made it.
As you say it often darkens/lightens at a different rate to the main gelcoat.
Probably needs a professional to do the job really.
 
well, you can do the same mixing with proper pigments, but you still have the mixing issue and the risk of future colouration. You can buy tiny pigment mixes, but you may as well go super size for the same price. CLS or CLF or something in redruth are very helpful. For about £50 you ll get enough to do a supertanker, but plenty to practice with !
Id suggest white gel, red,yellow and black pigment for ivory. In a cupfull, you ll need a pin head at a time, and it may take 5-6 attempts at least,a nd a good half day. realxing or infuriating-up to you, but you may begin to think a pro would be an idea! (wont be £50 though)
 
I have the same problem, another Swedish boat with a difficult colour.

My solution was to enlist the help of an artist (they understand the mixing of colours far better than us mortals) and get her to use the appropriate little pots to adjust a 500ml pot of white gelcoat resin to the correct colour - bingo a really good result. Have even fabricated a grp windscreen using the gel and have achieved a perfect match.
 
I managed to get a colour code for mine, and despite advice to the contrary, it was a very good start. Of course it didn't match exactly due to fading, but I had a much easier time getting it right than if I had started with white. Mine is also a difficultly coloured Swedish boat.
 
Seamark Nunn do little pots of proper gelcoat pigment in basic colours i.e. red, blue, green but they do a creamy beige colour with which I was able to match some dings and chips around the interior of our old Sadler. I mixed it with the white gelcoat filler you buy in the tubes. You use very little and it take a bit of experimenting, but it does work.
 
It's not much better with white! When I got some repairs done on my "white" hull, I was warned that they would be matched as closely as possible, but that over time they would change colour and look different from the rest of the hull. The prediction was correct, but fortunately it just looks like shadowing on part of the hull.
 
I got a load of colour charts from one of the gelcoat suppliers and held them up against my orange Fjord until my wife, who is good at this sort of thing, said "that one." I'll find out this weekend how good she really is, having taken delivery a few days ago.
 
Tip!!
Before you even try to match the colour cut back a part and polish this will give you a better idea of what its true colour is.
Then you will need colour range charts probably 'West & Senior' 'BS4800' & 'RAL840HR' there are others but these i guess are the most widly used.
 
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