Final finish for a paint job

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sequena1

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Two weeks ago I put the final coat of TOPLAC on my superstructure---( 2 undercoats --2 gloss, white on white grp) Inevitably I've got a few sags and less than perfect bits but overall I'm reasonably pleased with the result. However i believe one can improve the final finish by ?compacting? and polishing the paint. Could someone explain how you do this? How long to leave the paint to harden? Which are the good compounds to use etc? Also can anybody recommend a good polishing tool or are they all much the same? Presumably these small £20 car polishers are just not man enough for the job (32 ft motor-sailer and a chalky hull still to do!!!)
Would be extremely grateful for words of wisdom.
 
Saw a guy in boatyard, put paint on with paint brush, and smooth it off with a jenny foam brush, looked good, took all the brush marks out and left a nice sheen on the surface....only painted very small areas before remove brushmarks...
 
Yes, Thanks colvic987, I did use that technique and mighty tiring it is too as the paint dries incredibly fast ona warm day even when thinned, so you can't afford to stop and admire. Did all the right things -- tack ragged, wetted surroundings etc; but even so its amazing how much stuff floats around even in still air, and of course every flying beastie within half a mile radius came to see if it could help! This is the sort of stuff I want to remove, plus the odd area where I'll need to rub down a few runs. Mine's a Colvic too, by the way; an Atlanta.
 
To make the job somewhat easier you need something like one of these Polishers fitted with an appropriate head and some rubbing compound. You'll need to go over again with something less abrasive and finish of with a protective layer.

Funnily enough it just so happens that I can lay my hands on the polishers for a very reasonable price /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif. If your interested send me a PM. If you're around the Chichester area I have one I can demonstrate, you can even have ago yourself by practicing the art of polishing on my hull.

Cheers

Mark
 
i could stand corrected (not used toplac) but if you cut it back with wet and dry, you should be able to polish/compound out the scratches. just finished compounding the hull and topsides of an old sunseeker with faily good results, some of the gelcoat needed cutting with 600 grit wet and dry.

don't waste your money on one of the cheap orbital polishers, you need a proper polishing mop thingy with a decent head... one of the posts offered such a tool... pm the guy, it's gotta be worth a look.
 
Hi,

I would strongly recommend that you delay doing any cutting back/compounding, perhaps until the end of the season. This will allow the paint to thoroughly harden right through. I used International two-pot on my boat this year, intending to do a light compounding to remove the odd dust mite etc, but was advised to wait.

Being me and impatient, I tried a very small, unobtrusive area and, whilst it polished up very well, there was no doubt that the paint system (3 u/c and 3 gloss) still needed to fully cure - and that was after several weeks indoors.

As always it depends on your own requirements/views, but as Toplac is softer than the 2-pot anyway, a delay might be worth considering.

J
 
Hi Aztec,

Yup, agree re the proper polisher. After mucking around with a totally useless cheapy from Halfords, I forked out for a Makita variable sander/polisher (I think a 9127C or sumfing!) and, with a selection of properly graded foam buffing pads, the effects on the grp hull were startling to say the least. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Brought the hull up just like new (it's 21 years old) and at a hugely reduced effort, using the Farecla range of compounds.

Finished with Starbrite's Teflon polish for a gleam you need sunglasses to look at!! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

J
 
If your paint becomes a landing pad for every insect around wait until the paint has hardened and shave them off with a sharp stanley blade.... /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
Re: help on a new paint job

Re your questions Poter. I would not contemplate painting the hull unless I'd exhausted the option of cutting and polishing it first. I had no option but to paint my superstructure because of the amount of renovation I had to do but its not an easy option. I probably lost more sleep and used more bad words than during any other bit of a 6 year project. I used TOPLAC paint and found it quite difficult to use in any warmth or wind: though other paints may be easier. I had to work outside and getting the right weather conditions meant I couldn't work at all in the winter months .Unless your winters are substantially different to ours here in N Wales you might find the same. If you do decide to paint I'll pass on the advice given to me by a marine paint shop manager which was not to use the two pot epoxy type paints for large areas unless you are very experienced and can work in controlled conditions. From my limited experience with them I'd agree. They can be v. tricky! Use the Single pot paints applied with a roller (gloss type) and jenny brush technique for best finish and get a reliable painters mate to help ( I did it single handed and it nearly finished me off!) (Oh how we suffer for our sport!)
If youre still keen on painting after all that remember that the boring bit (preparation) is the key to a good finish,and whilst on that subject I found that the gel-coat fillers you can buy are not really adequate with pretty poor adhesion. Fill the dents and scrapes with a proper two part epoxy filler which do stick like the proverbial! Finally, most paint makers produce how-to pamphlets which, although biased toward their products do take you through the process, pretty thoroughly. Good Luck
As ever this advice is based on personal experience and is only my opinion. (Isn't it awful that we feel it necessary to add these riders!)
 
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