Help needed - painting my boat?!

amoore658

amoore658

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Hello
As you can see in my avatar thing, I have a Dell quay dory and the GRP is a bit tired looking. I was thinking of removing the vinyls (which are also very tired looking) and painting it white with International Toplac.

Although the boat is going be disposed of and replaced soon, I want to keep it as a 'standby'.

I was wondering what do I need? Is a primer essential? I also heard about some clear thing you paint on after? What is that?!

Is it just a case of sand, prime, paint and then finished?

I was going to use the roll and tip 'technique'..?

Sorry if I sound like an idiot, but I've never really painted things before lol
 
I toplac'd my old 18' day sailer a few years due to the grp being impossible to restore to a shine. I couldn't see the point of primer or undercoat as the dull grp was well rubbed down.

I just used a gloss roller and didn't bother laying it off with a brush either - this would be gilding the lilly I thought (bone idle might be more accurate!).

However, it still gave it a really good shine which attracted comments from passers by, and with the blue toplac, it looked a hundred times better than than the tired, dull white grp.

So I'd just give yours a good rub down, and a wash and then apply the Toplac (or Sandtex - see other thread) with a gloss roller and leave it at that. You won't be disappointed for the little work involved.
Ian
 
amoore658 said:
Hello
As you can see in my avatar thing, I have a Dell quay dory and the GRP is a bit tired looking. I was thinking of removing the vinyls (which are also very tired looking) and painting it white with International Toplac.

Although the boat is going be disposed of and replaced soon, I want to keep it as a 'standby'.

I was wondering what do I need? Is a primer essential? I also heard about some clear thing you paint on after? What is that?!

Is it just a case of sand, prime, paint and then finished?

I was going to use the roll and tip 'technique'..?

Sorry if I sound like an idiot, but I've never really painted things before lol
Click to expand...

Is the surface in good condition, i.e. flat and smooth, and simply looking a bit old? - What colour is it currently?

Have you thought about compounding it with a machine?

I was amazed at the results I got compounding a 32year old hull, using 3m products and a machine, it looked new when I'd finished.

If on the other hand you fancy a change of colour, then painting is the way to go!

D
 
Thanks everyone for the replies!
The hull presently is white...Well, when I say white - its almost got a yellow tinge to? Very tired looking - and the fact I've neglected it for the past 2 years hasn't helped matters!!

Surface is smooth - no dents or scrapes or anything like that.

As I want to remove the vinyls (the boat is 1992, so vinyls a bit worn), would I be able to put new vinyls over the paint or would that not work?

thanks!
 
If you've got good gelcoat then painting really is a step too far. I'd re-iterate the advice to compound and polish with a machine. Even a foam compounding head on an electric drill will work. Try Farecla G3 for starters.
 
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