How to make a 'non slip' gelcoat repair to the deck

[fastjedi]

I have damaged a small (less than a 1p) area of non slip on my 'white' deck. It is the sand paper / artex finish used on many British boats. Lets assume I can reproduce that special white + ground in dirt colour for a moment.

I have heard you can use plastercine to form a mold / restore a factory finish
Has anyone tried this? Does it work? At what point during the curing process? What about sealing the air out (It would ruin the finish)? Would I be better stippling with a brush?
I need to maximise my chances of success at the first attempt .... otherwise I will be fixing an area the size of a football on the 10th attempt!

 

[Baddox]

If the existing surface you want to match is just a random pattern and not regular shapes you have a few options. Try sprinkling the gel coat with either coarse sand or sugar. Both will leave a rough surface. If you use a gel coat with wax in, it should dry leaving the surface tack free.

 

[Mark Taylor]

Repairing gelcoat non-slip

I use blutack as I usually have some around the house......kids having grown up too much for plasticine!

Mix the new gelcoat and put on the damaged area. Then take blutack and on a similar area of non slip, push it hard onto the surface. Gently peel it off and you now have a male mould of the non-slip pattern. Place it on the wet gelcoat and then gently press it down, taking care you do not go too far down.....but equally well, if you don't push hard enough, then the repair will be too proud!! Leave the blutack in place until the new gelcoat has cured, then gently peel it off.

Gelcoat is relatively cheap so you can practice the repair on a piece of hardboard or something smooth so you realise how much / how little you have to push down the blutack to get a flush surface.

This technique is best for small areas and practice makes it a very acceptable finish, eventually!!