Painting a boat

[DevonPhotographer]

Hey guys,

Sorry if this topic has been covered before but I couldn't really find one.

Anyway,

I have Small 12' ish boat that I would like to paint however I don't really want to spend lots and lots on paint so I was wandering

1: can I use international paint arctic White japlac on the fibreglass hull

2: can I use sikkens cetol hls on the wooden seats?


Thanks

Kris

 

[Bobobolinsky]

Yeah go for it, so long as you prep well and use a good primer

 

[doug748]

I find the Sikkins a bit soft for high wear areas and normally use a standard woodstain for seats. Blackfriar has done well for me, even on stuff that is walked on.

 

[Amulet]

1: can I use international paint arctic White japlac on the fibreglass hull

Never painted a fibreglass boat, but I think the answer is sadly "no", at least not if you actually want the paint to stay on. If you read all the books you'll probably get pointed to etching primers and all sorts of complex malarky, but someone who actually paints plastic boats will soon come along on the forum and tell you what level of compromise stands a chance.

Someone might also ask the question "why?". Can the existing gel coat not be polished to a reasonable finish?

 

[Rigger Mortice]

Odds are that the paint would be OK but, as others have indicated, unless you can be sure of the primer/undercoat system you use with it you could have problems. Perhaps you should check it out with International?

 

[DevonPhotographer]

Never painted a fibreglass boat, but I think the answer is sadly "no", at least not if you actually want the paint to stay on. If you read all the books you'll probably get pointed to etching primers and all sorts of complex malarky, but someone who actually paints plastic boats will soon come along on the forum and tell you what level of compromise stands a chance.

Someone might also ask the question "why?". Can the existing gel coat not be polished to a reasonable finish?

Hello

Ye ol' gel coat is soo old and it's a horrible dark brown colour, god knows what people would think if it capsized

Kris

 

[BAtoo]

Hey guys,

Sorry if this topic has been covered before but I couldn't really find one.

Anyway,

I have Small 12' ish boat that I would like to paint however I don't really want to spend lots and lots on paint so I was wandering

1: can I use international paint arctic White japlac on the fibreglass hull

2: can I use sikkens cetol hls on the wooden seats?


Thanks

Kris

Look at Jotun paints; much cheaper than international. They do an OK 1 pot white gloss; a better 2-pot white gloss. Shepherd Marine are local distributor, v helpful. See here :- http://www.smlmarinepaints.co.uk/

As others say - preparation is everything......

 

[Clyde_Wanderer]

I painted a 15ft grp boat a few years ago using International Toplac (which I asume is what you meant?) which is an ideal paint for the job.
Fill in and rub down any chips/gouges ets with cataloy above the waterline and an epoxy filler paste below the waterline.
Sand down the whole surface with 400-600# paper, wet sand.
Wash the whole area down and let it dry completly, maybe wipe down with a Tack rag to remove any dust cloth fibres etc.
Use the correct International undercoat, the latter can usually be got in a shade near to the finnish colour.
Apply UC with a small roller and tip off with a soft brush, better to mix some of the finnal colour paint in with the last coat of under coat, you should really wet sand the UC once it is fully cured, with 800# paper before applying finnal coats.
Apply the finnal colour in the same way, (roll on and tip off with brush.
You will need to work fairly quick and get one whole side done in one go.
This is the little boat I painted using Toplac.
C_W

Anyone guess what make it was?

 

[Avocet]

Hello

Ye ol' gel coat is soo old and it's a horrible dark brown colour, god knows what people would think if it capsized

Kris

Just before you paint it, try giving it a rub with 1000 (or thereabouts) wet-or-dry paper and then buff it with Farecla G3 buffing compound. Bloody hard work by hand, but you can hire industrial buffers as used in car paint shops. If your gelcoat is stained but otherwise sound, I think you'll be amazed at what can be achieved.

 

[Davy_S]

OK, this may seem a little crazy but it was a tip passed onto me by a local boatyard who specialise in restoring old but beautiful traditional boats. When you start to rub the surface down prior to undercoating, paint the hull with cheapo emulsion paint, a stand out colour is preferable, do not stop rubbing down untill the cheapo emulsion has vanished! when it has, you have the perfect finish to apply your choice of primer, preperation of the hull takes 90% of the time, the painting is easy. If you wish to obtain the perfect mirror finish, this is the way to go.

 

[paddy01]

OK, this may seem a little crazy but it was a tip passed onto me by a local boatyard who specialise in restoring old but beautiful traditional boats. When you start to rub the surface down prior to undercoating, paint the hull with cheapo emulsion paint, a stand out colour is preferable, do not stop rubbing down untill the cheapo emulsion has vanished! when it has, you have the perfect finish to apply your choice of primer, preperation of the hull takes 90% of the time, the painting is easy. If you wish to obtain the perfect mirror finish, this is the way to go.

Otherwise known as a guide coat

Personally I'd use a light coat from cheap rattle spray cans for this as sanding away a brush or roller applied coat of emulsion would be a horrid task.

 

[Davy_S]

Otherwise known as a guide coat

Personally I'd use a light coat from cheap rattle spray cans for this as sanding away a brush or roller applied coat of emulsion would be a horrid task.

I never asked the wife, I was away fishing whilst she sanded the hull!

 

[PCUK]

Believe it or not, Dulux will give a long lasting excellent finish on GRP. Probably better than Toplac which can be as difficult to apply as two-pack.

 

[Lakesailor]

I have painted a few boats. Rub down. Correct undercoat, use small foam rollers. Don't use a bristle brush to tip off. Use a foam brush or the exhausted roller. Go for it. (Brilliant Enamel isn't as hard as Yacht Enamel used to be. Avoid 2 packs for so many reasons.

Blakes Brilliant Enamel

Blakes Yacht Enamel