Painting a boat

coopec

coopec

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Recently I read an article by the owner of a business in the USA who made money maintaining boats for their owners. He said he used to spray paint boats but doesn't anymore unless the owner insists. He prefers "rolling and tipping" where (preferably) one person rolls the paint on using a foam roller in a vertical direction and the other person follows up immediately with a soft brush smoothing out the paint in a horizontal direction. (There are plenty of videos online explaining the method). Has anyone had their boat painted using the "roll and tip"method and if so what are your thoughts? Would appreciate your advice.

Cheers
 
The businessman from the USA (that I referred to above) said a boat came in to his yard that had been maintained by a rival business and he was impressed by the paint job. He couldn't work out whether it had been sprayed or rolled. He couldn't see any over-spray or "orange peel" but after intense inspection he finally found some brush marks. Sounds pretty good?
 
My own experience is I've had a boat roller-and-tipped, result excellent, apart from some small runs where paint collected under a transom fitting.
I've painted a boat myself with results I was very pleased with, using foam brushes.

It's down to the person who does the job, having paint that works well for them, at that temperature using those tools.
Having practised on ten other boats that month would probably help a lot IMHO.

If I had another boat to paint, I think I'd get some old doors or sheets of hardboard to practise on....
 
When I painted my boat with Toplac I couldn't get the brush marks out however hard I tried. I spent some decent money on brushes too! I ended up using a radiator roller with a high gloss roller from Wickes. Not a bad result and I have had some compliments. Should have used a two pot epoxy in hindsight though.
 
I helped a friend "roll and tip" his wooden boat. The finish was OKish, acceptable for a wooden boat but I wouldn't have been happy with it on a fibreglass boat.
 
I remember popping in to Hamble Yacht Services some years ago, drawn by a stunning paint job on a 60 foot(ish) motorboat.

I was stood there, admiring, when one of the workforce came over to see what I was up to.

He explained that they had totally giving up spraying, as they got a much better, more consistent, finish with roller and brush.
 
I would imagine if you're doing it for a living you'd get pretty good at it. I'm mildly interested in this as I'm looking to paint my topsides soon. I've used a gloss roller to paint a VW spilt screen van once (with household gloss!) and it came up remarkably well. Certainly better than my spray jobs did, anyway.
 
I tried this recently but found that the paint dried too quickly to tip it off. It was not ideal conditions though and I'm going to have another go at it when the weather improves - probably next spring. I intend to thin the paint down a bit and do some trial runs before committing to the boat. I've seen some videos of the the technique and the results can be impressive.
 
When we painted Cherry Ripe 'green so dark it's almost black' at the beginning of this year we used the roller and brush method with Epifanes monourethane. We are very happy with the finish achieved in less than perfect conditions. Close up there are some visible flaws but from even a boat length away it looks great and has been widely admired.
 
I roll and tip every year and have had many compliments on the finish. I mostly do it on my own and on ladders, no platform, so it isn't ideal painting, but it works for me.

Preparation is the key to a decent paint job and so is using a decent paint. Toplac doesn't work for me. I do like nautiforte from Epifanes.

I should add, old wooden boat. I've no idea how to paint grp!
 
I rolled a new dark blue gloss boot topping stripe about 4 inces deep with a foam roller. No tipping off with a brush. Result was excellent. Perfectly flat with a good shine.
 
Thanks guys! There's some really good advice particularly the suggestion to get some practice first. I'm going to offer to help my mate paint his boat first. If you can get a good job with a dark coloured paint that says something because dark paints show up imperfections.
 
The trick to getting a good finish is to get the right paint thinner mix,

Set up a piece of glass nearly vertical. mix up some paint and thinners [ You are using the recommended brushing slow thinner of course ! ] Do a trial roll and tip on the glass.

If you still have brushmarks add more thinners. If it sags add more paint. Wipe the glass clean and try again.

It is definitely better to have two people, one rolling and one tipping.
 
[ You are using the recommended brushing slow thinner of course ! ]

Eh??.........................

Will look into that. Thanks
 
It's easy. Use a 4" foam roller (not pile, it sheds) and get good quality refills. The solvent in the paint dissolves the glue in cheap rollers and they come off the centres.

I don't bother with a brush for tipping. That is where the brush marks come from. Just ghost over the paint film (downward strokes) with the exhausted roller before recharging for the next bit.




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Lakesailor said:
It's easy. Use a 4" foam roller (not pile, it sheds) and get good quality refills. The solvent in the paint dissolves the glue in cheap rollers and they come off the centres.
Click to expand...

Also, get rollers with a full length spindle. Give them a squeeze before you buy them because on some the last third of the foam isn't supported.
Plus rollers with both ends rounded give a better finish than those with a square cut end - no roller lines.

Wickes used to do packs of mini gloss rollers that had two rounded ends, full length spindle and didn't dissolve or expand in use. They were absolutely perfect, so of course they don't sell them any more. :-(
 
Lakesailor

If I can match the paint-work on those three boats I'll be really happy.

Steven-N

I'll certainly look for rollers with rounded ends. Thanks
 
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