painting my boat

[petereff]

i am going to paint my boat for the first time should i strip back to gelcoat or sand
smooth and paint over.
greatfull for any help

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[bajo]

I am no expert but what I think I would do,is rub it down nice and smooth,prime and paint using a two part paint ,roller ,brush or spray .I can assure you,you will probably get a lot better advice on this site .I am only putting in my two cents since I am always seeking advice here.

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[bob_tyler]

Iam in a similar situation. My boat, however, has been previously painted with Internation Toplac. The present finish is, on the whole, fine. Unfortunately, towards the end of the season something rubbed against the port side aft, by the cockpit area, and left very shallow scratches through which you can just see the gel coat

Advice please.

Should I first prime, then undercoat to bring the scratches up to almost finish coat level.

I then intend to finely (what grade) wet and dry cut the overall finish and then apply a finishing coat all over.

My main question is how to apply the finishing coat for the best gloss. Foam roller, good quality brush or "Peter Pads".

What is other people's personal experience please?

 

[mickshep]

I always use a fine grade wet and dry, a good tip I've found is to add a little washing up liquid to the water used to soak the paper. I use a gloss roller with the paint. paint a small area then 'draw' off the surface with a sponge brush, use the brush at right angles to the direction of the roller, I was advised to use this method on my old wooden boat and it would not be an exaggeration to say you could have had a shave in the resulting finish. Good luck, Mike.

<hr width=100% size=1>"Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me."

 

[sailorman]

all leading paint manufacturers will have leaflets / booklets with thier system requirments.
depending on the value of your boat, hand painting might just de-value it.
good luck

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[tritonofnor]

Agree with Mickshep - use washing up liquid to lubricate the 200, then finer - grit wet-and-dry, finishing with 800 or even 1000. Spend forever doing the prep until you can't feel any marks in the surface. I used single pack Epifanes to paint a Cobra 850 this year - it took days to prep and three hours to paint! Roller the paint on first and then use the best quality long bristled brush you can find to "lay off" the paint towards the wet edge. We found it was easiest, and gave the best results, to have one person rollering, and another laying off behind them. Stand back, and don't panic if it looks a bit "saggy" to begin with - it's quite amazing how a paint job that looks awful intially will "pull back" as it dries. Leave for a month or so to dry fully- longer in weather like we have today- and then polish. White and lighter colours are most forgiving. Midnight Blue is a b*****d! Good Luck!

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[Davy_S]

Check what the paint already on is! you cannot paint two pack over single pack it will bring it off. Rub down untill smooth, if you have acouple of places where it is not flat spray over it with cheapo paint and rub down untill the paint you have sprayed on has been rubbed away. Then use roller and lay off with good brush. Paint early in the day, if it has not dried by late afternoon the paint will bloom and you will have it all to do again. Good luck.

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[rob]

hi,

I painted my sadler 25 some 5 years ago now (sprayed) though not an expert can put limited know how to you. I painted it outside at a local boat yard and the fllowing. A few tips I got from a pro painter was that u had to test the top coat already on your boat. This meant getting the thinners of the paint you intend on using and soaking a rag in it and taping it on the hull for an hour or so. This is to see if the thinners sofened the paint and made it easy to peel.

The preparation is the key the more time taken as already said here the better the finished paint job. I started with 120grade to rub down the paint job. gradually going to the finer grades till I finished up with 320-400. If you go finer it can give an adverse effect by making the prepared surface too smooth (Pro painters advice again).

After several undercoats I was ready for the final top coat.

The choice of days are very impotant as the hotter it gets the quicker it will go off.
The more humid the day is the greater chance of the top coat blooming.
Paint early, but not too early, so that the paint has time to dry, because as the due starts to form alter in the day it will bloom your top coat
When you have painted the hull, dont play with it, dont try to take out insects etc as this will spoil the final product. If insect or something sags (runs) leave it and when the paint has dried after several weeks then polish it out.

The paint I used was International 709 two pack.

rob

if u need any further info on what i did pm me ok?




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[StephenSails]

Sand the gelcoat 240 grit or finer then just apply Epifanes mono-urethane and the finish will come out like a mirror if you take care. I used this paint for the first time on one of my customers boats and I will sticking to it for the future, I have never seen a finish like it!!

Cheers

Stephen

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