zoidberg
Well-Known Member
I've scraped and burnished my modest 3-blader until there's not a wormcast left. I've also followed just about every thread, hereabouts and Stateside, relating to prop-painting and the battle to keep fouling at bay.
I've come to the conclusion that nothing seems to work reliably on props. The products marketed for the job are expensive, and some preparations are emphatically worse than others in user-reported performance.
So, I'm going to follow the advice of a 20-year experienced paint tech-specialist with a boat of his own..... who agrees that nothing in his company's - or competitors - stables are satisfactory for that job, for he's tried just about everything.
He reckons to paint his well-cleaned prop with his company's primer, then overpaint with white gloss external 'alkathyde' paint, which has ISO Standard 12944-2 'C4' performance. He suggests that will stick in place, and a visual 'over the side' inspection now and then will show, due to the 'white' being colonised and no longer visible, when the prop and adjacent bits need attention. A mid-season dry out alongside to expose the prop - and other interesting sub-surface areas - and a bit of elbow-grease with a Scotchbite ( or similar ) pad to remove the early fouling, followed by another application of white gloss paint should meet the need..... economically and without angst.
Well?
I've come to the conclusion that nothing seems to work reliably on props. The products marketed for the job are expensive, and some preparations are emphatically worse than others in user-reported performance.
So, I'm going to follow the advice of a 20-year experienced paint tech-specialist with a boat of his own..... who agrees that nothing in his company's - or competitors - stables are satisfactory for that job, for he's tried just about everything.
He reckons to paint his well-cleaned prop with his company's primer, then overpaint with white gloss external 'alkathyde' paint, which has ISO Standard 12944-2 'C4' performance. He suggests that will stick in place, and a visual 'over the side' inspection now and then will show, due to the 'white' being colonised and no longer visible, when the prop and adjacent bits need attention. A mid-season dry out alongside to expose the prop - and other interesting sub-surface areas - and a bit of elbow-grease with a Scotchbite ( or similar ) pad to remove the early fouling, followed by another application of white gloss paint should meet the need..... economically and without angst.
Well?
