Terrible paint job!

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craigdiver

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My boat has had red paint (looks just like some kind of gloss paint) painted over the original gel coat. I want to remove this red paint. Any suggestions, I originally thought of fine sandpaper or paintstripper but did not know if this would damage the gelcoat underneath. Any ideas?
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Sandpaper will remove the top of the gelcoat as well with a tedious repolishing job to follow.

Ordinary paintstripper will attack the GRP and remove that as well unless you use a specialy formulated one for use on GRP. Its not easy to get paint off without damaging whats underneath, so it is quite a lot fo work to restore it to original condition.

The easiest way is to rub it down, and repaint with colour of choice!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Sandpaper will remove the top of the gelcoat as well with a tedious repolishing job to follow.

Ordinary paintstripper will attack the GRP and remove that as well unless you use a specialy formulated one for use on GRP. Its not easy to get paint off without damaging whats underneath, so it is quite a lot fo work to restore it to original condition.

The easiest way is to rub it down, and repaint with colour of choice!

[/ QUOTE ]

Well that confirms that! I was hoping for a 'paint job doesn't look that bad' reply! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif - Must look terrible
 
You could try a hot air gun gently to soften the gloss paint allowing you to scrape most of it off then wash the remains off with acetone once cool - depends on the paint - be careful not to heat it too much or you will bugger the gel coat.. OR - rub it down and paint it white....... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
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Try some of that antifouling paint stripper that's not supposed to attack gelcoat. Even if that works I think you'll find some red pigment will have leached into the gelcoat.

There is also a form of shotblasting (don't laugh) which uses dry ice. With this system you can quite literaly remove a layer of paint at a time. No, I don't know who does it, saw it on Tomorrow's World a few years back.
 
Get a swinging mooring. Then no-one gets too close to the paint job.

I would mask the white gel coat so you don't aciddently abrade it. Then use wet'n'dry - probably about 120 grade to flat down the red paint. Use a block, not your fingers, don't try to remove all the red paint. It's going to be your base. You'll need a dark undercoat or you'll get the red leeching through and preferably a darkish top coat. It's up to you how good the top coat comes out, but painting at room temperature (50-60F)works best. Cooler and the paint doesn't flow out. Warmer and it can skin before flowing. Don't use paint from a cold tin. Warm the tin in a water bath before using.
 
The fact that the paint is not flaking off tells you that the gelcoat must have been sanded prior to painting.

Getting the paint off is going to be a long tedious job and then the gel will need a lot of work to smooth it good enough to polish it again.

IMHO lifes too short for all that work I would sand it and repaint it or just leave as is.
 
[quoteWell that confirms that! I was hoping for a 'paint job doesn't look that bad' reply! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif - Must look terrible

[/ QUOTE ]

Well I didnt think it did look too bad, but a small photo can hide a great deal (thats why Yacht Brokers always use tiny photos). Anyway you asked how to remove it, not whether we liked it /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
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