which paint?

[suse]

The present 'finish' on the hull and decks of an elderly and rather sad Sabre 27 is like a crackle glaze in emulsion (the fibreglass beneath is fine), and feels shuddery to the touch, not shiny smooth - the effect I'm aiming for.

I presume I have to sand this down first - with a sander? Which kind is best, and how do I get into corners?

Which paint should I use to renovate decks and hull - I must admit 2 -part epoxy sounds alarming, even though it doesnt leave brush strokes (?), so I'd rather not use that.

I have been looking at adverts for Toplac and Brightside, but how do I know which is best? I dont want brush strokes, but dont have the equipment or money for a spray job.

Thanks for all your advice, folks. Especially the suggestion that I find an easier hobby!



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[poter]

Having just done a lot of work on an old Moody I can probably give you a lot of good contacts for all sorts of materials & companies to restore an old yacht.
Have a look here:
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.fairhead.com/peter/pics/page_01.htm>Moody Project </A>

Paint: if you go to Jotun they have a lot of info. on the web site. You can call them on 0800 0854859 for the 'penguin yachting' booklet which is very usefull for DIY painting. <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.blakespaints.com/internet/IneBlakesC.nsf/vDOC/207FB384E7139219C1256BE4004DF139?OpenDocument>
Blakes</A> also have a good web site with a lot of info.

Good luck & have fun. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

poter

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[Joe_Cole]

I'm not sure what you mean about 2 pack being "alarming". If its the price then I do understand! If it's the Health & Safety side then its no problem if you are brushing. If you are prepared to afford it the 2 pack route is well worth considering.

Incidently, above the waterline you should consider 2 pack polyurethane, its better from the point of view of UV durability. Quite a few systems use 2 pack epoxy for the initial coats followed by 2 pack polyurethane for the finishing coats. Sounds fiddily but it's no problem really. 2 packs are beautiful to apply but I think that it is a bit optimistic to say that they don't leave brush strokes; if they are not applied properly they will end up with runs, sags and brush strokes like any other paint!

Are you sure that you need to repaint though? It's amazing what a bit of elbow grease can do on old finishes............far cheaper too.

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[poter]

I agree with Joe regarding renovating old gel coat. My gel coat was chalk & looked completly knacked but a little elbow grease ... well a large polisher... and lots of different products brought back the shine.

I eventually used Y10 and a fibreglass rubbing compound on difficult areas, finishing with a 3m wax see:
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.mailspeedmarine.com/detailslargeimage.asp?QLID=MD-448406>Polish</A> /forums/images/icons/cool.gif
but you may need a different combination depending on the condition of the gelcoat.

poter.

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[Talbot]

Before you try anything else, I would recommend trying <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.paint-stripper.co.uk/removall_paint_stripper_marine.htm>Removall</A> I assisted the application of this to remove old antifoul, andf it did a great job. It is even possible that you might then be able to use Farecla and get back to a great fibreglass finish!

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[suse]

The thing is it's NOT the gel coat - it's been painted already and the finish is crazed, so I cant just polish/Tcut it. It's a question of sanding - which sander, circular or back and forth, and then which paint!

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[Joe_Cole]

Bad luck! Any sander to get the bulk of it off, then wet and dry paper and keep going, and going and going.

Sounds like you need to invite some friends round for a sanding Party!

Joe

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[Mudplugger]

Suse.. Re paint job & rubbing down..Suggest Bosch pex125, its the circular one with the dust holes in the sanding disc, start with 80 grade, thru to 240, Let the sander do the work (don't lean on it to hard) and if you use a large elastic from the stanchion bases that will help take the weight, and use a decent mask!!, if you don't want to go down the two pot route, then Toplac is a pretty good paint and if you use Jenny brushes you can minimise any runs. ( jenny brushes are the foam on a stick type, dirt cheap and thro-away) By the way, I found Toplac to be much more resistant to waterline staining than Perfection. If you are doing below the waterline, then a Sandvik 2" scraper is the most effective tool to use ( I could clear down to the gel coat on a 33' over a weekend) but you should probably go for VC Tar epoxy, 3-5 coats, then antifoul. Have fun.... Hope this helps..Tony W.

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[oldsaltoz]

G'day Susy,

Re sander, you should be looking for an orbital sander with an orbit not less than 2.5 mm that will take a half sheet. sanders with a smaller orbit are for fine finishing and will clog because the orbit is too small.

Most 3 mm orbital sanders will do a great job on a horizontal surface with just the weight of the sander, all you do is steer it, however they are a bit heavy if working on a vertical face.

Look for one with a collection bag to avoid most of the dust, the brand is not critical, the size of the orbit is though.

I hope this helps

Avagoodweekend.

<hr width=100% size=1> Old Salt Oz /forums/images/icons/cool.gif Growing old is unavoidable. However, growing up is still optional.

 

[cindersailor]

I Suse,

I was in your position at the end of last season. The topsides on my 22 foot Cinder had been very badly painted and needed sorting out. I was deternined not to have to do the job again for a good few years so decided on 2-pot polyurethane (Perfection). Since the existing paint was not 2-pot polyurethane the whole lot had to come off down to the gel coat. After a bit of research I bought a cheapo random orbit sander from B & Q (£25, 420W, B&Q own brand "Proline" or something, I cant'quite remember). This is a powerful beast that will eat through the paint and gel coat if not careful, but just what I needed, I do not see what better a £60 sander would have done. I found that 120 grit paper was the best (Screwfix was cheapest) and got through about 40 sheets. Although this is quite coarse the random sanding action leaves a very smooth surface and it was not necessary to go over it again with fine paper which saved a lot of effort. I got through the whole hull in four 3 hour sessions; hard work but quite satisfying.

Painting was with foam Jenny rollers and brushes following a thorough wash down. Do a Google search on "Roll and tip" and you will get plenty of information on the technique. Two of under coat, one 50/50 undercoat/top coat and a final top coat. The boat was under cover, temperature between 10 and 15 degrees. Perfection goes a surprisingly long way. I used 3 x 750 ml in total and actually threw quite a bit of this away. The final result was very pleasing and once in the water very difficult to distinguish from new gel coat or a professional spray job. Coverage was particularly impressive as the original gel coat was dark blue and the new paint white. Resistance to abraision is very good, 1 month of fender rubbing has had absolutely no impact. So I can certainly recommend Perfection. Have fun!

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[Stemar]

I don't know if it'd be any good for you, but I saw demonstration of a new cleaning method at the Lowestoft Boat Show. They were doing it on the hull, to clean off antifoul, but reckoned they could take off one layer of paint and leave the one underneath or strip the gelcoat ready for epoxying - whatever the punter wanted.

For a below the waterline clean they quoted £11 per foot of boat length and a time of a couple of hours for 28 footer.

http://home.btconnect.com/County-LBS/exhibitors/assets/FarrowCard510.jpg

Hope this helps.

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