Workhorse topside paint?

[forestcreature]

I would like to fill and overpaint my tired and damaged gelcoat. Would the kind wizards here please recommend any primers and topcoats that are as far as possible very robust, UV stable, and budget-friendly? Gloss and finesse are not priorities. The application is a pocket sized GRP yacht, but the question is: what would you use to paint a tugboat?

 

[sarabande]

It's worth giving those lovely people at Shepherds a call .

Jotun Topcoat Paints | Single Pack Topcoats | Two-Pack Topcoats - SML Protective Coatings


Perhaps one of their commercial build coatings ?

 

[Yorkshire Exile]

A few years ago I met two Lowestoft fishermen who were carrying out some maintenance on their boat, which was apparently originally a lifeboat on a sister ship of the Titanic. They were using Wilco exterior gloss. The previous coat had lasted two years in the North Sea.

 

[LoneHort]

Sigmadur 550

 

[forestcreature]

Thank you all for the hints and the anecdote! This is exactly the sort of rabbit hole I was interested in going down. I also found an article by a Leisure 17 about the simplicity of using one-pack paint on a small boat and overpainting any damage periodically. And that reminded me of one of the reasons for having a tiny yacht in the first place.

 

[rotrax]

I made a large outboard bracket from a solid piece of timber board - depth was 600mm, width 150mm, thickness overall 14mm, clamping area 28mm with metal reinforcement.

I painted it with Wilco's magnolia gloss enamel when I made it 4 years ago. Boat is an Island Packet so colour matches quite well.

I shall redo it this year as I intend to make a small improvement and rectify a small crack caused by warping.

It still looks good, no paint deterioration except where it has been clamped or bumped. We use a home made outboard crane to lift the outboard over the high freeboard so it gets a few bumps in a bit of a swell.

In November we painted the hull of our steel Kiwi boat with proper Altex marine gloss. Very good, but expensive.

Our mate Bob painted his steel boat three years ago with Resene house gloss. Less than half the price of Altex. His boat still looks good and the paint has stayed stuck on.

Painting the deck of our Kiwi steel boat at the moment. Chose Resene house enamel in brilliant white. Far less cost and I shall be able to make a direct comparison of longevity and finish.

So, you pays yer money and you makes yer choice..................................

 

[burgundyben]

I'm prepared to be shot down in flames, but I think, for any given type, ie single pack polyurethane, that the paints are much of a muchness. Its all in the prep and application.

 

[ianfr]

I have used Sandtex Extra Flex gloss on 3 boats with success. Also you can paint down to about 5 degrees celcius as long as humidity is low.

 

[forestcreature]

[... time passes ...]

I bought some sandtex to protect my epoxy repairs as I was making them. It seems a competent paint, but I noticed that it contains nasty sounding shit that shouldn't be in the marine environment. Here is one of the biocides: Substance Information - ECHA

Does anybody know of something like Sandtex, without biocide?

So I will also have a look at the Wilko exterior gloss and update this thread. I know that some marine-specific paints were recommended here as well. And I'm aware of the irony that AF paints contain similar biocides. But I hate that crap too, and would love to be rid of it.

 

[Tranona]

Solution is simple. Use International Toplac on the topsides and Coppercoat for the underwater and forget about painting for the next 10 years at least . Eco friendly as well.

 

[forestcreature]

Thanks. Also sorry about the swears.

 

[dankilb]

to protect my epoxy repairs as I was making them.

Presuming you mean to protect from UV? (If in the UK, this time of year, I mightn’t bother myself!)

If so, some 2-part epoxy primers can be painted direct on to wet or tacky epoxy itself. Nothing protects it better, not just temporarily but into service. It forms a chemical bond.

Someone helpfully started a thread a while back inc. a video demo showing how epoxy primer adheres to laminating resin. (I’d have to dig out the thread later)

I have since tested and done this and can, for instance, confirm that Jotun Penguard can be painted onto both West and EL2 resins during the cure.

Just a thought…

 

[forestcreature]

Presuming you mean to protect from UV? (If in the UK, this time of year, I mightn’t bother myself!)

The largest repair had been exposed for more than 2 years! I only get to work on the boat erratically, repairing and filling sections at a time. I didn't think an epoxy finish would fit into that workflow without going through dozens of brushes and rollers.

 

[dankilb]

going through dozens of brushes and rollers.

Sounds painfully familiar - but more like hundreds of the bleedin’ things for us (and roller trays, kettles, mixing pots, stir sticks)… we’re on coat 4 of a 7+ coat Jotun barrier job, mind!

The current cost of acetone makes washing all but the most expensive epoxy working/painting tools (fin rollers etc.) a false economy now, sadly. Sorry Captain Planet!

 

[ronsurf]

I painted my boat with International Toplac and I wasn't totally happy with the result. In fact I was very disappointed considering the number of people who were extolling he virtues of it. Don't know what I did wrong or if my expectations were too high, but after all the prep i did I wasn't expecting it to look like a handpainted boat.

Compare to when I painted my VW van with a random household gloss I found in the garage, and I was stunned by the result. It had a very slight orange peel similar to modern production car but that was only visible if you were less than a foot away. It was red, and stayed red, it never faded and was still on the van when I sold it 10 years later.

 

[Minerva]

Whatever you do, do not, under any circumstances use Hempel Multicoat.

I used it a few years ago - followed the instructions to a tee, boat in a temperature stable garage and the paint lasted half a season before falling off the deck of my wayfarer (not exactly a high traffic area).

 

[forestcreature]

Sounds painfully familiar - but more like hundreds of the bleedin’ things for us (and roller trays, kettles, mixing pots, stir sticks)… we’re on coat 4 of a 7+ coat Jotun barrier job, mind!

The current cost of acetone makes washing all but the most expensive epoxy working/painting tools (fin rollers etc.) a false economy now, sadly. Sorry Captain Planet!

This makes me wince. What is the attraction of pristinely smooth white boats if it involves so much work, and generates so much waste? Is it that onerous to jetwash or brush them down from time to time? I've never sailed this boat that I'm writing about, so all of my experience is on typically grungier river boats. Is the marine environment just so much more exacting?

EDIT: I'm asking that question rhetorically. Unrelated to your particular barrier coat, which sounds like a real faff but probably quite important! (And having spent tens of times what my own boat was worth on getting the bottom peeled, dried, and re-sheathed in epoxy.)

By comparison I haven't cleaned my car a single time in more than 100k miles. There are streaks of algae here and there, but I don't think the parasitic drag adds up to anything much. Perhaps it would be falling apart if I lived near salt spray.

Now how would a single-pack poly, or and oil-based paint like an exterior gloss, work over the top of the sections that I've already done in Sandtex?

Sorry to ramble.

 

[forestcreature]

I painted my boat with International Toplac and I wasn't totally happy with the result. In fact I was very disappointed considering the number of people who were extolling he virtues of it. Don't know what I did wrong or if my expectations were too high, but after all the prep i did I wasn't expecting it to look like a handpainted boat.

But did it stay on? As you can probably guess, I find the idea of a handpainted boat subversively attractive.

 

[Minerva]

This makes me wince. What is the attraction of pristinely smooth white boats if it involves so much work, and generates so much waste? Is it that onerous to jetwash or brush them down from time to time? I've never sailed this boat that I'm writing about, so all of my experience is on typically grungier river boats. Is the marine environment just so much more exacting?

By comparison I haven't cleaned my car a single time in more than 100k miles. There are streaks of algae here and there, but I don't think the parasitic drag adds up to anything much. Perhaps it would be falling apart if I lived near salt spray.


Sorry to ramble.

Now I can be as scruffy as the next chap (perhaps mores according to my wife) but sometimes it's good to take care of your toys, especially if you've traded many working hours in order to buy it in the first place. I wash my cars at least once a year.

 

[ronsurf]

But did it stay on? As you can probably guess, I find the idea of a handpainted boat subversively attractive.

I painted it last week and it was still on when i went there last night.

Hope it stays on when it eventually gets put back in the water