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Painting My Boat


Sole Man
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Hi, and welcome.

 

One or two questions before any answers biggrin.gif

 

Will you keep the boat afloat or use it from a trailer?

 

Why do you NEED to paint it?

or

Do you want to give the craft a cosmetic face lift?

 

What does the hull finish look like right now?

 

Are you changing the colour? If so from what to what?

 

See! And you thought owning a boat would be relaxing laugh.giflaugh.gif

 

Mad Mike

 

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Hi Mike,

 

The Boat will be in the water howver this is if/when I can get a mooring,as for now it will be on a trailer.

The hull is sound if a bit grubby.the rest of it is an awlful mustad colour and i just want to change it,perhaps Blue or Red.

 

John

OK ....here we go.........

 

First off Anti foul This is Berl00dy expensive and a total waste of time for a boat used from a trailer. Once applied most anti-fouls have a limited life in the air and therefore the boat needs placing on a mooring within a few days to a week or two depending on the type.

 

Cosmetic painting......... One can go the whole hog and use a two part epoxy system. The total cost will be quite high which beggars the question of value for money on a small boat.

 

What I would recommend........ International paints 'Toplac' paints and undercoat.

They are easy to use and have a great hard finish. International publish several painting guides and total useage (how much paint you'll need) tables.

 

To prime or not to prime........ A priming coat of a special liquit which helps paint adhere to (shiny) GRP is often recommended. IMO having reconditioned many boats over the years a primer is not nessesary. The reason is that on an older faded gell coat (that's the shiny finish on top of the glass fiber) one is going to repair more than a few chips and cracks anyway and therefore one will be better off rubbing the whole boat down with a good quality emery paper. Doing this gives a first class mechanical key for future coats of paint..

 

First ....... Fill in all cracks and chips with Isopon P38 filler, then rub the whole area to be painted down using progressively finer grades of abraisive paper. (I use an electric palm sander). When you are satisfied you have a smooth blemish free surface, wash the boat down with soapy water and rinse it well to remove all dust. When dry go over the area to be painted with a lint free cloth (old bed sheets) dampened in white spirit to remove any grease left on the hull.

At this point you are ready to put on the first of two coats of primer followed by at least two coats of gloss. It is VITAL to adhere to the 'overcoating times' which will be on the tin

 

Other bits......... Red needs many coats to build up the paint film so it looks a deep red.

If using a dark blue finish add 20% clear varnish to the last coat of paint.

 

Covering a dark colour with a lighter colour needs at least 4 undercoats.

 

Mad Mike

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Hi Sole Man

 

In My experiance [and I manage a boatyard] Painting a boat is usually only done if it is essential as a GRP finish is much harder than a paint one. anf future buyers may ask why a GRP boat has been painted.

 

Slight knocks and scrapes on GRP are easily and quickly sported, where as the same impact on painted finish may result in more painting.

 

If however you want to change the colour then painting following Mikes advice is the way forward.

 

You may find that cutting back and polishing the outside of the hull gets the outside looking good enough not to warrent painting, and as the boat is trailered it can be a progressive job between fishing trips.

 

Enjoy your new boat

 

Charlie biggrin.gif

 

 

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