Gelcoat repair or Paint entire hull?

[sbv16]

Hey

I am in the process or have been in the process of fixing up the scrapes, chips etc from the bottom of my 15ft fibreglass runabout which I have recently purchased. The keel was worn back and chipped from continuous beaching or possibly even from hitting trailer.

Anyhow I have gone around numerous spots on the boat and repaired using brush on gelcoat. I have found however it is near on impossible to get a close color match to the hull. Everytime I sand back the gelcoat which has been brushed on the immediate area surrounding the repair spot also changes color due to sanding back of the old original gelcoat. Also the gelcoat is quite thin and seeing as I have already had to sand back the previous owners gelcoat repair paste (colored yellow - hull is white / grey) this has left me with areas where sanding has braught me back to the glass.

You can see in the photos some examples of some of the areas on the hull which have been fixed. Is it worth continuing to brush gelcoat on and attempt to do a touch up which is not noticeable or should I bite the bullet now and paint the entire hull????? Sanding back the brush on gelcoat is getting too hard the stuff dries so hard..... it takes forever

I was thinking of Internation Brightside which I can roll and tip. Boat is trailered so wont ever be in water for long periods of time.

Any opinions would be much appreciated!

Cheers

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Gelcoat repair or Paint entire hull?

If those repairs are below the waterline I would not really worry about the shade not matching..... just have fun and go boating.

The other ultimate factors would be cost, prep time, where you have an area to work.

Have you tried to restore the old finish? Wet sanding and polish?

Others will jump in and help here too!

 

[109jb]

Re: Gelcoat repair or Paint entire hull?

You can get color matched Gel Coat, mixed to the exact color of your boat from various places. Two are:

http://www.minicraft.com/aboutus.htm
http://www.spectrumcolor.com/default_main.asp

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Gelcoat repair or Paint entire hull?

Hello sbv..

Im with Bob on this.. dont waste one moment of the season to have fun . Leave the wax on the shelf until you do whichever painting you decide on ( I like gelcoat ).

As far as getting shipped gelcoat to exact match..Rarely do I get gel from these places that are dead on.

YD.

 

[109jb]

Re: Gelcoat repair or Paint entire hull?

Hello sbv..

Im with Bob on this.. dont waste one moment of the season to have fun . Leave the wax on the shelf until you do whichever painting you decide on ( I like gelcoat ).

As far as getting shipped gelcoat to exact match..Rarely do I get gel from these places that are dead on.

YD.

I agree with everything said, but a premix color match gel coat will be a whole lot better than white gel coat on a gray hull any day.

 

[DukesFin]

Re: Gelcoat repair or Paint entire hull?

I'm having the same issue here (except that I haven't even tried to apply gelcoat to the areas of repair. I KNOW I won't get a color match (at least not an exact one), and many of my dings are above the water line.

This is why I've decided to go the Interlux Brightsides route.

Having said that, I am looking at an expense of the Brightsides, a LOT of elbow grease in preparation, tape and paper for masking, finding a suitable place/garage where I can work (likely another expense there) and the fear of re-doing the whole boat!

I think the payoff for me is going to be a boat that looks very close to new when I'm all finished though!

Since I made that decision last night, I'm wondering if I should hold off until fall or winter though... I fish... A LOT! I'm not sure if I want to trade fishing time for "pretty boat time"!!!

We'll see!

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Gelcoat repair or Paint entire hull?

I agree with everything said, but a premix color match gel coat will be a whole lot better than white gel coat on a gray hull any day.

Match it yourself. It's not hard. Wet gelcoat is exactly the same color as dry gelcoat, it's just shinier sometimes.

Get tintable gelcoat and a range of color tints (black or white, color bases) and mix the resin (without catalyst) and colors. Keep track of how much of each, and measure accurately. When mixed, check the color by smearing some of it on a section of hull you're trying to match.

Make sure the section is polished and finished so it looks the way you want first. Also make sure you have good white lighting, ideally check the match outdoors in the sun. Get a second opinion when you think you're done.

Once you have the color matched, you can mix up another small batch using the same measures of colors you wrote down. If it matches the first batch and the hull, you're good to go.

Erik

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Gelcoat repair or Paint entire hull?

Hello again..

.. I wasnt suggesting that you dont get a matched gel..I was just saying dont expect an exact match is all hehe..

It will cost ya about 50-70 bucks delivered for a quart though..Not sure if they sell the gel retail ..

That gray might be a pain .. there is only so much tint you can add to gel b4 it will start swinging colors when cured.

I could tell you how to tint your own..but its more trial and error once you get the right eye for it

YD.