Gel Coat vs Paint

[lane44]

Hello, I want to restore a bass boat that has a very faded color within the gel coat. The boat has been buffed before to no avail. I will have a professional helping me however I am unsure of using gel coat or topside paint. I am only painting the sides of the boat plus the inside of the boat walls.

What are the pros and cons of Gelcoat vs topside paint?
Which one will hold up to many years of use and still look great with proper care?
Will topside paint come off of a boat traveling at higher speeds?

I planned on using topside paint over marine grade primer, then I don't know what to put over the paint to protect it.
Any help would be wonderful to know before I start the project.

 

[mickyryan]

paint is intended to go over something, gelcoat was intended as a mold release , however many many folks have sprayed rolled brushed gelcoat to redo their boats, best imho is 2 part urethanes called single stage paints , i also use raptor liner tons on stuff , if its gonna get beat up go with raptor liner if it's gonna be a show boat go with 2k urethanes personal favorite is delfleet from ppg but imron nason and many others work just as well . Raptor liner is just a thicker 2k , and its tintable. folks have used rustoleum tractor and implement to do their boats there is some info on forum ,

 

[harringtondav]

Two part, catalyzed paints are what make vehicles sparkle. They're not cheap, but neither is gel coat, additives and all the time to sand and buff to a gloss. Also keeping a HVLP spray gun clean though a full re-coat is a royal pain. You've got maybe 6-7 minutes to spray your pot, then you must clean. Pot life of a cat paint will allow you to spray a full coat, then a simple lacquer thinner or acetone flush will get you ready for the top coat.

Properly applied two part base auto paint, followed by a clear coat is self leveling, and good to go with little, or no sanding & buffing if done properly. Adding a flex additive may be a good idea for a boat. Gel coat and paint finishes don't handle impact and guffs very well. But I'd rather patch a paint blemish. And auto paint is more fade resistant than gel. Just keep it clean.

 

[Scott Danforth]

At work, we use Axalta Coatings (Dupont Imron). great paint and what I was looking to use on my boat. then I added up all the materials. Just to apply the paint to make the boat shiny, I was looking at close to $2k worth of paint, hardener, reducer, etc.

so......

I went Gel. I spent $700 in Gel, Duratec gloss additive and MEKP and about $120 in sanding discs and buffing compounds to make is shine

large yachts are painted, usually with either AwlGrip or Axalta, however Alexseal has been becoming a bit more frequent.

no mater what you use, you do have to sand.....sand.....sand.....sand....sand

fill small cracks, etc......sand......sand.....sand

did I mention you must sand....

sand......

sand

for either paint or gel, the prep is exactly the same.

if you are spraying, you may need to tent to prevent over-spray from damaging your neighbors cars

assuming both are sprayed perfectly, the gel may need to be sanded and buffed to be shiney

if you make runs in the paint, some paints can not be repaired, they have to be sanded and re-painted.

if you make runs in gel, simply sand and buff. you can also sand and buff Axalta

 

[Scott Danforth]

if your bass boat is all full of glitter and stuff, and you want to gel, here is a thread on another site about gel coating a bass boat with glitter. https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/gelcoating-the-whole-boat-down-to-the-waterline.61694/

 

[kcassells]

Gelcoat blows in my opinion. Overrated and overworked. Most hard used work boats use paint on their skins. really don't care about listening to all the pros and cons cause there are a million of them. Gets dull then sand and paint....
Just watch how this thread progresses...lol!

 

[kcassells]

Hello, I want to restore a bass boat that has a very faded color within the gel coat. The boat has been buffed before to no avail. I will have a professional helping me however I am unsure of using gel coat or topside paint. I am only painting the sides of the boat plus the inside of the boat walls.

What are the pros and cons of Gelcoat vs topside paint?
Which one will hold up to many years of use and still look great with proper care?
Will topside paint come off of a boat traveling at higher speeds?

I planned on using topside paint over marine grade primer, then I don't know what to put over the paint to protect it.
Any help would be wonderful to know before I start the project.

So what kind of boat do you have?

 

[kcassells]

Kirbys paint with hardner and thinner.

 

[kcassells]

Check out Woodonglass tractor paint recipe.

 

[Chris1956]

Most (if not all) 1 part marine urethane paint can only be applied above the waterline. If you keep the boat on a lift or trailer, it is fine. It is pretty easy to use and to get a good shine. Roll and tip is nearly as good as a sprayed finish.

2 part poly urethane like Imron or Awlgrip is expensive and a challenge for the amateur to use. However, as was mentioned, all yachts use these paints. Our cheap production boats use gelcoat.

I choose to use a 1 part polyurethane on my speedboat. A roll and tip finish is pretty good looking and pretty easy. I keep the boat on a lift.