Painting my boat

[longstand]

i thinking of just painting my boat.

i know this guy. his good on painting cars. i mean he is really good. he to good job on body work also.

iam about to hired him to paint my boat..

what is the easy step to paint i boat..

i know it has to be sand

Then primer

then paint.

what kind of primer.

what kind of paint.

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: Painting my boat

You can use marine specific paints like interlux, pettit, rustoleum makes one,... or use awlgrip or any car paint you want.

My brother had a 20' jet boat painted inferno red the dodge metal flake looked great.

It's all up to the look you want and the amount of money you want to spend.

 

[SKIBUM1M]

Re: Painting my boat

carefull I started out wanting to paint mine and now I am gelcoating the whole boat. It seems any project on a boat is a slippery slope to a bigger and bigger project. I started prepping for paint then tried gelcoat and found how much easier it is to work with than paint and I have alot of spider cracks and I wanted to repaint the whole thing anyway and well you see how the project grows

 

[vegasphotoman]

Re: Painting my boat

No matter what you do its LOTS of work


its been said that as far as Automotive paints, Dupont Imron is suppossed to be the best, but you cant have any paints permanantly in the water...they will blister...........use paint for trailered boats only....

if you want to keep your boat in the water year round....Gel coating is the way to go atleast for the bottom half.

$200 per gallon imron clear, imron paint around $140 per gallon

cheaper auto paints are avail.....

check here for some auto paints TCP global

petit easypoxy is also used by some.........paint will chip up a lot easier than Gel coating

infinity has everthing you need to become a pro gel coater....$47 per gallon for gel coat http://stores.infinityfrp.com/Categories.bok scroll down 1/2 way to see the gelcoat stuff...

 

[SKIBUM1M]

Re: Painting my boat

Vegas that is a great site for fiberglass supply. Have you used their gelcoat? Is most gelcoat the same or does quality and logevity vary from brand to brand? if it does what are good brands?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Painting my boat

its been said that as far as Automotive paints, Dupont Imron is suppossed to be the best, but you cant have any paints permanantly in the water...they will blister...........use paint for trailered boats only....

Ayuh,... Sorry,... That's just plain False....

I'm been Painting boats for Years,... Many Many boats... ALL done with Automotive Paints...
Trailered boats,+ Dock boats...
Have a look at this thread,... I posted pictures of the last boat I Painted,...
It's been sitting IN the water since it was Painted back in June of this year...

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: Painting my boat

Auto paint will not blister! Completely not true.

In fact gel coat will!

There's a thread worth reading on srceam and fly's forum and pretty much all those guys with the big money boats would never think of using gel coat.

 

[SKIBUM1M]

Re: Painting my boat

Ok now I am confused. I was going to paint my boat and it seemed everyone said it wouldnt last below the waterline, so i was going to paint above the waterline. So then I did some gelcoat repair and it was easy so I was going to gelcoat the entire Boat. Now you say gelcoat doesnt last. Why does it seem noone can agree on what is best? I want to do this right and never have to worry about it.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Painting my boat

Well, first... boats you have to worry about, period.

Technically, gel coat can blister. But it won't if done properly. Gel coat will last longer than any paint job I've seen. It should, considering how hard it is to get looking nice in the first place

If your boat will be in the water all the time, you probably want something like a bottom paint (ablative or other anti-fouling) over your gelcoat or glass. This is a coating that slowly wears out over time, preventing sea life from attaching to it and slowing the boat or degrading the bottom.

If it's a trailerable boat (and stays on the trailer most of the time, and is not in the water for more than 3-4 weeks at a time) then you can paint the bottom with a quality paint and it'll be fine. Interlux and Awlgrip both make a bottom paint for trailerable boats with teflon in it, and it's supposed to last a long time.

Up to you how much work you want to do and how much you want to spend, but gelcoat is the standard for a reason.

Erik

 

[SKIBUM1M]

Re: Painting my boat

That is my plan I just wish there was more of a consensus about products. I figure gelcoat is what the manufacturer uses for a reason. It will be trailered but I want this restore to last longer than the original build did.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Painting my boat

People here tend not to recommend gelcoat for amateur use because of the work involved and the difficulty of getting a good finish.

If you know how much work it is beforehand, go for it. But unless someone knows what they're getting into, it's almost impossible to recommend gelcoating, especially for someone who's refinishing their first boat and having trouble learning what fiberglass to use, etc.

Hence the difference in opinion...

Erik

 

[Bondo]

Re: Painting my boat

I figure gelcoat is what the manufacturer uses for a reason.

Ayuh,... The Reason the manufacturers use Gelcoat is because it's shot into the mold 1st, before the hull is layed up....

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: Painting my boat

If your gonna leave it in the water fulltime you need to barrier coat and bottom paint your gel coat.

Gel coat is porous and allows water to soak into the laminate. When it finds bit of uncured resin it causes blisters.

As Bond-o said gel is the first thing sprayed in the mold after mold release. When you have good molds and do it right you get a real nice finish so they can stop there.

Some manufacturers then add barrier coats to the bottom to protect against blisters (others use vynilester resin).

If you see a boat with a real cool looking paint job it's cause it's paint, Baja was one of the few that does gel coat grapphics, but just about everybody else uses paint.

If you only leaving it in the water some and don't want bottom paint (looks bad, slows you down and burns more gas) your better off with a good paint sealing your gel coat then just bare gel.

 

[halas]

Re: Painting my boat

Good primer and paint could be easiest practical solution.

 

[drewpster]

Re: Painting my boat

Every paint system has its advantages and disadvantages. The spray booth guys like automotive paints generally and the roll/ tip guys like marine paints. You want to the one that suits you best.

I work for a major trucking company. We have a body shop that has some of the best body men in the country working in it. We have a booth that is large enough to paint a tractor and trailer, drive-in drive out. I have access to the booth and the help.

Why did I not take advantage of it? Because it did not suit my situation.

If you are a novice boat restorer and you are looking for a great paint finish for your boat, I recommend you take a look at the marine paints. They can be applied using simple tools and you don't need a million dollar booth to get it done.
Now the spray guys will make the argument that spraying is easier. And that is true IF you have the equipment and the know how. But there learning curve and expense of spraying far outweigh the ease of a roll on marine system in my opinion.

Both, marine and automotive systems have challenges. But in my view a marine roll/ tip paint has much fewer of them.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Painting my boat

Great post drewpster, I agree completely. I just enjoyed great success with Petit Easypoxy rolled on.

 

[system-f]

Re: Painting my boat

Interlux and Awlgrip both make a bottom paint for trailerable boats with teflon in it, and it's supposed to last a long time.

I can't seem to find the interlux with teflon bottom paint, do you know the name?

 

[DukesFin]

Re: Painting my boat

Interlux VC Performance Epoxy: http://www.jamestowndistributors.co...=2330&familyName=Interlux+VC+Underwater+Epoxy

I'm just about ready to do my hull with it! (I'm going to spray mine on using a gravity fed HVLP gun (cheapy from Home Depot or Lowes).

 

[kaferhaus]

Re: Painting my boat

Interlux VC Performance Epoxy: http://www.jamestowndistributors.co...=2330&familyName=Interlux+VC+Underwater+Epoxy

I'm just about ready to do my hull with it! (I'm going to spray mine on using a gravity fed HVLP gun (cheapy from Home Depot or Lowes).

The "issue" with that particular paint is it only comes in white, which requires you to repaint the entire hull instead of just the area below the waterline unless you don't mind you're boat looking like crap...

Hard to believe they don't offer it in any other color because it's a great paint for those who don't want to repaint with anti-fouling paint.