painting a boat

[allen6634]

i want to repaint my fiberglass boat, will laquer base paint be harmful to the gelcoat on my boat?

 

[jfw432]

Re: painting a boat

I don't know about your specific question but I've always considered lacquer to be inferior to just about every other paint out there. If you're trying to save a bit of money, go with acrylic enamel or a single stage urethane. Both are quite good. I've used acrylic enamel kits from tcpglobal.com on 3 jetski's and my jeep and had very good results with all of them. Granted I've always sprayed the paints though.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: painting a boat

laquer will not hurt the gelcoat..

Wouldnt matter if you primed it first though .

I would prime before I painted anything on gel .. Just too much perosity in gel.

YD.

 

[jfw432]

Re: painting a boat

Except for once when a friend and I wanted a truly perfect paint job, I've always used the gelcoat or the previous paint as my primer. As long as the original coat is still in good condition (aka not peeling/cracking), then I just scuff sand it and paint away. When you do this though, you do have to make sure that the new color will fully hide or blend in with the old. For example, you aren't going to have much success painting white over a dark red.

Best of luck though, nothing makes you more proud of being on the water like a fresh paint job and a new interior.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: painting a boat

You Might get away with painting right over prepped gel...but you Might also get pinhole perosity that will leave pock marks all over your new paint job.

It really depends on what kinda of finish you want your end result to be.

YD.

 

[gjmsd]

Re: painting a boat

I've painted my old boat as well as my airplane and cars using acrylic urethane and had good results. I've used both Deltron and the house brand from tcpglobal.com with great results. I am getting ready to paint my current boat using the same stuff as soon as I complete a transom repair. I would definitely use a good primer though, it helps paint coverage, adhesion and finish quality.