To Gel coat or to paint?
Submitted by Fraser 5.25 on Sun, 2012-04-22 18:18
My 5.2m fibreglass boat is starting to show its age. I've got spider cracks and hair line cracks on the exterior hull and very small flakes of gel coat missing where it looks like the boat has hit a little hard coming into the jetty. Not too much is fallen off, about a 2mm squared piece here and there and I'm sure it's not going to sink any time soon. Just wondering what everyone's opinion is on what is the final finish on the hull of their fibreglass boats when they've had to renew the old fibreglass, gel coat or paint?
Cheers,
Ken
strike_zone
Posts: 403
Date Joined: 09/09/10
paint
use a good quality marine 2-pac. gel coat will cost a fortune and is very intensive job to do. had the same dilemma with my boat after having to sand about 5 old coats of anti foul off the bottom. has been painted for 12 months now and is as good as new.
aaasnapper
Posts: 218
Date Joined: 15/01/10
From what i have been told
From what i have been told the gel coat is sprayed onto the mould before the fibreglass is applied. therefore, once its gone its gone.
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Fraser 5.25
Posts: 122
Date Joined: 25/07/11
If I paint the hull, do I
If I paint the hull, do I have to go over the entire hull and fill in all the hair line cracks? That would be a job and a half. Or does the two pack paint provide a hardy exterior and fill in the spider cracks? Is painting the hull a DIY or should I get someone who does it for a job?
chris raff
Posts: 3257
Date Joined: 09/02/10
Similar predicament...however
Similar predicament...however mines the deck lots of crazing ...going to have a go at doing it myself ...orbital sander level as much as poss...2 pac hempel primer ..V shape out any hairline cracks and just use bog suitable for glass ...then more rubbing and more primer...the plan was then to use the hempel 2 pac paint which rolls on and self levels...this was how i was told to do it by Kirbside products ...
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strike_zone
Posts: 403
Date Joined: 09/09/10
primer filler
use a primer filler for any hairline cracks gelcoat repair putty for minor chips and fibre glass encrusted khaglass for any big chips just remember if you use a orbital sander dont push to hard in places as you will get that swirl efect once painted its def much cheaper if you can do it yourself i was lucky enough to know someone who can spray paint it will def make the finished product much better Gelcoat can be reapplied but is a huge job over a large area when you spray it into a mould it comes out nice and shiny as you see on a new boat but when you reapply it you need to sand it numerous times with different grades of wet and dry takes a lot longer than rubbing back primer just speak to any fibreglass boat builder they will tell you chris this hempel paint sounds interesting i havnt heard of a self leveling 2 pac we used a marine grade 2 pac from protec paints in malaga
snappermiles
Posts: 2100
Date Joined: 05/11/10
if you want to get a proffessional opinion
give jemelka coatings a call he is in rockingham! got our bertram painted by him and he done a great job at a very good price
Address: 10 Ambrose St, Rockingham, WA, 6168
Phone number: (08) 95922875
Fax number: (08) 95922875
Mobile Number: 0401 079 608
URL: http://www.jamelkacoatings.com.au
Year Established: 2003
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