Any Gelcoat Finishing Guys Out There?

I never should of looked at Airbornes pics of his shiny hulls. I have checked around here in Chattanooga for shops that will do mine but they all say they aren't set up for it, or not large enough shop, or too much work, etc. I did find one fellow that said he would spray it if I did the prep and sanding/polishing, but he didn't have room for the hulls to sit there. So here is my plan. I want to strip the hardware, prep the hulls and haul them to him, let him spray them, I take them back to my shop and sand/polish. Then back again for second and maybe third coat. Is this a viable plan? I think it would save me some real money. Or would it? Thanks.

paint the hulls instead.

Bill Hendix at mainsail marine in greenville SC 864-299-1092, he's the man in the Southeast. Fellow catsailor and all around honest good guy, ask anyone.

I highly recommend Bill, but last time I asked, he doesn't like to shoot gelcoat on a big scale.

Gelcoat isn't paint...so don't think in terms of paint when using it...it should not be done "In coats" ...when it is sprayed it is best to put it all on at once. The mill thickness is much greater than paint, and you want a chemical bond thru out the gelcoat...you will loose that if it is allowed to thoroughly dry, with sanding between coats. What you will end up with then, is more of a mechanical bond, rather than a chemical bond.

Regards,
Bob

what do you guys have against paint? it is a hell of a lot less work then re-doing the gel. gel is not supost to be applied out of the mold any way.

I re did my N-20 with gel, in hindsight I might would have just painted. Just for information I know Bill Hendrix mostly paints with Imron (sp?). He'll do gelcoat if you beg but his work is absolutely top-notch.

"gel is not supost to be applied out of the mold any way"

Just because the vast majority of gelcoat is used in "female" molding doesn't mean it is not suitable for exterior surface application. You could say it is not amateur friendly, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its place in hull refinishing.

The obvious problem with gelcoat is that it takes different techniques and equipment that most people are not familiar with. It might not be as "easy" as painting...but it is easier to repair. Most of the really good Polyurethanes like Awlgrip that have high abrasion resistance but can not be "buffed out", so seamless repairs require repainting the entire hull...those paints that can be “buffed out” do not have the abrasion resistance that gel coat gives. A gelcoat finish gives you the best of both...easily repairable and good abrasion resistance. A skilled applicator with proper equipment and product can produce results that rival a brand new boat.

Regards,
Bob

Exterior house paint all the way! Cheap and easy! Nobody cares what their boat looks like when they're storming along at 20 knots!

For small repairs I swear by simple, cheap spray paint. This obviously only works if your hulls are white. If faded right- which certainly isn't hard- no one will ever notice. I have done it on a rather large repair on the bow of a 6.0 and multiple places on my 18HT. Not sure I would go that route redoing an entire boat but I did paint my 6.0's daggers with it all over.

Gelcoat seems like the way to go for beach cats as I was thinking a few times in too fast would sand off the paint pretty fast. No question though I think the paint would be so much easier. Especially the house paint because I have the airless rig for that! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Great comments, fellas. Please keep 'em coming because I am a little thicker than most. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Thanks.

Are you just after shiny hulls? If so, you should just wetsand w/ 600/1000/1500/2000 and polish w/ a buffer. I did that to my Trac Cat in the fall, which was dull and rust stained, and I still get comments on how great it looks every time I take it out.

What about using epoxy, then sanding it as smooth as glass?

Problem with epoxy is that it turns yellow in the sun unless you do paint it. Even the white pigment additive still isn't UV stabilized.

I don't think you'll be satisfied with house paint.

Your airless rig will give a better job than you might think! Depends on your skill level. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> And, I think Imron and Awlgrip can be sprayed with an airless system.

Are you sure you want "shiny"? If you just wet sand any of the these materials with ultra fine sand paper, you get a very smooth, flat finish which hides any number of flaws. Also, it is easier on the eye in bright sun.

I could probably get you connected with a shop that would do the work if you want. It's ~235 miles away, but they have a shop that can do the work.

What is wrong with your hulls other than they aren't shiny?
Are they shiny when they are wet?

I had GREAT luck with Vertglass last year and that was easier than painting even. Mine were just oxidized and Vertglass solved my problem when I too was thinking I needed to re-gelcoat. Waxing just wasn't doing it for me.
Jake put me onto the Vertglass and if you do a search for it you can see results from a number of us with shiny hulls.
Good luck.
P.S. $ 75 bucks and The Catsailor on-line store carrys it or else Murrays does.

bob, after having been a boatbuilder for 18 odd years, there is no way i would shoot gel out of mold except for small repairs. i would not do a whole boat. to shoot the whole boat with gel and have it look good you need to sand the whole boat to get the gel to stick, spray the gel, wet sand the gel with 320, 400, 600, then buff. somewhere in there you will sand through. no doubt about it, no mater how good you are or think you are, you will sand through. so you need to scuff it back up where you will need to blow it back in. then you start to sand in again. well, [censored] chances are you will sand through somewhere close to the repair again.

guys that do auto body dont repaint the whole panel for a scratch.

Jake shot a new coat of blue gelcoat on his boat now racing up the coast in the Tybee 500.

Yes, it was a lot of sanding and prep work, but isn't that true of any good paint job as well?

"bob, after having been a boatbuilder for 18 odd years, there is no way i would shoot gel out of mold except for small repairs. i would not do a whole boat. to shoot the whole boat with gel and have it look good you need to sand the whole boat to get the gel to stick, spray the gel, wet sand the gel with 320, 400, 600, then buff. somewhere in there you will sand through. no doubt about it, no mater how good you are or think you are, you will sand through. so you need to scuff it back up where you will need to blow it back in. then you start to sand in again. well, [censored] chances are you will sand through somewhere close to the repair again."

Sorry, I just finished re-gel-coating my 24' Seabird inside and out...that was like doing 6 twenty foot cats at the same time...it can be done, and is done...I don't know if you are familiar with, or have used the Duratec products, but they changed the whole viability of using gelcoat for refinishing. I am not trying to dismiss your boatbuilding experience, but I have been using fiberglass for 41 years, and have also been in professional boatbuilding.

It may not be the most popular way to refinish; it certainly is a viable alternative to paint.

Regards, Bob
Here is my proof...does this look like the side of a 1972 hull that has baked in the Florida sun its entire life? Please excuse the dirt on the hull...I just poped outside to take this picture and didn't have a chance to wash the boat first....

I was in the paintbooth with Jake and we shot both Franks Blue boat and my White N20, I couldn't be happier with the results. We both shot everything below the decks, Jakes might have been alittle lower. There was a lot of prep and as waterbug said it was worth it. Also as Basketcase mentioned I did wetsand through in one spot but i reshot it and resanded it in a weekend. I do think it is more durable than paint and I like keeping the finish that the boat was built with.

I guess why I am thinking gelcoat is because the bottoms have a 1/2 to 1-1/2 inch stripe where beaching has taken all the gelcoat off. What are my options for sealing this up with a tough scratch resistance finish?

Wet sanding and vertiglas sounds interesting though. Would this make painting or gelcoating a problem in the future?

Responses have me leaning toward spraying awlgrip or wet sanding followed with ????.

Thanks for all the help!

If the bottoms are the only problem, just redo the bottoms. I don't do anything cosmetic to the bottoms. Leave the repair raw.

What color is your boat? If it is white and you are refinishing white, that solves a lot of problems.

I agree about just redoing the bottoms. With my Prindle 18, I taped off the offending portions on the bottoms, roughed them up, then applied gelcoat w/ a foam brush. (I used the West Marine mix that sets up in air, so no covering was needed.) Once that dried, I wet-sanded it to smooth it out and to taper the edges in w/ the rest of the hull. The result was great, and it lasted two seasons until continued beaching started to wear through. No problem--just redo again. The total repair probably took 2 hours, including the sanding. Done deal.

Hey, my philosophy has become this: Don't put mega $$ into making a boat so perfect that anytime it gets a ding or scratch you have an emotional fit. Instead, sail it hard and give it some TLC as needed. As an old farmer once told me, "I've never had anything in life that was quite 100%." Pretty it up but not so much that you can't beach it w/out grimacing.

I did this (gelcoat) once with a friend of mine. We did the bottom of his H20, but we used the prevail (disposable) sprayers. Once it was sanded, it looked GREAT!!

If you are looking for a paint shop that is large enough, my fathers in KY (on the lake) can handle stuff up to 70' long I think.... He can fit his 55 ton travel lift in there... it's NOT small. They do Imron and every other paint/gelcoat you can think of.

If you plan on painting the hulls leave about a two inch strip of the bottom Gelcoat. I did this on a boat I used to have. The gel is easy to repair and holds up better compared to paint.

The hulls are a basic white. I have decided I want to get the boat out on the water as soon as possible. If I want to go further with total paint/gelcoat I will start in the winter. So here is what I think I should do immediately.

1) Brush gelcoat on skinned off stripes on very bottoms and dab some touch up on any deep gouges/chips in topsides.

2) Sand and feather edges of new gel coat. What grit and type of sander?

3)Wet sand hulls and seal with Vertglass. What grit sequence?

I appreciate everyones help in keeping me from getting carried away! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Grit sequence is a slightly debated topic--just do a search on sanding and you'll see. As I said earlier, wet-sanding with 600/1000/1500/2000 is what I did, although some say that the 2000 is a waste of time. (Heck, some say that anything over 600 isn't necessary, but I think that's bonkers.) The 600 should work to feather the edges on the gelcoat, too, although you could back down to 400. Don't get too aggressive there w/ a coarse grit or you'll risk eating up the old gelcoat that you're trying to blend with.

As for the type of sander, it's called a hand. A powered sander is way too aggressive, and you don't want to take off any more than is needed.

Hey, have fun. I did, and I was admiring my shiny hulls just this afternoon as I was getting ready to leave my driveway. I think you'll be more than happy with the results.