How do I paint my hull

MountainSailor

New Member
Which is better a krylon fusion finish or epoxy. I saw a post about using two part epoxy primers. Does anyone know of any good websites on how to? I recently picked up this free hull in Orange County while I was passing through. The owner had applied a few coats of interior house paint which I'm now sanding off. There seem to be alot of patches, so I'm wondering if I need a primer. I could really use some step by step instructions if they are out there. Thanks Also why would someone apply interior house paint?

John Driessen
0412071605.jpg
 
It will be interesting to see the different ideas on this one, I have just aquired a similar project boat myself. Now for me this is easy. In my working life I run and maintain large motoryachts so I am going to use the products I know, Awlgrip or Sterling linear polyuerthane whish is applied over an epoxy primer.
 
Any ideas on how I should apply the Awlgrip over the epoxy primer? I'm guessing a spray application would be best but unfortunately I do not own an air compressor or paint gun, so brushing is my only option at the moment. And where can I pickup Awlgrip on the cheap and the expoxy primer?
Thanks
 
Awlgrip can be applied with roller and brush, but you must use the correct catalyst and thinner. I have done some really nice work this way as good as spraying if not better.
 
How about using Interlux Micron to save myself a few bucks? Other forums and sailors have said it is almost as good as Awlgrip.
 
No reason why not. Just stay away from house paint :rolleyes: . I use Awlgrip in my job and lots of it so if a little goes missing............Well
 
You've certainly sanded it! What I would do:

Sand it to p80 grit to remove loose/old paint (what you're doing now)

I would use a shortish longboard to keep the hull as fair a possible, but depending on the age and condition of the hull, that may be a waste of time.
Use an electric sander if you like but keep it moving through long arcs as much as possible. There's always the tendancy to push harder in areas that won't budge, causing a very shallow scallop, that you'll see wth a gloss finish.
Again, this may not be a problem because I've seen some old boats finished in what looks like deck grip and they're still competitive.

SO, P80, vacuum and dust it off then wipe it down with acetone or spraying thinners.

Apply two rolled coats of epoxy or polyurethane two pot undercoat. Use a foam roller and thin the under coat enough so there is reduced orange peel effect. Do not apply successive coats until the first is very touch dry. If your finger comes away with paint on it, leave it another 15 mins. Too much too soon and you'll get curtains and runs.

awlcraft (the cream coloured stuff)

international perfection

or similar.

But definately two pot.

Apply a "dust coat" over the undercoat when dry. This means getting some matt black aerosol paint and spraying a misty coat over the hull. It's a sanding guide. Once the black mist is gone, you have sanded just enough paint off to make a smooth finish and no more.

Sand the undercoat coat with P180. Apply another dust coat, then sand with P220.

Dust off and wipe with acetone or thinners.

Choose your top coat. For budget use International single pot brightside and foam roller (use their brushing thinners #6) or use any two pot paint you like thinned appropriately.

That's the general idea anyway.

Bear in mind that highgloss finish will show surface imperfections clearly. Semi gloss may be better, and white semigloss will make imperfections almost invisible. High Gloss black will do the opposite.
 
Wow that was exactly the info I was looking for! Is there anything I can do to brighten up the deck. Its certainly sun faded and will have some minor gelcoat repairs when I'm done with it. If I apply a deck paint won't the textured grip turn smooth? Ok back to sanding. Only two more beers until that house paint is gone!
 
I don't have any experience trying to save laser deck grip. There are other threads here about that. Personally, i'd scrub the deck with solvent and a stiff brush to clean the grip, sand the cockpit as above, and paint a single coat of two pot paint over the whole lot.
 
If deck has not ever been painted, clean with NOSAND which is a solvent cleaner and paint without using a primer. This will not fill up the moulded non skid too much. But it maybe that a good wax is al that is needed to bring the deck back.
 
Hey thanks for all your help. Has anyone ever done a two tone paint job on their own? And if so how much harder would it be to paint if I were doing a red and white or blue and white? I'm trying to figure out the best way to get nice clean lines for that super sexy look. Help!
 
I guess what I'm wondering is what about my first primer layer. Should I just go with a straight white finish or a dark finish primer for the sides that will be red or blue since my top coats are both light and dark colors. I would really prefer blue but if the boat gets hit hard the red gelcoat underneath might show.
Also, can I just hit the whole hull with a white finish, I will be using Interlux Brightside paints since I cannot afford Awlgrip (taking donations), then paint on my blue or red sides over the white? I really hope this helps anyone else out there trying to "Pimp their Laser" New MTV show anyone?
 
What are your intentions with this boat? If you're just going to sail her for fun, then go for the paint job. Brightside does a good job, even though it does kick up some underwater turbulance that will slow you down.

If you want to race her, I'd go with gelcoat. You can get it at any Marine store... it is about $60/gallon... you need about half a gallon to do a laser. Gelcoat can get a little hairy to work with, but yields a really nice finish. Also, I think it is easier to do the two tone thing with gelcoat because you just need the last coat to be the colors you want to show. Not to mention Gelcoat has a nice shine to it!!! It is possible to spray gelcoat over your hull... using a compressor or the little disposible sprayers you can grab at any auto/marine parts store.

I would recommend gelcoat if you want a real nice finish that won't chip off as easily as paint. I'm a big fan of doing it once and nto having to do ti again. I found with my first laser, which I painted, that I was recoating the boat every season. I did an entire gelcoat bottom over this winter... it took about 2 weeks, but it looks, feels, and sails really well.

btw... if you spray the gelcoat and mix it with a 50/50 gelcoat/acetone mixture, when the acetone evaporates it will leave a texture very similar in feel to the laser stock finish. It won't have the laser pattern, but you won't have to worry about sliding off the deck when you're all the way out on a plane!!!!

Just some food for thought.....
 
So I'm finally done sanding and got some great advice from a local sailor who use to sail for North sails racing J boats. He recommended and sold me some Interlux VC-17 two part. The trick will be getting it sanded down to a 1600 grit and then buffed out. If I do decide to go for the two tone he recommended using one of the Interlux LPU top-side paint over the VC-17. I'll post a photo and maybe a sale price when its all done. Hope this helps anyone out there thinking about giving an old Laser a new life. For anyone needing a new Laser, spars, fittings or whatever checkout http://www.sailmontana.com They have prices you can't even shake a tiller at! Oh yeah and no sales tax in Montana
 
tell me, how did you manage to get a laser for free???

i want to get a crap test bed laser, there are things i want to do that arent class legal....
 
Ok so I just got done with my second coat and have to wait until tomorrow for a light sand and final coat, then sand and buff again. I think I wrote above that I used VC-17, but I actually used V127 and 128 Performance Epoxy by Interlux which is what was recommended to me. Here are a couple before and after photos
LaserPaintJob.jpg
 
I actually rolled it using four inch rollers and a foam brush around the gunnels. I was told that one quart would be way more than enough by someone who uses the V127 &128 to paint their J 24. He said he only goes through one coat on the whole thing when he sprays. Rolling definitely eats up the paint but it looks great! Think I might give it a blue two tone using an Interlux LPU.
 
I'd like to know what she weighs in at

I woulda thought that rolling on would slap on the weight, I woulda gone with spray
 
I actually had to pick it up with my roomate today and it actually felt at about weight. I spent alot of time sanding it and probably shaved off some of the weight I added when I painted it. Spraying would have been ideal, but my budget wouldn't allow me to buy an air compressor, and spray gun for the job. I would recommend spraying to anyone else who has access to equipment, but rolling seems to have worked pretty well. No bubbles or drips even. Smooth mulitple rollers work well. Unfortunately they absorb paint so some is wasted.
 
Congratulations MountainSailor, your laser looks great now!

Did I understand it well that U sand after painting as well? I thought, people only sand the old painting but not the new one. How does this thing work?

I also plan to partly repaint my laser in the summer, but I am totally unexperienced.

Now I have a red laser, and I'd like to paint it white, but only under the waterline. U know the ones that are manufactured in two colours, that's what I'd like to copy so that my laser remains red above a certain line but it will be painted white below that line.

So I'll need a hull that is originally painted in two colours and then I'll have to measure its waterline's distance from the deck in order to be able to draw the waterline of my laser. Then I'll put a sticker to my laser's waterline and paint everthing white above that.

Do You think it works in reality? Has anyone ever tried that?

How many layers do You think I need if I want to properly cover the old red painting with the new white one? When and how much do U think I have to sand?

Fortunately I'll get both a pistol and a compressor, so I'll be able to paint the boat with that... But on the other hand, I will only have an open-air place to paint, so i am a bit afraid it can cause some problems... (mosquitoes, sudden rain etc.)
 
She looks good, nice job. As to the question about application spray or roll, not much as the thickness of paint is about the same in actual fact you use about 25% more paint by spraying but most of that does not go on the job but is overspray.
 
All together the sanding took about 15-20 hours of prep, going from a 40 grit to a 100 grit, then cleaning it with an acetone to remove any grease or build up, but it would be easier on any other laser as mine had a very thick coat of interior house paint to remove and needed a couple spider crack filled and repaired.

I'm picking up a third hull this month to re-finish which needs a major deck cleaning and part of the bow re-built. I just got done with my last coat and one quart of V127-128 Interlux two part epoxy covered the old red gelcoat perfectly. You should be safe with buying just one quart especially if you are going to spray.

A two tone should work great especially if you are spraying. You would only have to cover above the waterline as there is no real need for covering up the two part epoxy. I'm looking into doing the same thing myself using the Interlux LPU as was recommended to me by the Pete at www.sailmontana.com who sailed for North Sails and now Quantum. The only problem might be giving it the black pin stripe that is very small between the red and white but not that noticable, I'm not even sure all of them have it. Let us know how it goes Oh yeah I checked out two boats one that had been sanded and one that had not using the Interlux two part. It was noticeable and the sanded J boat looked much smoother and nicer. If you aren't going to race it might be necessary.

I also painted mine outside in the open air and just had to remove one or two mosquitos and a spider and watched the weather report for the weekend. I'm pretty happy though. But I still need to sand it down again going from a 200 or 300 grit to a 600 then buffing it with Star brite premium Marine Polish with PTEF but I'm sure there are other products out there.
 

Back
Top