Laser gelcoat colour

[ewen shackel]

hi all
I have a large spot of damage on the front of my laser and am repairing it.
however I can not find any information as to which colour will match a laser with the sail number 126308.
and as to were is best to buy the correct colour gel coat from
any help would be most appreciated.
many thanks
Ewen

 

[Wavedancer]

With a hull that old (faded color, etc.), it's probably best to concoct your own from a gelcoat kit that includes pigments. You mix up a little batch and apply it on a relatively inconspicuous spot and let it harden. If the match isn't what you want, you can reformulate your mix and try again.

 

[andyatos]

Here's a really nice tutorial on getting a gelcoat repair color to match the existing gelcoat color on your boat. Here's Part 1. And here's Part 2... where he actually does it.

And a great tip I heard from our own Voodoo was to use a piece of rigid clear plastic to do your mix testing on. You then just take the clear plastic and hold it over the area right next to where you are going to do your repair until your mixing tests perfectly match your existing gelcoat on your boat.

Also, it's a good idea to thoroughly clean and scrub the existing gelcoat around your repair before you mix up a match. That's because an old, oxidized gelcoat surface will be a slightly different color than the true gelcoat color underneath it.

- Andy