Questions on painting laser.

S

SINTO

New Member
okay, I'm a bit lost. I just joined up and am not sure where to post a question. Also not finding answers scrolling through old messages. I'm wishing to paint my Laser, hull and top. It's an '81, all white, but I'd like to two tone the hull with red and white. My questions are, what shades of red and white are standard Laser colors, where can I get replacement decals, any typical measurement down from the gunwale to end the red. I've also seen pics. of transom two toned and not. I'm not intentionally trying to make it look like a year that it is not, Ive had to do some rapairs, deck is pretty rough, and I'd like to brighten it up a bit. And my last question would be how much paint would the white/red take each assuming I use a 2 part polyurethane. Please forgive my ignorance and direct me to a different thread or area I should be posting a question. Thanks. Also (I can imagine some people cringing here) I've never painted with a sprayer before. Any helpful advice is much appreciated. I've got a stack of books from the library, I read well, learn fast and spray paint with cans fantastically. I've got an upright oil-less compressor and have not purchased a sprayer yet. I'll of course practice on my old canoe first which I repaired after a tree fell on it. Thanks for any input, anxious to get the Laser ready for the water, I feel spring coming on finally.
 
Welcome to the forum, SINTO. You've posted in the correct section, Laser Sailing. To create your own thread, look on the upper left hand side of the list of threads to find New Thread and click on that. Good luck and feel free to ask more questions about how to use TLF.
 
Hey Sinto. Welcom to the Forum. As for how much paint you will need, if your doing a two tone, I don't know if you plan on doing it white with a red boot stripe, or vesa versa. But you should not need more then a quat kit of each. to my knowledge that is the smallest that you can buy. Remeber, in a two part poly like awlgrip (which is really a three part, but I never use the reducer except for clean up, but laquer thinner works fine) you get almost two quarts out of one. and a little goes a long way. If this is your first time spraying, you are smart to pratice on something else. the only advice that I can give you is to buy a good sprayer and make sure you compressor is up to the task. Usually thre coats will cover, but four is always better. Make sure that each coat tacks up before spraying the next coat or esle you're going to get runs. Any other questions, just shoot an email.

Good luck
 
Does anyone know the best inspection port to order. Need to do maststep repair. I can't seem to find white 6" with bag in USA anywhere. Accept Beckson, but read a bad review about trouble unscrewing lid once mounted. Any USA stores for RWO or other quality port manufacturers?
 
Thanks for the help, I'm going to get right on it. Good to hear about the coverage also. I've got a quart of Cloud white and a quart of Claret Red coming.
 
Not sure if you meant the ports or the paint, but the ports I was thinking of one behind the mast off of center 10" away for mast repair and easy access to it for storage. The other I thought beside dagger board slot. I've read about people putting thier knee through it but I have very little experience on the boat so I figure I wouldn't adopt that habit. The boat will be white with claret red boot stripe (I guess you call it). I'm second guessing putting the storage bags in even, if they prevent it from airing out (not sure how those go in yet). I'm really wanting to keep it as dry as possible as it has had water in it for years with only the drain plug airing it. I'll post pics of my mast head repair and 1st attempt with a spray gun. Should be total chaos. May take a few weeks. Thanks again.
 
yeah, I meant the ports. thats a good idea, putting it next to the mast. the bags just drop in, some have a 1/4 twist lock, but you can take them all out easily.
 
I just finished total laser restoration and the last step of gluing down inspection ports with 3m 5200 and was wondering if anyone is familiar with that stuff as far as reuse. I bought the whole caulk tube, barely used any on the 2 ports and have 2 more ports I'd like to put on our two Sunfish (1 ours, 1 friends). I won't be able to get to that for a week or more. The tube says use all within 24-48 hours. I wrapped the tip with latex glove tight and taped, will I be able to use the rest of the tube. It's the shipping cost on all this stuff that's killin' me of course.
Incedently, I promised pictures but it may be just a little while longer, as I am living out in the sticks and only have dial up available. The painting went well and now I'm redubbing the boat "The Bobber", being red and white. I'll send pictures and story soon.
 
5200 is a bad sealant choice for access ports. Silicone...plain old 100% silicone works better...Why?? The 5200 attacks the plastic on the ring and weakens it a lot. Be careful about pushing down on that port you installed. The thread and lid may just push right through.
 
Yikes!! Painting a laser!! That sounds awful....the beauty of fiberglass is that it can be refinished....I would wet sand starting at like 600 or less depending on the amount of oxidation on the hull. Use a flexible sander plate to mount the paper too. (never used a electric one before could work with a high quality sander, a bad orbital would elave swirl marks!) Wet sand up to 1200 grit, then use a polishing compound. Don't sand soo much that you have dark spots coming through (thats the fiberglass underneath the gelcoat!!) Finish off with 3m teflon wax and your boat will look better then new!!
 
CR1506 said:
Yikes!! Painting a laser!! That sounds awful....the beauty of fiberglass is that it can be refinished....I would wet sand starting at like 600 or less depending on the amount of oxidation on the hull. Use a flexible sander plate to mount the paper too. (never used a electric one before could work with a high quality sander, a bad orbital would elave swirl marks!) Wet sand up to 1200 grit, then use a polishing compound. Don't sand soo much that you have dark spots coming through (thats the fiberglass underneath the gelcoat!!) Finish off with 3m teflon wax and your boat will look better then new!!
Click to expand...

That was my thought. Do you want it to look pretty or go fast? I would think that wet sanded fiberglass would be faster than paint.
 
Paint was done due to extensive repair to shredded gunwall, mast head repair, many general yellow patches from previous epoxy repairs and (seeing as how this boat would practically sink within 20 min. of use) I felt I couldn't do it any worse. Plus I really wanted to learn how to do the repairs and painting. All went well, some things I would do different next time. This Laser is just my first small step on my way to bigger sailboats with probably more repair work than I can shake a paint stick at. I do regret painting the non-slip a glossy white, I'd have prefered a darker and much duller finish.
 
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