Re-Gellcoating

Mike94

New Member
at the end of this season or in the next month i plan on re-gellcoating my laser and fixing up some fiberglass damage on the gunnel, i was wondering on some tips for doing it to get some of the best results, i have never done it before
 
Do you have a spray booth, or at least some kind of spray-painting equipment?

If you are familiar with spray painting, spraying gelcoat isn't much different. If you can't spray it, I'd suggesting having the job done somewhere that can. I've rolled gelcoat onto a number of boats, and the effect has been universally mediocre (which was fine for those situations). Depending on the condition of the boat, I might roll gelcoat on the deck, but if you're working on the hull, I don't think you would be happy with anything but spraying.

Having said that, I've heard of people applying a variety of paints with a roller, followed by "tipping" the surface with a brush to smooth out the coating. I've never done it myself, but I'll be very interested in hearing about other people's experience with that or other techniques (I need to do some patching on my Laser's deck this winter...).

Cheers,

Geoff S.
DN US-5156/Laser 145234/Renegade 510
 
I actually restore Lasers for a hobby, and I've set up a shop in my own shed. On one boat, I used Interlux Brightside Poly Paint, (I forget the name but it's close to that) avaliable from any West Marine or Boat US. I got an ultra fine roller from The Home Depot and this actually didn't do a bad job. However, there are still tiny bumps in the surface and it is not smooth to the touch, and I wasn't too impressed by the outcome. This, however, is a fairly inexpensive solution if you are not racing. But another problem I have with this kind of paint is that if you scrath it, the original gelcaot will show through and you will have to re-pain these areas every season.

What I now do, is a lot more expensive but will come out professionally looking. I use Awlgrip and I have bought a sprayer and spray it myslef. This finish is like new. It is absolutely amazing! To do two coats over an entire boat will use up nearly a gallon, and Awlgrip sells for about $205 USD per gallon. Like I said, very expensive but like new finish.

A more practical solution will be to take your boat to a local car repair shop, hand them some Interlux Briteside paint and ask them to spray it for you.
 
Mike, if you are talking about re-gelling the whole hull, I wouldn't do it myself unless you've sprayed gelcoat before and have a good gun and good technique. The problem most people have is ending up with a poor finish (orange peel) that has to be sanded, wetsanded, and then machine buffed a couple of times before waxing. If you can find a shop in your area that has experience with spraying gel, leave the job to them.

As Mac and Geoff pointed out, painting is much more within the realm of most of us - go with a good two part poly paint (Awlgrip, Sterling, Imron) that can be rolled or sprayed on. Rolling is easier and doesn't require the investment in equipment, but the results are not as good as they are with spraying. It's usually best to have two people paint - one with the roller, the second following behind, "tipping" the edges with a brush. If you do either, invest in the best respirator you can find, the fumes from the two part polys are extremly toxic.

If the existing gelcoat isn't scratched too badly, you might consider restoring it by wetsanding - start at 220 and work up to 1200 and then machine polishing with a fine polish and finishing with something like 3M's Finesse, followed by a couple coats of wax or, if you hate waxing, consider having clear coat sprayed on - this will keep the gloss for a long time. That's for a show finish - most people racing will end up wetsanding the bottom at some point and then just polishing on occasion.


In terms of hardness (resistance to scratches), gelcoat is the hardest, Awlgrip and Sterling next, then Imron, then the less expensive paints like Brightside.
 
Well, I had a Dyer and a Whaler sprayed at a shop with Awlgrip, it came out great (I have no idea how much that would cost, the paint was free and the spraying was free, I did all the prep work), but the results where great. Just make sure its all sanded well, pre-paint prep is 90% of the battle.
 
Are you sure you need to re-gelcoat? Have you tried wet sandpapering and buffing the hull?

For fixing the gunnels, I assume you have small chips and scratches, these are easy to repair. The hardest part is matching the gelcoat color to the repair surface color. My boat has a cream/putty color. I start with white gelcoat and add some brown to make the white darker, I put a drop on the hull and compare, if its too dark I lighten until the shade is close. Then looking at the color I see the hull is yellower, so I add yellow, try a drop on the hull again and compare and see what color I need to add to get it closer. Note that brown has red in it so go easy to stay away from pink, black can be used to darken without adding red. (Clean testing drops off with a cloth with acetone)

To repair gashes when you have the color right add micro-baloon type stuff to turn your colored gelcoat to turn it into a putty, when it hardens the putty us sandable. Use the putty to fill gashes flush using a flexible putty knife. Once hardened you can wet sand (600 grit) the repair and remove excess. If its hollow after sanding you can repeat the puttying to build it up or if its almost perfect you can just use one or two coats of gelcoat with light sanding in between.

For fixing scratches, I just use gelcoat and I apply it with my finger. The I put Saran Wrap over it and smooth the gelcoat with my (cleaned) finger. The gelcoat does not stick to the Saran. Once the gelcoat has hardened you can remove the Saran and sand until all added gelcoat is gone except for the stuff in the crack. Start with 600 grit, then 1000 and 1500 and the compound and buffer to shine.

Repairs to the edge of the gunnel have a tendency to fall off when they come in contacts with things, so its sometime better to make chips bigger before fixing so there is a bigger contact area. You can use a dremel bit to grind away some material.

A few tips:

Don't forget to add catalyst (hardener) before applying gelcoat or putty.

When you mix the color start with a small batch as you may have to throw it away if you really blow it. If the color you need is very light, a teeny, teeny, teeny, drop of brown will do and anything more will be way too dark. You can dilute dark colors in white and use the diluted colors to color your batch.

When wet sanding leave a trickling hose wash your work area at all times.

Some of this may seem complicated, but don't worry too much as you can sand off anything you put on and start over, just start with a small area til you get the hang of it.
 

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