I didn't prime. I used a foam roller and tipped it with a cheapo foam brush. Came out awesome.
only matters on a boat that is left in the water long term. It works great on sunfish hulls.Rustoleum Topside says to use it above the waterline. Does it work as well on the hull?
Holy crap! That's a sexy boat!
I want it glossy and good looking like the bottom.
Did you guys who rolled it on thin it with anything? I did the first coat of Topside over the primer and it did not turn out well at all. The paint went on thick and was hard to spread out with the roller. Tipping didn't seem to improve the situation. end result is not glossy at all. Some areas are so tough it actually looks like nonskid. LOL
Does anyone know if you can paint a polyurethane paint like brightside over it once it is hard or will I need to strip it all off down to bare gelcoat and start over?
I had that problem with spraying to the point my first coat of primer came out like a splotchy 'orange peel' drywall finish due to lack of appropriate thinning - i was discouraged but eventually sanded it down mechanically a week later after my wounded ego was repaired and my ambition was back.
I think i ultimately found that 25% to 30% thinning with xylene worked the best for my sprayer, but you have to test test test your mixture to make sure its not too runny. i'm sure that a lower percentage would work with a roller - the can says something like 15% - i'd start there. and i cannot stress enough that paint will reveal any imperfections in your substrate, so faring and sanding make all the difference before you apply paint. i can say from experience that you can sand down what you messed up so far - i used a $14 el-cheapo palm sander and successively finer grades of sandpaper until i fixed my screw up. oh, and use a mask.
the end result when you get rustoleum right is shiny but not super shiny, but it gets real reflective and beads beautifully when wet - i'll see if i can dig up a picture - you'll love it if you take the time.
I used Rustoleum on the deck. After the first coat of primer I waited 24 hours. Temp was in the mid 60's. But I learned to do the coats early in the morning, before it warmed up too much. After the paint was no longer tacky, I set the boat out in the sunshine until sundown. I also tried to keep the coats on the thin side. A power sander between each coat with 220 made the sanding go a lot faster. After one primer coat and two top coats, I was ready to put on the stripes. I used another paint on the bottom, but I prefer the Rustoleum Topcoat - lower price, available at Lowes and seemed easier to use.
Does anyone know if you can paint a polyurethane paint like brightside over it once it is hard or will I need to strip it all off down to bare gelcoat and start over?
IMHO paint can be more trouble than it is worth. It looks good when fresh,but can scratch, and it does not look so good. Also, if you do paint, I strongly suggest painting the deck a lighter shade. That darker blue boat with the white stripe further up this chain looks great, but on a sunny day, that deck is going to be HOT, HOT, HOT!!
Too thick. I learned my lesson. Thin one quart with 5 oz zylene and using an hvlp gun with 30# at the gun lay on thin coats ,24 hrs between and I use 320 by hand between coats, then 800, 1200, 2000 and mcGuires 105 on a random,orbital to finish. Perfection.Those of you who have used this stuff to paint a Sunfish, how long did you have to let the paint to dry before using the boat? I painted some on a scrap of plywood I had in the shop to test it and see what it looked like. That was nearly a week ago and it is still not fully hard yet.
I am thinking about just hitting the fiberglass patches with a rattle can and waiting until next fall to paint it so it can dry all winter.
I wouldn’t paint the Phantom- looks like it cleaned up nicely!All this has me re-thinking whether or not to paint my Phantom. I only paid $125 for the boat and the trailer. I put new tires and lights on the trailer, new sail, halyard and main sheet and rachet block (the block was free). This year I have a daggerboard that was actually made for a Phantom (thanks to sailcraftri). I had to make some repairs, so not counting my time, I have less than $450 invested. Before and after pictures, no paint involved.View attachment 9392View attachment 9393
That was posted 8 years ago - wonder what he did?I wouldn’t paint the Phantom- looks like it cleaned up nicely!
Perfect reply, mixmkr!Watching paint dry??