Cost effective painting
 

Hey guys I just got a 1972 19' project Mako. Trying to find the most cost effective way to paint the hull and deck. Any suggestions on paint and primer?

There are many paints out there that would work but an suggestion for a ez to work with paint that self levels that goes on good sprayed or rolled and tipped would be Interlux perfection line. I have used it on a few different hulls spraying it and rolling it and it seems to come out nice no matter how you do it. Awl Grip and such takes a technique to spray with a tack coat sprayed down first plus respirators are needed. Interlux has 2000e epoxy primer that works well for below the water line and they have a pre paint primer that wet blocks well too. Their water tight epoxy 2 part glaze works well for filling in imperfections. It is not super cheap but most first time painters have good luck with it. I like it as it is hard to mess up applying. Im sure SHINE up here who mods this site can help you out as well. He gives members good deals on his products as well. You can go wrong long as you get a good quality marine paint. Stay away from the big box store stuff.

I'm totally a novice who has great results ( luck! ). But, I have painted (3) boats;

The real 'price' in painting is the amount of time you will spend prepping for paint. All that filling and sanding to make a smooth, unblemished surface, ready for paint - you'll definitely not want to use anything but the BEST, paint you can afford.

I have sprayed and rolled/ tipped Awlgrip - both with excellent results ( I've sprayed Awlcraft 2000 as well ). If you have a good compressor for the job, buy a cheap spray gun ( if you're the kind of guy who gets good results with using a spray paint can, you can spray ! ). All the tech stuff, the guys on the board can help you with, i.e. nozzle size, pressure etc. However, I have used a roller and a brush and have been very happy with those results too.

I guess my point is, you don't want to do this again anytime soon and you want the results to come out nice, so if budget is a concern, I'd wait to save up $ to do it right, with the right stuff the first time.

Good luck.

Ditto what abl111 wrote.

I'm also an amateur but Have had good luck spraying my last three boats.Ive used Sherwin williams (automotive division) Sunfire and Epifanes two part urethane.
The sunfire is best when sprayed and its recommended that you use an air supplied respirator as its high in isocyonates. It has a very high shine and its a incredibly durable and is used on fleet trucks, aircraft etc.
The Epifanes works great either rolled and tipped or sprayed, its a two part catalyst cured urethane that also is extremely tough with a very high gloss.I used it on my 23 Tsunami.It been over eight years now and it still looks great.

Im doing a little 17' aluminum starcraft over now and am going to roll and tip it with the interlux perfection, the mix ratio of catalyst to paint is a simple one and they have large supply of pre mixed colors available.
As mentioned by others the end result is due in large part to the time you take doing the prep work.Interlux has a pretty good site with details on their products which ones to use and how to use them

Can an amateur achieve the same results as a pro? Probably not, but if you use the right paint and pay attention to details and do your prep work you'll be surprised how nice it will look. Good luck

Good point, Prep Prep Prep. That's the name of the game. 95% is prep work and the other 5% is spraying/rolling. I prefer to spray my self but think you cant go wrong if you do the prep right. Take a water hose and wet the boat down after fairing it out. IF you see ANY mistakes or imperfections then they will be worse once painted. The more times you block it down in primer the nicer it will be done when finished. I think on my 20 hull I blocked it down 5 or 6 times just to get all the print threw of the roven lay up to go away. The ones that have been in the sun will have bad print threw. Don't be afraid to buy plenty of sand paper and change it out often. Cost a little more but will save your arms latter....

Also stay away from the single part paints. The 2 part urethane or polyurethane paints are far superior

Signature Finish paint is basically SW Sunfire. I've bought the thinner ("Flow Fluid") for it at the local SW store where owner Tom buys all his stuff. Difference is that Tom can mix up any color you want and will only sell you the quantity you need so you don't have to buy it in quarts. It's also the only urethane I know of that will hold up below the waterline! He mixed the green and ivory colored paints I used on the bottom to match my Sunbrella canvas and the boat's gel coat. Tom painted his pool with it and it's worked fine on the bottom of my boat for 7 years, having been in the water for as long as 2 weeks at a time. Unlike Awlgrip, it's also easily repairable, so can be touched up, compounded and buffed just like gel coat. I think this is a big deal for a boat that is actually used a lot!

As Bigeasy says, you probably need an air supply type respirator if spraying it, but I've rolled and tipped it just using a good 3M NIOSH approved respirator bought at a professional paint store. (They advised keeping it in a ziplock bag when not using to preserve the effectiveness of the carbon filters!)

I had really good luck spraying my Mercury cowlings with Engineered Marine Coatings line of Quantum paint. Never sprayed anything before and they came out pretty good.

EMC also sells a do it yourself kit (paint, rollers, etc) that shows you how to roll and tip their paint. It is called a "Genius Bucket"

That`s pretty funny.
They`ve never seen me paint before.