Paint Vs. Gel-coat

[FELLOW-SHIP]

GEL COAT IS A SOFTER MATERIAL THEN SOME OF THESE PAINTS THUS IT CAN BE SCARRED UP AND CHIPPED EASIER BUT IT ALSO CAN BE REPAIRING VERY EASY AS WELL ESPECIALLY FOR SMALL REPAIR JOBS. I WOULDN’T WANT TO TRY TO MATCH A COLLARED HULL THOUGH I THINK THAT WOULD BE VERY HARD TO GET IT WRIGHT. PLUS THERE USUALLY IS A DIFFERENCE IN SHEEN AFTER THE REPAIR JOB IS COMPLETED AS FOR PAINT USUALLY THAT IS NOT AS MUCH A PROBLEM. AS FOR COST GEL COAT AND POLYESTER RESIN IS THE CHEAPEST WAY TO GO. AS FOR STRENGTH EPOXY IS YOUR BEST CHOICE BUT THEN YOU WILL ALSO SPEND A LOT MORE $$$ ON PAINT. I THINK THE BOTTOM LINE IS WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR AND WANTING OUT OF YOUR BOAT WORK. THERE IS NO ONE BEST WAY FOR EVERYONE ALL THOUGH FOR ME PERSONALLY I THINK I MADE THE BEST DECISIONS FOR MY BOAT.
FELLOW-SHIP [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[Trayder]

Hello guys- I wrote this on another board a while back:

I have re-gelcoated 3 boats and will be doing a 4th this spring, my 20 ftr. I will share with you what has worked for me.
Depending one where you purchase your Gel-Coat, it is NOT more expensive than Awl-Grip or Imron. The last boat I did, A Mako 19, a Gel Coat jobwas 1/8 the price of an Awl-Grip job (doing it myself)

Granted we used plain white gel-coat.

The prep work was easy.

1. Sand to original gel-coat (if previously painted), fill cracks dings etc with a polyester based filler or resin.(some say you can use Epoxy, just get rid of the ameine(SP??) blush.

2. Sand entire hull with 80 grit sand paper. Make sure you keep the sander flat against hull.

3. Wash hull with Acetone Tape boat. Trailer etc

4. Figure your working time with the gel-coat. Mix enough Acetone into the gel-coat so it will pass through your sprayer. I add the following way in a 2 quart mixing pail:

1: Add Gel-Coat
2: Add reqd' amt of MEKP
3: Thin with Acetone
4: Mix Thoroughly

Mix a small batch and time how long it takes to kick. REMEMBER this time. Temps Humidity, etc change things.

5. Mix a batch and begin spraying/rolling. Stop 1 min before the kick time and run to a waiting batch of ACETONE. Empty sprayer and douse everything with acetone, run acetone through sprayer assuring nothing will cure in sprayer.(VERY IMPORTANT)

6. While cleaning have someone mix another batch and begin spraying / rolling again.

7. Do this process until the boat is cover to 22mils of Gel. Took 3 coats on a Mako 19 using 1 gallon of gel coat.

Now the hard part:

The boat will now look terrible depending on your spraying skills, all orange peel, some runs etc. I am not a skilled sprayer so your skills may be better. Do not fret if it looks bad. The beautifying stage with gel-coat comes last. (for me at least)

1. For white/light color boats: rum Dye-Kem over the entire hull. Dye-Kem is a blue dye used when cutting sheet metals.

2. Begin sanding, making sure you keep the sander flat against the hull. Begin with a grit you feel comfortable with, do not cut too much. Some start with 120 other 100 and some 80 grit.

3. Stop and move to next section when the blue dye disappears. The blue dye shows the peaks and valleys so when it is all white you know to stop.

4. Switch grits up to desired finish, some 1000 others 1500 2000 etc.

5. Compound entire hull and wax.

Thinking about it,Gel coat is more expensive for a professional job as it is labor intensive. Material wise I have found it to be much less expensive.

1. Gal of Gel-coat w/ MEKP plus wax additive $50.00 From LBI Fiberglass

2. Acetone LOTS OF IT!!! $30-50

I am sure there are other ways of doing this process. This is the way that works for me. I have yet to roll gel-coat but plan on doing rolling the next boat.

Good Luck

[Trayder]

As for durability, I do not think Gel-coat is much softer than any two part paint.

However, you will not have to wax a two part paint finish for it to shine, the shine will last for 10 years

You will have to wax gel-coat at least annually for it to last.

[Scott]

FellowShip sums it all up with the statement there is not a method that is better than the other.....I'm also between paint and Gel Coat after Jason’s success.....but there are lots of variables to doing it .... I want a colored hull, and of course not a stock color, I would think that gets a little tricky with Gel coat unless your going with a stock color ....to custom mix the gel coat to the same color for each batch/phase of the job seems like it would be challenging..I don’t want the hull to have five different shades of the same color ….. SO I should be simple and go white !!!! Paint ...you give the paint manufacturer a color swath of what you want and that’s what you get....

I've talked with someone about applying Gel coat and they said its best to be sprayed to get good results...or else your sanding the hull for awhile getting out the orange peel (spraying lays the gel coat on more evenly and not as bad an orange peel result) and bottom line when I asked about Rolling and Tipping gel coat I didn’t get the greatest of receptions…anyone tried to roll and tip Gel coat??? (i.e. you need a compressor and spray gun, you need to keep the spray gun clear and clean (I think I heard that from Jason) and I may be wrong but I seem to recall my buddy Brian saying , the gun isn’t your normal gun you pick up at the local tool warehouse variety, But then again the day I talked to him about this he had his head in a mold all morning [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ) ….The nice thing is you sand, compound and buff till you get the desired finish….How much sanding …… depends on how well the Gel coat went on

EBEACH ...You’ve stirred my interest… is that $4 sprayer appropriate to spray an entire boat? .....
I've finally tried roll and tip paint(on a panel I'm not going to use anymore) and it works, but talk to me after I start doing some real big surfaces…..Ummm ….Fellow-Ship ….feel like coming up north for a few days [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] (I hope I get the same result on the hull!!!)

Gel coat will require maintenance.... Waxing and at some point compounding to keep up the lusted that is seen after its first applied ... the paints are said to be self maintaining (although I have seen a polishing product for use on Awlgrip finishes)

Repairing scratches and the sort....matching gel coat color is an art...guys around here get big bucks to fix chips in glass .... but the end result is flawless.....Paints (well some of them at least) are more easy to repair, sand and buff up to match the surrounding surfaces (so I've been told by several painters in my search for a finish) I have heard that some Awlgrip colors (and I would think this applies to all paints) can be difficult to match due to color lot changes....some colors match easier than others

The thing that really has my attention is that very few yards offer Gel coat and everyone offers paint...small repairs with gel coat are fine ...whole boats, at least where I've been, doesn’t seem to be an option....LOTS OF LABOR …..EQUAL BIG BIG BUCKS

The hull I might consider Gel coating ….... with the big flat surfaces and lots of power tools…. but getting the color I want has me concerned .... Truthfully I wouldn’t want to sand the inside of my boat to the degree of getting the mirror finish with all the corners and edges and planked deck etc etc……. talk about labor ….yikes !!!!!

Ok so now we need the GURU of GEL coating to speak…..OH TRAYDER !!!!!! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[ February 05, 2003, 01:17 PM: Message edited by: Scott ]

[Scott]

Ummmmm.......OK... SO I totally missed your post some how.....

I GUESS I'M SNIFFIN' TO MUCH POLY-RESIN [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Finster]

Anyone ever use that interlux interspray 800? I shot a boat once with that and it came out real nice, tough as nails. Not quite imron, but a hell of a lot safer.

[Scott]

Finster....I've seen two boats sprayed with it .... AWESOME LOOKING FINISH .....BUT.. a yard that used both Interlux and Awlgrip said Awlgrip was the way to go ..... for reasons not explained to me....

I have heard that Interspray is easy to roll and easy to repair and get real good results