Gelcoat questions

[abl1111]

I want to spray some gelcoat on a few spots on my 23' '75 Tsunami.

A few questions:

Should I use duratec with primer ? Never used it - any pointers ?

What size orifice, pressure at gun ?

Anyone have a basic starting point for mixing the SeaCraft gelcoat color. I know that there are many variables for exactness, but what are the main colors to mix with white and how many drops per oz of gelcoat - just to get me in the ballpark.

Thx.

[gofastsandman]

The tint looks like French`s mustard. Careful. I`m not the source for great bodywork or fairing.

Still can`t do that well,
GFS
Buy from a glass shop or it may be old. Some folks like US composites.

[abl1111]

The tint is Frenchs mustard ?

Hmmm ? Can anyone elaborate ?

[Rondo]

You can get an exact match of your gelcoat from mini-craft of Florida. they have gelcoat for seacraft by model year. I have shot gelcoat for small repairs using a Preval sprayer. I have used it with duratec, using 50% gelcoat and 50% duratec. I have also sprayed gelcoat thinned about 15 to 20% with styrene and 1% wax. Both worked out well. remember to sand and clean the area first, and spray from the center of your repair out. Spray light coats, let them flash a little and respray until you are satisfied with the thickness. Let dry, then, sand the repair carefully. wet a cloth with some acetone and spray some black lacquer on it and wipe it lightly over the repaired gelcoat. Sand with your coarsest paper (for small repairs I use 150 grit ) until you clear off the lacquer. Repeat the process using progessively finer grits, but make sure that all of the orange peel is gone before you get to to them. I typically use 150 or 180, 220, 400, 600 , 1000 and 1500 and finish up with compund and polish. The Preval sprayer, which you can buy at Home Depot for about $5, has worked well for me. I have also used an E&S 100 spraygun with a 3/16 tip for larger areas. I hope that this helps, and I wish you good luck with your repairs.

[gofastsandman]

Originally Posted by abl1111

The tint is Frenchs mustard ?

Hmmm ? Can anyone elaborate ?

Yellow iron oxide is the color. Looks like mustard.

You`ve gotten better advice.

[abl1111]

Thx guys ! Got what I was looking for !

I have one of those Preval things but never used it. Maybe I'll play around with it, as there are few small areas that need some attention.

Never shot gelcoat, just a good amount of Awlgrip and Awlcraft. I've heard about Duratec being a great way to have the gelcoat shoot more like paint. Might give it a 'shot'...

[strick]

Are you talking about duratec high gloss additive? http://www.fibreglast.com/product/du...-coat-additive I have never sprayed it but rolled my bilge with it and it still looks good after 4 years. Another good product that many of the pros use that might be better then the duratec...never used it either but might be worth checking out. http://www.ferro.com/Our+Products/Sp...ch+booster.htm

strick

[abl1111]

Thx Strick for the info.

A buddy of mine used to do a lot of spraying and used Duratec. He sprayed my transom with gelcoat/duratec and after some sanding and compounding it looked NEW. Still does.

For lack of knowing anything else out there, I referenced Duratec - but I like the other product you linked.

I love the look that a paint like awlgrip gives, just re-did a sailboat with it, but IMO, you can't beat gelcoat - even though it's a hassle to get the great shine that Awlgrip gives immediately, the theory of blending gelcoat vs Awlgrip ( or Awlcraft 2000 ) just seems more logical.

Thanks again -