On my Cat 25 another owner must have painted the rudder with red bottom paint. Most of it has warn of the plastic like white rudder but a lot still shows and looks bad. Have tried everything I can think of to clean it up so I can paint it nice. Any ideas out there in do it your self sailing land?
bottom paint stain on white rudder
- Thread starter kenpa
- Start date
Depends on the paint, so where are you and what do you think they used? I suggest that it will not be easy to 'remove' considering that it's bottom paint attached to gelcoat. I agree with @jamieFL that it will need to be mechanically removed, being very careful not to damage the underlying surface. Then re-paint starting with a two-part barrier coat such as Interprotect, then going to normal bottom paint. How ugly is it really?
So not sure what paint you are going to put on the rudder. Since it is in the water, bottom paint is best for it just like the rest of the underwater structure o the boat. putting topside paint on something that sits fully submerged will result in all sorts of problems. Not to mention any build up from marine growth.
The easiest method I used to "clean" paint off of my rudders (H25 & H28) was a random orbit sander with 80 grit. I then put on Interlux 2000 barrier coat (4 coats) and 3 coats of bottom paint. I've done it twice an it always come out nice if I prep it right.
Good luck,
The easiest method I used to "clean" paint off of my rudders (H25 & H28) was a random orbit sander with 80 grit. I then put on Interlux 2000 barrier coat (4 coats) and 3 coats of bottom paint. I've done it twice an it always come out nice if I prep it right.
Good luck,
I'm not a fussy type person meaning if it looks OK then OK but bottom paint sticking up there on top section of the big rudder is not what I vision as OK. I think my best bet is to try sanding of the remaining red stuff and leave a OK nice white rudder. What do you all think. The boat is always in fresh lake water.
If you're in freshwater, there's a good chance that they used Interlux VC17, or the WM equivalent. This is much easier to remove than other types of bottom paint. Before firing up the pad sander, try wiping it with acetone or xylene on a pad of paper towels. If it comes off as a black or dark coppery finish, you may be able to just wipe it off with the solvent (much easier). Don't spread it any further on the rudder by wiping, obviously, so change rags often. Some roughing up before, by polishing lightly with a bit of fine sandpaper (over 160 grit), will make it come off easier without damaging gelcoat. Interlux used to make a stripper for that product, but it's discontinued. BTW: Acetone will slowly soften your gelcoat surface, so give in a break to re-harden every few minutes.
fixed this problem the easy way I painted the entire rudder with bottom paint I figured why not? It sits 90% in the water anyway.