I filled some voids and small holes in my O'Day 302 last week with a polyester resin/putty. It appears to have worked well - we'll see after it's fully cured. Thanks to those of you who helped me out with the question of what to use last week. Here's my question: should I put gelcoat over the patches or should I just paint it? None of the four areas are much bigger than a quarter or half dollar in size (for those of us old enough to remember what a half-dollar coin was like). And, to complicate it a bit, two of the four areas cover an area with two different original colors (light and dark gray). To match the original, I'll want to put on two different colors on the patch. Can you "paint on" gelcoat and keep the two colors separate? Would gelcoat be the preferred finish (I think I can get the right color(s) from Rudy at D&R) Or can I just paint it with some model paint and then wax it to protect it? Thanks to all for your help and wisdom.
Gelcoat or Paint?
- Thread starter Steve L22188
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You can paint gel coat with out problem if there
is no wax present. Gel coat won't stick to wax either. For what it is worth, polyester resin is cured within a few hours of mixing. If you plan to gel coat you must allow for the thickness of the gel coat on the patch or else you get a little hump.
is no wax present. Gel coat won't stick to wax either. For what it is worth, polyester resin is cured within a few hours of mixing. If you plan to gel coat you must allow for the thickness of the gel coat on the patch or else you get a little hump.
Try to 'color match' the gelcoat ....
Once you paint a boat the value goes down considerably. You can 'paint' gelcoat with gelcoat although the best is to spray the gelcoat. You take a plastic or glass plate and put a 'dallop' of gelcoat/resin on the plate and with a spatula add teeny amount of color until you get the exact color 'match' .... then add hardner and spread/spray. Then let fully cure then wet-sand flush to the original surface with 320 ----> 400 ---> 600 --->1000 --->1300----2000 grit paper until the whole area is FLAT, then power buff with fiberglass compound (with a knobby foam pad buffing disc) then 3M Finese-it, then 3M Perfect-it .... and the shine should match perfectly. And then you may want to power-buff the entire hull to restore it back to 'showroom new' condition. There is NO marine paint on the planet that has the durability of gelcoat. There are gelcoat 'artists' that can usually repair such to perfection ... search one out and get a quote.
Once you paint a boat the value goes down considerably. You can 'paint' gelcoat with gelcoat although the best is to spray the gelcoat. You take a plastic or glass plate and put a 'dallop' of gelcoat/resin on the plate and with a spatula add teeny amount of color until you get the exact color 'match' .... then add hardner and spread/spray. Then let fully cure then wet-sand flush to the original surface with 320 ----> 400 ---> 600 --->1000 --->1300----2000 grit paper until the whole area is FLAT, then power buff with fiberglass compound (with a knobby foam pad buffing disc) then 3M Finese-it, then 3M Perfect-it .... and the shine should match perfectly. And then you may want to power-buff the entire hull to restore it back to 'showroom new' condition. There is NO marine paint on the planet that has the durability of gelcoat. There are gelcoat 'artists' that can usually repair such to perfection ... search one out and get a quote.
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