How much paint to buy

[stollo770]

Hello,

I have a 1979 Hunter 27 that I plan on painting when the weather warms up. The gelcoat is kind of faded and I'm sick of looking like every other white sailboat. I plan on painting the hull beneath the rub rail a dark royal blue, and repainting my non-skid deck paint with a beige non-skid deck paint. I figure it'll give my boat a new classier appearance and I'll stand out from all the other white boats (though I'll be camouflaged while at sea).

Anyways I'm pretty set with what paint I want to buy, interlux perfection two part polyurethane self leveling paint, but what I'm trying to figure out is how much of it to buy. They only sell it in quarts and I'm sure I will need gallons of it to achieve two complete coats under the rub rail. So I was wondering, to anyone who has done this before, how much paint did you use? I'm just looking to get a rough estimate so I dont needlessly buy to much paint, or perhaps worse, not buy enough.

Thanks for your help,
-stollo770

 

[Capt jgw]

You can get a rough idea of square footage by simple measurements on the hull. Measure the curve of the hull at the transom from rail to waterline and again at the bow. Average the two and multiply by length. Times two for the other side, plus width times height on the transom. Round up to account for waste and spills. The paint label should tell you the theoretical coverage per coat, and you'll probably want three or four coats if you're changing colors. The more coats you put on the deeper the color and gloss. LPU paints like Perfection go on super thin so you'll use less per coat than one part paints like Brightside.
Surface prep is the key with these paints. They are so thin and glossy they won't hide anything and will actually amplify any surface flaws. The surface must be PERFECT! Some pros add a little flattening agent to reduce the excessive gloss and make the prep easier.

 

[woodster]

how do you plan on applying the paint will determine it ....are you going to use a primer for the base coat.... ,if you use a primer use a dark grey instead of light grey..... if you spray plan on 1 and 1/2 gallons as the coverage they say on the can is never enough if polling it you may get by with a little less...but i have always found that if you dont do this everyday its better to not try to get full coverage out of their recommendations get a little more ...also study the directions on the paint product can before using it and take the information seriously

i posted a photo of me taking a photo of the paint just after i had applied it by spraying .....what you are seeing is the reflection of me in the fresh paint...

 

[stollo770]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll get some measurements this weekend to determine how much paint to get. As for the possibility of to much gloss, for me that is impossible. I want my boat to be as shiny and as glossy as possible. So shiny that people need sunglasses to look at it. And your paint looks great Woodster, so smooth and glossy. It doesn't even look like paint, but rather a blue filter you put over your camera. I hope my paint turns out like that when I am done.