How to finish topside paint application

Status
Not open for further replies.

Joe

.
Jun 1, 2004
7,999
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
I have finished painting my Nacra beach cat hulls with Interlux Brightside... Now I need some opinions on the final finish...

Some of the suggestions so far:
1. do nothing after final coat
2. wet sand with 1500, then buff and wax
3. spray on a clear coat, sand buff wax...

If I sprayed on a clear coat it would be the aerosol can variety purchased at auto supply stores... is that cool? Or do I need to purchase marine specific clear coat product... and can it be rolled on?

All comments are appreciated....
 

Ted

.
Jan 26, 2005
1,254
C&C 110 Bay Shore, Long Island, NY
How to finish topside paint

I have used Brightside to paint a bootstripe. The initial application was applied with a foam roller then tipped with a good quality brush. The paint laid out very nicely when thinned with 5% of the recommended thinner and I was happy with the results. The following season while I was compounding the topsides, I gently ran the buffer over the bootstrip paint and was amazed at the results. The compound removed any minor high spots left by the tipping process. Last season I touched up some scrapes in the bootstripe by applying the paint with a Preval sprayer. After the paint dried, I wet sanded and compounded the repaired area. It blended in perfectly with the original paint. So, my recommendation would be to wet sand lightly to remove major imperfections and compound afterwards. Wax will help protect the finish but isn't necessary as the paint will have a very high gloss after compounding. Just make sure you have enough paint on the hull before you start the process as you may be removing one coat in the process. Brightside is very easy to touch up. I would think that adding a clear coat would make subsequent repairs difficult to blend.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.