Our boat is over 20 years old. The hull is blue and has scrapes and chips all over her sides. Time to patch and repaint her. I want to match the same color as previous. Any suggestions on the kind of paint and brand that we can purchase? Can we spray it or should it be rolled on? It's is an old boat that our group races on and it just needs to be made to look pretty again. Thanks
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homework
The painter at a good yard can probably tell you what color was used on your boat before, and because of that, the brand. You can also get sample sheets for Awlgrip, Imron, and Interlux (the three most lilkely culprits) and see for yourself. You poke out the hole in the middle of the suspect color and hold it against the hull to find out if it really matches. Some fading will have to be taken into account, of course. After rolling our deck myself, we opted to have our hull sprayed professionallly. Others in our harbor have rolled, or rolled & tipped their own hulls with acceptable results, though. Depends how much time and/or money you have to resolve the problem.
The painter at a good yard can probably tell you what color was used on your boat before, and because of that, the brand. You can also get sample sheets for Awlgrip, Imron, and Interlux (the three most lilkely culprits) and see for yourself. You poke out the hole in the middle of the suspect color and hold it against the hull to find out if it really matches. Some fading will have to be taken into account, of course. After rolling our deck myself, we opted to have our hull sprayed professionallly. Others in our harbor have rolled, or rolled & tipped their own hulls with acceptable results, though. Depends how much time and/or money you have to resolve the problem.
Computers
I am not an expert on painting hulls, though I did have extensive repairs done to my old Irwin after it was damaged in a storn. The work was professionally done. They took a small piece of the damaged hull and sent it to a company who computer matched it and sent back a can of, I guess, gel coat. A quart of this stuff was about $75, but the results were stunning. I did use this stuff on another, much, smaller repair doing the work myself and the outcome was quite good. I wish I could give you more info on this, but maybe someone out there will follow up.
I am not an expert on painting hulls, though I did have extensive repairs done to my old Irwin after it was damaged in a storn. The work was professionally done. They took a small piece of the damaged hull and sent it to a company who computer matched it and sent back a can of, I guess, gel coat. A quart of this stuff was about $75, but the results were stunning. I did use this stuff on another, much, smaller repair doing the work myself and the outcome was quite good. I wish I could give you more info on this, but maybe someone out there will follow up.
Spray or Roll and tip?
You can spray or roll and tip. How large a boat is it? The bigger the boat, the bigger the job. Are you doing the work yourself? Are you trying to match the current color or are you going to do a total repaint? Rolling and tipping is great on light colors, but shows up all of the flaws on dark colors. Prep work is most important. Sanding, sanding and more sanding. Then sand. Larry Wilson
You can spray or roll and tip. How large a boat is it? The bigger the boat, the bigger the job. Are you doing the work yourself? Are you trying to match the current color or are you going to do a total repaint? Rolling and tipping is great on light colors, but shows up all of the flaws on dark colors. Prep work is most important. Sanding, sanding and more sanding. Then sand. Larry Wilson
Hull paint
As Larry mentioned, prep is key. However, before any sanding I usually wash it down to remove any salt residue then when it's dry I go over the entire hull with a de-waxer solvent to remove any wax or contaminants. Spraying should be done by someone with experience as a rookie with a spray gun can take a paint job south very quickly requiring hours of rework. Roll and tip is the easiest for rookies to master and achieve a decent finish. Without seeing the boat it's virtually impossible to give any info on a color match. Usually, once I see a customers boat I can then determine where to start looking for a color match. Whatever paint you decide to use be sure to follow the manufacturers recommendations for products and their use. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
As Larry mentioned, prep is key. However, before any sanding I usually wash it down to remove any salt residue then when it's dry I go over the entire hull with a de-waxer solvent to remove any wax or contaminants. Spraying should be done by someone with experience as a rookie with a spray gun can take a paint job south very quickly requiring hours of rework. Roll and tip is the easiest for rookies to master and achieve a decent finish. Without seeing the boat it's virtually impossible to give any info on a color match. Usually, once I see a customers boat I can then determine where to start looking for a color match. Whatever paint you decide to use be sure to follow the manufacturers recommendations for products and their use. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
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