I really love the look of navy blue and green above the waterline hulls. So, I decided to paint my Cherub. 25 1976 a Navy Blue, I had painted my 16' catarmaran in the past but that was several years ago and it was fiberglass on wood not gelcoat. I did alot of research and asked both West Marine and Brewers how to go about painting a gelcoat boat with minimal damage (scratches and dings). One suggested spraying then wet sanding (that now makes sense) the other suggested "Tip and Roll with a thick China bristle brush and a foam roller. I chose the easier root since I have a busy schedule and limited time. I prepared the hull with Marine-Tex and Gelcoat repair. Then I began my painting on a dry sunny day with limited wind. I used Interlux Brightside. The trouble with boat paint is that it is basically glue with color in it! It starts to dry in approx. 15 seconds but will run for ten minutes. I rolled the paint vertically and brushed it out horizontally. Much to my horror, the paint started to run so I brushed it out again, and it ran again. So I went back and brushed it out again although at this point it was starting to dry and the run became permanent. At this point it was a time issue, I couldn't very well stop as stoping would create one big dry spot (holiday in painter;s terms) with a different texture to it so I labored onward. I tried every variation, I used a different roller pan that wrung out the roller better, didn't work. I kept the brush out brush dryer so that there wasn't too much paint on the hull, that didn't work, it still ran. What am I doing wrong? What should I do now. It looks great from a distance of 15 feet but up close it look terrible. Should I go back and sand the first coat down with fine sand paper then paint it again or should I just leave it alone and make sure I never come into port. Suggestions appreciated.
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Terry Arnold
Interlux video
Interlux has a video , "HOw to Paint your Fiberglass boat." This will help with the problems you describe. I painted my H33 with the Interthane plus and ran into the same sort of problems and watched this video closeley several times. It definitely was a help. The paint is a bear for a first time amateur. Perfection is a matter of degree and it could be you as painter and seeing every imperfection that the casual onlooker may not even notice.
Interlux has a video , "HOw to Paint your Fiberglass boat." This will help with the problems you describe. I painted my H33 with the Interthane plus and ran into the same sort of problems and watched this video closeley several times. It definitely was a help. The paint is a bear for a first time amateur. Perfection is a matter of degree and it could be you as painter and seeing every imperfection that the casual onlooker may not even notice.
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Carl Foster
Vertical Brightside
Have found Brightside to be extremly user friendly.Learned from craftsman here at the yard/marina who does brush Awlgrip jobs that are almost impossible to tell from spray how to apply on vertical surfaces.First you need to sand back to smooth surface,prep is 90% of a good job.Apply horizontal,tip vertical!No sags! This also works well for varnish or any other type of brushable finish.
Have found Brightside to be extremly user friendly.Learned from craftsman here at the yard/marina who does brush Awlgrip jobs that are almost impossible to tell from spray how to apply on vertical surfaces.First you need to sand back to smooth surface,prep is 90% of a good job.Apply horizontal,tip vertical!No sags! This also works well for varnish or any other type of brushable finish.
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Ed Schenck
Another paint?
My first attempt on the cabin trunk was like your experience. I had a lot of trouble with runs with Brightside on the sides. I sanded most of that off and switched to Interlux Toplac. That paint is a big improvement over Brightside. I know that two-part is the preferred option but it is even harder to apply. For sure it takes two people. I have not seen the video but would like to. Does it talk about thickness and number of coats? Can you go really thin with multiple coats?
My first attempt on the cabin trunk was like your experience. I had a lot of trouble with runs with Brightside on the sides. I sanded most of that off and switched to Interlux Toplac. That paint is a big improvement over Brightside. I know that two-part is the preferred option but it is even harder to apply. For sure it takes two people. I have not seen the video but would like to. Does it talk about thickness and number of coats? Can you go really thin with multiple coats?
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Carl Foster
Ed-brightside
Have used brightside on all vertical surfaces above rail,cabin sides and cockpit.Below rail is sprayed Sterling. Had same problems with sags as you did until learned trick of vertical tipping.Believe me,there are no sags on my vertical surfaces and layout and gloss are super great.Really believe techniqe[sp] is more important in this context than brand of paint.
Have used brightside on all vertical surfaces above rail,cabin sides and cockpit.Below rail is sprayed Sterling. Had same problems with sags as you did until learned trick of vertical tipping.Believe me,there are no sags on my vertical surfaces and layout and gloss are super great.Really believe techniqe[sp] is more important in this context than brand of paint.
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Mark
A question for Carl Foster...
When you say "Vertical tipping", do you mean roll out paint horizontally then "tip" or brush out vertically? I'm willing to try anything, however, I would rather have any brush strokes in the direction the vessel moves. Does this create substantial up and down brush strokes, any advice helpful, thanks. Mark
When you say "Vertical tipping", do you mean roll out paint horizontally then "tip" or brush out vertically? I'm willing to try anything, however, I would rather have any brush strokes in the direction the vessel moves. Does this create substantial up and down brush strokes, any advice helpful, thanks. Mark
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Carl Foster
Mark,Brightside
Yes,roll horizontal,tip vertical.Brightside lays out["smooths"]very well.If you check,where you don't have sags on your present job,there should be very little evidence of brush marks.If you do have a lot of brush marks it is probably from your going over and over trying to stop sags.Brightside flows out very well and with vertical tipping you are done and gone before it starts to "set up",therefore no brush marks.Keep in mind,needs to start drying for brush marks to fade away,not instant deal.
Yes,roll horizontal,tip vertical.Brightside lays out["smooths"]very well.If you check,where you don't have sags on your present job,there should be very little evidence of brush marks.If you do have a lot of brush marks it is probably from your going over and over trying to stop sags.Brightside flows out very well and with vertical tipping you are done and gone before it starts to "set up",therefore no brush marks.Keep in mind,needs to start drying for brush marks to fade away,not instant deal.
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Mike
Mark, I just painted my '79 h33...
...and used Interthane Plus (two part poly). I was very satisfied with rolling and tipping. There are a few brush strokes but not many. My next go around will be with the same paint with even better results from experience. I then used Brightside for the bootstripe with terrible results. I had the same problems as you experienced. I will never use this again. Toplac by Interthane was rated tops. I may try that in the future for the stripe but will stick with the two part system for the majority of the hull. I also found the Brightside was not nearly as durable. Live and learn!
...and used Interthane Plus (two part poly). I was very satisfied with rolling and tipping. There are a few brush strokes but not many. My next go around will be with the same paint with even better results from experience. I then used Brightside for the bootstripe with terrible results. I had the same problems as you experienced. I will never use this again. Toplac by Interthane was rated tops. I may try that in the future for the stripe but will stick with the two part system for the majority of the hull. I also found the Brightside was not nearly as durable. Live and learn!
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