puppi350

Well, just got my first boat. I am painting a 50" aeromarine sport X hydro. Can give me what grit sandpaper i should use to roughen or dull up the gelcoat and what "spray can" paint i can use. i refuse to pay money to have it sprayed, so i will do it myself. some say urethane, some enamels, some dont know. i am not handy with gelcoat paints

I have heard that Pactra spray finishes for rc lexan car bodies works on sanded gelcoat. i have painted a dozen lexan/polycarbonate car bodies in the past, the pactra by testors stuff is fuel proof, but has no shine to it, since its made to purposely be that way, the paint goes under the lexan body and the lexan itself adds the appearance of it being shiny.

any help would be great. should i just wet sand the gelcoat with 800grit sandpaper, clean well with rubbing alcohol and then use pactra or what ????

biteme

'Sup Pup,
I have had good succes with spray paints for polycarbonate car bodies, on epoxy gelcoat. You should have no problems with adhesion. If you want a gloss finish, simply paint over the spraypaint with a clear epoxy coat. The epoxy is fuelproof. I believe I did use the Testors - metalic/opaque (There was some wear, but I run an airboat, so there was some dry ground running). If you are dealing with an all white gel coat, the opaque metalic paints look pretty good.

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

Lightly sand it with 320 or 400 grit paper to prep it then use a tack cloth to pick up any dust after rinsing. You can use automotive spray paint on a gas boat or the hobby shop paints like LusterKote. I used to use Formula-U paint as it had a better shine but it isn't made any more.[]

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

I just used LustreKote for my new tunnel hull. It came out pretty good. Certainly not as good as I would get if I took it to a body shop, or if I had taken the time to get my spray equipment out of storage, but not bad for a can. As Ron said, use 320 or 400 to rough up the surface. After wiping down the surface I cleaned it with acetone to remove any lingering dust or wax from the resin. Then I used the LustreKote primer. I did 3 or 4 light coats then let it dry for 24 hours (per instructions). I gently wet sanded the primer with 320 and then put on 3-4 coats of the base color, white. I left it at this stage so I could run it and start getting it trimmed right. I'll probably pull the engine this weekend and do the trim and then put down a clear coat on top. One important thing about lustrekote, and any other spray in a can, put the coats on light. They run really easily. The good news is a coat dries very fast, 3-4 minutes, so getting several coats on is quick.

krpnova

Use a scotchbrite pad to scuff the surface and then just about any paint will stick. You won't have any sanding marks this way.

puppi350

guys thanks for all the help.


HOW 'BOUT SOME PICS OF THE COMPLETE PAINT JOBS U GUYS HAVE DONE????

biteme

http://community.webshots.com/user/dogmoat - shows some with test colors, and with final job. New boat is currently being tested and trimmed ( 2 boats actually) will post pics when I can get 'em. Sean