I need some advice on finishing a set of balsa covered foam floats. These are nice floats and I want them to last. However I would like to avoid the weight and mess of glassing the bottoms. I know you can use urethane to waterproof them, then monocoat, tape, etc. to cover. This still leaves them vulnerable to dings. I was wondering if there is any paint that has the hardness of the old epoxy paint we used in the old days. You could apply several coats with sanding in between and wind up with a very durable hard finish that looked good. I can't find this paint anymore. I think the EPA took it off the market.

If anyone has any suggestions on a current paint product that is hard, fuelproof, and waterproof please help.

Thanks

You might want to try the brightside paints available from boating stores. They produce a fairly hard finish, although you will not get the same rigidity that you will get from glassing. I believe that epoxy paints are still avaiable, although I don't know where to get them.

For the various floats that I have made I simply sheet the foam with balsa and then monokote over the balsa and have never had a problem. Don't use ureathane as you mention, I simply monokote over balsa as you would do for a fuselage and make sure that the seams have a decent overlap and are as well sealed as you would a fuse or wing - nothing special.

I have monokoted over balsa-sheeted foam and it always seems to find a way to leak and get the balsa soggy/moldy. A layer of 3/4 oz glass cloth and water-based urethane varnish seals the balsa effectively, weighs next to nothing, and adds a phenomenal amount of strength. Then you can monokote over it for color.