gel coat

[alfiej44]

how do l go about gel coating my oceanfarer coronet, is it something l will be able to do myself, alfie

[Meanz Beanz]

Gelcoat is applied in the mould and designed to cure fully when air is excluded by the application of further laminates, its not suitable as an externally applied finnish (to my knowledge). Flowcoat can be used for repairs and is suitable as an externally applied finnish but a lot of work goes into fairing and finishing as, in my experience, a good finish is never achieved on application. Its way too much work to do an entire boat, you are much better off looking at modern paint systems IMO

[alfiej44]

Thanks for that l dont really want to just paint it as they tend to lose value and often look well not very good cheers alfie

[the1much]

you can paint it with awl-grip,, is faster, easier,and is TOUGHER then gel,,, AND will ADD ,, yes ADD, to the value. And what kind of paint are you talking about that makes your boat loose value? latex?

[BHOFM]

Originally Posted by alfiej44

Thanks for that l dont really want to just paint it as they tend to lose value and often look well not very good cheers alfie

A "good" paint job will not hurt the value of the boat, as much
as a "bad" re coat of sub standard jel!
By the time, and cost, you get it sanded, and polished,
you will be very sick of the project! And it will still look
like a re coated boat!

[the1much]

if you gel coat say a 30' boat,, after the "prep" which will be ABOUT the same no matter if you use gel or paint,,,but AFTER you spray,,, you have at LEAST a month of wet sanding to do after. then as you wet sand,, you can keep telling yourself,," nope,, im not harming the gel by sanding it",,,,,, but you'll be lying to yaself,,,hehe

[Meanz Beanz]

Originally Posted by alfiej44

Thanks for that l dont really want to just paint it as they tend to lose value and often look well not very good cheers alfie

Only if its done badly... in which case "gel coat" will look worse and be harder to apply. Don't tackle this unless you can spray... learn to spray and add a few fairing techniques (talk to a panel beater) then you are equipped to tackle it.

[Meanz Beanz]

Originally Posted by the1much

AFTER you spray,,, you have at LEAST a month of wet sanding to do after. then as you wet sand,, you can keep telling yourself,," nope,, im not harming the gel by sanding it",,,,,, but you'll be lying to yaself,,,hehe

Yes.... you have to take the stuff back to fair then to a 600 grit finnish or there abouts then cut and polish and your finnish is only as good as the polish, when its gone so's your shine.

[fiberglass jack]

add 50 % duratec to the gelcoat and 5% wax and spray a first coat allow to flash then 3 wet coats then fill your gun with airdry wax increase the presure of the gun to around 55 psi and spray the wax over the gel about 2 feet away this will fog coat the gel and allow it to level, you will have very little sanding involved, here some parts that i make and the finsh is strait gelcoat with duratec with a fog coat, the parts are left semi gloss so i dont have to polish, a sand with some 600 and followed with 600 and aqua buff you will have a showroom finsh, i use a 1.3 tip

[Meanz Beanz]

There you go... a better way to do it.

How good a spray gun hand do you have to be Jack?

Is it better than a good 2K finish?

[fiberglass jack]

any one can do it, what I do if Iam regeling a boat is to start by sanding the old gel down with 80grit make sure you wash the boat first and wipe down with a wax remover, then I spray the boat with a primer coat, which is the same mix as the top coat but with out the fog coat, then i sand down with some 120 fill any pinholes, then topcoat, right after the fog coat leave the building as your in a fog of styrine, after 10 mins go back and look over the job, its at this point if you see any little pinholes you will be able to fill them by using a toothpick and a little left over gel from your gun all you need to do is wet the tip of the tooth pick and stick it in the pinhole and a bit of movement you will fill it in, this way when you cut the gel for polishing you will have no filler work,, also while spraying you can also add say 10 % acetome to the gel this will retard the cure time and will allow you more time but you will have to make sure the acetone flashes between coats.
Also you want a good gun i use a devilbliss plus which cost around 400 and a sata i find the the better the gun the beterr the job, some painters look at gelcoat as a high build primer and will not allow it to be use in there finshing guns, a 1.3 tip will work great for the top coat and if your going to be priming a 1.8 would be my choice