Gel coat stripe

[John Hanafin]

I plan to make a black gel hull with an orange stripe going right along the centre of the hull, is the best way to do this too tape the stripe area off then lay up the black gel to finish, then remove the tape and apply the orange. Or to do the entire hull black the sand/ dremel the stripe area and lay it up then?
Or is there an entire different way to do this ive not thought of?

Cheers.

[Landlubber]

...do the orange first, peel off the fine line tape that is required for this job, them gel the black hull all over the whole lot.

[John Hanafin]

sorry I dont understand, how can I go over the whole lot with black gel and still see the orange. Do I peel the tape after the black gel has been laid?

[Lurvio]

Are you applying the gelcoat to a mold or on a boat?

(helps people to answer when that is known. )

L

[Wynand N]

Originally Posted by Landlubber

...do the orange first, peel off the fine line tape that is required for this job, them gel the black hull all over the whole lot.

Exactly how it done IN a mold....You take the hull out of the mold, and the orange will still be there.
The mention of gelcoat immediately spells mold most of the time.

As Lurvio said; it help to be specific with you questions

[Landlubber]

Gelcoat...used against a mould
Flocoat...used exterior (and waxed)

[zerogara]

Ok that sounds simple but what kind of tape sticks to a waxed mold?

[tunnels]

Originally Posted by zerogara

Ok that sounds simple but what kind of tape sticks to a waxed mold?

All tapes stick to a waxed mould !!
Sticking to the mould is not the problem its the fine edge the tape should leave when you take it off thats the critical Problem !!
Do a test on something before you start on the boat to get the techneque right and experiance what has to be done .For a smooth fine edge i always use a narrow plastic tape and pull gently up and slightly over the wet gel coat so any webs fall onto the wet sprayed surface.

[Landlubber]

....called Fine Line by 3M etc, use the very best tape you can buy, it is cheap for the result..remove before the gelcoat goes off, and as Tunnels says, pull it up and over the gelcoat, cutting an edge with it as it is removed, the tape is pulled up and over the gelcoat, that way there are no tails.

[tunnels]

I always double tape !! The first tape is about 3 mils away from the final line you want so when you pull the narrow tape off it exposes the edge and if you are a little heavy handed and or dribble some of the colour it can be carefully retaped and touched up quickly without getting a mess every where Then after its gelled and hard the final masking can be removed and everything is 100 % clean . Then the final color can be sprayed on , I little trick is the make that area the last to be done as the mix will have been in the gun for a while and the gel time will be shorter and less chance of getting any problems such as bleed through aligators and a few other not so nice thngs . I suggest you do a small panel on something to make sure you understand all what is meant to happen . A really experianced gel coater would do wet on wet spray with little or no delay . I made a gelcoat sample panel once with 10 differant colours and was a head ache how to unmask and clean the gun and spray while all the colors were still wet . Trick is to think completely in reverse and start with all the light colors first and gradually work through to the dark colors as they are the hardest to clean out of the gun quickly . By the time i had got to the last panel and last color the first had kicked off and completely gelled but were far enough away for the over stray not to cause aligators . Good luck Post some pictures would like to see what it turns out like !! . Tell us about the spray equipment you will be using !!! bound to give some tips on that as well , Posting some picures can help !!!

[waikikin]

Originally Posted by tunnels

I always double tape !! The first tape is about 3 mils away from the final line you want so when you pull the narrow tape off it exposes the edge and if you are a little heavy handed and or dribble some of the colour it can be carefully retaped and touched up quickly without getting a mess every where Then after its gelled and hard the final masking can be removed and everything is 100 % clean . Then the final color can be sprayed on , I little trick is the make that area the last to be done as the mix will have been in the gun for a while and the gel time will be shorter and less chance of getting any problems such as bleed through aligators and a few other not so nice thngs . I suggest you do a small panel on something to make sure you understand all what is meant to happen . A really experianced gel coater would do wet on wet spray with little or no delay . I made a gelcoat sample panel once with 10 differant colours and was a head ache how to unmask and clean the gun and spray while all the colors were still wet . Trick is to think completely in reverse and start with all the light colors first and gradually work through to the dark colors as they are the hardest to clean out of the gun quickly . By the time i had got to the last panel and last color the first had kicked off and completely gelled but were far enough away for the over stray not to cause aligators . Good luck Post some pictures would like to see what it turns out like !! . Tell us about the spray equipment you will be using !!! bound to give some tips on that as well , Posting some picures can help !!!

Great advice, Tunnels is some one who actually does this for a living, another tip is to have two guns on the go & have a competant assistant to clean & batch, also back folded "tails" to your masking tape gives you a head start on the peel off. Regards from Jeff.

[tunnels]

Originally Posted by waikikin

Great advice, Tunnels is some one who actually does this for a living, another tip is to have two guns on the go & have a competant assistant to clean & batch, also back folded "tails" to your masking tape gives you a head start on the peel off. Regards from Jeff.

Yeah theres so many variables with gel coating what works one day dosent the next day . so it really keeps you on you toes . For small jobs i have everything set up and use just a small pressure pot and gun with the celcoat in a plastic container inside the pot . Same for bigger jobs just use a bigger pot and longer hoses . I always make the whole system myself with 2 regulator valves and 2 pressure gauges and 2 shut off taps as well so each part can be completely independant from the other AND a really good water trap or even 2 ,one at the wall and one closer to where you are working !. Having control of all the air functions and well as the gun settings just about every possible thing is covered . The system is multi functional and can be used for paint , gel coat , speckle coating , cob webbing with unthinned Laquare paints , and spraying epoxy resin for sealing ply panels , even using kero to clean engine parts and the like .
For really big jobs like 60ft or 80 foot boats an internal mix , inline heated Venus gun takes a lot of beating !!!. Have use external mix guns of various brands but theres always that horrible catalyst smell that lingers in the air after the jobs finished , Yuk !!!.

For pressure pot spraying its important to know the catalyst you are meant to be using and the ratio and you gel time for the temprature of the day so you dont get caught . Use a fine wire screen to pour all the celcoat through into each container know the weight right to the last gram !!! dont guess at it !!!!The catalyst measureing need to be as acurate as possible and clean!! no glass fibres that will get stuck in the gun for sure !!
Everythings needs to be spotlessly clean and working propertly .
Nothing like using a battery drill to mix with and the battery goes dead and the spare is at the other end of the factory and it to is as good as useless .