Best colours for visibility at sea

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by Leo Lazauskas, Dec 8, 2011.

  1. Schoonner
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    Schoonner Senior Member

    It seems like they would come off again. I was thinking about using thin strips like pin stripes in a car that would add a flare of design and look like it is supposed to be there. That way, if it gets cloudy...

    wait, what about the paint they use on road signs!?!?!?!


    Paint your hull with road sign paint and turn heads for sure!!! It could be blue or green or yellow with bright white pin stripes, or even a bold stripe saying, 'these are my lines, right here, SEE!'. I guarantee it will look good if you get the right colors together.

    I might even be inclined to make a 3d model in blender for you so you can change the paint patterns and see what looks good and what doesn't the cheap way. "free is usually the right price isn't it?"

    Do you have plans for the hull and deck and rigging?

    EDIT:: I mean blueprint plans not plans to work on them. Everyone has those kind of plans.
     
  2. CatBuilder

    CatBuilder Previous Member

    Schooner... I know what you mean.

    Phaedo (the catamaran I pictured) is "Metallic Lamborghini Orange." I saw the boat in person and it looks every bit as vivid as it does in the picture. That's the color I'm shooting for, but would like it to be even brighter and closer to florescent.

    As I was saying earlier... people use plain old epoxy over wood and they put a UV clear coat on top to keep the epoxy from being destroyed. Wouldn't the same thing work on paint?

    Does anyone here know a lot about paint systems and how to get that color Phaedo has or something like that? That is pretty much what my boat is going to look like when done.
     
  3. michael pierzga
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    michael pierzga Senior Member

  4. Schoonner
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    Schoonner Senior Member

    Right, well if you want sign paint the only place I know to look would be to ask someone who works for the state department that makes signs what company provides them with sign paint. Then ask customer service for that company how to make custom requests. They will understand that you need a bit of an education on paint in order to make a smart purchase if they are any good. It would be better for you if you became a paint dealer and wanted to use a large amount of paint so you could have more weight working with them. Who knows, maybe you could start something beautiful in the boating world...

    I bet clear coat will be perfect. I bet you could find glass dust to put into a clear coat at your regular auto body store even. I don't know about salt water, but epoxy paint is VERY hard to do anything harmful to.
     
  5. Leo Lazauskas
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    Leo Lazauskas Senior Member

    The orange boat looks great.
    Maybe we are programmed to look out for sea kraits, as jeh suggested,
    or maybe we have just evolved to look for Nemos.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2015
  6. CatBuilder

    CatBuilder Previous Member

  7. hoytedow
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    hoytedow Carbon Based Life Form

  8. DCockey
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    DCockey Senior Member

  9. Schoonner
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    Schoonner Senior Member

    My laptop does not display the color orange very well. so I am in the dark here...
    What kind of boat are you painting? Do you have pictures?
     
  10. rasorinc
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    rasorinc Senior Member

  11. CatBuilder

    CatBuilder Previous Member

    I'm actually building a smaller version of the same boat I pictured above. A heavily modified Kurt Hughes design, which I have changed around to come out just like that Gunboat I pictured above, except 12 feet shorter. Pretty much a Gunboat 48.

    For all intents and purposes, just use that boat above as your example of the one I'm painting. It's essentially the same thing, except smaller.

    No Kevlar and no Carbon, glass instead. Same core, built from epoxy and oddly, the same displacement, even though they use all that carbon.
     
  12. rxcomposite
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    rxcomposite Senior Member

    or Aquaman of the Justice League
     

    Attached Files:

  13. Schoonner
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    Schoonner Senior Member

    Here, try this coloring on for size.

    [​IMG]

    Uploaded with ImageShack.us

    EDITT::


    Or maybe from the front??

    [​IMG]

    Uploaded with ImageShack.us
     
  14. Schoonner
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    Schoonner Senior Member

    you could essentially do it yourself with a program called the gimp. It should allow you to create a layered picture. I would make a layer for you, but then you would click and change the colors in the area you want to change with an almost transparent flood tool. Let me see if there is a free 3d model like that I could format for blender.
     

  15. PAR
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    The reflective films and adhesive backed tapes don't come off. I've seen them used in our tropic conditions and they last for many years. They don't dog ear, creep, nothing but stick.

    Most road signs in the USA are applique on aluminum with some silk screening tossed in to save costs. These last for decades and use the same film and adhesive technology. Again, as I mentioned previously, you'll want the engineering and industrial grades, not the graphic stuff used on cars. The graphic stuff is vinyl and works well, but isn't as durable as a stand alone product. This said you can clear coat over the thin graphic grade and it'll last for a long time, assuming the clear coat is maintained.
     
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