Gel coat questions

[Jacob Rogers]

Hey guys, I am trying to reach Ondarvr about a few pointers he gave to a guy on this site. The guy mentioned hasnt been active on here since 2019 so I couldn't ask him directly. The guy was doing different colored stripes with different color gel, and he said after he sprayed the stripe, he would shoot a clear gel over it then, remove tape and sand. He did all the colored stripes like that. when he sanded did he wet sand or dry sand the stripe? I thought since he was sanding after spraying a coat of metal flake, then a coat of clear that he would've sanded through and turned the flake silver. I say that becuase he didn't shoot several coats of clear over the whole boat until all the stripes were finished. All input is welcome.

( gelcoating the whole boat down to the waterline https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/gelcoating-the-whole-boat-down-to-the-waterline.61694/page-3 )

 

[ondarvr]

It doesn’t matter whether you wet sand or dry sand, you get to about the same place.

Yes, you need to put enough clear over the flake to not sand into it. I don't remember how his project turned out.

 

[Jacob Rogers]

Appreciate it Ondarvr!

 

[Jacob Rogers]

It doesn’t matter whether you wet sand or dry sand, you get to about the same place.

Yes, you need to put enough clear over the flake to not sand into it. I don't remember how his project turned out.

So this is the steps I’m going to take and correct me if I’m wrong, first prime the boat, sand it, spray red base coat, let the base coat cure. (I will be using duratec in all the gel colors) once it’s cured start masking for my stripes. I have 2 stripes one silver metal flake, and one black metal flake that don’t intertwine or lap over. Do I have to spray clear gel over each stripe let it cure and sand it down then move to the next stripe and do the same?or can you spray the stripes one at a time let them cure without sanding, then mask over the stripes and spray the main red flake and sand everything at the same time (this will be the main color of the boat) then clear over the whole boat at the same time?

 

[ondarvr]

As long as you don't let the each color cure tack free you can clear coat everything at the same time.

 

[ondarvr]

I'll add, there is a learning curve on pulling tape lines, don't expect to get the lines perfect on your first try, especially when using flake. Practice on something first.

 

[Jacob Rogers]

I'll add, there is a learning curve on pulling tape lines, don't expect to get the lines perfect on your first try, especially when using flake. Practice on something first.

Yeah I read on that post from 2019 you said pull the tape shortly after you spray it, I will test and see!

 

[Jacob Rogers]

I'll add, there is a learning curve on pulling tape lines, don't expect to get the lines perfect on your first try, especially when using flake. Practice on something first.

I was reading on your friend Scott’s thread on his boat and it seemed like he didn’t use clear gel until he got everything painted and sanded, is that because he wasn’t using flake? I have a weird work schedule I work shift work so there will be a couple days in between when I won’t be able to touch the boat, so I would assume spraying my flake stripes it would probably be safe than sorry to spray a clear coat over each metal flake when it tacks up, let it cure and sand it down before moving to the next color flake.