Painting Tips?

We've built a 17' boat of divinycell and fiberglass. We are looking to paint it in the next couple days and want to use a paint sprayer from home depot to get it done evenly and quickly. What kind of paint should we be using. We would prefer to buy it locally so we don't have to wait for shipping or anything. (We are in Rochester, NY)

Thanks

 

If you mean one of those diafragm paint sprayers from Home Depot the quality is not great. If you are looking at a high gloss, a spray gun with a compressor will be better. The finish will enhance any defects on the hull. Unless it is really nice, a semigloss will hide more sins. You can use automotive enamel. An alkyd is less durable, but easier to use and less toxic.

 

Gonzo is correct. We call these things "hand shakers", because they vibrate so much your hand is buzzing for the rest of the day. They work great when you want to change the color of the picket fence outside you grandma's garage, but really don't do much more then spit paint in the general direction they are pointed.

HVLP "pot" sprayers are better, but typically are geared to fairly heavy bodied paints (like acrylic house paint), but you can experiment with tips sizes and get reasonable results.

The real good results systems are those used be the pros. These systems are hard to justify economically, unless you have a bunch of painting to do.

Personally, I think you can get the finish of a pro job (okay darn near), just using the "roll and tip" method and high quality paint. A paint job is actually 90% prep and 10% actual brush, roller or gun in hand time, so focus on getting the surface fair AND smooth (big difference between the two). The roll and tip method is well covered in previous threads here and elsewhere on line.

 

I guess to clarify, we have a boat competition in four days and haven't painted or primed the boat yet. What is the quickest and dirtiest way to get this done?

We are planning on repainting after the competition, we just need something that will last us for a week.

Thanks for the help.

 

"What is the quickest and dirtiest way to get this done?"

Krylon spray.

 

Roll it on.

 

go to west marine pettit paint looks great you can spray or roll on i like the look of spraying and yes home depot sells a spray gun you need an air compressor to do that two to three thin coats it will look like a new boat and last for years and its easy to do. good luck