Re-gelcoated entire hull. How to address burn (sand) -through areas?

[Jaymanutah]

So I shot the entire hull with strait gelcoat (first time for me). I m at the 320 grit sanding stage getting rid of orange peel. I sanded through to the original gelcoat in a few places. Should I re-spray those areas now or should I keep sanding the whole hull down to 800-1000 grit before attempting to repair the spots? Also should I mask off and spray the repair areas or would brush on /tipping work easier. Thanks again for all the great advice.

 

[Blueknarr]

Either the hull was not fair.
You didn't apply enough gelcoat.
Or your sanding techniques needs some serious improvement.
Most likely all of the above.

I would long board the hull with 80 grit to fair it up.
Then apply several more coats of gelcoat.
Smooth the gelcoat with a soft longboard starting with 600 grit.

Gelcoat is a great product coming out of a well prepared mould.

You are starting to realize how bad it is as a post production paint.

Good luck

 

[kapnD]

Since you’re sanding the whole thing anyway, why not apply a quality PU boat paint?
After it’s applied, you can walk away, where gelcoating requires exorbitant amounts of sanding to achieve finish after application.

 

[ondarvr]

This isn't uncommon.

Pick a path, either continue with gel coat, or go with paint.


Gel coat.

Stop now and spray all of it again with more layers than you did before. Use some Duratec in the gel coat, it will spray and level much better to reduce the amount of sanding. You don't need to go 50:50, 75:25 is fine for everything but the final layer. Start sanding again on a 1'x1' area and go through the grits, then polish until you get the desired result. Perfect this one small area and use what you learned to finish the rest of it faster. In a few months you'll be done.


Paint.

Buy an adequate paint, spray it next week, pull the tape, then go boating.