TOPIC: Spraying gelcoat?

When I get ready to finish the outside of the current project (1975 Cacci Craft) I was thinking about spraying a new coat of white gelcoat as opposed to paint. I did a little research, but have never sprayed gelcoat before. I used a 2 part epoxy paint on the last boat I restored and it has held up well, but I prefer gelcoat if its not too much hassle. Any advice or info much appreciated.

(I can get gelcoat for about 1/3 of what the paint will cost.)

Thanks, Don

Very hard to work with to get a perfect job.

First time, on the gig u want perfect....find someone who has dealt with the application processes b4!!!!!! and have them show you how to do it, if they are willing to show u the tricks. not something you learn in a book and way dif than paint. sincere good luck, and try to have someone teach u "hands on" that's truly the only way with gel, if you want to get it right ....my theory is there is taught, and there is self taught....who are you. good luck Kurt

I've done some gelcoat spraying. I bought a "dump gun" which is used by boat manufacturers when laying up a hull. It doesn't work well for spraying on the surface of a hull. I use an old suction spray gun with a 1.7 nozzle, same as for primer. You need to thin the gel enough so it will flow through the gun. Don't mix it too hot. If it 'kicks' in the gun, your gun is toast. Make sure you get a thick enough coat of gel, as you will still need to block sand and polish the gelcoat after spraying. Practice on a piece of plywood BEFORE you spray your boat. Its a different technique than spraying paint.
Larry

This is my work for this week so far it took me 32hrs to get 1 side done on this 40'Formula.Yes it is a gelcoat paint job and to master this quality it took me a long time to figure it out how to get it to be this shiny as you can see the reflection on that grey van is about 40-50 away and you almost can read the licence plate on it.

It's definatly more hassel Don but I feel it's worth it. I learned last year and was very happy and proud on how it turned out. The biggest problem I had and you should not was color match. Get all your color at once and like doing your living room mix all of the same color together. The other thing I would do would be to get my gel with no wax added,I would then spray a coat let it tac up and keep spraying again until I got almost to the thickness I need then add the wax on the final coat.I didn't and had to sand between coats. Another thing I tried was Duratec clear,I even used it with the wax already added,it does the same thing a wax but also thins out the gel and makes it level out. I found it was best to use half the amount they recommended. I bought this gun but found out later you can find them on ebay for 30-40 dollars. I'll get some pictures up tommorow,I have to find them on my external drive

That work is an art. Give us some pointers please! What type of compounds do you use and what grits do you start and finish with? How about the gelcoat application process.

its not that bad i just gel coated my boat with a foam roller it was a two part gel and i had a additive called dura tec. i did two colores red and white and with the dura tec it made my boat look like it was sprayed. you do have to work quick and have lotes of supplies ate the ready if you read the mixing ratio on the gel coat and do a test mix you will be fine just remember let your gel coat cure for a year before waxing hope that gives you an option there are many ways of doing it.

This is looking to be a very informative thread ?

OK gelcoat users. come on... give up your secrets of applying it !

Is it just: read the side of the can for prep and apply ?
I don't mind making mistakes, swearing and do overs, but if guys can help us avoid a few mistakes,
it would be much appreciated !

So, from the beginning... If memory serves me well ?
Gelcoat over epoxy is bad ?

My project will be a total strip of checked and cracked gel.
I also have fiber glass cracks and cut-outs that need repaired.
So I was going to take the traditional route of using the ester resins, only because it gives me the option to either paint or gelcoat at the end.

I don't know any better, and I'm sure there are pros and cons to both methods. I'm not trying to start a fight. I'm just trying to figure out, from all the tips and hints, on a direction that makes sense to me.

You must be patient with me, because this will be like me learning how to talk and walk.
We can't be going staight to jumpimg jacks and second language ?

So who wants to start the furry of questions ?

As Gilligan asked:
What fairing compound can I use that Gelcoat will hold on to ?
Ad what grit to stop at for the gel to bite and hold ?

I chose to do gel simply because I wanted to try it and bring back the boat to when it was new. I like the fact that the gel is so thick you can sand with 1500 to 2000 and buff again and again if needed.It just has a different feel. All the repairs I did was with polyester because gel is poly and I have heard that gel does not stick well to epoxy.That said,when I finished with the repairs in the pictures below I backed up the holes with matt and epoxy to give it strength. My Mustang originally had a console with the throttle and shifter mounted in it but it seems most have,like mine, been converted to a single lever gunnel mount.I found a console out of a Barracuda which only needed the bottom cut down to fit. I sanded everything with 80 grit and only removed all the way to the glass if there was chipping and loose gel. When I was ready to shoot I cleaned with acetone and also wiped with styrene. No matter what I tried I would get fisheyes so since I had gel with wax added I'd wait a day sand and then touched up the fisheyes with new gel just dripped on.A good sanding to blend in and then another coat. By the time I got to the base I was not as fussy and just delt with it. The biggest problem I had the whole time was that little buggs were attracted to everything,they could be sanded out too but after the final coat it went straight to the garage and all lights were taken out of my door openers and overhead lights so other family members would not accidently turn one on. After all this the finish was very orange peely but a good 400,600,800,1000 then 2000 took care of that,followed up with 3m 05973 rubbing compound and 3m 05996 Perfect it II polish using 3m foam pads. By the time I did the gunnel repair I had found out about Duratec Clear and using it at half the recommended rate used that. The finish was alot smoother and required less sanding. I my case the hardest part of the whole job was me trying to color match.I used Minicraft of Florida's gel and had picked a stock color that turned out to be too dark. I cut a piece out from behind the rear seat to have them color match but it turned out too light,but by combining the two I got a good match. This little project thru trial and error almost used up those 2 quarts!

While I figured out the gel coat thing,I'm having trouble posting multiple pictures sorry---

And finally-

Your project turned out beautifully Gary, very nice work IMHO!

Thanks Mark it means alot when someone tells you that knows what it takes to get to that point! I have had alot of help from people I've met on the Correct Craft Fan site,without whom I would have never found the missing pieces. The first picture is how it looked when I got it in the late 80's.The interior is out being done now and after some manifold painting the whole boat will finally be done this summer.Engine picture is current.

Chuck,I feel that I didn't have that much to fill and so didnt use a filler. I really beveled the old gunnel and each time I added a larger and larger layer of matt,then grounded back down to match the original glass level. I then sprayed the gel on to bring the thickness up to the original level,then like painting, went past the repair as far as I could to the front and about a foot to the back. Then I could sand it to blend it back in.

Thanks to everyone for the great information. Some of those pictures of the gelcoat you all have done looks great. I still have a lot of work to do before I get to that point. A company out of Florida called US Composites sells white gelcoat for about $50 a gallon and that includes the catalyst. The paint I was going to use (Interlux VC Performance Epoxy) is almost $200 for a gallon. I painted my sons boat with the Interlux 3 years ago and it has held up well. I have a regular suction type spray gun, but could buy the HVLP gun if that works better for gelcoat. The one thing I keep hearing is to reduce it pretty thin with styrene and it goes on much better. Unfortunately, I know no one local that does this or would offer advice. Thanks for all the info.

Don

US Composites is a good company to deal with and prices are great also. As to a suction gun, most likely won't work the gel has to be too thin and you'll have trouble with runs and sags. You also need a large tip 2.0 or larger. I tried styrene,same thing runs and sags plus I understand it's dangerous,not good to breathe. The Duratec Clear serves the same purpose and works well and helps the gel set up too. The first time I used it is the picture below, It's the inside tray of the glovebox.Hard to see the gloss to it but since it's the inside of the box I didn't even bother to sand and polish,it comes out that smooth. For a outside finish it would take very little to sand and polish.The last picture is of just a plain gel finish,you can see the orange peel and the dullness of the finish. It needs quite alot of sanding,600-2000 and then a good polish

Very good information here. So from what I understand, I'll need to sand the heck out of it after it cures to get a good shine? I have several types of power sanders, or does this need to be done by hand? I thought it would be just a spray it on and it would be ready after curing. Good thing this is a small boat.

Thanks, Don

I have used everything to sand with Don from a wood block to a D/A to a Harbor Freight # 66881 sander. If you use a large tip spray gun and use the Duratec it will really reduce your sanding. It wet sands relatively easy especially if you use good paper. I am very happy with how it turned out.

I had really good luck using a cheap orbital buffer without the pad having 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper attached via spray adhesive. I was very careful with the amount of water used. I felt safe doing it this way but it was probably not an OSHA approved method.