Airbrushed or rattle can mural @ my boat?

[SPokanemike76]

I have a good one, okay so I want to air brush or can spray a mural onto a boat. IS this possible? What paint would I use??

 

[ondarvr]

It would be no different than any other surface, and for the paint, it depends on how long you want it to last, better paints cost more.

 

[jbcurt00]

@Spokanemike Moved this to a topic of your own

Fiberglass boat?

Mural @ what part of the boat? Is the mural ever going to be below the waterline?

Avoid posting in inactive topics. After 90days w no new posts, consider an inactive topic closed, and dont post to it.

Also, posting in someone elses topic to ask about your project is considered a hijack and should also be avoided.

Take note of the helpful tip at the top of the page, it covers both...

Thanks and good luck w your project

 

[frobotz]

Mural? Did 1970 come back? Just kidding. Youll need to airbrush it to get a decent look.

 

[Scott Danforth]

most pin-strippers and air-brush artists as well as all the sign companies use one-shot paints

it would actually be cheaper to get a wrap done for the boat unless you find a sign painter that works for beer and sandwiches.

 

[gm280]

Actually I have done some airbrushing on my hull and the engine as well. And I used PPG automotive type catalyzed paints in a base coat, airbrushed graphics and then clear top coats to protect the finish. So it can be done. It just comes down to what you want to do. Once you do the clear coats, the finish is impervious to oils, fuels and such. If you don't use catalyzed paints, they will dissolve over time with oils and/or fuels getting on it.

If you care to see how I did that, click on the links below for the engine and actual boat thread and see. Nothing great, but I did use paint instead of decals so they won't peel off down the road. JMHO

 

[SPokanemike76]

Thanks for the helpful tips and especially on the posting to the forum. It is my first time on the site and having a bit of trouble trying to figure out how to post and where to post. I saw a boat with a mural painted on it to make it look like an old plank ship with sharks riding the bow and I wanted to do something a bit similar.

 

[SPokanemike76]

Okay so it is a fiberglass boat, not going to be below the water line but it is going right to the edge. I need to do a bit of repair on it and have researched a bit on what to do and my understanding is that if I use laminating fiberglass resin it will stay tacky until I remove the air using a wax to seal it (finishing epoxy) So if I am getting this correct; I can do the laminating and then spray paint (air brush) an epoxy rustoleum paint on the surface and then use a finishing resin over the paint to bond the paint to the laminating layers of fiberglass sealing in the color and adding a clear coat to the mix. Is this correct or will the paint I add seal the laminating layers from air and let it dry on its own and then I would use some sort of a clear coat over the color. One other method I looked at used a hardener added to the paint for the final layer but I think I really should protect the color with a clear coat over top. Let me know your thoughts. Again sorry for how green I am both in boat work and web posts, I guess it is everyone's first time some time. Thanks for your help.

 

[gm280]

My only suggestion is make certain whatever you decide to use that everything is compatible with everything else. If you have any questions about that, try a scrap piece to verify it will work together. Mixing paint types with polyesters and epoxies can be tricky and unless you know for certain you can do that, I would research the products to see. And that does goes for primers as well.

Usually people try to stay with one manufacture of primers and paints and top clear coats to know it all will play nice together. I like to start off with quality two part primers to set down a good primer to work with. Rattle can primers usually are not fuel and oil proof. So any paint you decide to use can effect those primers. A catalyzed primer starts off fuel and oil proof. Then whatever you go with as the airbrush paint really doesn't matter if they are from the same manufacture and designed to be used together. Then after I lay down the paint coat(s) and graphics, I then follow up with catalyzed clear coats to seal everything. But this is all just my opinion. JMHO

 

[jbcurt00]

IIRC Rusto epoxy paint isnt UV stable (most epoxy isnt)

 

[ondarvr]

Don't mix and match products. Plus you need to explain a little more about what you plan to do. It sounds overly complicated and not likely to succeed.

 

[fhhuber]

Go to a place that does "wraps" for cars. Graphic applied to the adhesive side of clear plastic that is heat shrink applied to cars. (like this)

https://www.powerhomebiz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/wrappedcar.jpg

They can print your design... then apply it to your boat cheaper than you can have it professionally airbrushed.