"Paint Your Boat for Under $100 Bucks"

Woodonglass

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 29, 2009
Messages
25,924
Ok Here's my recommended formula for Majic Oil Based Acrylic Enamel Paint for Roll n' Roll and for Spraying.

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This Should yield one THIN coat on a 14-16 foot boat hull.

For aluminum boats, Acid wash the boat (lots of guys just use 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water) then use a Self Etching Primer (I like the SEM Primer shown below) on ALL bare aluminum spots, and then coat the entire boat with the Majic Oil Base Metal Primer Shown above.


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For Fiberglass Boats I recommend using the same Majic Tractor and Implement Primer - Gray

Even though it says metal primer, in speaking with their rep's it will work fine on Fiberglass and Gelcoat.

If you have Deep sides you may need to adjust the amount of Paint you buy. I recommend Majic's Oil Base Metal Primer. IF your boat is NOT left in the water for MORE than 3-4 days at a time, this will work fine. This is NOT for boats left in the marina for the season.


This is for Roll n' Roll Application


Final sand with 180 grit and wipe down with acetone.
Two coats of Primer. Roll n' Roll technique is the same. Thin coats!!!
Use the Ultra Smooth Whizz Brand High Density 6" Foam Rollers
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Mixing Formula

2 cups Paint
1/4 cup of Majic Reducer
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1 oz of Hardener (1/8 cup/2Tablespoons)(Sold @ Tractor Supply Stores)

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Roll n' Roll Technique
Wet roller with paint an roll out about 4-6 sqare feet. Thin coats work best and help prevent runs. If you can HEAR the paint (Sticky Sound)you are rolling too long. Put the first roller in a Plastic bag and use another roller. wet it out but wring out almost all of the paint and then Re-roll the area you just painted. Use a very LIGHT stroke and the paint should lay down with NO Bubbles!. Put this roller in the bag and use the other roller again. Repeat this process untill the boat is painted. Always do the re-roll with a damp roller with very little paint in it and LISTEN. You will hear the sound that lets you know when it's time to stop. It's kind of a sticky sound.
Here's a link to 2 videos showing the technique.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MekW6qu_HT4&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL


For Spraying.

Final sand and wipe down with 50/50 mix of Mineral Spirits and Acetone.
Two coats of Primer. Use HVLP spray gun with a 1.4 mm Tip. Thin coats!!!



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For 1 qt paint
1 1/2 cups of Majic's Reducer. In High Temps use Acrylic Enamel High Temp Reducer sold at some Auto Supply stores. I used Acme Finish 1.)
2oz of Hardener (1/4 cup/4Tablespoons)
(NOTE: Only add Hardener to the amount of Paint that you will use in an 8hr period.) DO NOT use after this 8hr period.

I mixed up 2 cups (1/2 qt) at a time using 1oz of hardener, 3/4 cup of reducer.

One Quart should yield two coats of Paint.
Shoot first coat in the morning.
Wait 4-8 hours.
Wet sand with ScotchBrite Pad LIGHTLY to knock down any nubs or bugs.
Dry.
Tack cloth off with 50/50 mix of Mineral Spirits and Acetone.
Dry.
Shoot second Coat.
Let dry over night
Repeat wet sand and Tack cloth
Shoot 3rd and 4th coat if needed.

HINT: If you want a COLOR that you cannot find, then you can use Acrylic Artists OIL paint thinned with acetone from any Art supply store that you buy in tubes or use another color of the Majic Paint. Google search to find out how to mix paint to get the color you're wanting. It's not to hard to do. Start with small amounts, keep track of the ratio and then multiply it to get the amounts you need. You can get ANY Color in the Rainbow and it works GREAT!!!!



Ambient Temperature, Relative humidity and Spray gun settings all play a big role in how the paint will lay down on the surface to be painted. Also, Remember, your paint job will only be as good as your surface prep. The primer will tell the story. If you can SEE it when it's in primer you'll see it in the finish coat. Sand it and fill it if you want it smooth on the final coat. 3M Premium Marine Filler is good stuff. I like to mix my own filler using the following formula...1cup resin, 1.5% MEKP, 1 Heaping tablespoon Cabosil and mix enough Glass bubbles till the mixture is like mayonaise or slightly thicker. I might use slightly less MEKP if I want to extend the working time. I do not recommend using Bondo. Some people use it but it will absorb water if the paint chips on it. For small blemishes and surfaces scratches above the water line It might be ok. A high build primer can also be used to take care of those.
TCP Global sells a good High Build Primer for Fiberglass, as well as Acrylic Enamel Paints and supplies (nice HVLP Spray Guns too) at reasonable prices. I might try their paint on my next boat project.

This is a good article on how to setup most HVLP Spray Guns...
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/techinfo/HVLPspraygun.html


 
Last edited:

Bob_VT

Moderator & Unofficial iBoats Historian
Staff member
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May 19, 2001
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26,019
Re: "Paint Your Boat for Under $100 Bucks"

This is a work in progress thread only open to the moderators and the original poster. Please do not post here or it will e deleted.

Thanks!
 
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