Final Finish coat going on tomorrow morning...should I thin or should I not???

Racingman24

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jun 23, 2009
Messages
126
Well...it's been a frustrating and sometimes rewarding road so far, and the paint is the one thing above all else that I want to look as flawless as possible.

First off, I'm using Rustoleum TopSides paint...Rollin' and tippin', in case you haven't seen my other threads.

The boat is all sanded down [with 320] and washed, just need to degrease and de-fingerprint it in the morning, then off to painting.

Tomorrow morning it should be somewhere between 60 and 70 degrees when I paint the boat, but it will rise to 80-85 throughout the day.

I haven't really thinned the paint thus far, and I've been painting on some warmer days, and for the most part, the paint has come out SUPER glossy, which I'm thrilled about....however, I'm seeing some leftover brush marks from the tipping side of things.

Now, all of that is sanded down, and for the most part the finish is as smooth as glass, so the undercoat shouldn't be an issue of any sort.

I'm using a White Foam 6" roller for super fine surfaces, followed by what I think/thought was a pretty decent brush, but the more I read, the more I wonder about just that.

The brush I'm using is very soft, very flexible, and doesn't loose it's bristles at all...however, if I remember correctly, it's not a "natural" brush. I believe it's made of polyester and something else....I think. Would that be the cause of the few left over brush marks?

I'm painting in a fully enclosed storage space, with no sunlight coming in to speed the drying, and no wind either.

Sooo...I guess all of my rambling leads to these two questions....should I thin the paint tomorrow before I apply, and is the brush the reason for the remaining brush marks in the paint?

I've done a lot of searching, as I want this to be as perfect as possible, but can't really get a definitive answer, some people thin, some don't, some people use natural bristle brushes [beaver comes to mind] and some people use cheap foam brushes. So I don't really know which direction to take in the morning when it comes time to finish this chapter in my life of painting this boat...and believe me it has taken faaaaarrrr too long to paint this thing, so I would rather not have all that be wasted time. :)

Thanks for any help!!!!!!
 

Sport Lido

Cadet
Joined
Sep 4, 2009
Messages
18
Re: Final Finish coat going on tomorrow morning...should I thin or should I not???

Just went through the same process, but I used EasyPoxy. Put on 1 coat of Petits Undercoater and then 5 coats of EasyPoxy before it really looked the way I wanted. Sanded between all the coats and then mixed in a couple ounces of Penetrol for the final coat. The Penetrol was amazing and really made the paint flow out nice with no brush marks after tipping. Looks like a spray job and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.
 

Racingman24

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jun 23, 2009
Messages
126
Re: Final Finish coat going on tomorrow morning...should I thin or should I not???

Just went through the same process, but I used EasyPoxy. Put on 1 coat of Petits Undercoater and then 5 coats of EasyPoxy before it really looked the way I wanted. Sanded between all the coats and then mixed in a couple ounces of Penetrol for the final coat. The Penetrol was amazing and really made the paint flow out nice with no brush marks after tipping. Looks like a spray job and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.

Where can one find Penetrol? This isn't the first time I've heard of it, nor the first time I've heard good remarks about it....

I went and painted this morning, and I think it turned out ok....we'll see in the morning when i go back to check it out, and I did thin it around 5-7%.

But...if it didn't turn out nicely...then I'll need to know where to pick up this Penetrol...

:)
 

ghamby

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 3, 2009
Messages
193
Re: Final Finish coat going on tomorrow morning...should I thin or should I not???

Sherwin Williams or HD
 

Sport Lido

Cadet
Joined
Sep 4, 2009
Messages
18
Re: Final Finish coat going on tomorrow morning...should I thin or should I not???

Also available at Lowes and most hardware stores that have a paint department.
 
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