gelcote fiberglass boat finish

looking for some direction on how to obtain that "new boat" kind of finish. i will be finishing off my own downeast hull in the near future and im pretty handy when it comes to carpentry and fiberglass lay up one thing im not too sure about it how to take the "rough" just fiberglased look and make it nice gelcote. after the glass is laid up and dried do you just sand it and spray it with gel cote ? is it that easy ? any other processes ? am i better off using awl grip directly over the sanded epoxy ?

Re: gelcote fiberglass boat finish

Hi bhm. There are a lot of different boat paints out there, obviously. I can't tell you a lot about gelcoat, as I haven't tackled that beast yet. General consensus, though, is that the 2 part poly's-like awlgrip-that are out there now are better paints than gelcoat. You can apply them by rolling and tipping off the bubbles, or you can spray them. They self-level, to give you a smooth finish. Between coats, you'll want to sand with anywhere between 320 and 1000 grit. This depends on the smoothness of the finish that you're looking for. If you use the red search button at the top of the page, you'll find a lot of information on the different paints, methods, and possible finishes. Good luck.

Re: gelcote fiberglass boat finish

To answer your question...Yes, you can spray gelcoat on your fiberglass work.

Re: gelcote fiberglass boat finish

To get the high gloss gel coat finish you have to do it the way the manufacturers do it. They build a plug and then a mold from the plug. The inside of the mold is waxed, then spreyed with gel coat, then the various layers of fiberglass cloth and mat are layed in. In other words the gel coat goes on first not last.<br /><br />A high quality marine paint job will come close in finish though.

Re: gelcote fiberglass boat finish

thanks for the replys. actually most maine built tops and bulkheads are not molded like you say. gelcote is applied after construction. tryong to get a handle on to to duplicate the finish. thanks again

Re: gelcote fiberglass boat finish

the method to bring a "factory" gloss and appearence to gelcoat is in the compound used.

Re: gelcote fiberglass boat finish

Here is a "how to" from Malibu boats for repairing dings. The buffing process and some of the compounds are specified. Have fun!<br /><br /> http://aquaskier.com/articles/gel_coat_repair.htm

Re: gelcote fiberglass boat finish

I found a possible solution for you.<br /> <br />Check out the company products on this link. I'd call or email them with your problem and see if they think one of their products will work for you.<br /><br /> http://shop.catalinaowners.com/detail.tpl?cart=328746421842492&fno=20&group=246 <br /><br />Be sure and watch their videos on how to restore your gel coat to new condition on the link here:<br /><br />The GELCOAT story:<br /> http://homepage.mac.com/seebiskit/iMovieTheater13.html <br /><br />How Island Girl Works:<br /> http://homepage.mac.com/seebiskit/iMovieTheater12.html