Strange gelcoat problem unveiled

[Longislandfish]

Good morning,

looking for any helpful tips on applying gelcoat on vertical surfaces like the hull sides and chine areas without having it sag or run out of repair area. Did a little reading and found a few options that people have used to achieve vertical repairs but was wondering what works best with the most successful results. I purchased the small jar of gelcoat from Cecile just to have on hand. I assume doing any repairs over the winter is out of the question.

cabosil

plastic sheeting

mylar tape

which is best and how would be the best to apply? chip brush or popsicle stick?
Also looking for suggestions on how to accomplish this on the transom where I have old holes from previous transducers.

min this case how do I deal with sealing core and finishing it with gelcoat. Do I need to use polyester resin? I don’t want to use epoxy or marine Tex because im looking to achieve a clean. Blemish free repair.
All of the advice and help is much appreciated here gentleman.
Happy Saturday

Stephen

 

[Longislandfish]

I filled up the gouges and did my best to fair it even, it’s not easy and somehow the color dries lighter than the original finish, it’s pretty obvious from a distance. Wondering what else I can do here. Out of ideas, not sure custom mixing will be easy to achieve.

 

[Antidote]

Unfortunately a 17 year old hull is going to difficult, at best, to get a perfect match. You could try to mix a batch to get it closer. there will be another problem you are going to run into. You will mix it too dark. If you decide to try, use VERY little pigment. When I say little I'm talking about a half of a sewing pin head of brown added to 1 oz of gel coat. even then you will probably be too dark and have to add more gel coat to lighten it. On the other hand, If it is faired level you could just add a boot stripe and call it a day.

 

[Longislandfish]

Someone else suggested the boot stripe on the hull truth. I edited a pic to see what it looks like with one let me know what you guys think

 

[Longislandfish]

This is mix fix and solution. Going to color natch the vinyl to Parker red and black. Not sure on dimensions but deff going to use the thinner one on top and and even spacing between them

 

[Puck-n-Fish]

Can you fair the new gel coat out further into the original, so its not so abrupt? You may be able to polish/blend it better over a bigger area. Also, if you put new Parker stickers your eye would be drawn away from the repair area and to the shiny new stickers. I think most times, a slight change in color will be noticeable only to you.

 

[Longislandfish]

I could possibly fair it out but that would mean not taping off any tight areas and sort of fan brushing it out into the surrounding area. My only concern would be that the gelcoat would have to be decently thick in order for it to cure? I was thinking that would prob help hide it alot better as an option, but let me tell you, that gelcoat cures rock hard. Im shot from sanding port and starboard 1/2 inch patch line haha. I think brushing it on to surrounding area could work, but I think sanding it will come with its own risks. I mean the ****** part is that it does look really close, but I guess like you said its a small tight area its more obvious.

And the other issue is this is the case for the entire waterline, not just that port side. so were taking about a lot of blending, even up on the keel by the bow hook. Such a shame, I really love the classic parker gelcoat. I spoke to a pro and he said he would have to respray the entire lower half of the hull, I didnt even bother to get a quote because im sure it will be thousands.



The boot stripe isnt horrible. I have plenty of gelcoat, and I will continue to play around with things, I found that working in the dark, with a light in a particular angle casts a shadow for me to find all the high and low spots. I am able to fair it perfectly flat with no voids.

One issue I did run into is, after all this sanding I go to wipe off the dust with acetone and the new gelcoat is coming off!

I let things cure for a few days in ambient temps 50-60 degrees. The top layer was hard as a rock, but after blocking it down and wiping with acetone I have this gummy residue coming off on my rag. actually pulled some gelcoat out of the repair.

Il keep you posted, sorry for the rant

 

[sailmaster]

Tape, apply in layers. Determine if the gelcoat you’re getting has wax in it or not- if it does, it will cure without any covering but the wax coating that rises to the top (thereby sealing out the oxygen and creating the environment for it to cure) will need to be cleaned off between coats. If it does not, you will need to either spray a coat of wax over each layer of gelcoat, or seal over it with plastic wrap or something similar so that it will cure. I recommend just using the waxed stuff.

As far as color match, the stuff from Cecil is a perfect match for my 95 and 97.

The wax stops the catalyst from gassing off the surface and allows a chemical bond for the next layer. When you build a boat the first thing you do is wax the boat then paint it then start adding reinforcements to the paint. Waxed polyester resin has a longer shelf life because the wax stops the surface from oxidizing ( oxygen ) MEKP is common catalyst and has extra oxygens in the PEROXIDE the trick is to seal the surface. you can add wax
Try using
a waxed cup and aggressively mix and scrape the cup
Pledge Furniture wax
PVA polyvinyl alcohol

The alcohol is corrosive and will hammer any metals in your spray equipment. you can use a PreVal bottle I always had a designated sprayer that was 100% plastic that made my life easy. This stuff also works as a mold release and if you use the green stuff you can use it as a guide coat a bit if dry sanding I often would get a good finish with320 stearate paper

 

[Lucky John]

I think it will blend right in during the season and not look as obvious. Maybe hit the hull with some compound

 

[Longislandfish]

Well I wet sanded the port side hull to try my best to blend in the existing gel coat with the patch. It’s not horrible but It pains me that the shade of the new gelcoat seems way off to me. I am tempted to experiment and try to tint it closer to the gelcoat if I can get it so that It disappears from 5 ft away I’ll be happy.

I’m not there yet. Still not happy with the patch.

I also need to build up some more low areas but the cold temps have shut down any hope for gelcoat work. I may just buy some tint and sit in my basement like a hermit until I get a closer match on this

 

[Antidote]

I think it's looking pretty good.

 

[Longislandfish]

I think it's looking pretty good.

Thanks, I may take your advice and try and tint with a pin drop of brown. If I can get it slightly darker it’s a win for me. All the sanding and finishing is not a problem, it’s the color matching business that makes the repair

 

[Antidote]

Thanks, I may take your advice and try and tint with a pin drop of brown. If I can get it slightly darker it’s a win for me. All the sanding and finishing is not a problem, it’s the color matching business that makes the repair

That is where the "art" of the repair is. Remember 1/2 of what you think you'll need and then 1/2 again.

 

[Longislandfish]

That is where the "art" of the repair is. Remember 1/2 of what you think you'll need and then 1/2 again.

I’m gonna start with an oz and a pin prick