Paint with epoxy polyester or two pack?

Question

boat nearly ready for paint but not sure what to paint it with.. all repairs under way on fiberglass boat . making a rack to turn the boat over 180 degrees 17 foot jet boat don,t know how that will go but will let any1 know if all goes well . just want a awesome finish color scheme still on the drawing bored so if any 1 out there that has experience with gel coats or polyester epoxies or two pack please help with my decision as spaying is not my forte but rolling industrial flooring lol . boat will be rubbed down to with 800 then primed then painted then cleared before the 20 th of next month appreciate all informed knowledge to help me make my decision of my problem at hand (any blah blah blah will be appreciated pun intended cheers jp )

Answer 1

gel coat is only used for construction and repair. the reason in construction is mold release. THe reason in repair is that there is already gel coat so you have no choice.

You don't want to use gel coat, it doesn't last as long as paint and its far more brittle, awkward and incredibly difficult to finish post production..

What you want is awl-grip. Its the best around, used by all pro's. take a look on their site it has all the info you need, they supply primers etc too..

For your own sanity, don't use gel coat. If you do you should make sure to either use a 'finish' gel coat or if you're using a laminating gel coat then add wax, about 8-12% on the last coat. Thats extremely important. Oh and you'll need laminating for first few layers. The reason is: Gel coat doesn't cure when its in contact with air. When used in a mold obviously its in contact with mold wax, no air, so the exterior of the gel coat cures to a shiny finish. If you want to lay up outside a mold you need to make sure the gel coat is not in contact with air.. hence wax.

But don't use gel coat!!!

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

You do want to gel coat it to make it perfect.Boats out of the factory have about a quarter inch of gel coat, but you could probably put on two coats. I don't know if you know much about gelcoat but it costs about 100 $ a gallon which you might use. Then the paint which will cost a couple hundred for everything (bottom paint). The ratio for gelcoat is 15 drops of MEKP(methyl ethyl keystone peroxide) or hardener, to one ounce of polyester resin wich is the same as gel coat. you can read the instructions on back of jug. I don't know alot about painting so I hope someone else responds, but without gel coat and a h**l of a sanding, when you prime and paint that boat, every nick, every scratch will show up very clearly. Remember that preparation is extremely important.