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Gelcoat repairs - what, again!??


Bob F
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I've been finishing off a few dinks and bumps in the gelcoat and in some places after sanding down with wet'n'dry there are some dark patches appearing in the white gelcoat.

 

Is this where I have been over enthusiastic with the sanding and have got down to the fibreglass and started to polish it??

 

How do I get rid of these patches???

 

Spray over with white paint??

 

Drill into it and fill in with more gelcoat?

 

Or just put another layer of gelcoat over the top?

 

cheers

 

BF

 

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Bob,

 

Im no expert and im learning the hard way.

 

Sounds like you rubbed off too much, you could try thinning the gel coat and rolling it on then sand with very fine wet and dry

 

Dont put paint on your lovely gelcaot unless you don't have a choice

 

Paul J

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Bob

I suppose the patches are above the water line - i.e. the nice and easily accessible bits where you can really get going with some pressure!!!

 

I wouldnt hesitate to paint perfection 709, sprayed on, or with a roller - can produce a finish like glass, and can also change the colour of your beloved from off white to shiny blue. Also, its alot easier to clean, and burnish. Its also one of the few ways to prevent osmosis, I believe. Ive used it on fibreglass racing dinghys and epoxy wood, and always managed a good extremely high gloss finish. Worth a thought.....

 

 

Paul

 

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I have just put perfection on the hull, in fact it's still wet cause it went on about 5:30pm.

 

So far it's has a primer of gelsheild 2000, one coat of perfection undercoat and 1 of two coats of perfection 709 in cream.

 

2nd coat tomorrow depending how well it's dried.

 

Im hoping it'll be ready to flip back over late Saturday afternoon, soon im off to post an invite to the Boat Flip ( the sequel)

 

Cheers

 

Paul J

post-6-1112736997.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Quote........

Is this where I have been over enthusiastic with the sanding and have got down to the fibreglass and started to polish it??

 

How do I get rid of these patches

 

 

Plastic padding do a white gell coat in a tube. Although very nearly paste like it is thixotropic (move it around and it liquidises). Make up a small batch and using a pallet knife mix gently until it goes like cream, then using a very soft artists 3/8th" brush paint on a layer * . Wash the brush out in acetone and wait until the first layer sets. The stuff wont keep so mix another small batch and repeat. You are aiming to end up with a dried area of new gell coat a little proud of the origional gel coat.

 

Leave for 2 days or so to realy harden off. Then with 600 grade wet and dry used wet with a little soap, start to flatten the new gell into the origional finish. STOP FREQUENTLY AND CHECK. When nearly there change to 1200 wet & dry used wet and finaly T cut to get the shine.

 

* Wash the area with acetone and dry carefully with absorbant paper before painting.

 

 

Mad Mike

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Glad to see lots of sensable advice re rubbing down boats,I should have asked before starting on mine,no matter how carefully I rub,or what grade of paper I use ,I always seem to get a "hairy" kind of finish,no shine at all. I am thinking of getting in touch with the Zodiac factory in france,to complain about it !!....[OK perhaps it should have been in the joke section,but I could'nt resist it.]...jack

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Guest steve

as boat builder i would tell you to leave it as it is or you will end up rubbing more down and making it worse. the dark patches that you see is actually clear resin which shows through as dark it the gelcoat is thin. you could try a tin of car spray and then polish it.

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