Flowcoat or Gelcoat

[garfield28]

G'day Raiders,

Have repaired a few chips, screw holes and spider cracks in my boat have filled and sanded smooth and I am now ready to paint over them. 

Do I use flowcoat or Gelcoat to paint over the repairs please? Also is it best to spray the paint on or is it ok to paint with a brush? I am concerned that either way as I sand the paint job back the paint being so thin that I will sand back the coating and I will see the repair work under the coating. 

Any advice and tips heaps appreciated. 

Thanks

Geoff 

[noelm]

Gel coat is applied to a mould and glassed over, flow coat is applied last and will fully dry, gel coat will stay sticky. However you apply it, (roller, spray or brush)  you will need to sand and smooth it.

[garfield28]

1 hour ago, noelm said:

Gel coat is applied to a mould and glassed over, flow coat is applied last and will fully dry, gel coat will stay sticky. However you apply it, (roller, spray or brush)  you will need to sand and smooth it.

Thanks noelm. 

Would I try and do it as smooth as possible and sand between coats or paint a few coats and wait till the end and sand mate ? 

Thanks

[noelm]

Flow coat is thick, not like water, is the surface flat or vertical? 

[garfield28]

1 hour ago, noelm said:

Flow coat is thick, not like water, is the surface flat or vertical? 

I have a bit of both, pretty much half and half are on the side of the boat inside and out and a few on top of the gunnels

[noelm]

On a flat surface on a nice warm day, it will kind of smooth itself out, but on the side you risk runs.

[garfield28]

I painted it on nice and thick with a brush, I taped an area around the repair and wet sanded with 800 grit sandpaper and I can now see the dark repair underneath. Is it better done another way? I hate trying to fix these fibreglass problems. 

[garfield28]

Does anyone know if its best to possibly spray it on? I have been at this all week and its is driving me crazy! I have painted it sanded it, then painted and sanded again every day as I keep showing the repair. 

Would it be better to spray a thick coat as I would only need to use a low grit sandpaper to know off the very tiny spray and dry over

spray? 

 

Any advise would be truly appreciated. 

Thanks 

Geoff 

[Smobaby]

Geoff gelcoat is normally 3/5 mm thick your repair will need to be this much lower with feathered edges to allow the gel coat the coverage required it’s a bit of an art to get right that’s why professional repairs cost .Typical boat, only if it was that easy ! 

Spraying is the way to go with the right equipment.

[garfield28]

16 hours ago, Smobaby said:

Geoff gelcoat is normally 3/5 mm thick your repair will need to be this much lower with feathered edges to allow the gel coat the coverage required it’s a bit of an art to get right that’s why professional repairs cost .Typical boat, only if it was that easy ! 

Spraying is the way to go with the right equipment.

Thanks for the reply.... Sure is an art and bloody hard to do.  

 

Maybe that is where I am going wrong, maybe my repair is flush with the rest of the surface and I am rubbing it off you think? 

 

Thanks 

[shakey55]

Garfield28. I recently had a mishap at the boat ramp and did this to my Seafarer (see picture).  I was not happy and not sure what to do or how to do, so I had a fibreglass repair bloke come and have a look.  He confirmed what I thought and that was that I ripped the gel coat off and haven’t really damaged the glass structure.

I discussed gelcoat with him and he told me as Noel mentioned earlier that gelcoat will not dry completely and will stay tacky, and that flowcoat is the answer.

I let him do the job.  He sanded the area and applied flowcoat on the damaged area which was underneath.  The flowcoat settled and did not drip off.  He suggested I leave the finished job alone and no need to sand perfectly flat unless I wanted to.  He would have sanded if I wanted obviously for additional dollars.  As it was underneath and at rear I didn’t worry about it.  I may sand and make it look pretty is I ever sell the boat.

What I’m trying to say is flowcoat is bloody thick and does not run like paint (at least on my job it didn’t).  If you are doing it, may I suggest you speak with the fibreglass supplier and see what he says about mixing so it does not run or drip.

I haven’t got a picture of the finished job, but if you want one I can easily get it for you.

Good luck