paint preference

Kevin,
I agree that gelcoating the entire boat is way overkill for rejuvenating an old cat. Painting is simple and you should have enough left over for touching up where it gets rubbed off.
I used Interlux Brightsides and did the roll and tip method of application and did 3 coats. I used 2 qts for the bottoms and 1 for the top. The paint itself will be under $100, but when you get new brushes, rollers, thinner, gloves, etc. it was about $150-175.
You need to make sure the hulls are absolutely smooth.

I sold the boat 2 years after painting but it looked great when I sold it.
Thanks!

I have tried the wet sanding of the gelcoat. Too much work for too little return.

It is a bit of work, when I did my 5.7 I did one hull each day, around 3-4 hrs/hull. If you remove the hulls, so you can lay them on their sides, then go at it with a soft rubber sanding block, you can do quite a bit in an hour. I also built two sets of cradles, so I can sit the hulls upright, sort of like the ones that come with the boat for assembly.
One entire hull can be done in around 45 minutes or serious work. Take a break, then go again with a finer grade. Finally finish up with buffing compound & power buffer.
I don't agree with painting being easier, putting the paint on is easy, but the prep work has to be just as much work/time as wet sanding. Sanding is also cheap, $12 worth of automotive finish paper, $14 Collinite cleaner/polishing compound, $24 worth of good German beer, (in a pinch Grolsch will do).
My hulls had not been washed for a dozen years, I don't think they were ever waxed, they came out shiny enough to see a reflection... I know you didn't want to hear it, but start sanding8-)

Edited by Edchris177 on Aug 12, 2011 - 06:24 PM.

Thanks Eric. Did you take your hauls off the cross bars? I'm thinking about it, but am worried about stripping one of these 30 year old bolts. How did you prep before painting primer, sanding?

That's right Ed 30, not a dozen. 30 Years of the suns harmful rays!

Kevin,

I'm a big fan of the fresh glossy look myself and new paint or gel coat would be the longest lasting option for sure. But with a $100 budget, i'm gonna have to agree with Edchris177 on this one. Your time and money would probably be wasted trying to paint those hulls. A really good wet sand and buff job will bring back alot more color than you think. I'm in the process of restoring my Sol Cat right now and just recently painted it, but only because repairs had to be made to the exterior. Before I decided to paint I color sanded and buffed one of the hulls to a really nice deep shine. I would have been more than happy with that if I hadn't found some cracks in the process. Point is, painting cost me $300+ on materials alone, I had my dad spray it in his shop, and I put in about 10 hrs. Just in prep for paint. You'll get out of it what you put into it, and when it comes down to it, your money will probably be better spent renting a good buffer for the afternoon and giving your forearms a good workout.

Hope you find success with whatever route you take.

Kevin,
Yes, I removed both hulls from the tramp frame and set them up on 4 saw horses. My H-16 had osmotic blisters all over it plus there were soft spots forward of the front pylons. After the repairs, it had to be covered with something. I thought about gelcoating but I don't have a garage which meant everything had to be done outside so I went the paint route.
One other thing about repairing the soft spots. After I was done injecting the epoxy, the textured surface on the deck was filled in with the excess. Interlux has a product called Interdeck that has the grit added to it. After painting the boat, I taped the deck in the pattern of texture and painted on 2 coats of Interdeck. It turned out great. but it added another $35 bucks to the project.

It took me 4 weeks to do from start to finish, but the boat turned heads.
Good luck!
Eric

~~ I tried the 'roll & tip' method. I thought it sucked. Rag full of acetone and took it all off (1/2 of hull), re-prep it then SPRAYED it... Some people have their favorite ways... I liked spray much better. I did 4 boats, I think I have 2 in the tech gallery, I'll see if I can find them.... BRB

Painting the Hobie 18
http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=62395

Prep is the key thing when ya re-do a boat weather ya gel it or paint it.... it might look or feel good untill the coats go on, then ya use harsh words....... if ya think ya have a bad spot, get it before ya paint or gel. I used 60 grit on a vibrator sander then by hand where I couldn't get to it..... Yes 60 grit, the paint has to have something to hold on to, It'll fill in, besides I gave mine 3-4 coats..... Good luck & drink beer,,, (I drink strong dark beer) :prost:

I am thinking I will go with the Interlux Brightside as well. I dunno if I will spray it or not because I do not know if I will take the whole boat apart. Roll and tip will allow it to be painted one hull at a time and mask of what you do not want to paint. I dunno for sure yet. I have seen some people do this to boats when I used to live in Florida and if done properly the boat looks amazing. I would much prefer to spray it and may still but I dunno. I just love that pure white glow with some cool graphics on these boats. They look so clean and new despite their age. Popeye, what kinda paint did you use? Peace

Pete

~~~ Its on one of the links... It was an Interlux paint

~~ I just realized thoes links didn't work... "POOP" Go to the photo page---tech tips--- page 2 and look for "owner- Paul"
I probably have about 4 or 5 things up there,,,, ya might like all of them........ Sorry about the screw up !!! 🙄

Cool man, gonna check it out....peace

Pete

popeyez7 wrote: ~~ I just realized thoes links didn't work... "POOP" Go to the photo page---tech tips--- page 2 and look for "owner- Paul"
I probably have about 4 or 5 things up there,,,, ya might like all of them........ Sorry about the screw up !!! 🙄

What screw up? 😀 Your "Painting The Hobie 18" album is an excellent example of documenting a job like I'm always begging members to do.

Thanks for doing it.

Popeyze! That's exactly what I'm looking for. Both the color and the documentation. Now did you just buy a X quarts and spray though your own spray gun and air compressor? And how many quarts did it take? X=?
I hate to ask you to hold my hand but what exact paint was that? and how does it hold up?

[:

What screw up? 😀 Your "Painting The Hobie 18" album is an excellent example of documenting a job like I'm always begging members to do.

Thanks for doing it.

~~ When I checked on it one little tiny pict showed up ?? actually it should'av taken ya right to the pages... 2 separate pages.... one for the 18, the other for my girlfriends 14T (hanging with rope)... Oh well just go up their and snoop around it's not hard to find...
~~~~~ Kevin... I think I used 4, maybe 5 qts. I have my own sprayer & compr. It's nuttin fancy, just yer average sprayer !!
Paint is holdin up good, some minor scratches, but anything is gonna scratch---paint or gel. The paint is 'Interlux polyurathane" " Are ya sure ya hold hands ?" I think I'am older than you and more experinced.. "Cme'r little boy want some gum, candy, paint, wanna play with my sprayer ?? ]

Nothing works better than gelcoat. I assume your boat is white and a gallon of white gelcoat is only $50. I'm in the FRP business and had repainted my Stiletto 27... 15 years ago with AwlGrip and it came out perfect, plus the paint lasted many more years and still looked like new when I sold it, but that boat was made with nomex and aircraft exopy...then sanded and sprayed with 2 part epoxy from the factory. I've tried to paint a few daggerboards and was very disappointed...all the prep work and expense...but the results were not up to my standards. I use a gelcoat cup gun (Model G100 Spray Gun W FN-6 Tip), but you can roll it on with a high quality foam roller. When you start sanding...use a jitterbug sander with wet sandpaper. Start off with 150, then 220, 320, 400, 600...then compound out with Dupont white automotive, then wax. Sure you have some sanding, but the end results make all the work worth while.

My 2 cents...

Cme'r little boy want some gum, candy, paint, wanna play with my sprayer

😆 Take it easy Popeyze I got my own sprayer and know how to use it. Thanks for the help

incase you were wondering how it went...
before

after

I used 2.67 quarts of the interlux brightside topside paint. 3 coats of rolling and tipping.

SloSails did a great job too, Incase Andrew is out there.

After pic isnt working for me

That's weird, it works for me. Try this link:
http://thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=81777

Looks great! Did you have to do any buffing or polish to get brush marks out, or did it just flow out that well? Very nice result regardless! :clap:

That's how it dried. Ff you shine a light down along the haul or if you happen to be sailing stragiht into the sunset you can see the streaks from the brush. but only then and even so it doesnt look that bad

i know you made popeye proud!...makes you fell good sailing on a fine looking boat like that don't it? i know it would be nice to rub out the gelcoat and stuff but sometimes it's best to punt and paint the thing...large areas where vinyl graphics were never seem to match the sun fadded surroundings not to mention multiple repairs. sure that paint will scratch, but so will gelcoat. did some glassing on my keels this spring and touched up paint with a brush. wet sanded it to blend and it looks fine. nice job! now you should enjoy a few cold ones as any good painter does!!!