Gel Coat Repairs-Anyone Tried This?

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Has anyone used this company before? Looks like they are out of Australia.

http://www.magicezy.com/

 

[GFC]

I've never seen that stuff before. Other than the fact that they talk funny, their stuff looks good. If you use it, please let us know how it worked out for you.

 

[johnma]

Not sure if it was the same company, but West Marine sells this or something very similar that I have used in the past. Worked pretty good as long as your hull is the same color.
John
2003 MS390

 

[Brooksie]

Not sure if it was the same company, but West Marine sells this or something very similar that I have used in the past. Worked pretty good as long as your hull is the same color.
2003 MS390

I have used the West Marine stuff too with good success on chips and voids. One part, never seems to go bad, I still have my kit.

 

[Art]

Looks to work well - Thanks for link!

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

A review:

Magic Ezy 9-Second Chip Fix | Sailing Today

 

[LaBomba]

Quote from Boatsales.com.au

"Sunshine Coast manufacturer, MagicEzy has received international recognition for its revolutionary fiberglass repair product, Hairline Fix, having been selected as one of the Top Products 2014 by USA’s highly respected, Boating Industry Magazine."

Aussie manufacturer MagicEzy gets gong - Boat Reviews & News - Boatsales Mobi

I think I will try the 9 Second Chip repair product on a scratch on the side of my boat.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

So any reviews on the spider crack stuff? Does it work?

 

[LaBomba]

I ordered and received their product but the area I want to use it on is impossible to access until haul out in the fall. $10 shipping Aus to Canada is a third of what ebay charges to ship from the USA. My only reservation is how it will work on a vertical surface. A flat horizontal surface should be no challenge. Hope someone else has tried it and replies.

 

[ghost]

You go first. I'm not a believer in "magic" fixes, most especially involving stress cracks. They claim it to be a structural repair for stress cracks, which I don't believe one word of and it makes me rather strikingly critical of their entire company after such a claim by marketing.

As far as gel coat matching, <sigh>, its not quite so easy as just buying the correct tube. If you want to do it right, the method of application, the blending, matters more than the exact color matching itself. Not that the color match is not important, its critical. The last time we did gel work on my boat, we matched three different colors for three different sides of the boat. You pretty much have to do this if your boat is something other than brand new and you have an original can of the gel used.

There is a reason why people who get paid to do this charge what they do. I have the idea down pretty darn well, but for me to do a repair at least 80% as good as my favorite gel person, takes me quite a bit more time to do it right.

As far as getting the right general color for your boat, here in the Seattle we are blessed with two companies that supply/supplied most of the gel coat that has been used on boats over time. One is Spectrum, the other is Gel Coat Products inc. They share a common heritage and I've used both from time to time. They know their businesses well, ship everywhere and can color match if you need it.

That said, do realize that the last time we did gel coat on my boat, we did two things. 1.) I acquired a couple quarts of fresh standard color mixed gel for my boat, an off white. 2.) We then custom color matched each area that we were doing using a color pigment kit, some of the secrets to matching my color I have been sworn to secrecy <cough> <green> <cough>. The point is, if you want it done right, its not quite as simple as just ordering the right color and smudging it on, then sanding flat/polish. I'm sure this company would like you to believe that. Maybe that method is acceptable to you, but even with a 30yo boat, its not acceptable to me. I can still spot slight color imperfections from five feet away, most never will notice not knowing where to look, but even when you do it right there is quite an art to it. It wouldn't look this good if we had used a miracle product.

No way I'm guinnie pigging the stress crack cure. This product will boil down to nothing more than some kind of shiny clear coat acrylicish, wet solvent-ish to hide the white of the scratch line. I'll be astounded if it ages well. Same with the car quick fixes. You can get some mileage out of a "glaze", but its never really been a fix to me. Looks better at 15 feet than nothing, but not a cure and needs to be repeated every time you polish. Stress cracks require fixing the flexing first, opening, filling, and lots of fairing. It's a lot of work done right, and we have a company from a far of land making wild claims to a subject we would all be willing participants to want to believe. Sure sounds like an age old approach to get our money to me. How come the professionals don't use it? Are we really to believe they have never heard of it, yet us mere boaters know a secret and for the price of ginsu knives.....blah blah blah

Nope, not buying it, no I'm not...

 

[psneeld]

Spider cracks aren't necessarily stress cracks...

To fix stress cracks...first you have to remedy the stress...

As far as spider cracks...a lot will...and a lot won't fix them...then again..why did they form?

I have quite a few that I relate to age spots on me and others. Place thin glass out in the sun long enough and occasionally you find "spider cracks" in it. Pick what you want to fill them then cover them or just use a gel coat..maybe even the new miracle formula. Any of them may last a long time or not...depending on your prep and the final product used.

Too many possibilities to say what will and won't work.

 

[Adelaide]

Here is a US website you can buy the stuff.

abmarinestore.com |

 

[Northern Spy]

Most of my boats spidercracks are from cannonballs and prawn traps.