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Old 05-13-2014, 09:27 AM   #42
Scary
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City: Walnut Grove Ca
Vessel Name: Cary'D Away
Vessel Model: Hatteras 48 LRC
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 887
Gel coat

Quote:
Originally Posted by manyboats View Post
There's an equalizer re the poly v/s epoxy ...... paint.
I guess you want to match the gel coat on your boat that', so paint the easy way, is out of the question. You can apply the gel coat with a foam roller. The process is almost the opposite of paint. Expect to sand the gel coat smooth and buff out. You will need to apply enough gel coat to do this and leave enough gel to provide years of protection. This is a boat I'm working on that was gel coated at Ladd's in Stockton. The process required grinding off the old gel coat with a 8" disk sander and applying several coats of gel coat followed by two weeks of sanding to flatten finish using progressively finer paper and then color sanding and buffing out. Applying gel coat like paint is a lot of work compared to paint. With paint the prep determines the finish, Gel coat is almost the opposite. We can argue the merits of gel coat versus paint. It really boils down to maintenance. Gel coat will out last paint if maintained, buffing once a year more with dark colors. Paint will require almost nothing more than washing for 10- 15 years.
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