DIY Alexseal evaluation

[Mac2]

I was forced to try a new paint due to Interlux Perfection being discontinued-environmental issues apparently. My project would be an aluminum flybridge. Original paint was Awlgrip that had peeled off in several locations-typical for aluminum. I started with Interlux Toplac, but was disappointed with the finish and softness of the paint. I wanted paint I could repair/buff, so I chose Alexseal. Initially I was intimidated due to the lack of instructions on the can and the 3-4 parts needed for all phases (primer, topcoat, spray or roll/brush). I went online and printed all the instructions-understanding now that they would never fit on a can. I used a 3m gravity feed sprayer (basically my first time using a air compressor sprayer). I had a hell of a time due to the windy conditions of the flybridge. Many mistakes were made, but nothing I couldn’t fix with sanding. Overall the paint is very forgiving for the beginner. We rolled some areas using the roll additive and it was amazing. It leveled very well and we would have used it in more areas had we known how well it turned out. Storing the opened cans of paint in the storage bags was a huge advantage as well. Made pouring small batches extremely efficient.

 

[Comodave]

I have not used it but it sure looks sweet when it dries.

 

[Bmarler]

I’ve been painting for decades, mostly automotive work, but have done a few boats too.
Masking for spray outdoors is almost impossible. You can end up with some pretty pissed off neighbors. If I can’t control my environment I prefer to brush/roll/tip, etc…be aware that the hardener contains isocyanates and is pretty toxic, so protect yourself. I use a full face mask at a minimum, forced air hood is better, but really only needed in a booth.
Alexseal is a forgiving paint for that process, and as you say, it can be cut and buffed to perfection if desired.
Spraying it is tricky if you’re inexperienced, it tends to flow for a really long time, and can be a bear on those places with flat bar framing like you showed. It’s the inside corners as you probably found out that are tough to cover without pooling it up and running down.
I can give pointers for setting the equipment up if you decide to do more.
Great job though, it’s really satisfying to see that nice fresh paint.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
We did our complete boat (46') with AlexSeal a few years back. Roll and tip. VERY user friendly, nice application and few drips or orange peel (due to inexperience). The 2 part fairing compound is beautiful to use.

 

[Diep]

Nice work, that looks great!

 

[Mac2]

Thanks! Forgot to add the before pictures and my ghetto setup.

 

[boomerang]

Good for you guys to tackle the project on your own. You've saved yourselves a fortune.
We're in the middle of an Alexseal do-it-yourself paint job ourselves. We bought the boat knowing the superstructure needed repainting. As every painter knows, the prep is 90% of the finished job. Thank goodness I married a hard-working girl who isn't afraid to get a little dirt (or paint) under her fingernails. We endured weeks and weeks of fiberglass repairing, scraping, sanding , filling and priming ,rinsing and repeating but at least now we're on the final coats and are getting somewhat close to being done. All in all, it is a very user friendly paint and we're happy we went with Alexseal. The bubble-buster no-tip secret ingredient is what makes it so nice.

 

[Mac2]

Good for you guys to tackle the project on your own. You've saved yourselves a fortune.
We're in the middle of an Alexseal do-it-yourself paint job ourselves. We bought the boat knowing the superstructure needed repainting. As every painter knows, the prep is 90% of the finished job. Thank goodness I married a hard-working girl who isn't afraid to get a little dirt (or paint) under her fingernails. We endured weeks and weeks of fiberglass repairing, scraping, sanding , filling and priming ,rinsing and repeating but at least now we're on the final coats and are getting somewhat close to being done. All in all, it is a very user friendly paint and we're happy we went with Alexseal. The bubble-buster no-tip secret ingredient is what makes it so nice.

I must have married your wife’s sister! We did a bottom job together last year. Absolutely amazed at how she hung in there-actually working past the point I tapped out. I only got half way up the mast, so I will roll the rest next year. I have a climbing harness for this job, but not looking forward to it.

 

[Mac2]

I’ve been painting for decades, mostly automotive work, but have done a few boats too.
Masking for spray outdoors is almost impossible. You can end up with some pretty pissed off neighbors. If I can’t control my environment I prefer to brush/roll/tip, etc…be aware that the hardener contains isocyanates and is pretty toxic, so protect yourself. I use a full face mask at a minimum, forced air hood is better, but really only needed in a booth.
Alexseal is a forgiving paint for that process, and as you say, it can be cut and buffed to perfection if desired.
Spraying it is tricky if you’re inexperienced, it tends to flow for a really long time, and can be a bear on those places with flat bar framing like you showed. It’s the inside corners as you probably found out that are tough to cover without pooling it up and running down.
I can give pointers for setting the equipment up if you decide to do more.
Great job though, it’s really satisfying to see that nice fresh paint.

Thanks for the advice. The hardest part I had was seeing the paint (white on white). I had to use my wife’s sunglasses to see the paint come out of the gun, but this meant I couldn’t use my full face mask as the frame of the sunglasses prevented a good seal. I tried a work light but it was to cumbersome. I bought a light designed to clip onto the gun, but I didn’t get it in time to test. I used a 1.4 tip at about 18 psi. The paint is extremely thin, so maybe a smaller tip?

 

[Mac2]

Greetings,
We did our complete boat (46') with AlexSeal a few years back. Roll and tip. VERY user friendly, nice application and few drips or orange peel (due to inexperience). The 2 part fairing compound is beautiful to use.

This was the warmup job before doing the whole boat. Did you roll because you were on the water? Curious as to what size and type of roller you used-mohair?

 

[Bmarler]

Thanks for the advice. The hardest part I had was seeing the paint (white on white). I had to use my wife’s sunglasses to see the paint come out of the gun, but this meant I couldn’t use my full face mask as the frame of the sunglasses prevented a good seal. I tried a work light but it was to cumbersome. I bought a light designed to clip onto the gun, but I didn’t get it in time to test. I used a 1.4 tip at about 18 psi. The paint is extremely thin, so maybe a smaller tip?

which 3m gun were you using?

 

[Mac2]

which 3m gun were you using?

The 3M accuspray. Worked great, but I will probably get the performance version next. The tips attach easier and it looks like it’s better built.

 

[Comodave]

I have not used Alexseal but I have painted several boats with 2 part poly paint. Last boat I used EMC paint and it was ok. But now with Alexseal tipping additive I don't think I would spray a boat but rather roll it and let the paint do its thing. The results seem to be really nice with just rolling. And it is way easier to do. No masking no overspray issues. The last boat we painted I sprayed the hull and spent several days masking our boat and covering the other boats in the barn.

 

[Mac2]

Commodave: We rolled a coat with Toplac. All the instruments made it difficult to get around with brush/roller. We also started to late in the season. This meant small windows between wind and rain and work. Spraying was at least a 10th of the time as rolling, and made painting around the instruments a breeze. Thanks to all the replies about rolling, I will definitely incorporate it when painting the house next year.

 

[Bmarler]

light is everything when doing the actual spraying. i look at the surface of what i'm shooting the whole time. you can see exactly how the paint hits the surface. this lets you know if you are too close, too far away, too fast or slow, or not enough overlap. with two people in the "ahem" booth, one can wrangle the hose and move the work light. you absolutely want good light to shine on the panel so you can see the reflection as you go.
using that paint with the accuspray i would have started with a 1.3 tip and around 22 psi. if there isn't a 1.3 in the kit, i'd go to the 1.4 like you did. i tend to over pressure a bit for better performance. set the material flow wide open, adjust the fan to full height and then just dial it back till it clips the top and bottom off. this should give you a nice cigar shaped pattern if you do a quick burst against a flat panel.
be careful not to use too much pressure or you can blow the tip off the gun. too little and you'll have orange peel or dry spray. when you are doing the odd shapes with inside corners and hard edges i might grab the 1.2 tip and reduce the pressure. go in and paint all the hard edges first. then switch back to a bigger tip and go over the whole thing, ignoring the edges you already did. since the paint flows so long, you don't have to worry about it melting in where the edges are. instead of the 1.2 tip on the bigger accuspray you could use a small touch up gun too.
i've never really been a fan of the 3m guns. i like the cup system though. i use a similar system called dekups. really nice to use. you can put the liner in the fridge overnight with the leftover paint and it'll be fine the next day. (not the same fridge your food is in...)
you might want to get a small touch up gun too. i use a little one with a 1.2 tip for detail work. good around areas like the dash where you've got a lot of things to shoot around. don't go overboard on it price-wise, a cheap one will get the job done. ill stop here, i tend to ramble.

 

[Mac2]

Bmarler: I don’t mind the rambling-especially when you are providing such great info to me (novice). The one thing I really appreciated about the spray tips, is the ability to twist the end to switch between a vertical or horizontal pattern-really handy on the framework. I will look into the touch up gun. I am familiar with epoxy paints, so I was storing leftovers in the fridge. I used 3 day old leftovers on touch up areas and it worked fine.

 

[Diep]

Just want to echo the appreciation. I'm not preparing to spray 2-part coatings anytime soon but I just love the detailed information that gets shared on this site. There is a deep well of knowledge shared here about every topic imaginable.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. M. Yes. We were afloat. Can't recall specifics as to equipment. Pretty sure AlexSeal has recommendations. As you're aware, prep is the vast majority of the work. Again, I would highly recommend the A/S fairing compound.

 

[Bmarler]

Greetings,
Mr. M. Yes. We were afloat. Can't recall specifics as to equipment. Pretty sure AlexSeal has recommendations. As you're aware, prep is the vast majority of the work. Again, I would highly recommend the A/S fairing compound.

I read the tds for alexseal and it’s pretty similar to all the modern urethanes. As you found out, the additives for roll/brush are terrific, a real game changer for a lot of diy painters.
So tell me, is the fairing compound polyester/talc based? Do you remember? I only ask as I like to use waterproof materials in case of a breach of the topcoat.
Always on the lookout for better materials.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. Bm. The compound is a 2 part (mix 1:1) epoxy as I understand. Option of fast or slow set. The fast set has about a good pot life (IIRC) and sands easily to a smooth finish. Never used the slow set...99% sure it's water "proof". Best to check with A/S.
Easy tool clean up with regular vinegar.

 

[Bmarler]

Greetings,
Mr. Bm. The compound is a 2 part (mix 1:1) epoxy as I understand. Option of fast or slow set. The fast set has about a good pot life (IIRC) and sands easily to a smooth finish. Never used the slow set...99% sure it's water "proof". Best to check with A/S.
Easy tool clean up with regular vinegar.

Perfect, thanks. I will try some when I run out of the system three compound I’m using now. It’s good, but could be better.

 

[jfolding]

I was forced to try a new paint due to Interlux Perfection being discontinued-environmental issues apparently. My project would be an aluminum flybridge. Original paint was Awlgrip that had peeled off in several locations-typical for aluminum. I started with Interlux Toplac, but was disappointed with the finish and softness of the paint. I wanted paint I could repair/buff, so I chose Alexseal. Initially I was intimidated due to the lack of instructions on the can and the 3-4 parts needed for all phases (primer, topcoat, spray or roll/brush). I went online and printed all the instructions-understanding now that they would never fit on a can. I used a 3m gravity feed sprayer (basically my first time using an air compressor sprayer). I had a hell of a time due to the windy conditions of the flybridge. Many mistakes were made, but nothing I couldn’t fix with sanding. Overall the paint is very forgiving for the beginner. We rolled some areas using the roll additive and it was amazing. It leveled very well and we would have used it in more areas had we known how well it turned out. Storing the opened cans of paint in the storage bags was a huge advantage as well. Made pouring small batches extremely efficient.

Wow, that paint job is beautiful! I have often wondered how well Alexseal would be for a DIY. I was timid about multi part paint, but I may attempt to use it now. Great looking job.

 

[Mac2]

Wow, that paint job is beautiful! I have often wondered how well Alexseal would be for a DIY. I was timid about multi part paint, but I may attempt to use it now. Great looking job.

Two part paints last twice as long as the singles. After doing the brutal prep work, I want the paint to last as long as possible. The two parts are expensive, but if you plan to keep the boat for a long time, it pays for itself.

 

[Comodave]

When we sprayed the hull on the last boat we were inside a barn so the lighting wasn’t great. 2 of us held 4’ LED lights, 1 on each side of the guy spraying, so he could see what he was doing. It came out nicely.

 

[Seevee]

Greetings,
Mr. M. Yes. We were afloat. Can't recall specifics as to equipment. Pretty sure AlexSeal has recommendations. As you're aware, prep is the vast majority of the work. Again, I would highly recommend the A/S fairing compound.

RT,

What is the A/S fairing compound?

 

[RT Firefly]

Fairing Compounds | ALEXSEAL