Pacific Trawler

[Iggy]

I have a PT40 2001, color tan. I am trying to match the color to fix some nicks from the past owner. But I am having a hard time matching the color. Would anyone what gel coat brand and exact color to use before I call a pro in? Or maybe some sample colors. Just an FYI, I tried Defender and Jamestown and no luck. Both said in a nut shell, buy this and and that. That problem, when it dries its a deferent color.

 

[Shrew]

23 year old colored gel coat. Your only option is to custom color match. Even if you had the exact brand and color, it would not match at this point.

 

[Flatswing]

Small nicks, just mix your own. Even different parts of your boat will be slight different shades at this stage. Buff area of FRP adjacent to repair area, take your time adding pigment to uncatylized gelcoat, dab on the buffed area till you get your best match, wipe off trials, then you are set.
Andy at BoatworksToday has some excellent vids on how to do this using tongue depressors to add pigments gradually. You will be amazed how little pigment you need. I have zero color sense but was able to get a decent match that no-one notices using his technique.

 

[CompuNerd]

PT 2002 here. We had some work done in a yard around our windlass, and they were able to color match easily. As Flatswing noted, everything will have faded from the original after 20+ years outdoors, so you'd have to fade out the original color anyway in order to match. IMO it's a lot less fraught than most people think -- and I'm about to tackle some minor dings and things this summer. I may know nothing, but with the help of Yew Tewbes I can conquer all.

(BTW, Andy's channel is great for anything fiberglass. Big thumbs up.)

 

[Iggy]

I get the fading, that's a given. But I rather have the closest thing and than work from there.

From the 3 gel coats that I have tried, they charge tint when it dries. Making it harder to match.