painting a fiberglass dinghy
 

i just find a little sailing dinghy , but the hull is need to repaint
,what is the best way to go to repaint the hull outside?
epoxy paint ? and what kind of prep . need to be done to get a nice
luster ? sound very basic but i can use some good advice.

painting a fiberglass dinghy
 

A smooth shiny finish is primarily the function of good prep work. If
the hull has been painted before, it needs to be sanded so that all the
gloss is gone from the original paint, and all the dings and divots have
been filled with a sandable filling material, either polyester like
Bondo, or epoxy like West System with mircoballons. Sand, fill, sand
fill what didn't quite fill the first time and sand again. If you use a
fairing primer like Interlux 244 it will further help achieve the
"perfect" finish, but any enamel properly brushed out should give you a
fine, serviceable finish.

In any event, read the manufacturers directions and thin properly. A
capful of the right brushing liquid (Interlux 333?) can make the
difference between an OK finish and one that has people saying, "How'd
you do that?"

Your basic starter sanding grit might be 80 grit paper, finish off with
at least 220 prior to painting.

Good luck,

Jonathan

wrote:
i just find a little sailing dinghy , but the hull is need to repaint
,what is the best way to go to repaint the hull outside?
epoxy paint ? and what kind of prep . need to be done to get a nice
luster ? sound very basic but i can use some good advice.



--
I am building my daughter an Argie 10 sailing dinghy, check it out:
http://home.comcast.net/~jonsailr

painting a fiberglass dinghy
 

thank you very much it will help a lot , will send you pics. ,how is
turned out

painting a fiberglass dinghy
 

May want to also check compatability of the new paint with the old. Wet a
rag with the solvent for the new paint and place on the old paint. If the 2
paints are compatable the solvent will not lift the old paint.
MMC
"Jonathan W." wrote in message
...
A smooth shiny finish is primarily the function of good prep work. If
the hull has been painted before, it needs to be sanded so that all the
gloss is gone from the original paint, and all the dings and divots have
been filled with a sandable filling material, either polyester like
Bondo, or epoxy like West System with mircoballons. Sand, fill, sand
fill what didn't quite fill the first time and sand again. If you use a
fairing primer like Interlux 244 it will further help achieve the
"perfect" finish, but any enamel properly brushed out should give you a
fine, serviceable finish.

In any event, read the manufacturers directions and thin properly. A
capful of the right brushing liquid (Interlux 333?) can make the
difference between an OK finish and one that has people saying, "How'd
you do that?"

Your basic starter sanding grit might be 80 grit paper, finish off with
at least 220 prior to painting.

Good luck,

Jonathan

wrote:
i just find a little sailing dinghy , but the hull is need to repaint
,what is the best way to go to repaint the hull outside?
epoxy paint ? and what kind of prep . need to be done to get a nice
luster ? sound very basic but i can use some good advice.



--
I am building my daughter an Argie 10 sailing dinghy, check it out:
http://home.comcast.net/~jonsailr

painting a fiberglass dinghy
 

i just looked a bit closer , this dinghy of mine was never painted just
dull and scratched up , i wonder would be way to save the original coat
just "bring it up" and feather in the scratch with epoxy ? what you all
think?

painting a fiberglass dinghy
 

The original gelcoat is the surface of choice. Once you paint, you start
a maintenance cycle.

Davis makes a product called, I believe, Fiberglass Stain Remover, which
is essentially oxalic (sp?) acid in a jelly base that does a great job
of cleaning up stained fiberglass.

Use that, and follow up with one of the many mild polishing compounds
(perhaps someone will pipe up with brand recommendations) then wax, and
you should be able to get it looking almost good as new.

Unless the scratches go through the gelcoat, you might want to wait and
see what they look like after stain removal before playing with fillers.
It is incredibly hard to match white surfaces and you may find you draw
more attention to the "scratch" by trying to fix it than leaving it
mostly alone.

You might also look at the Sailnet.com website. The store is defunct,
but they are leaving the web pages up, along with a store of 1,500 or so
articles, many of which are on maintenance of different boat surfaces, etc.

Have fun,

Jonathan

seawitch wrote:

i just looked a bit closer , this dinghy of mine was never painted just
dull and scratched up , i wonder would be way to save the original coat
just "bring it up" and feather in the scratch with epoxy ? what you all
think?



--
I am building my daughter an Argie 10 sailing dinghy, check it out:
http://home.comcast.net/~jonsailr