Paint and paint finishing on a new wood/epoxy hull

[MikeLTour61]

Hi, I'm planning to paint the hull of my new Marrissa made from B&B's materials and fiberglass/epoxy.  The boat will not be left in the water for extended periods and used primarily on lakes.

My questions are about painting and finishing the paint.  Most of my experience comes from painting cars and motorcycles and I usually use a basecoat/clearcoat system so I'm used to wet-sanding and buffing.  I have a climate controlled shop but no paint booth.  I have plenty of dry, oil-free compressed air and automotive HVLP sprayers. 

This should probably be divided into several posts but we'll see how it goes.

My questions:

1. Will two-part epoxy paints such as Pettit EZ Poxy2 hold up on the bottom of the boat?  I don't want to use ablative bottom paint - I want a gloss finish on the bottom.  Again, this will be a trailered boat used in fresh water.

 

2.  It may be because I’m kind of a novice painter and don’t have a spray booth but I usually end up with some dust or other contaminants in my paint jobs.  If not, then I’ll usually have some orange peel to deal with.  I have experience with automotive paint and I’d like to know if anyone has used it on a boat and if so, would you do it again?

 

3. I’ve tried brushing on Interlux Brightside (maroon color) on my previous boat and the paint looked good except for the brush marks.  At one point (paint was a few years old) I tried to sand them out and the color below the surface was much darker.  I guess it faded…  My question is, with new paint (a two-part epoxy this time) will I be able to sand out imperfections, compound and buff or is marine paint that different from automotive paint?

4. I’ve read of some people using air-dry gel coat instead of paint.  From what I understand, this can be problematic if the conditions aren’t just right.  I just want to get a better sense of the pros and cons of this method.

 

Thanks in advance! 

Mike

[Gordy Hill]

Mike,

You have a Marrissa and no pictures?!

 

While we're waiting for answers on the paint, (I'm no help.) perhaps you could start posting.

 

We're also going to need comprehensive test results.

 

 

 

...................................................................................................................................................................................................Don't let this happen again............

[PAR]

Painting and surface prep have been covered quite a bit in recent months. A quick search will yield several threads.

 

In a nut shell, the bee's knees paint jobs require serious skills, in prep and application. There's no such thing as an easy, but good looking paint job. Prep is the key. A resent paint job I did was 50 hours total labor with 43 of them being surface prep. Techniques are more important than the products, though some products (paint, sand paper, tools, etc.) can improve the outcome a fair amount.

 

Pettit EZ Poxy2 is actually a polyurethane, not an epoxy. I use nothing but real epoxy primers, especially on bottoms that will be berthed, not trailered. Pettit EZ Poxy2 should do well on a trailered boat, as it will not be continuously immersed.

[Alan Stewart]

Firstly, you don't want a 2 part epoxy anywhere there will be sun exposure. You need a 2 part poly for that. Could you get away with it on the bottom? probably. But you said you wanted a gloss bottom and most epoxy paints aren't as glossy (i believe). 

 

For a hard durable gloss finish on a painted boat Awlgrip is the gold standard. Alexseal is another high quality 2 part poly. It is worth the investment of not having to paint again for a good long time. It is sprayed and thinned just like your auto paints i'm sure but these paint systems have a clearcoat built in that rises to the surface with each coat. It CANNOT be buffed out without marring the protective outer layer.

 

They do make a buffable paint called Awlcraft that I think can be buffed ( I have never used it so that's all i know)  Another brand we have been using is PPG Amercoat. Their 2 part poly is called 450-H and is a 4:1 topcoat. Our experience with it is that it is much cheaper than Awlgrip and looks almost as good. It seems to kick off a little faster so thin it way down for a topcoat. We have been using Awlgrip's slow brushing reducer with it (T0031 I think) which improves it considerably. 

 

The gold standard for epoxy primer (under the poly) is Awlgrip 545 high build primer (1:1 mix). PPG Amercoat also makes a high build primer we have been using that we like. and is cheaper and sands about as good. hard to tell a difference. I think it's called 385 primer. I would be comfortable using either of these as a bottom paint on a trailerable small sailboat and you could just put Awlgrip or PPG over it for a gloss bottom.

 

I think the reason that gloss coats aren't used on boats (except for maybe glitter jobs on ski and bass boats) is just because boats are usually bigger and harder to get at than cars. Certainly you wouldn't want to have to clear-coat over white on a 50' motor yacht. 

 

I remember reading about an epoxy compatible gelcoat that was being used in molds with epoxy infused hulls down in florida in flats boats. Maybe in Pro-boat magazine. I wouldn't even think about using regular gelcoat on an epoxy and wood boat. That is asking for it.

[MikeLTour61]

Thanks everyone. 

 

So, I think I've got it now.   Epoxy primer and poly top-coat. 

 

I've read a long post about fiberglass/epoxy and finishing which was very helpful.  Various members agree with you regarding gelcoat, Alan.  I'll steer clear of that.

 

Regarding the bottom:  I'm not really looking for a gloss finish, just something that doesn't dull like anti-fouling paint does.  I was looking at Interlux VC Underwater Epoxy which seems like what I'm looking for but it only comes in white.  I don't know yet if it's tint-able but if I could get it in grey, that would be great.

 

 

Gordy, I'll post pictures ASAP... sorry.