Dragging up an old topic (hey, it's a slow day..).

- What type of paint can be applied (successfully) over gelcoat (let's assume properly de-waxed, sanded, primed)? Automotive?

- Can you "paint" with gelcoat? Say, with an HVLP sprayer (someone said the Wagner power painter, but I don't know how that'd stand up to polyester resin)

- Are dark paints REALLY going to mess up the hulls in Southern (FL, TX, etc) sunshine? Have they fixed this issue with today's technologies? Let's assume the hulls are covered while being stored, and are uncovered during weekend regattas and transport to/from locations.

- Would it be easier/more cost effective to just apply decal "wraps" to the hull sides similar to what they have on vehicles?

The green-fleck paint comment re-kindled an interest in what paint schemes would look neat on beachcats...

If I were only so talented as be able to paint... Jake's blue hulls looked so sweet....

The Blue boat(s)(I own the other one) are gel-coat ,laid up at the factory.
Imron works and I think pretty much most auto paints will.Marine paints come in lotsa colors also.

The other question is how much weight does painting the hulls add to the boat and is this weight significant?

You will probably remove more weight in preparing the existing gelcoat for paint than two pack polyurethane will add. The two pack covers incredibly well and provides a surface that is much harder than the gelcoat it covers. Even when rollered and tipped off the paint coat is unbelievably thin (you lose solvent and hence weight during curing). Prepare well and do the job properly first time, DON'T SKIMP. Sanding off a coat of two pack is several times more difficult/time consuming than sanding gelcoat.

Cheshirecatman

The two part linear polyurethane coatings are also used extensively to coat aircraft so their spec. sheets will give you the weight usually in G/M**2. I weighs almost nothing. Abzco Nobel owns Awlgrip, Interlux, and several aerospace lines. Imron (Dupont) and Polthane (Sherwin Williams) are two other top brands. You can get great deals on e-bay for surplus paint. Since it's a thermosetting plastic like epoxy, there is essentially unlimited shelf life. For instance I bought a three gallon kit of Awlgrip II for $150 - this is $700 retail and enough paint to cover a bunch of catamarans. I have also purchased half gallon kits of Polane for $75 that includes 2 qts. of paint base, 1 qt. of catalyist, and 1 qt. of reducer.

Kevin,

are you saying that the shelf life of epoxy is virtually unlimited as long as it is kept at the right temperatures and in closed containers?

I am under the impression that those paints are somewhat more dangerous to the respiratory system, and require special equipment to apply (positive pressure air respirator, etc).

Am I off base?

Like breathing airborne super glue. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Jake has a done a great job over the years designing vinyl graphics for our boats. The stuff is light weight/durable and has never peeled off accidently (even after beach landings at the T500). Here's a pic of our latest Infusion.

I suspected those decal "wraps" might be the lowest maintenance way to go. That you state they are durable enough for a season or two sounds promising.

I'm sure they're more cost effective than paint/gelcoat, and a LOT less work...

Here's a pic of the other side of the boat.

[img]http://www.twinhulls.com/08ldrace/pages/DSC_2106.html[/img]

I'll bet the chicks dig that....

Plus vinyl isn't a permanent thing. Don't like it?,just peel it off.

I'll try to address the question about toxicity. People have a huge range of opinions on this - some extremists will not approach the stuff in anything less than a space suit. So, I will state for the record I am a moderate - I don't want to poison myself but I want a great finish.
There is a toxic solvent in LPU paints called DiIsocyanate. Like most chemical agents your risk to this is proportional to your cumulative exposute. If you spray boats every day you need a positive pressure respirator - no doubt about it. If you spray one boat a year it may be acceptable to use a half mask chemical cartidge respirator with certain precautions. The precautions are that you do a fit check of the mask and always use brand new cartridges every day you paint. One reason this particular solvent is dangerous is that it is oderless so, unlike solvents with an oder, you have no way to know when your chemical cartridges are used up - hence change them every time. This is only my approach - everyone should read up on the subject until you are comfortable with risk level.

Rolf - I have used 10 year old AwlGrip in unopened containers with great results. I have read the base is extremely stable and the catlyst (activator) some what less so.

I'm votin' with Kevin. (it's "Akzo Nobel" btw.)

AwlGrip ROCKS! You paint it once, you don't need to paint again. Hell, AG even BRUSHES on well. AG might kill me, but I'm gonna look real good on the way out.

The below picture is of a something like 10 year old paint job. The splash graphics are painted, like the rest of the boat, with AwlGrip. the text graphics are vinyl

I am just about to undertake painting my 1970's Tornado, and it's going to be done with awlgrip and a HVLP air gun.

Any pictures of well painted cats would be great as inspiration.

I uploaded a Tornado that I found somewhere on the web, The paint job looks great, but the dark black color concerns me for head absorption.

Any other nicely painted boats around?

Breakwater,
Sorry I don't have any good picture of my Tornados. If the dark boat you saw had Marstrom hulls the temperature dosen't really matter. These boats are built of s-glass prepreg and baked in an oven. So the heat distortion tepmperature of the resin in in excess of 250 degrees or 350 degrees depending on the material used. For older hulls made of wet layup polyester, dark colors could be an issue.

Kevin

tami, that is an amazing looking cat...

its soo amazing that it can turn a trimaran in to a cat <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thank you, Andrew.

Let's see if this works: