Boy-oh-boy are my arms sore. Did a lot of sanding yesterday and today. There is not an inch of the 32 feet on this mast that has not been scrutinized, epoxied where need, and sanded smooth as glass again.

Now that we're already for the paint, wondering if there are any recommendations. I am planning to use the Rust-Oleum Professional Enamel. Are there any other aerosol products I should look at?

Here are a couple of pix of the project:

I think after all the work you did you might want to get a quart of awlgrip of some other 2 part paint that will last. Should be easy to roll-tip that mast.

I agree - though I would probably try to find a method to spray it, I have seen some pretty good roll and tipped paint jobs. The 2 part paints available today (like awlgrip) are incredibly tough and durable.

I would not use a current aerosol paint after doing that much work. It just doesn't last very long. My first choice would be a good 2 part linear polyurethane (Awl Grip, Imron, PPG, etc). Some of the old style 1 part auto paints hold up almost as well and there are some "coatings" available in aerosol that are really tough but ugly.

I have to paint a Marstrom mast and will probably use a DuPont Imron industrial paint that DuPont says is identical to what Marstrom uses on his yellow boats.

Matterhorn White. the way it should be

Find an auto shop that can spray it and spring for good paint as mentioned above. Worst thing in the world is to do hours of prep for a shitty looking paint job.

I would spend the 20 dollars on the rustoleum paint and primer and give it a try. If you really don't like it redo it with better paint next year. It is easy to use and does not require a lot of tools you may or may not have. It would probably be 250 dollars just for the awlgrip system of paint, converter, reducer, primer, and primer converter.

ok, so I'm bored at work. But why are there two perfectly good sawhorses off to the side and you have the mast balanced on the arms of two chairs?

At one time Rust oleum had "fish oil" in it and it wasn't compatible with automotive paint. I've no idea if that is still the case.

Went down to the local boatyard at lunch to see what they would charge to do the spraying etc..... The owner had recomended me to Britesides by Interlux

Showed me a hull that had just been done (rolled and tipped) with the stuff and looked fantastic. Went down the street to the local Marine Store and picked up a quart of Materhorn White and a quart of primer and it was only $30 more that what the Rust Oleum cost me and that stuff is going back to Lowes this evening.



Ahhhh! Rube Goldberg!!!!

It was only sitting on the one chair's arm. I had the sprinklers going for a while due to I'll be shutting them off for the next week while I do the painting.

I am going to try Perfection paint on my board and rudder. Two part. I think it might be too brittle for a mast though.

Maybe for the boards and rudders yes. What I read about paints last night is the constant exposure to sunlight (UV) and the expansion and contracting from heating and cooling is what breaks them down.

Much of the pint on this mast especially at the base came right off with little or no effort from the wet sanding. In other areas it was on pretty solid with the exception of where it had been worn off.

I don't know about "fish oil" but the rustoleum and krylon aren't even compatible with themselves anymore. Forget doing a multi-colored paint scheme with overlapping colors...they'll crinkle where you spray over it's own previously cured paint (it didn't do this three years ago). I know this from the r/c sailboat model building I did last year.

It does, however, lay down much smoother than before and you can get a pretty impressive result out of a can (durable enough for an r/c sailboat that lives mostly indoors)...you just can't layer colors.

I painted a Mustang with Rustoleum once. Looked great but my finger hurt for quite a while.

Did you try repainting afterward?

A consideration for painting is the possible need for repair. Some painting systems can be "blended" by using special solvents and clear coatings designed specifically for that purpose. Dark and metallic colors are the most problematic, light solids are the easiest.

I did that too with a Toyota Celica that I put together from two wrecked ones. It held up pretty well considering!

Too bad they didn't have these back then, designed by taggers for taggers!!!! Great for rednecks wanting to make their 84 Ford Mustang 68 Impala look like the General Lee

I was building one good car from two wrecked ones (one in the front, one in the back) .... I didn't have $7.99 to spare even if that existed at the time!

"I don't know about "fish oil" but the rustoleum and krylon aren't even compatible with themselves anymore. Forget doing a multi-colored paint scheme with overlapping colors...they'll crinkle where you spray over its own previously cured paint (it didn't do this three years ago). I know this from the r/c sailboat model building I did last year."

Most of the paints that come in spray cans have a small window of when they can be recoated without crinkling...if they are not recoated quickly you have to wait 3 days or more for it to cure...check the can, read the instructions, follow the instructions....it will let you know when you can recoat. Many seem to think they know more about a product and its correct application than the chemist that developed it in the first place, evidenced by the problems that are encountered from not reading and following the instructions.

In the grand scheme of things the paint is the cheapest part of the process...once you commit to a cheap paint you are screwed...you will have to remove every trace of the cheap paint and spray a barrier coat before you can go over it with any two part marine linear Poly or even any decent automotive paint. The powerful solvents in the professional coatings will lift any of the cheap spray paints.

On a mast especially, you need a paint with exceptional flexibility...cheap spray can paint isn't going to cut it. There is a good reason why Awlgrip costs what it does and enjoys the reputation it does.

Remember the line..."Never enough time and money to do it right the first time but always enough to redo it right the second time."

I have been doing some homework on this and Awlgrip, Interlux, Glidden, and a few other noted brands are all owned by the same company AkzoNobel.