I have had discussions with several people about dark colored hulls on Suncats. While they are beautiful when new, for the most part, dark gelcoat hulls tend to fade and over time get to the point where the color can no longer be restored and even when it can, it doesn't last long. One comment I heard was that the color on a Suncat is particularly thin and prone to scratches which are difficult to remove if at all. For those of you who have Suncats with dark hulls, what has your experience been and how do you repair scratches and maintain the color. Do you find the Suncat color is thiner than other boats you may have experience with and would you buy a dark hull again?
I have a white hull and it is great. No fading. Wax it once a year and it looks like new.
I'm pretty sure that the colors are in the gel coat. It is not painted. That's includes the white one as well. At least that's the way most builders do it. The darker colors would probably need a little more attention, like waxing it more frequently. My dark red Horizon gets waxed twice a year. The hull is not that big so it's maybe a 2 hour job with an orbital buffer.
Any color will oxidize. You just notice it more with colors as oxidation is a white cloudy haze. Wax will help prevent it, and when it does occur, there are many ways to remove it.
So starting with a well waxed female mold, a [in the case of a colored hull], colored resign gel coat is shot onto the waxed mold. I don't know but there may be one layer of resign to back up the colored resign, followed by hand placed and rolled out resign impregnated 22 ounce woven fiberglass cloth. Appropriate layers are added where additional strength is needed.
So the color is just a few mils thick and can be buffed to a high gloss if care is taken with the polishing compound selected [I like Mequires #49 RV oxidiser remover] and a soft buffer/pad is used. With care you will not burn through the colored layer.
-->My boat is white with one tiny 1/2 inch gouge midships down to the fiberglass. That had me filling that gouge with a cotton swab of Marine-Tex and layer, after layer, after layer...of white gloss enamel with a dot of brown off the tip of a tooth pick to match the color. Rub it flush with Turtle Wax Polishing Compound. Can't see it. Can't feel it now. For a reduction of paint mil thickness I use Polishing Compound and not wax because once the compound is wiped off a new layer of paint can be applied to build up the surface. You can't do that with wax. Paint floats on top of the wax.<--That's ONLY if you have nothing better to do. ::)
skip.
I have a dark green hull, 39 months old, which receives two coats of a good paste wax each year and is kept carefully covered with a WHITE Polytarp when not in use. It still shines brightly and often draws comments like "Is that a new boat?" at the launch ramp.
The gel coat(?) color is indeed quite thin and scratches do stand out, much to my surprise and disappointment. Haven't quite figured out the best way to repair them.
The thickness of the color gel coat does appear thinner than other boats I have owned in the past.
Would I buy a dark hull again? Good question. At this point, having experienced the disappointment of "prone to scratching" and living in Sunny Florida, PROBABLY NOT! (Easy way to save $1000.)
capt_nemo
(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l594/CPYOA/Com-Pac%20Sun%20Cat%20Mods/100_1512.jpg)
I am not sure that is gelcoat...... I mean, out of all the different colored boats we have, anything with white behind it has been painted with AwlGrip, or something similar....... A solid gelcoat color thru to glass is then Gelcoated on....
Maybe I am wrong, but I would call and ask Hutchins if it is Gelcoat, if it is, I would be really surprised........Especially if it had white behind it.....
Boats arent like cars, as they are painted different colors as they come out.
Usually when the colored Gelcoat is used too, it might have some white Gelcoat behind it, but it is still thick colored..... and you can tell for sure it is gelcoat. and it doesnt scratch easy.....
Mac
So what are we saying here? A layer of clear resign, then some color, then some more clear resign, and finally some resign impregnated fiberglass matt?
I have no idea of the layers or what the layers really are. Is there ANYTHING on top-O-color?
Side bar; I do know that a factory paint job on a 1928~1931 Ford Model 'A' had 14 layers from the steel out.
From Bonderite over 19 ga. steel to top coat of paint.
skip.
Think Mac is correct, at least for recent Compacs. Older models, as I recall, did have colored gelcoat.and were subject to chalking which is the primary reason to switching to a polyurethane finish for colored hulls (Awlgrip or similar). I looked at an older Suncat with a green gelcoat and it did have significant chalking. The poly finish can at least be touched up stands up to UV much better.
I have not ever heard of a boat manufacturer making a color only a few mils thick on the outside...... All I have ever heard was of EMRON paint or AwlGrip, etc.
The paint itself for boats is typically single stage, meaning nothing else on top of it. There are a few paints out there that are Dual stage, meaning they get a clear coat.
Just like cars, the paint is similar, but meant to hold up to different issues.
On someone like Salty's boat, it is definitely a through and through Gelcoat color mix. And I have worked on several boats like Lasers, etc, that the gelcoat was colored to make the boats different..... yellow being a example.
On one they did a blue gelcoat stripe and white main hull. the blue stipe stood off of the hull ever so slightly..... that is more somthing a trained eye would catch in some cases.
I am not sure I have ever seen and know I have never sprayed EMRON, but supposedly that was some awesome paint. not sure that it is around any more, but it was supposedly tough.
Mac
Emron was/is a Dupont polyurethane paint. Most UPS trucks were painted with it(may still be). Having had a car painted with it I can attest to its durability. It was essentially the "pioneer" poly paint. Like all poly paints, precautions should be taken when spraying. Emron hardens by chemical reaction rather than evaporation of solvents like most paints.
Is it not called Imron? or am I thinking of a different paint. The Trek bicycle company, in it's early and infant days, used Imron on it's frames.
Bob23
I love Imron, takes a bit more skill spraying than the typical automotive base/clear coats. Also it can be wet sanded and buffed it it gets light scratches that dont go through. I tried wet sanding and buffing on awlgrip once, that stuff is super hard. The last boat I sprayed with Imron is about 5 years old and the owner has done absolutely nothing to the paint and it still looks likes only a day old.
Imron is correct! I need to engage brain before typing :-[ Great paint!
Are we saying that the mf'g. painted the boat a color after the hull is released from the mold?
Why would they do that when they can just tint the resign? Early CP-19's Mk's I were kind of cream colored.
skip.
Yes! My understanding is that is Compac's current protocol for colored hulls.
I own a 2006 Sun Cat with a dark blue hull and cream colored deck. The gelcoat has the color in it. Dark colors show the dirt more and any scratches or imperfections are much easier to see. If I were to buy a new boat it would be white, even though the dark color boat look much better. I'm getting a little lazy now that I'm older.
ROGER