Need advice on Painting my Com-Pac

[lostsailor101]

Greeting all,

I am seeking advice and information on painting my Com-Pac 16. Has anyone out there tackled this job? If so what type paint is recommend?
Could anyone share their painting experience with me.

Thanks

[brackish]

I would only use a catalyzed polyurethane.  I used Dupont Imron on a sailboat I used to own.  Awlgrip is also a cat poly.
It is the most durable option for fiberglass.  Tougher than the original gelcoat with better UV resistance.  Must be sprayed, but not hard and expensive equipment not necessary.  I used air atomized gun when I did it, but today I would use an HVLP conversion gun.  Harbor Freight, often on sale for 20 bucks or so.  I usually buy a couple whenever they go on sale, treat them like throwaways.

I did this boat (hull above the water line) with it.  Also have done several vehicles:

[Billy]

looks GREAT!!!

did you do the top side too?

and does it cover up spider cracks?

[brackish]

looks GREAT!!!

did you do the top side too?

and does it cover up spider cracks?

Yes, I did the top sides also.  In this picture the top side is just primed.  I used a heavy primer, can't remember which one, and it did cover spider cracks.  On the topsides, I had repaired a bunch of core rot, so primer was necessary, but on the hull I just shot it over cleaned and sanded gel coat.

Of course, you have to realize that the stresses that caused the stress cracks are still there and they will probably come back eventually.

Also, if you use the Cat/Poly, buy or borrow a good NIOSH mask and do it outside if possible.  The fumes are not good for you.

It is expensive, but on a sixteen you can probably do the job with two or three quarts, gallon max.

The picture was taken around 1995.  It was scanned from a print.   I saw the boat about a year ago and it still looked good.

[Billy]

I have a 19 that I would like to paint, so I am sure I would need at least a gallon. Don't know if I am brave enough to do it myself. I have NO evperience, and very little patience.

I don't have any core rot on my 19, just a few chips and some spider cracks on the lazzettes (sp?). Do you think I would need to primer?

[GlennB724]

Hi Lost,  I replied in the other thread but I'll ditto it here.

I painted my 16 using Interlux Pre-Kote primers and Brightside finishes.  Had excellent results all around.  Prepped the surfaces first with power wash followed by sanding (as per manufacturer's instructions), followed by powerwash again.  After fully dry, used the primer.  Grey primer under green finish for the hull, and white primer under Hatteras off white for the decks, cockpit and cabin trunk.  I hit the various dings and a couple of larger cracks with filler first.  I didn't fill some of the smaller spider cracks. Those mostly filled in with the primer and finish, but in a couple of cases even though they are filled, they are still visible and I now wish I had filled them prior to painting.  These two projects, (Hull and Topsides), were done a year apart, each following some substantial structural repairs, and the results are invisible.

I don't have the luxury of a professional paint shop or equipment; but I did buy a Wagner HVLP spray painter, and it worked great... even right there in my driveway, (on windless days).   With pro equipment and abilities, I'm sure your results will be even better.  Interlux has some really helpful info on their website.

[Bob23]

My 2 cents:
   A friend of mine painted his Morgan 30 using Awlgrip, rolled and tipped. Came out great with not brush streakes to be seen.
   Remember, Brightsides should not be used below the waterline, not that you would but I wonder if the area just above the boot stripe, which is always wet, could cause problems?
   In related news, after completing a personality profile on Brack, it seems he is a wonderful guy, very helpful and knowledgable in many areas of Compac-dom. I'm sure he wouldn't mind us sending our boats to him for professional painting and repair! No need to thank me for this, Brack!
Bob23

[brackish]

My 2 cents:
   A friend of mine painted his Morgan 30 using Awlgrip, rolled and tipped. Came out great with not brush streakes to be seen.
   Remember, Brightsides should not be used below the waterline, not that you would but I wonder if the area just above the boot stripe, which is always wet, could cause problems?
   In related news, after completing a personality profile on Brack, it seems he is a wonderful guy, very helpful and knowledgable in many areas of Compac-dom. I'm sure he wouldn't mind us sending our boats to him for professional painting and repair! No need to thank me for this, Brack!
Bob23

ROTFLOL, sure, send them on....don't know when you'll ever see them again.

Bob23, I've never had much luck with roll and tip, think I've never really gotten the technique down.

Billy, if the repair areas are not too extensive, prime probably not necessary, just spot prime with a matching color.  Spraying not that hard if you practice a little.  Most often newbie mistake is trying to carry too much material and getting sags and runs.  Second mistake is sweeping the gun in an arc rather than maintaining a constant distance to the substrate.   The Cat Poly's can go on wet on wet so you can build it up without having to carry too much. 

When I lived in Tulsa, (25 years ago) the local community college had an evening special interest class on bodywork and painting.  It was really just an opportunity to use the shop's equipment and spray booth.  No teaching unless you asked a question and you brought your own vehicle to prep and paint.  That's where I learned initially.  But I've been spraying furniture finishes in my hobby woodshop quite a bit.  Still learning.  This car done a few years back, certainly not my best work, I rushed it, youngest son leaving for college, Admiral wouldn't have him driving down in a car that had leprosy, don't think it mattered to him, certainly didn't to me.  This one Dupont Centurion, not imron:

[crazycarl]

I painted our last boat using Interlux Brightsides.  1st I washed the boat off with dewaxer, then I sanded the entire boat and washed it down.  Next I primed with Prekote.  3 coats.  Then I painted it.  I could not master the "roll and tip" method, so I went to Ace and bought several 4" foam rollers.  I found that if I did only a 2 sq. ft. area at a time, I got great results.  I rolled the paint on and kept rolling the same area until all the little bubbles broke and the paint flattened out.  Once you cover an area, DO NOT go back over it.  I used 320 sand paper between coats and put 4 coats on.  3 would have been enough, but I was moving around the boat after appling the 3rd coat and fell into the wet surface.  I didn't have time to buff the finish, but everyone who saw it thought it had been sprayed.  The deck was the most time consuming from sanding all those tight areas.  The hull took only a week of half days to complete.

[brackish]

Nice, Crazycarl, what is that boat?

[Billy]

do youguys recomend removing all the deck hardware, cleats, teak, and stanchions, or just tape around them?

[GlennB724]

I stripped all the hardware off that I could get to. A couple of the fittings on the top edge of the transom were a little too tough to reach, so I taped them.  I think pulling the hardware is probably even faster than taping, especially if you are careful and do a good job taping.  Removing the hardware also gives you the opportunity to rebed and reseal everything to avoid any nasty little leaks. 

BIG round of applause for the boats pictured in the thread. EXCELLENT job, guys!  I was happy with my finish, until I saw yours.  LOL  Actually, I'm still happy with mine, and given the level of effort, (I think I put a lot less work into my painting than you guys did), mine worked out OK.  Maybe I should have gone for more coats (I did two primer coats and two finish coats), and for sanding between finish coats.  I did end up with a barely noticeable stippling effect in the end, the mark of an amateur, or impatience, or both I guess. 

[crazycarl]

'83 Starwind 19.  The keel trunk is about 6" shorter than a CP19's, but it also has a centerboard that lowers to about 4'.  The ballast is 450 lbs. of lead.  It was a great boat until the storm.