White gelcoat options ??

[BillD]

Hello ALL,

does anybody have any experience with "gel coat" options for "new hull" layups.

I know dark colors are prone to fading/chalking etc.

I like the color white. NO paint!

Are there "different grades/qualities" of gel coat ?

My 1996 white hulled Blackfin buffs out each spring like a white mirror.
The topsides too. No fading, chalking, streaking etc.
And this is a boat that spent its 1st 12 seasons in southern FL (Miami) baking in the sun 365 days per year.

I wonder what the Blackfin factory was using back then?

I did some research on the web, not much specific info out there on the varying "qualities" of gel coats. I did find the following product from Ashland.
Supposedly Ashland makes gel coats that Sea Ray uses.

http://www.ashland.com/Ashland/Static/Documents/APM/marine gc linecard1.pdf

Any input? Experience?

 

[eyschulman]

Just want to point out that if your boat was painted with awlgrip white you would not have to do the spring buff or any otherwaxing or buffing to look good. You could wipe on some sealer once a year but that is not even needed.In Fl. sun Awlgrip white is probably good for 8-12 years with little or no attention,after that still good but not top notch finish.

 

[jsakovits]

Gel Coat Suppliers

CCP is one of the largest if not the largest suppliers of gel coat. The issue is that they do not sell gel coat in anything less than a five gallon bucket. Gel Coat products sells CCP products in smaller volumes and is excellant at providing a good match should you provide them with a color sample.

 

[Downeaster]

CCP Armorcote - Best resistance to weathering and blistering in the industry. Hard enough to bring back the original shine if you've let it go.
*

 

[BillD]

CCP Armorcote - Best resistance to weathering and blistering in the industry. Hard enough to bring back the original shine if you've let it go.
*

Are there different "grades" of CCP Amorcote Series 991?

You know what I mean, kind of like roof shingles...

10, 20, 30 year guarantee???

Or is there just one "Armorcote" ??

 

[DBM]

Why are you so against paint? We had the hull gelcoated dark blue, but it wasn't dark enough, so we awlgriped it. No waxing no buffing, and it's easy to repair.

DBM

 

[BillD]

Why are you so against paint? We had the hull gelcoated dark blue, but it wasn't dark enough, so we awlgriped it. No waxing no buffing, and it's easy to repair.

DBM

Not against paint at all.

I just can't fathom the $5K-$7K for a paint job on a NEW boat over brand new shiny gelcoat out of the mold !
And the color white is very forgiving.

I owned my 1977 Bertram from 1991 to 2008 and hull and top buffed out nice and shiny each season with minimal effort.
The 1996 Blackfin I have now shines like a white mirror.

Maybe I'm old school but Awlgrip/Awlcraft is what you spray on a "beater" for a "rehab" project and want everything covered up new and shiny !

 

[BillD]

The subject of this post is white gel coat options.

This thread I started is to ask if there are choices in gel coat grades.

good, better, best. ;-)

shine,fading,chalking etc. ??

 

[Downeaster]

CCP Armorcote - Best resistance to weathering and blistering in the industry. Hard enough to bring back the original shine if you've let it go.

I suspect that my last sentence could be misunderstood so let me try again. Production gelcoats run the gamut between soft (almost having a porous quality after a very few years of service) and hard (almost having a non-porous quality that seems to withstand UV better). The soft gelcoats seem to be more susceptible to oxidation (sooner) and staining. That said, it doesn't compound and buff out as well as a hard gelcoats of which Armorcote is one. I agree with Bill with this, if I were going with a white hull and/or topsides, I'd go with gelcoat too because I'm paying for it regardless. That said, I'd pay the relatively small difference in price for a premium gelcoat and, for my money, that's Armorcote. In the spirit of disclosure, I must add that I haven't built in years but I do follow the industry as closely as I can.

 

[Downeaster]

<snip> Maybe I'm old school but Awlgrip/Awlcraft is what you spray on a "beater" for a "rehab" project and want everything covered up new and shiny !

Bill ... Trust me, there's nothing "cheap" about a properly-applied, marine-service, two-part, urethane paint! The cost of the job could well exceed the worth of the underlying "beater".

 

[BillD]

Bill ... Trust me, there's nothing "cheap" about a properly-applied, marine-service, two-part, urethane paint! The cost of the job could well exceed the worth of the underlying "beater".

Absolutely agree, what I meant was it seems to be much easier and a better result to "spray" a two part paint on a rehab "beater" than to "re-gel coat" it

 

[plowin]

The amount of work and money involved in a quality awlgrip, or any two part spray on expoy, is easily justified if you want a hull that will shine like Obamas heel If you are going white like most of the boating world then gel coat is great due to the color being so forgiving but anything with color will require paint if you do not want your brand new 200k dollar boat to look like shit in a few very short years. Hatteras paints every boat they build, I believe, and they don't do it to "cover up a beater". JMO

 

[BillD]

The amount of work and money involved in a quality awlgrip, or any two part spray on expoy, is easily justified if you want a hull that will shine like Obamas heel If you are going white like most of the boating world then gel coat is great due to the color being so forgiving but anything with color will require paint if you do not want your brand new 200k dollar boat to look like shit in a few very short years. Hatteras paints every boat they build, I believe, and they don't do it to "cover up a beater". JMO

"Bingo" on the color white being forgiving and most of the boating world having white boats.

As far as Hatteras painting all their boats.....I'm guessing most Hatteras buyers aren't working on a tight budget like I am !