Greg Vasileff

My process for painting a hull.

This is only for an unfinished glass hull or gel coated hull. If you boat has been painted before, I would only follow these directions if in fact you know that the paint is compatible with the paints I recommend.

  I have a DB hull that I am painting this winter. The following is how I will proceed. I have painted many hulls this way and the results are absolutely great! This hull is gel coated, and I have already started the job.

    Remove all hardware and any interior rigging that you can. Strip the boat down and remove any ballast if you can. This is a good time to re-rig the boat anyway.

VERY IMPORTAINT!

All of this needs to be done in a well-heated and very well ventilated area.

    I first sand down the hull with a random orbital sander with 120 grit. Once I have sanded all that I can safely reach with this sander. I then sand with 120-grit paper wrapped over a dry moist sponge in a back and forth direction. Stopping and feeling the hull with your bare hand is a very important step to feel out any flaws.

  I now work the hull with 220-grit paper, over a sponge, in a back and forth motion. Long strokes along the length of the hull.

  Now wet sand the hull with 320 grit wet paper. Same way, always stopping and using your hand to feel out the hull.

   It’s at this point that I would tank test the boat to check for ANY tiny pinhole leaks. Push the boat way down into the water, but making sure you’re not over the deck.  If any holes are found, dry the boat out, using compressed air if you can, to make sure that all water is out of the holes. Now mix up some epoxy and force it into these holes that you have marked with a PENCIL. Make sure you do this as cleanly as possible, not leaving epoxy on the hull where you don’t need it. The epoxy’s job here is to seal the hole, not necessarily fair them out. They will be fair out later.

   After epoxy is dry, sand the aria and check again in the tank. If you find more pinholes, then repeat, and repeat ….

  Now I just give the boat one last wet sand with 400 grit. Dry and clean the hull off. Do the best you can, but it won’t kill you at this point if there happens to be speck of dust on the boat.

  Now it’s time to primer the hull. This is the foundation to a great paint job. I use spray cans for all primer and paint on my boats. The primer I use now is Rust-Oleum Auto Sandable Primer.  It’s newer to their line and can be found at Walmart. Red and gray label with gray top. Has a fan spray tip that works well. I use to use Dupli-color, but they changed their label and I have yet to find the proper kind again.

  Gray is a good color for primer no matter what color paint you will be using. White primer is too hard to cover and will take too much paint to do so. I would recommend that you use the primer that I mention here as I have tried just about all others with not as good results. It’s very important that primers dry quickly and sand easily with wet sandpaper. Most do not.

  If you do not intend to paint your deck, then now is the time to mask it off along with any other hardware that you could not remove. I suggest hanging your hull so that the deck is a about the level of your chin. The best way to hang the boat is by running string, or wire (I like using floral wire) through each fairlead if you have both a jib and main. If not, then improvise a way to be able to hang the hull so it’s easy to take down and re-hang as you will need to do several times. Now spray on your primer, good and heavy, but using good spraying motion. Always press the spray tip before you are hitting the boat with paint and don’t let up till you have made a nice long full length sweep across the hull and beyond. What I am stressing here is never press that spray tip unless you are already in motion and never stop your motion before you stop spraying.

Let this dry for at least 30 minutes.  At this point you will start to see any imperfections in the hull. Look it over in different lights and you will see all those tiny nicks, scratches, dings, and that epoxy that you thought you had cleaned up so well.

   Glazing Compound. This is what used to be called red lead, but that stuff is gone now and has been replaced with this great product from Bondo. Again you can get this at Walmart. This is NOT a large hole filler, but a filler of small scratches, dings, and those pinhole recess that you sealed with epoxy. I apply this with my index finger, dabbing it onto those now visible flaws. Not too thick at all, just enough to fill them in. If you are doing all of this right then at this point your hull will look like it has a bad case of Poisson Ivy! Let it dry for a good 30 minutes or more.

  Now it’s time for wet sanding. Wet sand the hull with 400 grit until the primer and glazing compound is almost gone.

  Now repeat the primer and glazing compound followed by wet sand with 600 grit. Again repeat primer, and if you still need glazing, and wet sand with 600. Since you are wet sanding most of the primer off the hull, you are not adding as much weight as it sounds here. When you feel that the hull is looking about perfect after a certain primer application, then primer once more without doing anything in between these last two primer coats. You may not need two, but you should at least lay it on a little heavier in those ‘high’ spots were wet sanding seems to sand through to the hull.

  Now final wet sand with 800 grit being careful not to sand through to the hull. If you do, you need to recover and sand these arias so that the hull is solid gray throughout. Otherwise your paint will not cover these spots the same way.  Now the hull should look as flawless as you have the patience to do, and it should feel incredibly smooth. Now dry it up real well making sure that no drops of water are hiding in the rudder post shaft.

  Now the paint.

   I use either Dupli-Color or 12 minute Krylon. Either will work well with this primer. You may have to re-mask the areas that were once masked. In fact you might have had to do this several times already. Now is also the time to decide whether you are using different colors such as bottom and topsides. Well then I presume you have already drawn out your waterline with pencil. Mask this line off so that he bottom will be painted, as I describe below, first. Once dry, then mask off the bottom and paint, as I describe below, the top. Figure you will most likely use a good automotive pinstripe to divide this waterline. This tape will cover any small flaws in your masking process, so don’t sweat it too much here, but do as best you can

   Hang the boat up the same way you have been doing. Ready to paint? All clean, warm and most importantly mentally and physically comfortable? Great, then let’s paint, but make sure you have enough paint! I would have three cans, though two will do it.

  With the same spraying motions that I described earlier, start spraying on your paint. Lightly at first, going over the entire boat (if that’s what you are painting). Don’t stop to let this dry, as the boat is big enough that it will be drying fast. Once I have covered the boat with a layer of paint that is still showing primer through. I then go in for the load up. This is where you will start to worry that it’s going to run. Don’t worry too much because these new paints dry really fast. The paint will start to shine and look deeper in color. It’s important to lay this paint on somewhat heavy and fast at this point, loading up on those ‘high’ points, but carefully. Don’t go back and try and touch up missed spots. If you have missed spots, meaning that some primer is showing through, you really need to repaint another full coat on or else you will get a fuzzy and dull look.

   Now breath! Let the boat dry for at least five hours. Just walk away and don’t mess with it any more!

If you get runs, don’t sweat it, your not done yet, as you now need to wet sand the boat with USED 800 grit. BE CAREFUL of those ‘high’ spots! Go lightly with this 800, and keep it good and wet. This is why you want to use USED paper here, It’s softer and won’t leave any streaks. This is the time to work a bit on any runs. They will disappear with patients.

  Now switch to 1000 grit, then to 1500 grit and if you want, 2000 grit. Always check the boat to make sure you are not thinning out the paint in places. This is why you have loaded up the paint a bit in the first place. If you want to use pinstripe anywhere on the boat, you should apply it right before your final wet sandings. Good pinstripe wet sands very well and will almost become undetectable as tape and will feel more like paint.

  WOW, it will be real smooth, but a bit dull looking. Now use a good ‘polishing compound’, I use Dupont myself. Follow directions on the can and when your done, you should have an ear to ear smile from what you have just accomplished, Not done yet! Now apply a good ‘Hand Glazing Compound’ by 3M, as directed. This good stuff and is a step you don’t want to leave out.

   Don’t wax? Well I do, at least this one time. I use, and would only recommend West Marine Teflon Boat Polish. All I can say is HANG ON! The boat will be VERY hard to hold at this point as it will be supper slick.

Good Luck! Feel free to email me with any questions

Greg Vasileff