Gelcote for Epoxy ?

[SV Demeter]

I needed to glass up an old home in the topsides where a no longer needed exhaust fitting had been. I ground it out and glassed it up nicely and faired with West System 410 fairing filler (thickened epoxy).

In order to finish the project I wanted to apply gelcote but am now realizing that since I used Epoxy I can not use gelcote. (vynlester wont work on epoxy)

What I am woindering is how do boats that are being built today from epoxy do gelcote? They cant be all painted? So what are they using and how do apply some in white?

The hole is close to the waterline and not that big so I will probably just paint with awlgrip but I am wondering...

[boatman61]

They do dye's for West Epoxy's.... I used black when I did 'Kali' my Tiki 21... looked and worked great...

[atoll]

2 pack polyeurathane should do the trick once faired flat,also normal pigment should work with west system.

[smj]

Most boats that are built out of epoxy nowadays are painted.

[Southern Star]

smj is correct - and frankly, there are not many production boats that are laminated with epoxy resin. Having said that, I seem to recall reading that there is a way to cover epoxy resin with gelcoat (particularly for small areas). Indeed, WEST may have some instructions available.

Even if they do not, the other option (since it is a small area) is to cover it with gelcoat once you have removed all the blush. Even if the adherence is not perfect, if there is no flex in the area I suspect that it will hold up reasonably well; in any event, it will be a cosmetic and not a structural issue. I suspect that coating with gelcoat and then sanding to blend in with the rest of the hull will be easier than attempting to match the gelcoat with a polyurethane paint and then attempting to deal with the overspray.

Brad

[SV Demeter]

I was looking at the pigment that you can get for west system but it says it was not UV stable. I will most likely just use awlgrip. I did not think all those new boats were being painted, wow.

[capngeo]

You CAN use Gel Coat over West if you do it right.....
Read More

[S/V_Surya]

I maybe have missed something but I put gel coat over all the epoxy work I did a few years back and so far no issues.

[SV Demeter]

Will do some more reading. There are plenty of production boats being built in epoxy, C&C and Tartan for one.

[mbu745]

I took off all antifoil from the hull.
I want to put an epoxy primer on top of the existing primer, but I have to know what primer there is on now.
What kind of test can I do to find out if the undercoat is epoxy or not, there must be a way.
Best regards. Willy