Polyurethane Paint Expert

[bill good]

I have been using the wattle U-400 for several years & it can be cut & polished very well. Also any recoat is easy by just rubbing back slightly before painting. Put a couple of drops of silicone drops in the pot before you spray just to ensure a good finish. There is a choice of lead or lead free. The lead does give a better finish.

Regards Bill Goodward

[Pelagic]

Rolling on Awlgrip can be done so that it is flawless, has great depth of gloss and good gloss retention.

I have watched it being done on +50m yachts at the Feadship (DeVries) yard in Holland.
I have just had it done on my own 65ft sailboat, here in the tropics and it turned out perfect (better than Feadship!)

If I can find the talent, I would much rather roll on the paint as you get 85% on the surface as opposed to 60% spraying. No overspray, better for the environment. Good vision for a perfect job. A totally low key application!

But as Gord mentioned, it takes a Pro who has considerable practice in:
· Judging the conditions,
· Mixing the right amount of paint, converter and brushing thinner in the proper ratios for those conditions.
· Has a Team that can consistently apply a minimum of 3 coats of Topcoat paint using a 3” high density sponge roller (no tipping and one roller will last up to 2 hours)
· Will do the prep and will wet sand with 800grt between the first 2 Topcoats.

There are so many tricks and techniques that are used in conjunction with experience and practice that it is a false economy to “practice” yourself. The Awlgrip Topcoat paint is just too expensive to experiment with.

[Tnflakbait]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

Island Mike and Tn,
You are the first folks I've heard of that have had success. Guess its all in the technique. One problem we do have here in Hawaii is a lot of humidity. I've done small hulls with a spray gun and have parts of them shiney and other parts of the same boat turn out dull. I think it was moisture inside the hull that did it.
Just got a new better compressor so will be experimenting again.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

John,
Moisture is the death of 2 part paints. You walk away and it is glossy, return the next day and its flat. Are you painting indoors? This should help. Also try adding accelerator. It makes it cure faster!
Good luck!

[Tnflakbait]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

There are so many tricks and techniques that are used in conjunction with experience and practice that it is a false economy to “practice” yourself. The Awlgrip Topcoat paint is just too expensive to experiment with.

This is all true. The nice thing about Interlux Perfection is that it is much cheaper than awlgrip or sterling. The results are nearly identical. This gives a little more leeway for practice.

[clausont]

I can relate to your experience. I just did the exact same thing on our Cal 29. One side turned out beautiful, the other side turned out horrible.
A few things I learned from this:
The brush that you use to tip with makes a huge difference. I made mistake number 1 when I purchased a "high quality" china bristle brush at our local paint dealer. It would have been suitable for whitewashing a stone wall, but other than that it was about as coarse and stiff as a kitchen broom. Lesson: spend the money for a very good quality brush. You will be money ahead in the end.
The temperature of the different sides of the boat were different - that affected the finish greatly. Also, I rolled the paint thinner on the side that came out very nicely and not so thin on the side that I really messed up. Lesson learned: After all of the excellent prep work that you put into it, don't hurry to put the paint on! (Emphasized!)
If you can paint under cover where there will be no direct sunlight to heat the hull differently on the different areas - do it. I did not have that option. Hindsight is great. If I had to do it all over again, I would build a temporary structure over the boat to paint under.
The main lesson learned after I painted, sanded (sanding Perfection is like sanding rubber!) and repainted:
Don't roll and tip! Spend the money on a compressor and spray gun and spray it! Again, you will be money ahead in time and frustration.
Now to qualify all of my statements:
This is the first boat that I have ever tried to paint. I have never tried to paint with Polyurethane of any kind. I have never tried to roll and tip before. It has been more than 20 years since I tried to spray a car or anything else for that matter.
I believe that with enough experience in painting with this material, rolling and tipping can provide excellent results. I believe that spraying is much easier and will result in a better overall finish with less experience. As long as care is taken to prevent runs and sags.
Perhaps next summer I will try once again to make my 30' paint job into a 5' paint job. But for now, it will remain as-is.

[Alan Wheeler]

Put a couple of drops of silicone drops in the pot before you spray just to ensure a good finish. There is a choice of lead or lead free. The lead does give a better finish.

Umm, firstly, do you mean drops to combat any possible silicon and wax ont eh surface? Because droping Silicon into your paint is death to a smooth surface.
Interesting that you can get lead based paint. It is banned in most countries, especially here in NZ. I would have thought Oz would have been the same.

[bill good]

Yes its is anti-silicon drops but it is marked silicon drops. Auto paint supplies is where I get it from & it helps when respraying.Very cheap insurance.

Regards Bill Goodward

[bill good]

PS Allen I think it is very small quanties & Wattel U-400 is industrial product. Maybe only on selected colours.

[Boracay]

Has anyone any experience with those cheap ($39.95) airless sprayers using single pot polyurethanes?

It's not much more than the cost of a good quality brush.

[Alan Wheeler]

A compleate waste of time and money. They do nothing else than make a wonderful job of stipple finish type surface. You would be better off simply throwing your can of paint at the boat.
Proffesional airless sprayers are too hard to use as well. They tend to apply the paint to fast and hard. Great for undercoats, high build primers and Anti-fouls. But not finish coats.
Air spray leaves a wonerful finish, but tends to waste more paint. Usually as much as 40% of the paint goes off into the air.
One product that is exciting is HVLP. High volume, low pressure application. You may remember the old Vacum cleaner paint application way back in the 60's or so. I think it may have been either Electrolux or Hoover that came out with it. You used the blow end of the vacum cleaner with a jar of paint. Well modern day equipment is available now. It uses high volume of air, but at low pressure. It means the air simply "gently moves" the paint from the pot to the surface. Very easy to use, very accurate with little overspray and a stunning finish. The systems are not expensive at all.

[S/V Antares]

Alan, Several HVLP systems were shown at the Int. Boat Builders Expo in Florida (IBEX) last month. Very impressive at reasonable cost.

RE: Silicon drops... Is this is additive for "Fish Eye"?

[charley]

Has anyone any experience with those cheap ($39.95) airless sprayers using single pot polyurethanes?

Don't buy it. You will spend most of you time trying to unclog it to spray. Check ebay I have seen very good quality spray guns go for very little. Any quality spray gun , will have replacement parts available. Try Binks, or Itawa, best on the market. You can use em them resell them for what you paid pretty much. I have never painted with any of the materials mentioned here, but for a good paint job prep is #1 and take your time don't rush.

[Joli]

We have Awlcraft and it can be touched up. There is no way I would try to spay it myself, some jobs are better completed by the pros.

[SkiprJohn]

Don't use silicone near your paint.
At the Toyota plant in Lexington, KY I was told that the master painter could tell by how some of the cars rolled out of the paint booth (rooms) whether there was any silicone within 50 feet.
Don't get silicone even near your paint job.
Also, don't paint outdoors without a cover when showers are expected. Don't ask me how I know.
JohnL

[charley]

Also, don't paint outdoors without a cover when showers are expected. Don't ask me how I know.

Don't paint outdoors if the humidity is going to be over 50%. To much drying time and water in the paint is not good.