# topside paint



## Cpardue (Oct 24, 2019)

Progress has been slow on my 14ft stumpknocker skiff rebuild. School, work and lack of funds has me working at crawl. But, as of now I have my stringer glassed, and bottom side of my marine plywood decking glassed with 7.5 oz biax and epoxy. Plan on “gluing” it to the stringers within the next week or so. One thing I have spent way more time reading up on than I should is PAINT. Specifically topside. Now from what I understand a 2 part poly is gold standard, 1 part Polly is alright, and an alkyd marine enamel is less than ideal, yet may suffice. I’m teetering between total boat wet edge 1 part poly, and chepo Rust-Oleum topside. I’ve read just about all threads on Rust-Oleum and from what I can tell I’m gonna catch some heat for even discussing it, all the while it’s not such a bad option considering shallow 19 year old pockets. But has anyone had much experience with total boat wet edge topside? And let’s say I go Rust-Oleum, assuming it will need touch ups every season or so could I touch up with there “universal” spray paint. It says that it’s an alkyd oil paint as well and that got me thinking, if the 2 Rust-Oleum paints are compatible, then touchups would be a breeze.


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## BrownDog (Jun 22, 2019)

in your situation I would think either of those 1 parts (total boat or rustoleum) would be the correct choice here. 
I do not think you would be able to touch up with any spray paint but being one part paint it will be easy to use some leftover to touch up any areas.


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## BassFlats (Nov 26, 2018)

I use 2 part on the outside of the boat and 1 part on the inside. The total boat wetedge has a higher gloss than the rustoleum. Both will work ok (with the proper primer) and easy to touch up.


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## Cpardue (Oct 24, 2019)

Ok thanks for the input @BassFlats and @BrownDog , I think total boat might 1 part is a nice happy medium as far as quality goes. And have any of y’all seen/had experience with “krylon webbing” spray paint for a splatter finish. I’ve seen videos of it and it seems like it comes out real stringy and would look nice with an aqua mist base with a black splatter. Is this stuff any good, or something like it? I know the ol’ slinging paint off a brush will work but the idea of spraying seems less messy and could also make a uniform finish more achievable


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## Big Fish (Dec 20, 2019)

I have used the rustoleum topside on gheenoe projects in the past and its good stuff for the $$. I always buy the white and get it colored at the paint shop for a custom color. If you prep correctly the adhesion is actually pretty decent. Yes you will scratch it off sometimes but just keep a can of it around and touch up as you go. If you have an external gas tank I would paint the area you store it with a bilge paint as gas makes the rustoleum topside bubble IME.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

BLP Mobile Paint has another option for you.

https://www.mobilepaint.com/our-products/marine/

These people made their name in the are industrial salt industry and their paints are top quality.


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## Hoang (Jul 27, 2018)

I used white rustoluem on the bottom of my skiff. Decided I wanted Blue Ice instead. After a week of drying, I rough sanded the white rustoluem paint and painted over it with Pettit EZpoxy 1 part paint. No problems here.


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

@Cpardue I have painted many boats with automotive paint and awl products. That being said I have used the rustoleum topsides on 5 or 6 boats. If your not gonna leave it in the water more than a couple days it will be great and serve you well. As far as touch ups I would just buy a little more than you need to leave for touch ups. To touch up you want to use the same technique you apply with. 
Personally I would go with 2 tone instead of the webbing. For non skid you can add it into the paint and roll it. Where ever you buy the paint will sell the nonskid additive. 
If you need any help I can walk you through it over the phone. Even tinting for colors. 
Good luck, Michael (727)637-1241


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

@Cpardue 
Also check out @Boatbrains youtube channel. He has some stuff that may help you out.


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## Guest (Feb 28, 2020)

I would personally go with a good 2k urethane automotive paint over any 1part/air dry paint. Just use the slow reducer and should be able to roll n tip. I know that you can roll n tip Valspar LIC40 for sure!


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

I have plenty of experience with rustoleum and krylon webbing spray. Both are good budget items, and truth be told I wish I went that route again on my current build.

So the rustoleum..... it's an inexpensive one part paint as you know, and the only difference that I really noticed between the standard and marine top side paints in the sheen. The marine comes in satin and semigloss which is great for interiors. No you can not touch it up well with spray paint, but it's easy enough to touch up with a brush or roller.
So here's the big tip! You can make it more durable, and dry faster (still give it a week), with enamel hardener. You must mix it correctly, if memory serves it's an 18:1 ratio.

I used valspar, but this is similar.

https://www.amazon.com/Krylon-2046-...dener&qid=1582927490&sprefix=enamel+ha&sr=8-3

Now on to the webbing spray. It's pretty good stuff. Easy to apply, but practice first as it comes out fast. It's got a slight rubbery feel so it adds grip, but not enough so you'll want to add some other grip into the mix.
It's pretty durable too, took years to wear off the floor of my skiff. The think is it holds up well to foot traffic, water, and such, but chemicals can effect it. Alcohol specifically can be used to disolve it if you make a mistake soon after application.
As long as you don't spill a bunch of E85 or whiskey on the deck it will last, beer doesn't bother it.


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## ceejkay (May 7, 2016)

I used rustoleum on my last skiff. At 12$ a qt I figured why not. It stuck pretty well and I really didn’t prep before I painted. Looked decent for about 6 months. I tried to touch up a spot and the fade was bad. So I painted the whole thing again. I fished that boat 2-4 days a week and there was some wear on the heavy use areas. The plain white is bright, I did splatter coat to break up the bright, just to make it bearable.


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

That is why I said get extra for the touch ups because of tinting and fade. The darker the color the worse the fade. Eventually none will be able to be touched up without an eye for it. The way guys use to tint paint before these machines. My dad use to have a tackle box with tints and tinted on the job. You see guys like glasser doing this to date but it is a lost art and not many can do it anymore. You will see the dots of color where glasser puts a fingertip sized dot right on the part to be matched and a dot for each change. 

I have not used the webbing stuff.

You DONT want to use regular rustoleum, yes I have heard it works but it is a paint that gets too brittle and will eventually spider crack and or chip. As BB said a good 2k auto paint. All of these and marine type paints build thicker and stay softer. 
If anyone is just trying to go cheap dont use regular rustoleum. Swing for a gallon of gliddens polyurethane porch paint and you can even have it tinted to any color using any chip at home depot or there color match machine. I have used it many times inside hatches on rebuilds and it lasted years.


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## ceejkay (May 7, 2016)

When I worked at a marina 16 years ago we had a guy that did what you were talking about with making Gelcoat match. He would put down a piece of scotch tape and put his test on that. It truly was an art, one I could never learn.


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2020)

I typically test match directly on the part with un catalyzed gel. Let the surface air dry a little and you can see if you have a match or not. Wipe off with acetone rag. The key is to create a feather edge where the repair meets the existing part. This feathered edge allows the outer edge of the repair to be opaque and the original color to show through a little truly blending the two colors. You should also test swatch as close to repair site as possible. Video coming!


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2020)

Boatbrains said:


> I typically test match directly on the part with un catalyzed gel. Let the surface air dry a little and you can see if you have a match or not. Wipe off with acetone rag. The key is to create a feather edge where the repair meets the existing part. This feathered edge allows the outer edge of the repair to be opaque and the original color to show through a little truly blending the two colors. You should also test swatch as close to repair site as possible. Video coming!


Forgot to mention... Always hit the test swatch area with a buffer and compound before testing for most accurate match!


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

Since we are on colormatching and blending. The best way is to shoot with a gun and tape of from the repair at least a few inches away directly on the part and actually fold a loop over and re tape. It will then allow you to spray essentially overspray under that loop and can then be sanded, compounded and buffed. 

I wouldn't put down tape of any kind. That could throw your color of and also if you buff before I wouldn't use compound at all. You are driving that into the gel coat. Just polish with a high grit sandpaper and use water to act as the gloss. It's too easy to leave compound and get issues with adhesion later. 
And thanks @ceejkay, you are speaking exactly to what I was saying. I sold behr paint in the home depot's for over 6 years and tried to teach a little if the color change process to the employees trying to save money. They wouldn't think twice as to throwing out 15 gallons of paint when the computer match wasnt dead on. And I had to eat the cost at my commission rate.


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2020)

Mike Haydon said:


> Since we are on colormatching and blending. The best way is to shoot with a gun and tape of from the repair at least a few inches away directly on the part and actually fold a loop over and re tape. It will then allow you to spray essentially overspray under that loop and can then be sanded, compounded and buffed.
> 
> I wouldn't put down tape of any kind. That could throw your color of and also if you buff before I wouldn't use compound at all. You are driving that into the gel coat. Just polish with a high grit sandpaper and use water to act as the gloss. It's too easy to leave compound and get issues with adhesion later.
> And thanks @ceejkay, you are speaking exactly to what I was saying. I sold behr paint in the home depot's for over 6 years and tried to teach a little if the color change process to the employees trying to save money. They wouldn't think twice as to throwing out 15 gallons of paint when the computer match wasnt dead on. And I had to eat the cost at my commission rate.


Over 2 decades and have never had an adhesion problem! You are misunderstanding what I said. Buff the swatch area that is to be in close proximity to the repair not directly where the repair is.


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

Ok. I definitely miss understood. And I was speaking as to help others BB. Not saying anything about the way you do things. Just dont want confusion and people have problems is all.


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## Guest (Mar 3, 2020)

Mike Haydon said:


> Ok. I definitely miss understood. And I was speaking as to help others BB. Not saying anything about the way you do things. Just dont want confusion and people have problems is all.


It’s cool man, I too felt it needed clarification. If you misunderstood me then others may have also.


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## Cpardue (Oct 24, 2019)

Thanks all of y’all for the replies I’ll probably shoot a few of you guys some messages soon for more in depth info. No class tomorrow so I plan on doing the final prep on the stingers and other contact sites for the deck, gonna bed the sealed marine ply with epoxy putty and proceed to tab in the deck and make sure it’s as overbuilt as possible. I’m working with 7.5 oz biax “E”glass and so far one layer on the bottom side of the ply with 1-2 fill coats seems very durable. Do y’all think 2 layers of 7.5 oz should be used on the topside of the deck, or is this overkill? I’m leaning towards 2 layers of glass just because I’ve seen what my heel can do to a single layer of 6 oz on a surfboard. Thanks agin for the help


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## jasonrl23 (Jul 27, 2009)

Boatbrains said:


> I would personally go with a good 2k urethane automotive paint over any 1part/air dry paint. Just use the slow reducer and should be able to roll n tip. I know that you can roll n tip Valspar LIC40 for sure!


Can you roll n tip and buff their clear with any success? Want to use it for the topside of a wood paddle board.


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2020)

jasonrl23 said:


> Can you roll n tip and buff their clear with any success? Want to use it for the topside of a wood paddle board.


Have not tried. The LIC40 is a single stage. Might have to try the clear sometime though


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## jasonrl23 (Jul 27, 2009)

Boatbrains said:


> Have not tried. The LIC40 is a single stage. Might have to try the clear sometime though


I was planning on using their two part rattle can until I read your post.

Guilimot Kayaks on YouTube has a video of the rattle can over a cedar canoe. Came out great.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

jasonrl23 said:


> I was planning on using their two part rattle can until I read your post.
> 
> Guilimot Kayaks on YouTube has a video of the rattle can over a cedar canoe. Came out great.


Careful with those youtube vids. Just like pics of stuff here they can be really deceiving. I saw what I thought was a great online build recently, but in person well let's say I felt better about my work.

That said, I've never had any luck with a clear paint out of a rattle can. You can't hide anything with clear, and rattle cans are horribly inconsistent.


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## Charles Hadley (Jan 20, 2019)

When you try to roll ,tip or dab meant to spray 2k clear it will blush and solvent pop.meant to be sprayed when you create too much milage with clear too fast as you will with not being sprayed it won't cure ,peel and look like shit.


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## jasonrl23 (Jul 27, 2009)

firecat1981 said:


> Careful with those youtube vids. Just like pics of stuff here they can be really deceiving. I saw what I thought was a great online build recently, but in person well let's say I felt better about my work.
> 
> That said, I've never had any luck with a clear paint out of a rattle can. You can't hide anything with clear, and rattle cans are horribly inconsistent.


Thanks for that tip. Most of my experience is in resin infusing military parts. Like over 15 years ago, so the finishing aspect of composites is new to me outside of building small plugs/molds, but never clear coated.

The finish is going over Sitka Spruce and Mahogany.


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## Mike Haydon (Dec 19, 2019)

Definitely dont try anything other than spray with an automotive clear. All the problems stated can and will happen and can also actually crack and if the coat is to thick. the top will cure and the underneath wont and it will haze over and look cloudy as well.


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2020)

I’m gonna try it!


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## Charles Hadley (Jan 20, 2019)

Will you make a video doing it wearing a thong,slippers and swim goggles?I will definitely subscribe then!


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2020)

Charles Hadley said:


> Will you make a video doing it wearing a thong,slippers and swim goggles?I will definitely subscribe then!


Well, guess I won’t be winning you over cause that chit ain’t happnin!


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