# Gelcoat repair tips and tricks!



## Guest (Nov 2, 2018)

I am starting this to hopefully put a lot of gelcoat tips and tricks in. I am first sharing a few links to the Boatworks today channel to show a few videos on color matching. Andy does a great job on his videos and I couldn’t explain it better myself so without further a-due...


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2018)




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## Guest (Nov 2, 2018)




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## Guest (Nov 2, 2018)

Sorry folks, I know I could have put all three in my first post but I didn’t! I also know the first link gives links to the others but wanted to put those up here also!


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## NativeBone (Aug 16, 2017)

Great videos, properly have seen them 2x over. Good info to share.


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2018)

For wetsanding orange peel, I use a carpenters pencil and scribble a guide coat on. I like the pencil because unlike black spray paint it is scribble and sand immediately... no waiting on paint to dry, no gummy sand paper. And unlike some graphite powder guide coats it don’t run off with the water.
I like a spray bottle with a little dawn dish liquid and water as well as a bucket of clean water to dunk my sanding block or board in periodically. I normally start with 320 grit followed by 400,600,800 then buff with 3m high gloss gelcoat compound. You can go finer than 800 but it’s not normally neccasary unless you’re looking for “showboat” shine. Use the longest sanding board possible for the area.
Stay off the corners! I always add duratec high gloss additive to my gel before spraying, but I don’t stick to the 50/50 ratio... some may experience different results. I have added as little as 10% with great results but usually run at 25% duratec.


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2018)

NativeBone said:


> Great videos, properly have seen them 2x over. Good info to share.


Yeah, I like Andy! He does nice videos and great work! I’ve been in the industry a long time and still pick up some great tips or ideas from him.


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

Boatbrains said:


> I am starting this to hopefully put a lot of gelcoat tips and tricks in. I am first sharing a few links to the Boatworks today channel to show a few videos on color matching. Andy does a great job on his videos and I couldn’t explain it better myself so without further a-due...


these are the vids I learned from when I first started doing gel coat touch ups. A great resource!


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2018)

Found this video explaining the color wheel. Thought it was a simple enough explanation so I’m sharing it too. This is a very handy tool when trying to color match reds/blues/greens in my opinion. Whites tend to be white with brown/yellow/black and/or maybe red, blue, or green in them. Color matching is more of a patience game once you understand the technique.


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2018)

Ok, 1 more before lights out.
Avoid using power sanders on radiused parts. You will tend to sand through if you do. It takes a lot of practice to avoid sanding through when working a radius with power sanders and is generally just not a good idea.


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## State fish rob (Jan 25, 2017)

Boatbrains said:


> Yeah, I like Andy! He does nice videos and great work! I’ve been in the industry a long time and still pick up some great tips or ideas from him.


 Nice to learn something new ,or at least another way to do something. Thanks for sharing


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## SnookNocker (May 15, 2018)

Good videos. I remember watching them years ago. I like the one where he dispels the Gelcoat to Epoxy myth. It's true too. I've done it with no issues at all on several boats.


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## Guest (Nov 3, 2018)

SnookNocker said:


> Good videos. I remember watching them years ago. I like the one where he dispels the Gelcoat to Epoxy myth. It's true too. I've done it with no issues at all on several boats.


When repairing most jet skis you kinda have to! Most jet skis are made with smc and release agent is in the resin so epoxy must be used for repairs. Your not gonna blend paint into the factory gelcoat so the repair ends up being epoxy and color is gelcoat! The trick is getting the prep right and making sure that you made sure all the blush is removed and that you’ve gotten a good tooth for the gel to bite!


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## SnookNocker (May 15, 2018)

Absolutely! "It's all in the prep." 

Always...


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## predacious (Sep 1, 2016)

Boatbrains said:


> When repairing most jet skis you kinda have to! Most jet skis are made with smc and release agent is in the resin so epoxy must be used for repairs. Your not gonna blend paint into the factory gelcoat so the repair ends up being epoxy and color is gelcoat! The trick is getting the prep right and making sure that you made sure all the blush is removed and that you’ve gotten a good tooth for the gel to bite!



Squirting your repairs with duratec surface prep , before finishing in gel - doing this is the way to go . Duratec is a vinylester , it bonds to the epoxy and allows the gel to be applied and adhere 

Another benifit from using duratec surfacer , it fills pinholes


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## Guest (Nov 4, 2018)

predacious said:


> Squirting your repairs with duratec surface prep , before finishing in gel - doing this is the way to go . Duratec is a vinylester , it bonds to the epoxy and allows the gel to be applied and adhere
> 
> Another benifit from using duratec surfacer , it fills pinholes


Yes sir, very true!


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## flyclimber (May 22, 2016)

I may need to look over this! Future need may present itself. I don't usually care to work with epoxy.


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## ReelFisher (Mar 14, 2017)

I recently gouged some gelcoat on the transom corner of my boat so I decided to try and do the repair myself...this thread was awesome! Never done anything like it before, but I thought it came out really well for my first time. The only thing is if you look really hard and the light hits it right, the repair is a very slightly lighter color then the rest of the hull. I used fumed silica to thicken up the gelcoat for a vertical surface so I assume this is why, maybe I'll try a smaller ratio of silica next time.


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## NativeBone (Aug 16, 2017)

ReelFisher said:


> View attachment 71304
> View attachment 71306
> 
> I recently gouged some gelcoat on the transom corner of my boat so I decided to try and do the repair myself...this thread was awesome! Never done anything like it before, but I thought it came out really well for my first time. The only thing is if you look really hard and the light hits it right, the repair is a very slightly lighter color then the rest of the hull. I used fumed silica to thicken up the gelcoat for a vertical surface so I assume this is why, maybe I'll try a smaller ratio of silica next time.


Good job!


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## Guest (Apr 25, 2019)

Very nice, so happy it helped out. Save yourself a few hundred bucks!


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

Can't even tell the difference in color from those pics. very nice job!


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