Painting Graphics Imron on Imron HELP!

[fireboatpilot]

OK, my boat needs a face lift to go along with the power upgrades this winter. I have a pretty good idea what I want to do, just not sure how to do it?

The boat is all red(see public photo)and is painted with Imron paint. I want to add some gold graphics to match the truck on the transom and the 2 front points and a name on each side. The name will be in vinyl.

My questions are,
1. Do I draw it out on the boat then mask it off or do I mask everything then cut out what I want painted?

2. How do I prep the Imron on the boat for paint over?

3. How do I get a smooth transition from old paint to new after removing the mask?

4. Do I need a primer on the red before spraying the gold? I have some holes and chips that need to be filled and sanded out.

Thanks for any and all help!

[glassdave]

Originally Posted by fireboatpilot

OK, my boat needs a face lift to go along with the power upgrades this winter. I have a pretty good idea what I want to do, just not sure how to do it?

The boat is all red(see public photo)and is painted with Imron paint. I want to add some gold graphics to match the truck on the transom and the 2 front points and a name on each side. The name will be in vinyl.

My questions are,
1. Do I draw it out on the boat then mask it off or do I mask everything then cut out what I want painted?

2. How do I prep the Imron on the boat for paint over?

3. How do I get a smooth transition from old paint to new after removing the mask?

4. Do I need a primer on the red before spraying the gold? I have some holes and chips that need to be filled and sanded out.

Thanks for any and all help!

1. depending on the complexity you want to free tape it to shape using 3M's fineline tape, Green for longer sweeps and blue tape for more curvy stuff. What i do is make a template in CorelDraw, finalize a design then transfer it to my plotter and cut it out in a spray mask materiel.

2. prep the surface by lightly sanding with 400 or so then go over it with water a grey scotchbright and some scuff and blend surface prep compound. wash thoroughly with water.

3. the only way to get a smooth transition is to clear the entire boat then sand and buff. If you dont want to go that far you really can get a decent transition by just sanding the the new stripes and buffing it when done.

4. you dont have to prime the entire stripe area if your stripe color is a good single stage with good hiding ability, which most are except unfortunatly metallics. For gold i would base it with a solid color that is a close match. There is a product from SEM called color coat that i use for this all the time, you'll want saddle tan or something like that and its in an aerosol. I also like to use an adhesion promoter like Bulldog (available in aerosol as well) The object is to keep the additional buildup as low as possible.

Have you considered doing the whole thing in vinyl?


Good luck with the project and post pics of the progress

[fireboatpilot]

I've considered doing the whole thing in vinyl but then I decided to redo the transom since the drives and gimbles are off. So the back 1/4 of the boat is getting done and the 2 front bow points. Just doing some abstract sort of tails and points to add some color. The extension boxes will be the same gold as well. Thanks for the advice, Bill.

[activatorf1]

Blow in the red with Single stage then scuff the deck and sides , layout graphics the clear the deck and sides . Don't waste your money on Imron , it's not the Imron from 20 years ago , a skkkens or Glassurt Polyurethane is the same stuff . Here we based out the boat in single stage Polyurethane we are going to scuff the deck and sides and layout trible flames kind of like this last pic