My boat seems to have a big sign on the side that says please gouge me! The boat is painted and I'm sure I can get all the differnt paint codes to closely match the colors, but what's the best way to do seemless touch-ups on custom paint that aren't a solid color?

I have a couple gouges that I'd like to fill. What's the best product to use? I've done plenty of automotive repairs, but I'm assuming Bondo isn't used for gouges on boats. The areas aren't very large, so I'd like to fill them with something quickly and not have to sand much of the srounding area to minimize the size of the repair. What do I want to use for this?

Applying the paint, I'm assuming I'd want to use an airbrush, correct? If so, who sells a fairly cheap, but functional air brush for touching up custom paint?

Lastly, I know there are blending agents out there which help hide the blending line in the clear coat. Can you guys recommend a product that works well to minimize this? I'm assuming it still has to be wet sanded and buffed afterwards when using these blending agents, correct?

Glass Dave, anyone?

Hi Scott,
I have 2 nice airbrush guns and a airbrush compressor that you are welcome to use. No sense buying one. I would think the Green surface putty would work if the scratch is not to deep. Sands really easy. I glue a small piece of sand paper to the end of an eraser on a pencil to do small touch ups. Jay Johnson in Old Saybrook is recommended by OSP for paint and Gel repair if you want it done by a professional. He is coming to the hangar in Chester next week. I have his number if you need it. You can also put your boat in the hangar if you need it inside to do any repairs. I'm getting a real nice 4000 lb electric lift and trolley for free. My boss is upgrading to a larger lift so we can do float changes on the Caravan in Maine. I'm hoping to come up with an idea how to mount it in Chester in case anyone needs to pull an engine.

Mike,

Good info, thanks! I might take you up on borrowing your air brush.

A friend owns a body shop and I've spent plenty of time helping out down there, so I'm confident I should be able to handle the gouges I have.

I know of several automotive putties I could use to fill, but I didn't know if there was a favored marine system that would be a better fit for the fiberglass hulls and the aqueous environment. I guess if nobody has any suggestions for a specific putty or a CC blending agent, I'll just ask the automotive distributor that supplies my friends shop and see what they recommend.

Also, good to know about the lift! It's only a matter of time before one or more of my engines will have to come out... having a place to pull them was a real concern!

Thanks again Mike!!!

kinda missed this one. I'm up in st clair for the week working on the geico boat. Feel free to give me a call and I can give you some great tips to graphics repair. I have some cool techniques that i've developed over the years maybe they can help.419;461;1484 pretty much any time

I have a 05 baja performance with a few chips around the windshield. looks like the screws are chipping the gelcoat, is this common and what is the best fix for it

For filling small gauges i use Evercoat polester filling glaze #409 user friendly and it bonds well with the polester resin that 90% of all boats are laided up with

Evercoat also makes a gelcoat paste that you can tint to fill small scratches and nics. Take 600gt to a 1000gt wet sand paper and sand the area before using the paste. Try to keep it small, the smaller the better, less work. then fill scratches or whatever you got to fill and let dry. Sometimes saran rap is good to use for shaping and forming repair materal and also will help the product dry, like a mold release agent. One step gel dosnt require this but laminate gel coat requires this step to threw dry. Once its dry you sand the repair smooth 360 wet to 600 to 1000 then buff, if you tinted the color good it will turn out good, usen compound and wool for buffing.

Scott give my son Bob a call and he'll walk ya thru it ,he did the Skater and there working on it now filling water pick-ups and adding new ones



ROCK ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I DON'T PLAY BASEBALL BUT I HIT ALOT OF HOME RUNS ...
ITS A SKATER NATION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

LMFAO

My father used to say " How hard you hit the jetty when docking is directly proportional to how many people are watching!"

That is so true.
I can definitely relate to this thread.

Good luck with your repairs!
Let us all know what you end up using.