Painted ours and a couple of others with PPG base coat/ Clear coat. With thwe new Ureathane type paints they flex with the fiberglass and will resist cracking unlike the old Imron or Laquers. If it is prepped and srayed properly it will look and last very well. Works really good for multi color jobs and I put 6 coats of clear on and wet sanded it completely smooth with 2000 grit. 4 stages of buffing and I damn near went for a swim the first hour out on it when docking. Best peice of advice is , if its cheap it will look and last cheap.

Six coats of clear? Does there have to be that many or are you just a over achiever? Not trying to be a wise a$$ we are in the process of complete repaint. Thanks

single stage means exactly that,,,,,no clear just like a old enamel single step

Used BASF Diamont Basecoat-Clear coat. With some house of colors candys and pearls for the graphics. Works great and is easy to repair mess ups. Its all in the prep. Don't use Laquar primer for anything -its useless and will bleed through and shrink. (drop coat when sanding, it will help show any flaws. Use the chemicals from that paint line dont mix hardners or reducers etc that are cheaper. My boat was painted in a warehouse 2 years ago, I never waxed it, keep it out side without a full cover and it still shines its butt off.

Ps. Dont use auto paint below the water line if you keep the boat in the water for a long time. It will bubble.

If you go with a automotive paint use base coat clear coat. If you put any runs in the finish you can get them out much easier. If you put a run in the finish with a single stage paint and you sand out the run you also are sanding the color and its easy to go through the color. The color is under the clear coat if using 2 stage paint. And no matter how good a painter you are you will get a few runs in the finish. We all do. We just buff them out before anyone sees them. Boats are very large and there is a lot of overlapping and a large area to keep wet for melt in.

Paint the boat in 3 sections. bottom-sides-top and inside cockpit. It will help you from getting overwelmed, help melt in, plus keep the ladder-hose-and yourself out of the wet paint.

I dont really know anything about Imron. From what I'm told its not made like the old Imron. Its more of just a name brand now days.

Russ

Yup

I dont know if it works on boats, but Alsa makes some wild paint...

you don't need to put on six coats , but I knew I was going to wet sand alot off to get it smooth as possible. Plus it makes it look deeper, and left room for error

Cuda, nocigarette is right no need for clear. But you can clear it if you want. You can even mix the clear in and do it all at once.