Paint or Gelcoat?
 

Got my eye on a new boat, all white, price includes custom paint.

What is your opinion on paint v. gelcoat? Should I wait for one to be manufactured with my design gelcoated in or is it all bad to take this boat, the perfect one and have it painted?

depends if you plan to leave it in the water. More then two or three days and anything but gell coat is a crap shoot. Some times paint will last other times not. Awlgrip will last longer then Imron.

Jon

I don't think this could be done in gel-coat...so i vote for painT:p

I agree with Back4More. The level of detail and beauty cannot be duplicated with Gel. So spill the beans. Whatcha lookin' at?:confused:

29 Magic Wizard with enough motor to get 80 mph. Don't know which engine yet. Actually just found that the one we were going to look at wasn't there, so have to order a new one anyway.

I want detail! I want something great, not just so so. Paint seems like the right way to go. Anybody have any experience with Magic/Sleek's custom painters? I'm sure they outsource but don't know who yet.

Thanks! I might just email them!

I agree with Mike, Gel fades after awhile and paint buffs out. Also you can't get trick design with gel. Paint with layers of clear is the way to go. Wardey

yep . . .paint is the only way to go if you want detail :cool: . there is some awesome talent out your way . i have always noticed a great deal of cool stuff in the west coast hot boat scene. find your self a painter/artest whos work you have seen and like. make sure it is someone you can bounce your ideas off and work with. spend some time developing layouts on paper to find what your looking for and give your graphics guy some flexability. above all . . and this is the most important if you use someone other than Magics out sources . make sure it is someone used to working with marine graphics as size and scale are VERY different than automotive type graphics. good luck . . .oh and dont forget to post pics :cool: :cool:

You can do things with gel you can never do with paint(effect in the flames on my boat). However like in my case no one will even try to repair a scratch. Go with the paint.

Paint
 

Quite frankly gel sucks, it's porous, the best of the high end fiberglass yachts are painted ( Awlgrip) the same color as the gel as soon as they come out of the mold ! Gel really only looks great when it's cleared ( painted !)

JD