Painting On Your Own
 

Has anyone tried to paint your own boat? If so how much of a pain in the a$$ is it? I really need some fresh paint but the best quote I got was $3000.00. Any help or advice is appreciated.....thanks.

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

your best bet is to do all the prep work yourself & hire a profesional to spray it. I painted a 26ft cat i used to own & it came out semi-profesional. if i did it again i would let a pro
do the spraying.

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

Hey vette thanks for your input....if I do decide to do it myself, what kind of paint do you recommend? Also how many coats of clear did you use? Thanks.

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

have a pro do it. a ****ty paintjon is somethign taht EVERYONE will notices especially a future potential buyer

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

you can make up for some skill with a ton of time.... if you have tons of time then i say go for it, if you don't i say pay somebody.... most of it is prep work and quality materials, the rest is practice... if you haven't done it before, i say start with something small and see what happens.... a old car hood or door something like that and see if you can get it to turn out like you want.... if not, pay somebody, because puder is right, the paint job will be the first thing everybody notices....

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

Cuda painted his F-20. Check the Formula forum there are lots of pics. It came out well.

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

I did the deck on my old boat a few years ago. I spend about 2 months sanding and prepping. I had is sprayed and buffed in about 3 days. Go slow, do multiple "light" coats and you'll be fine. Shoot, I did mine outdoors at 5 am, no one could tell the difference at the dock. Not that I would recommend that....

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

Alright guys it sounds like its not that bad to do myself.....I do have time and I also have a large garage. I think I'll try on some old pieces of fiberglass and see how it comes out.....After all even the pros had to start somewhere...Right? :D

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

i used ppg base clear 3 coats of clear
it looked good but was easy to scratch at the dock. i've heard some boat painters are using imron clear instead & it makes it much more durable. good luck

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

Are you going to paint or re-gelcoat it? Big difference.

Jon

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

Hey Vette what kind of base color paint do you recommend?

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

I used ppg. house of color has some cool colors but they require more work. most require a white base under each color & usually 3 more stages. i'm definitely not a pro painter so ask a pro who paints boats. make sure you don't paint all
the way to the chine. leave a 1/4 or so gap to layer the clear
down so it wont peel from the water pressure.

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

where are you at? that's my line of biz. i can show you how to prep it and if you like, hire me to spray.

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

my last boat, the color was faded from the rubrail up. Prepped the boat, taped off the colors being squirted, shot the color, removed the taped and covered areas, then shot the clear. PPG deltron basecoat, with a PPG clear. Wet sanded it and polished it. looked great I miss that boat. It was the booze cruiser :D It wasn't fast but it was a nice boat :cool:

before and after pics..

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

Vette do u have any pics of your paint job? I'm only going to paint about half of my hull....from the pink stripe down...see below.... one solid color. I will finish up w/ some vinyl graphics....It shouldn't be that hard...Thanks bro'!

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

looks like a good project. it's rewarding to do it yourself.
i'll try to dig up some pics tonight.

Re: Painting On Your Own
 

Hey bro' I live in slidell - Eden Isles. I'd really appreciate it if you could give me some tips. If you don't charge an arm and two legs I might get you to spray it. I'll be looking forward to hearing from you. My email address is [email protected]. Thanks man.
Capt. Chuck