I am preparing to spray some stripes on a new gel coat finish. The stripes will be gel coat also. My concern is when to pull the stripe tape, time wise, and leave a clean edge. One hour? over night? I intend to spray two wet coats with adequate flash time in between. Do I need to pull a tape layer after the first coat,let flash, then spray the second coat. In other words this is my first go at striping with gel coat and I,m a little skeered. Thank you for help ing,Paul[IMG] Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/IMG]

Hello Paul. I doing much the same as yourself. I have a 14' Sidewinder and have completed my hull. What I did was preped the hull first. Then I taped and masked off my stripping. Shot 4 coats of white gel last coat having the air dry additive added. Between shoots I waited one day so I had to remove the tape. I waited for 1/2 hour to remove. The first time I waited an hour and the gel has already kicked and will not peel off along tape edge. What a mess. The way i did my tape, was I put my final tape down AFTER the inner strip was taped and papered. If this makes any sense to you? This way your last layer of tape, is you actual tape line for your stripe. This way in a 1/2 hour when removing tape, your only taking off the last layer of tape and not all the paper and initial taping. Now for the second coat it is already papered and taped. All you have to do is add on tape line by following the raise edge. Do the same proceedure for all coats. Waiting time between coats in min. 4 hours. Hope this makes sense?
After the white was done I sanded with 180 paper to remove the orange peel and get a smooth finish. I then removed the paer and tape from my strip and paper and taped the completed white. Did the same process for the strip.
This way when your finished your 4 coats your at the same height btween the two colors. Your way your strip is going to be 30 mils higher then the white.
Mine was white with red stripes. I went up the sand paper grades all the way to 1500 then polished and waxed and it is cool.
Now I'm doing the same for the deck. Problem is the deck is white and the stripes are going to be red metallic. The metallic has to be clear gel coated. Now I have many questions to continue my completion of my project. I just posted a thread to see if someone can help me. Good luck. Dave

Thanks for the reply.Great minds think alike. I do follow what you said. I am still taping my hull for the stripes, white with red stripe. I am also taping a thin black line to outline the red!
So pull the tape before it kicks? Seems at thirty minutes it wood be kicked to at least a semi solid, and that sounds right. Too soon and it might be syrupy,stringy? What I have done so far is apply four wet coats white gel with duratech additive overall,sanded with 180, laid down three layers of tape for the black outline(1/8") around the red, and three layers of tape outside the black and one more layer covering both tape lines. So spray the red ,four wet coats of 50/50 gel and clear additive, pulling the top layer of tape after the first two coats, then pull the black stripe tape, tape over the red stripe,spray the black, four wet coats with tape pulled after first two coats. Dizzy yet?? Then after cure, tape over stripes and spray four wet coats white over all. Do you recommend sanding the stripe before taping over it for a better tape line? I was thinking of sanding the whole finish stripe and all at the same time then buff.
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Still working out the final lines!

Now I have to say that you are getting quite creative. Nice pattern also. Yes I would sand. What manufacture of boat is that? My 17' J-Craft ski boat has a rounded back like your boat?

Racered- 0pmope , when pulling the tape if i was you .......................i would only let the tape set for a few moments which means ..........................you should pull the tape while it is not fully cured ( Gel ) , and still soft which will leave a nice and crisp edge ....opposed to to letting it fully cure ( Gel ) and leaving a jagged edge in the long run .

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So the red is sprayed.A border stripe is next.The edge of the red is fairly crisp.I used a damp terry cloth to wipe the edge and almost all the flash came off and left a sharp edge. I did wait longer than I should have to pull the tape, so the next tape will come off sooner.
Opmope,Thanks, the hull is a Stevens flat bottom. I know it is not an offshore boat but I have been seasick offshore before, and I have owned the boat 34 years.
Glassic, do you mean pull in under 5 minutes or less, or around 15 minutes which is when the kick is beginning in my case.
I disassembled my spray gun before I started pulling tape. By the time I was finished at least 45 minutes had passed and the gel was skinned on top and very sticky on the tape. I left it alone overnight and this morning I cleaned it up with the rag. I am going to try some 600 and see what happens. Thanks for advising and if you like the pic I have many more of this complete rebuild.

Racered , i always try to pull the tape from start to finish .....ASAP ....with a little bit of help if needed depending on the size of the boat because the longer the Gel has time to cure , and set .the harder it is to get that nice fine line or crisp edge .......................... And - Racered , in my opinion the boat is starting to l@@k very attractive .