Hi All,

Just looking for some advice on straying Flowcoat to get that smooth finish.
Gun type, size, tip , thinning? etc

Many thanks
Alan

Where I once worked they did a lot of hull refinishing. I didn't pay
too much attention, but I will stop there tomorrow and get answers to
your questions. Gelcoat with wax, sprayed on will harden but it won't
be smooth as it doesn't 'flow'. I am pretty sure they used another name
brand additive,( not wax, styrene or acetone), that helped the gelcoat
flow to the point that it was a vast improvement over straight gelcoat
though not quite as smooth as paint or Imron,etc. How much of an area
do you have to refinish?

Grumpy wrote:
Hi All,

Just looking for some advice on straying Flowcoat to get that smooth finish.
Gun type, size, tip , thinning? etc

Many thanks
Alan



Sorry Alan the flowcoats I can find in the manuals around here all come
as "Brushable". Here they're denominated as "35 series" but that is
probably just a commercial thing.

Unless you can get specifically sprayable flowcoat & you're still
trying for a good finish with flowcoat, don't be temped to thin it
yourself either with styrene or worse acetone.

I know I'm harping :-) but hey that's what I do:-) you might consider
just getting normal gelcoat which can be tinted pretty well to match,
then if you're still concerned about the "no wax won't surface cure"
thing just ask the supplier to add wax (wax in styrene @ 2% but they
will know this anyway), the gloss will be lessened but still much better
than flowcoat.

Again (yes yes I know harping:-)); don't ever buy from a boat dealer or
boating goods retailer with this sort of stuff, go to a plastics
industry supplier, it might be a little cheaper but the real reason is
they know about this stuff & can supply you exactly what you need & give
you some good product sheets about how to use it.

K

K

The additive they use is called 'Patchaid', made by a company called
'Spectrum'. They said they use to use something called 'Dura-tec', but
the 'patchaid' worked better. That and the hardener is all they use
with un-waxed gelcoat. 30 to 50% additive is used depending on which
gun they were using, whatever it takes to make it sprayable, on small
repairs they would use one of those disposable sprayers, 'Prevail' I
think it's called, which you can get at Home Despot for about $7. It's
still not a glossy surface like you get with paint or Imron, they have
to wet sand and buff but it cuts down on that a bunch. I looked on the
can and all it said was 'contains styrene monemer' so it wouldn't
surprise me if all it was was styrene and wax for 10 times the price.
Like Harry says, the boat dealers can get you the correct color,
whether it matches or not sort of depends on the age of the boat and
the color you are trying to match, lighter being easier. On most boats
if the color match is critical, they have somebody come out with a
'gun' that reads the color and and formulates a 2-part paint that they
apply and then cover with a clearcoat which gives them a pretty much
invisible patch.