Gel Coat Repairs

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Gel Coat Repairs

Postby Andy Yates » Sat Mar 10, 2018 2:19 pm

Has anyone purchased gel coat from a supplier other than the builder (now Cape Cutter Marine ) ? I'm in need of both the Oxford Blue and the Cream. I'm assuming that they are stock colours.

Cheers
Andy
Andy :D
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Re: Gel Coat Repairs

Postby Greybeard » Sun Mar 11, 2018 11:32 pm

Hello, Andy.
They should be standard RAL colours. If you can get your hands on a set of RAL colour chips you'll be able to identify the right shade, unless anyone here knows it already. Unfortunately my CC19 is now at the other side of the planet so as much as I'd love to nip over to Melbourne to check for you I have to be back here by Wednesday :confused:
Once you've got the colour code any supplier should be able to help - if you have a local supplier they may lend you a set of colour chips too ;) I got mine for about 8 quid a while ago though I see now they're fetching about twice that.

Steve
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Re: Gel Coat Repairs

Postby Malcolm Sadler » Fri May 11, 2018 11:46 pm

While on the subject of gel coat repairs, can anyone tell me the quickest and easiest way to get back to a correctly faired and polished surface after applying the resin gel coat? I’ve watched lots of You Tube videos and it seems very tricky if we want to avoid the new coat standing proud or alternatively sanding/polishing away too much so as to create a dip in the prevailing surface.

Cheers

Malcolm
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Re: Gel Coat Repairs

Postby Greybeard » Sat May 12, 2018 8:29 am

Whenever Ive repaired gelcoat, whether on boats or motorcycle fairings, ive found that using a hard rubber sanding block of the type used by car body repair shops (I have bought them from Halfords in the past) helps on larger areas to keep the surface flat. Use wet and dry paper in ever finer grits, from about a 280/320 working down to 800 or even 1200 with plenty of water along with the occasional rub of soap to prevent the paper clogging will, with lots of patience and care leave a surface that will polish easily to a good gloss finish. For best results dont move on to the next finer grit until all previous sanding marks have gone and if you notice a low spot developing, dont be tempted to keep working at it, but add another thin layer of gel coat. T-cut will do the final polishing job though products such as 3M Finesse-it designed for polishing 2-pack paints give a very high gloss, though are far easier to use with a machine polisher.
In practice, Malcolm, there isnt an easy or quick way to get the sort of finish you want. It's a laborious and time consuming process when done by hand ;)

Steve
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Re: Gel Coat Repairs

Postby Malcolm Sadler » Sun May 13, 2018 12:12 am

Steve

Thankyou for the helpful and detailed, if unwelcome, advice. I suppose I suspected there’s only one way to do it.

I will make some temporary, sealing, repairs on the cracked gel coat on deck and deal with the cosmetics in the off-season.

Cheers

Malcolm
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Re: Gel Coat Repairs

Postby Andy Yates » Sun May 13, 2018 9:16 am

I worked through the grits 200 to 1200 then finished off with a rubbing compound like T cut and finally a polish with a gel coat polish. I used Autoglyn resin polish as I didn't have any marine polish to hand but will top it off with some Starbrite ptfe when on the water. My repairs to the rudder turned out well eventually, gel coating and rubbing down took a couple of attempts.
I've a few topside repairs to have a go at, have you got a colour match yet ?
Andy :D
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Re: Gel Coat Repairs

Postby NickC » Tue Mar 02, 2021 5:55 pm

Hi All

Just checking if anyone has actually ascertained the correct RAL colours yet for the Oxford Blue and the Cream for Gel coat repairs?

Additionally does anyone know the colour of the Flowcoat / Gelcoat on the inside of the hull? Is it the same Cream as the exterior?

Thanks

Nick
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Re: Gel Coat Repairs

Postby Andrew Scullion » Tue Mar 02, 2021 8:43 pm

Hello Nick,

I was passed on a Gelcoat repair spare with Ladybird which has a blue hull that is labelled Navy Blue which I think translates to RAL 5002 however I have not used it.

However, having done a fair few Gelcoat repairs over the years, I would strongly advise going through the effort of colour matching a batch that is specific to the repair area before adding the catalyst.
The reason is that Gelcoat does fade in the weather and you will likely not get a good match just going on the colour code from new.

There is a good instruction video here on how to do that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoURRmkD8MY

Andrew
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Re: Gel Coat Repairs

Postby NickC » Wed Mar 03, 2021 1:48 am

Hi Andrew

Thanks for the YouTube tip. Wow! What an education!
I have a few minor cosmetic repairs to do on the deck that are not urgent, it's where previous fittings have been removed and the holes have been filled of which some are now starting to break out. So getting the colour wrong in several small spots around the deck would really show up. And I actually only need a teaspoon of blue so to mess about matching that at this stage is not worth it.
East Coast Fibreglass do small gel coat repair kits in many colours, maybe I'll ask them about additional small amounts of pigments to subtlety get to the right shade of the off white for the deck and experiment colour matching as per the video.

Many thanks

Nick
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