greatlakestate
04-15-2009, 08:08 PM
Having wanted a "real" RC boat, I picked up a nice 30" Prather 'glass deep vee hull/hardware from a shop going out of business many years back...not cheap even then. I was just out of high school and at the time was working a car dealership with a body shop while going to college. I worked for weeks putting everything together, and was finally ready for paint.
After doing all the prep myself, I asked the guys at work in the body shop to hit the hull/hatch with some white paint and I'd take it from there. Famous last words..."sure, no problem" I eagerly waited about 3 days and didn't bother them as they were doing me a favor. Later on that week they brought the boat to me and my jaw about hit the floor. They had actually gel-coated it!!!! followed with a candy apple/glitter bass boat type finish on the deck. It was about an inch thick and weighed around 9 pounds. They said it needed a lot of sanding and buffing and then it would look great. Oh, no....imagine the face you make when you get a gift you hate but don't want to hurt feelings!
I took the boat home that day (quickly) and spent about 3 hours stripping and chipping the job off, thankfully the "mess" it had not fully cured. I spent another week re-filling, priming and finally painted it myself...a Miami-Vice inspired look, hey, it was the early 90s, what can I say! Still looks nice to this day. Lesson - Be careful who your give your hull to!!!! ----Rob
After doing all the prep myself, I asked the guys at work in the body shop to hit the hull/hatch with some white paint and I'd take it from there. Famous last words..."sure, no problem" I eagerly waited about 3 days and didn't bother them as they were doing me a favor. Later on that week they brought the boat to me and my jaw about hit the floor. They had actually gel-coated it!!!! followed with a candy apple/glitter bass boat type finish on the deck. It was about an inch thick and weighed around 9 pounds. They said it needed a lot of sanding and buffing and then it would look great. Oh, no....imagine the face you make when you get a gift you hate but don't want to hurt feelings!
I took the boat home that day (quickly) and spent about 3 hours stripping and chipping the job off, thankfully the "mess" it had not fully cured. I spent another week re-filling, priming and finally painted it myself...a Miami-Vice inspired look, hey, it was the early 90s, what can I say! Still looks nice to this day. Lesson - Be careful who your give your hull to!!!! ----Rob