Painting Minicat Hull

[SweetAccord]

I was curious,

I like my hulls to look perfect and I know it's always best to start clean from what I have read, but I've never done hull painting or sanding on one. So here goes; can a MiniCat hull be painted over with more clear coat of Krylon Clear Gloss or would that mess it up somehow? I would dread trying to sand it down and paint it all over again and have to clear coat it for some scratches. Or Can it be painted over with Krylon Flat White and then Krylon clear Gloss or does it still need to be sanded down?

Thank you kindly.

[Basstronics]

If the boat has a paint (not a gel coat) then you can use citristrip to strip it down. Then give it a rough up sand with like 320 wet dry. If tis a colored gelcoat then you probably want a primer. If its white then no primer needed. The key here is to let it dry properly.

Spray the primer on, let it dry a full 24 hrs (or close to). Dont spray it on mega heavy, but heavy enough to cover. Then sand it smooth.

Do the same with colors- sand with 800 grit.

Then add clear. I do 2 coats clear. DONT sand the clear.

For paint I wont use that Krylon junk again. Its heavy and I couldnt get it to look good no matter what.

The small cans of Testors aerosol is a bit more expensive but the outcome is MUCH better and much more predictable.

[wparsons]

At the very least you'll want to scuff the factory finish with 800grit wet sandpaper and give it a very thorough cleaning before hitting it with another colour or clear.

I've had good luck with Duplicolor spray cans (colour and clear), sprays nicely and holds up well.

Whatever you do, you'll want to scuff the bottom of the hull with 800-1500grit paper to reduce surface tension in the water.

[SweetAccord]

Thanks guys!

[Gunny]

I sanded my UL-1 first. Remember prep is the key. I sanded it good to be sure the paint would stick. Made sure there were no glossy spots on the boat. I used 100, 150, than 200 grit sandpaper. Than the primer went on. After the first coat of primer I used a wet 2000Abralon pad to smooth it out. Than another coat of primer. I believe 3 coats of primer I used and after the 3rd coat I used the 2000Abralon pad again.

After each coat of paint, I rubbed her down with a wet 2000Abralon pad. Wanted her to not only look smooth but feel smooth to the touch. Did the same thing with the Lacquer clear that I put on. Rubbed her down with a wet 2000Abralon pad after the clear was dry and than hit it with a 2nd and 3rd coat of clear. Doing the same with the 2000Abralon pad. After the 3rd coat of clear dried, I used some liquid car polish to really give it some more pop.

I'll have to get another picture up of how shiny she looks now with the added coats of clear on it. I may put one more coat of clear, not sure though. She looks good now.

Check out my album and you'll get an idea of the steps. I used Rustoleum Primer, Acrylic Enamel and Lacquer. All rattle cans.

[wparsons]

Not to knock how you did it, but 2000grit generally isn't rough enough for the best adhesion between coats. 1500+ is for polishing not sanding, even colour sanding (wet sanding before clear to smooth out the base coat) is done with 800. 200grit is also really rough for anything except a high build primer.

You're definitely bang on about the prep being key though! Do a crappy job prepping/cleaning the base and it doesn't matter how good the rest is, nothing is going to stay stuck.

[SweetAccord]

Nice! Thanks again. That is what I wanted to know "I sanded my UL-1 first. Remember prep is the key. I sanded it good to be sure the paint would stick. Made sure there were no glossy spots on the boat."

See I was thinking you would want to remove all the factory paint! I was thinking wow too much work that is nuts. I was thinking you would want to remove the paint also so they would not react with each other but it seems that is not the case, awesome just need to remove the clear coat and scuff the paint for adhering purposes! That is much easier!

I am using 400 grit to take the clear coat off and it's coming off easy in 1-2 passes. Just need to get into all the nooks and crannies. I'm also using filler putty (red color) to fill in the antenna hole and sanding it down to be smooth. I presume that is fine and nothing more is needed before painting.

Thank you both for your input, both of you helped me!

[wparsons]

Typically the factory finish is the best primer, unless it's a really poor quality finish.

[SweetAccord]

Typically the factory finish is the best primer, unless it's a really poor quality finish.

Ah! See I was not sure. I always read how people here are sanding and re-painting their hulls but I never saw the wording that lead me to believe that is how it's being done. Makes sense now and thank heavens as I was dreading to remove all the paint!

[wparsons]

If you've painted on top of the factory finish, you should try to strip it down to the factory finish again. If not, you get too much paint build up and the toughness goes down.

For a first paint job, I would just scuff it, prime any areas that you've filled with putty/filler, sand it all flat and hit it with colour.

[dana]

Typically the factory finish is the best primer, unless it's a really poor quality finish.

i agree. i BARELY ever use primer. besides the spray can primer is garbage. the paint usually sticks better than the primers when it come to spraycans. also never do more than 3 coats of spraybomb a day, otherwise the first coats you put on wont fully cure if you bury them in 10 coats a day, then you will have soft feeling paint

[SweetAccord]

Awesome everyone! Thank you! One last question please. If there is a crack that is through the hull what is best to use? I have bondo 3M glazing & spot putty, QuickSteel epoxy putty and Z-Poxy, but which is ideal?

Thank you all.

[wparsons]

If the crack is all the way through and you can get at the inside of it, I would put a layer or two of light glass cloth on it with thin epoxy. Once it's solid, I would fill the crack from the outside with the spot putty.

If you don't glass it and just use putty it'll likely flex and crack the putty out of it.

[sailr]

All of our mini cat products are GELCOAT! They are not painted!

[SweetAccord]

If the crack is all the way through and you can get at the inside of it, I would put a layer or two of light glass cloth on it with thin epoxy. Once it's solid, I would fill the crack from the outside with the spot putty.

If you don't glass it and just use putty it'll likely flex and crack the putty out of it.

Got it. Thank you!

[SweetAccord]

All of our mini cat products are GELCOAT! They are not painted!

Ok, so then how does that make a difference in what is used and how to reapir these hulls?