Painting a GRP

[gazza]

. Sorry gaz but not really,sometime people have differing views, it does,nt have to be about point scoring and right and wrong, in fact when I was looking to buy my magnificent yoghurt pot I was told don't touch anything that's been painted as its normally the last step before the scrap yard and yet your boat looks absolutely lovely in its new paint, that does,nt mean you were right to paint it or that I,m wrong choosing to leave all my gel coat on and just polish the living day lights out of it, only painting the bit below the water line, we just have different opinions, like I choose to believe anti foul paint is a waste of time and money, for an inland boat that does about 4/5 mph and never goes in the sea, and you believe me and everyone else that has blacked the bottom of there boats are wrong, .as long as you are happy with yours and me with mine then just accept they are opinions rather than facts, more importantly do you think that blizzard is right to paint his knob white so he can find it in the dark, or do you think he should leave it well alone ???

I will give it another try.

 

Firstly its not about point scoring.

 

Several times you mentioned AF is a waste of money, it does nothing, just because it says suitable for freshwater on the tin etc. Several posters stated this not to be the fact. My picture of our boat freshly hauled out proves it does work, you admitted your boat has a massive amount of growth - as we new it would because, as has been pointed out bitumin does nothing to prevent it. Its used faithfully by huge numbers of people on tin boats to prevent corrosion, something your boat can NEVER suffer from - its not the right stuff on a tin boat to prevent corrosion but as you say, many use it. Laurence Hogg mentioned B&Q gloss is a viable underwater paint, most will ignore him convinced the crap they have used is the answer - it isnt but hey ho.

 

As NC says, you are the ONLY person i have ever heard of that thinks bitumin on a GRP is a good idea, I had hoped my picture may help to persuade you that a correctly chosen AF is the only coating you should use.

I will say again, you ARE wasting money not saving it, you cannot suffer corrosion - the only reason tin boats use it!

 

I am willing to be enlightened to what benefit you think you get, for the life of me i cant think of one. I can think of many disadvanteges though.

 

You now have the horrid task of getting rid of that sticky cack that serves no purpose other than a good habitat for marine life!

 

Your comment about painted GRP is well wide of the mark. Ours was in hire on the broads for just shy of 25 years, scrapes and bangs are inevitable. Unlike a steel boat that needs painting to prevent corrosion, a painted GRP is a cheap cost effective cosmectic solution. Ideally we would still be on the gell coat but it only adds a small amount of extra work to her upkeep. If i had a steel boat i would have to paint that anyway. Whoever told you that was talking out their behind.

 

I do feel like you have had some pretty duff info given to you, the point of forums is to discus subjects and hopefully broaden your knowledge or help you to a new/different/better viewpoint. Sticking to your guns is admirable, but ultimatley futile, as you are totally incorrect and ill-informed on this subject

[craftycarper]

I will give it another try.

 

Firstly its not about point scoring.

 

Several times you mentioned AF is a waste of money, it does nothing, just because it says suitable for freshwater on the tin etc. Several posters stated this not to be the fact. My picture of our boat freshly hauled out proves it does work, you admitted your boat has a massive amount of growth - as we new it would because, as has been pointed out bitumin does nothing to prevent it. Its used faithfully by huge numbers of people on tin boats to prevent corrosion, something your boat can NEVER suffer from - its not the right stuff on a tin boat to prevent corrosion but as you say, many use it. Laurence Hogg mentioned B&Q gloss is a viable underwater paint, most will ignore him convinced the crap they have used is the answer - it isnt but hey ho.

 

As NC says, you are the ONLY person i have ever heard of that thinks bitumin on a GRP is a good idea, I had hoped my picture may help to persuade you that a correctly chosen AF is the only coating you should use.

I will say again, you ARE wasting money not saving it, you cannot suffer corrosion - the only reason tin boats use it!

 

I am willing to be enlightened to what benefit you think you get, for the life of me i cant think of one. I can think of many disadvanteges though.

 

You now have the horrid task of getting rid of that sticky cack that serves no purpose other than a good habitat for marine life!

 

Your comment about painted GRP is well wide of the mark. Ours was in hire on the broads for just shy of 25 years, scrapes and bangs are inevitable. Unlike a steel boat that needs painting to prevent corrosion, a painted GRP is a cheap cost effective cosmectic solution. Ideally we would still be on the gell coat but it only adds a small amount of extra work to her upkeep. If i had a steel boat i would have to paint that anyway. Whoever told you that was talking out their behind.

 

I do feel like you have had some pretty duff info given to you, the point of forums is to discus subjects and hopefully broaden your knowledge or help you to a new/different/better viewpoint. Sticking to your guns is admirable, but ultimatley futile, as you are totally incorrect and ill-informed on this subject

obviously you are a painting expert but you have still managed to pass over the most important point so far raised in this thread, should blizzard paint his knob or not if so which paint should he use, the rest of your post is mearely your opinions and not commonly held by most but as I said if it makes you happy it's right

[gazza]

Its not opinion, its fact.

 

Pause for a minute and consider the huge amount of time and money expounded on research and development by the paint companies like AkzoNobel to produce good effective AF now TBT has been banned.

Its not done because there is a ready market of loonies ready to waste their money on stuff that doesnt work.

 

We have the bitumin makers to cater for that lot!

[craftycarper]

Its not opinion, its fact.

 

Pause for a minute and consider the huge amount of time and money expounded on research and development by the paint companies like AkzoNobel to produce good effective AF now TBT has been banned.

Its not done because there is a ready market of loonies ready to waste their money on stuff that doesnt work.

 

We have the bitumin makers to cater for that lot!

. Just like the billions of pounds Pepsi,McDonald's and kfc spend on telling fools to eat there lovely food sadly you just fall into the same catagory, now for the last time I am more than happy with my black bottomed boat, that has growth on because it's been moored all winter and not moved, you on the other hand are really happy and proud of your painted plastic boat so in my world we are both right, and finally for cal the blacking is only below the waterline I have,nt covered the whole boat in it and as you like to join in on everybody else's threads maybe you would like to tell gaz at what point you will be painting the rest of your boat above the waterline I,m sure he will have loads of tips, the best one so far being to paint it an inch at a time.sadly my rotten old yoghurt pot being 34 ft long I decided to give it a miss,so what are your opinions of plastic boats painted above the waterline and when is yours due

[gazza]

I give in

 

You are an engineers (me) nightmare.

 

Despite hard evidence to counter your claims, the best you can do is talk about fast food and have sly digs at NC.

 

If you read my post re painting technique I said about 1' = foot not "= 1 inch. But I guess most would understand that. You can have 12", 30cm 300mm if you prefer

 

Oh well, with any luck some good will have come out of this road to nowhere discussion with you. Particularly for the OP

Edited March 10, 2015 by gazza

[craftycarper]

I give in

 

You are an engineers (me) nightmare.

 

Despite hard evidence to counter your claims, the best you can do is talk about fast food and have sly digs at NC.

 

Oh well, with any luck some good will have come out of this road to nowhere discussion with you. Particularly for the OP

know gaz I don't think any good has come from this thread as biz is still left holding his knob wondering what colour to paint it, how can any good possibly come from that

[gazza]

Why ignore 2/3 of every post you comment on?

 

Has my edit helped you to understand the difference between feet and inches? please tell me you know how tall you are?

 

Still waiting to here what benefit bitumin is other than you like it - not very scientific is it?!

 

I am not overly worried about the colour of Bizzards Knob.

Edited March 10, 2015 by gazza

[craftycarper]

Why ignore 2/3 of every post you comment on?

 

Has my edit helped you to understand the difference between feet and inches? please tell me you know how tall you are?

 

Still waiting to here what benefit bitumin is other than you like it - not very scientific is it?!

 

I am not overly worried about the colour of Bizzards Knob.

in your last post you started with the words "I give in" yet now you want me to tell you the benefits of bitumen, I will just give you the two main reasons 90 percent of people black there boats with bitumin A it's waterproof and B it sticks like shite to a blanket hope that's of some help and I've covered more than a third of your question, I think your comment regarding bizzards knob is a little below the belt as well

[gazza]

90% are misguided painting steel boats in bitumin. you are most likley 0.000000000000001% of the boat owning population that uses it on a GRP - an exclusive club i will give you that.

 

your GRP is near on waterproof - I think osmosis may be a discusion too far. It doesnt need anymore help from some tar.

 

You have an unhealthy fascination with the colour of bizzards knob

[bizzard]

You leave my knob out of this I won't be painting it with bitumen, it burns.

[Naughty Cal]

. Just like the billions of pounds Pepsi,McDonald's and kfc spend on telling fools to eat there lovely food sadly you just fall into the same catagory, now for the last time I am more than happy with my black bottomed boat, that has growth on because it's been moored all winter and not moved, you on the other hand are really happy and proud of your painted plastic boat so in my world we are both right, and finally for cal the blacking is only below the waterline I have,nt covered the whole boat in it and as you like to join in on everybody else's threads maybe you would like to tell gaz at what point you will be painting the rest of your boat above the waterline I,m sure he will have loads of tips, the best one so far being to paint it an inch at a time.sadly my rotten old yoghurt pot being 34 ft long I decided to give it a miss,so what are your opinions of plastic boats painted above the waterline and when is yours due

I never said you had painted all of the boat in bitumen!

 

I queried your use of it below the waterline. It clearly isn't common place to paint Grp hulls with bitumen and I wondered why you had chosen that route when other products designed for use on Grp hulls are more cost effective and designed for that use.

 

I shall take your lack of answers and cheap digs at face value and put them down to a lack of knowledge.

 

As for my opinion on painted Grp, well there comes a time in most Grp boats lives when the only option is to paint them. Ideally they would stay in gel coat indefinitely, but we don't live in an ideal world.

 

When is ours due? Certainly not while ever we own her. We plan to keep her in gel coat and slave away with the polish and wax to keep her looking at good as possible, at a mere 12 years old she has got many years left before the paint rollers will need to be wielded.

 

So back to our original question as we have answered yours. Why the bitumen?

[Stevie101]

Bloody hell I didn't mean to start World War III lol

Well after much deliberation and Google searching I've decided on Toplac 'Snow White '

I've sanded back all the undersides (not a nice job) and over the next week I'm going to roller it on with a second coat with some thinner no1 added.

I will then ANTI FOUL below the waterline with some red AF.

In all the reading and searches I've done NO ONE apart from CC has mentioned using bitumen on a GRP so being relatively new I'm going with the general consensus of opinion.

As my boat is around 40yrs old the gell coat has been painted over below the deck but on top the gell coat is still in reasonable condition.

I will put up some pics before/during/after as soon as she is done.

Ooh and the new name is 'Endless Summer' After the Bruce Brown surfing film as I asked for suggestions on another post on here.

[gazza]

Bloody hell I didn't mean to start World War III lol

Well after much deliberation and Google searching I've decided on Toplac 'Snow White '

I've sanded back all the undersides (not a nice job) and over the next week I'm going to roller it on with a second coat with some thinner no1 added.

I will then ANTI FOUL below the waterline with some red AF.

In all the reading and searches I've done NO ONE apart from CC has mentioned using bitumen on a GRP so being relatively new I'm going with the general consensus of opinion.

As my boat is around 40yrs old the gell coat has been painted over below the deck but on top the gell coat is still in reasonable condition.

I will put up some pics before/during/after as soon as she is done.

Ooh and the new name is 'Endless Summer' After the Bruce Brown surfing film as I asked for suggestions on another post on here.

 

 

CC has some interesting ideas - none of which are much practicle use but thats by the by!

 

You wont go far wrong with your decision, a lick of white PreCote would be a good idea, its heartbreaking if the paint reacts with whats previously been used.

 

And what a choice for a name - love it!. One of my all time faves, along with his masterpiece 'On Any Sunday' Both have camera work and soundtracks that are of their time and truly unforgetable! Bruce Brown was a groundbreaking film maker and a massve hero of mine.

 

I can feel a dig thru the DVD collection coming on :-)

Edited March 10, 2015 by gazza

[Stevie101]

Hahahah thankyou Gazza it's very rare to find anyone who has even heard or Bruce Brown let alone seen his work.

Unfortunatly I've only got Endless Summer 1&2 on vhs with a few other classics from my dim and distant past.

(On the water in a very different way)

 

I will Deffo use the pre cote thanks for the tip.

[gazza]

Know the feeling, Bruce who? is the usual response!

[Stevie101]

Talking about boat names, Fairlight? Is that a reference to the 1st emulating keyboard or am I on the wrong track compleatly?

It always interests me why and where people get there boat names

[gazza]

Fairlight was her name when built by Appleyard and Lincoln for Herbert Woods of Potter Heigham, She spent the first half of her life in hire on the broads, the last 25 years have been on the Nene. She was one of a batch that got the ball rolling for Harry Lincoln after some difficulty persuading the boat buying public GRP was the future, turning to the hire market got the ball rolling for A&L and eased the worried investors doubts a little!

 

She came to us as Tarnia, but a bit of dectective work (front cushions marked Fairlight 6 and fuel tank dipstick marked Fairlight 5!) along with some help from Phil Ambrose on here revealed her identity,

We decided the old girl should have her name back! minus the number as we didnt intend on rounding HW fleet up :-)

 

 

I have named her tender XtraLight as a little play on words.

[Stevie101]

It's nice you know a bit of the history of Fairlight.

My boat was also built by Appleyard Lincoln, she is an Elysian Vito.

I've managed to find the original Appleyard Lincoln Brochure online and a couple of mentions on websites but other than that the history of my boat or any other Vitos remain a mystery.

[bizzard]

Fairlight is a small locality on the south coast between Hastings and Rye.

[gazza]

It's nice you know a bit of the history of Fairlight.

My boat was also built by Appleyard Lincoln, she is an Elysian Vito.

I've managed to find the original Appleyard Lincoln Brochure online and a couple of mentions on websites but other than that the history of my boat or any other Vitos remain a mystery.

 

Excellent choice of boat! I have met Hugh Easton theE27 designer, hes a great chap. If they have another A&L reunion I will try to remember to post about it on here

 

Fairlight is a small locality on the south coast between Hastings and Rye.

 

I wasnt aware of that biz, my grandad was stationed to the chain home radar defense, he covered from berlington gap/eastbourne to Rye, no doubt he would have known Fairlight well. Sadly hes no longer with us.

Edited March 11, 2015 by gazza

[Naughty Cal]

Bloody hell I didn't mean to start World War III lol

Well after much deliberation and Google searching I've decided on Toplac 'Snow White '

I've sanded back all the undersides (not a nice job) and over the next week I'm going to roller it on with a second coat with some thinner no1 added.

I will then ANTI FOUL below the waterline with some red AF.

In all the reading and searches I've done NO ONE apart from CC has mentioned using bitumen on a GRP so being relatively new I'm going with the general consensus of opinion.

As my boat is around 40yrs old the gell coat has been painted over below the deck but on top the gell coat is still in reasonable condition.

I will put up some pics before/during/after as soon as she is done.

Ooh and the new name is 'Endless Summer' After the Bruce Brown surfing film as I asked for suggestions on another post on here.

I'm not sure you have.

 

Looking forward to your pictures.

[bizzard]

 

Excellent choice of boat! I have met Hugh Easton theE27 designer, hes a great chap. If they have another A&L reunion I will try to remember to post about it on here

 

 

I wasnt aware of that biz, my grandad was stationed to the chain home radar defense, he covered from berlington gap/eastbourne to Rye, no doubt he would have known Fairlight well. Sadly hes no longer with us.

There is or was a coastguard station up on the cliff at Fairlight The cliffs are all eroding there with stones and boulders falling onto the beach with big warning signs dotted about.

[gazza]

There is or was a coastguard station up on the cliff at Fairlight The cliffs are all eroding there with stones and boulders falling onto the beach with big warning signs dotted about.

 

I know the area arround Eastbourne and Pevensey OK, Grandparents moved to Eastbourne as they were finding hilly Exmouth a challenge. Big shame as Eastbourne has fallen on hardtimes lately, fairly flat though..... They wanted to be back at their old wartime location as well. My Grandad was trained at Bawdsey Manor in the early days (an area I know well having spent alot of time on the Deben out of Felixstowe Ferry) he then worked on Chain Home before having a difficult tour in Africa, he only really spoke about his war late on in his life.

 

One thing that got me was an inscription in a book called 'The Eyes of the Few' by Daphne Carne - she worked with Grandad on Radar on the South Coast and had put the following in her copy to him 'To Mike, Happy days!, Love Dill' I couldnt get my head round how that tied up with the air attacks they suffered, the stress and pressure they were under - all at a very young age. What an incredible generation they were!

 

Both my grandparents have now passed away so we dont get down to the South Downs/ SE coast anymore

Edited March 11, 2015 by gazza

[bizzard]

 

I know the area arround Eastbourne nd Pevensey OK, Grandparents moved to Eastbourne as the were finding hilly Exmouth a challenge. Big shame as Eastbourne has fallen on hardtimes lately, fairly flat though..... They wanted to be back at their old wartime location as well. My Grandad was trained at Badsey Manor in the early days (an area I know well having spent alot of time on the Deben out of Felixstowe Ferry) he then worked on Chain Home before having a difficult tour in Africa, he onyl really spoke about his war late on in his life.

One thing that got me was a an inscription form the autohor of a book called 'The Eyes of the Few' by Daphne Carne - she worked with Grandad on Radar on the South Coast and had put the following in her copy to him 'To Mike, Happy days!, Love Dill' I couldnt get my head round how that tied up with the air attacks they suffered, the stress and pressure they were under - all at a very young age. What an incredible generation they were!

 

Both have now passed away so we dont get down to the South Downs/ SE coast anymore

Interesting gazza. Memories are nice though. I delivered a couple of sailing cruisers all along that coast in the 1980's, Isle of Wight to Margate and Ramsgate. During the 1990's I helped a friend to install, pipe up airline ring mains at a new Bass Charrington truck workshop at Newhaven for a couple of days. We stayed the night at a hotel in Eastbourne, ''The Miramar'' opposite the pier, two tiny rooms up in the attics, a five story building I think. It was a hot summer and I remember all the landing fire doors had been wedged open leading up all the flights of stairs. I smuggled a long rope from our truck up to the rooms, tied it to the bedstead and left the window open for a way of escape if a fire broke out, it didn't.

I also had a girlfriend who lived in Hastings old town we went together to Eastbourne to see a Cleo Lane concert there, can't remember the theatres name now. Her parents lived at Bexhill-on-Sea. Her dad was an WW2 lieutenant commander, skipper of a Flower class Corvette, ''Chrysanthemum'' I think it was called, on Atlantic convoy escort duty in the main, out of Birkenhead.

Edited March 11, 2015 by bizzard

[dccruiser]

Bloody hell I didn't mean to start World War III lol

Well after much deliberation and Google searching I've decided on Toplac 'Snow White '

I've sanded back all the undersides (not a nice job) and over the next week I'm going to roller it on with a second coat with some thinner no1 added.

I will then ANTI FOUL below the waterline with some red AF.

In all the reading and searches I've done NO ONE apart from CC has mentioned using bitumen on a GRP so being relatively new I'm going with the general consensus of opinion.

As my boat is around 40yrs old the gell coat has been painted over below the deck but on top the gell coat is still in reasonable condition.

I will put up some pics before/during/after as soon as she is done.

Ooh and the new name is 'Endless Summer' After the Bruce Brown surfing film as I asked for suggestions on another post on here.

Good choice! as i said i used the white toplac and used thinners on the topcoat and achieved a mirror finish, I applied with some very expensive harris gloss brushes and didnt even get a single noticeable brush mark, so hopefully you will achieve an almost gel coat finish.

I think altogether i put 5 coats on from 100% toplac on the first 2 to the final coats being 2:1 with thinners

I used the AF as a feature and bought it a few inches above the waterline.

Just remember prep is everything!

 

Good Luck

 

Rick