Gel coat easy repair?

[SpearRib]

My rib has a fair few scratches one which is down to the glass but just, Is there an easy fix product?

[rusty McCaw]

Might not be the most professional way about things bit you could try find a quick surfboard fix product for the mean time to keep the skin dry..... Search solar cure or solar res

[SpearRib]

I found a gel coat repair kit at the chandler for 20 dollar.

I did once on a fiberglass boat i had, I must say Im not the best at it. But perhaps second time lucky lol.

[rusty McCaw]

If it's a sun cure product which cures with natural light the try a small amount the use a plastic film over the top to smooth and give a glossy finish when it drys....or just get better at sanding

[SpearRib]

haha it was the sanding on my last gel coat efforts that left my boat looking a bit blah on the bottom tail

[SpearRib]

i think the problem I have when doing gel coat is getting the original job to a similar shape as the hull profile, which is why it looks bodgy once sanded. Any tips?

[SpearRib]

Can I sand by hand, I dont have any tools !

[Tommy fern]

The best way to carry out a gel coat repair would be to sand the area to be gel coated so that there is good key for the new gel coat to stick. Then I would smooth the edge of the existing gel coat where the edge of the scratch is so the new gel coat can flow over it.

You will be lucky if the gel coat you get from the chandlery is a correct match but you may be able to get an exact match from the manufacturer of your boat, other than that you can get gel coat online and just try to match your existing colour using different pigments.

Make sure the area is clean and once mixed apply a layer and once dry use a sanding block and various grades of paper and then just reapply further layers if needed.

As you get closer to the desired profile use finer grades of sand paper and then use a cutting compound and a polish to finish.

Hope this helps

[SpearRib]

yep great help. sanding block it is. see last time i didnt sand the area first. there is glass showing and i want to get gel coat over it sooner than later. how long should i leave the boat to dry so the glass is surely dry before applying the gel coat? i know its reson and glass, i thought maybe leaving to try a couple days before doing gel coat job might be good idea?

i cant afford a respirator, will a cloth mask do? Ill be doing it in a very well ventilated garage partially outdoors. but will be under the boat.

[Tommy fern]

A couple of days should be enough but you can use a heat gun or hair dryer to blow lightly over the area to help it along but don't go very close as you will burn the gel coat.

You can get relatively cheap breathing masks now and I would point towards one of these rather than a disposable mask, for the sake of twenty to thirty quid it's worth getting one.

[SpearRib]

only problem is the boat shop will fix the chips if i buy all the kit including mask. was trying to save some dosh ;-p