boat painting tips

rkinross

I am considering painting my topsides with 'wet edge' from Jamestown Distributors.  Does anyone have any experience good or bad with this product?  Also I have snaps for the cover that are on the area that needs painted.  Regular masking tape does not work very good to keep paint off these snaps because they are so small and there is no good way to trim around the area .  Is there any other way to mask them with some other product?  I am thinking it may be best to just drill out the snaps and replace them after the paint job is complete. 

link to "wet edge" https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=64351&campaign=email042220&trk_msg=7JEDPL81TCSKR86E7VT609N578&trk_contact=MO2OF51DRRV3ETSJ56L55A7VM8&trk_sid=FDEC08HKVVV2JAR2EU2DFO6IJO&espm=D5DCDC3CEB014D39A0CE3FFA6026E53A&espc=948705B6DE2D37FE779329AA52A8FFB2&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=TotalBoat+Wet+Edge+Image&utm_campaign=Weekly+Feature+-+April+2020&utm_content=TB+Wet+Edge

javhav

Try 3m liquid masking for the snaps you can apply with a brush but if I was doing it I would just replace them 

rkinross

@javhav Thanks for your reply.  I did not know about liquid masking.  I will give it a try and if it does not work out I will just replace the snaps on the 2nd coat.  The snaps also have a tendency to make the paint run if too much is on the brush.

MarkB

Have you considered wrapping the boat in vinyl?

Aqua_Aura

I thought most snaps were just held on with a Philips head screw? 

rkinross

@MarkB No, I will have to look into it.  Do you think it is a DIY job?

rkinross

@Aqua_Aura Mine seem to be put in place with a pop rivet.    

RiverRat232

While I am not an expert and have no experience with the product you mentioned, I have experience painting cars. There are a lot of things that can go wrong if you don't know what you are doing. Inadequately prepped surface, too much moisture in your shop air et cetera. I would consider a wrap or have a professional paint it.  You don't want to spend money and have the result look like it was done by an amateur.

javhav

@rkinross don't even think about wrapping it unless you have some experience all you'll  be doing is throwing money away trust me been there I've learned the hard way lol

davidbrooks

Several times i thought about doing some painting myself....did the research and then talked myself out of it. I don't have an issue with doing the modifications and getting it right up to that point i think it is ready for paint and then handing it off to the experts.  Then they show me the spots i missed and fix it.  Most of the labor is in the prep work.  If you can take off all the extra screws, snaps, rails etc and do the bulk of the prep then your costs should go way down.  IMHO painting is not something you pick up without making a lot of mistakes or spending a lot of time working with someone that really knows what they are doing.  I subscribed to a video channel from Total Boat and really like it.  The guy is easy to watch, gives a lot of good tips and almost everything is pertinent.   Here is one i was watching about adding non skid. http://www.totalboat.com/2020/04/24/adding-nonskid-gelcoat-boatworks-today/ 

MarkB

rkinross said:

@MarkB No, I will have to look into it.  Do you think it is a DIY job?

I wouldn't trust myself to do it ... but I do have a mate that learned how to wrap smaller stuff, and then he went wild ... wrapping everything ... I'm waiting for him to wrap his house now, lol. I wouldn't try learning by wrapping a boat though.

GMSLITHO

Lots of prep and sand on that paint job 

aero3113

Take a look at this video.

https://youtu.be/QtD0wvNAjD0