Painting a Viper

[transomstand]

Thanks for the advise. I have been reading about Duratec and it looks like a pretty good product. I will be spraying the color myself, so I don't think I should use Imron. Isn't that the paint that requires supplied air respirators?

I am also curious about what "77Viper" asked. Mine too has tons of spider cracks in the gel. Is the Duratec tough enough to prevent reappearing of the spider cracks through the finished paint?

Thanks a lot!
Chris

Are you sure the boat hasn't been clear coated?

[jacklake2003]

I'm not sure, I don't know much about this, I'm just learning as I go. However, I tried sanding one area with the DA with 60 grit for quite a while and the cracks didn't go away until I got down to "blcak". The boat is blue metalflake, but under that is a flat black material (I assumed gel coat). From what I have been reading, it looks like they spray the flake in the mold (mixed with clear gel) than spray a dark colored gel over that before laying up the boat. So if that's right, the clear gel coat with the flake is fried out and cracked and the black under neath is smooth.
That being said, it takes so long to sand down to the black gel, I don't think I have the patience to sand all the clear and flake off.

[Vegas XT]

I used epoxy (Interlux) primer and Imron on mine. The gelcoat is a REAL hard durable finish but harder to color sand, so I hear. I am real pleased with the durability of the Imron.

Epoxy primer is what we used on performance motors on ATVs and dirt bikes. It is some good stuff. Easy to sand and make it look smooth

[Vegas XT]

I used epoxy (Interlux) primer and Imron on mine. The gelcoat is a REAL hard durable finish but harder to color sand, so I hear. I am real pleased with the durability of the Imron.

[primerate2]

I just had epoxy primer then epoxy paint applied on the bottom then turned it over and did the same to the top. Hours and hours of sanding. Black Viking with Dodge green . Really hot.