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  • bob k says:

    andy great video but I am curious how you decide on which colors to mix in like black. what purpose does that serve in the overall scheme of things….to try to dirty up the mixture? also do repairs change over time. I did a repair on my Harbor 20 sailboat which is essentially almost the same color as your video and it was dead on when I sprayed it and for the next year, but then it darkened up and now you can see the repairs. I guess i’ll have to sand it off and try again but i’m just curious why it happened

    • ~Andy says:

      Hi Bob,

      Because of how bright the base white gelcoat is, I almost always add black first to darken it. When playing around with the pigments you’re not only trying to match color levels, but also the tone. That’s where the black come into the scene 🙂

      As far as the repair spots on your boat, it’s always a little tricky when new gelcoat is applied to old. I would be willing to guess that the patches haven’t really darkened, but that the surrounding hull has lightened. One thing to try would be to take some heavy buffing compound (I kind of like Meguiar’s Oxidation Remover) with a wool bonnet and power buff the hull. There’s a good chance that the colors will even out again.. After that some polish and a coat of wax..

      Let me know how it works!

      ~Andy

  • Danger says:

    Great videos! I’m re-gelcoating a melges 24 and I looking for a technique to sanding the round edge where the deck joins the hull, which is about a 3″ round edge. Any ideas for a sanding block?

    • ~Andy says:

      For radius’s I find it’s easiest just to do it by hand (no block), that way you’re able to follow the curves. Just be careful not to sand through 🙂

  • Brian says:

    Thanks for your great “There’s a hole in my boat” video series.

    You mentioned in your video series creating a gelcoat color with pigments or matching from a fan deck as options. There are also vendors who will custom match to a gelcoat sample. I’m hoping to find a match in a fan deck, but also wondering what’s involved in going the custom match route. Is there a less invasive way to take a gelcoat sample from a boat (1994 Mastercraft ProStar 190) than creating a through and through hole with a hole saw? I need to match a dark teal that is only on the outside of my hull, meaning a hole all the way through would require structural repair, a repair more extensive than the scrapes, small blister, and scatches I’m repairing.

    • ~Andy says:

      Don’t drill any holes!! Honestly you’re best bet will be one of three options:
      – order a stock color that is close and fine tune it yourself.
      – Contact Spectrum Color to see if it’s a color that they have in their system. You’ll still need to fine tune it but it will give a close starting point.
      – contact MasterCraft to see if they still carry the factory gel. Again, you’ll still need to fine tune but it will be close 🙂

      Hope this helps!

  • Jeff Patterson says:

    Hi Andy, great series and I’ve learned so much! I have a ton of screw holes in my ’69 Chris Craft Commander and I want to fill them. Can I tape the back and fill the hole with gel coat?

  • […] Colouring BoatworksToday (and its youtube productions) explains how to get this right. See Basics On Gelcoat Color Matching : Boatworks Today and those that follow. Excellent and reliable instructions. Just one thing – when going through […]

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