Caring for Blue/Purple Hulls

[Dave S]

I do not believe your color variation was caused by sanding. I think it was caused by touch up gel coat being applied that is not the same color. Theoretically colored gel coat is solid in color and when applied is being put on as a coating that should be the same color all the way through its thickness. It looks like you may have had a scratch there and the dealer opted to scuff the area, apply gel coat over the top of the scratch and then sand and buff out rather than trying to sand a scratch that may have been too deep risking sanding through your original gelcoat.
It is amazing the different hues of blue there was and the way that color changes in different lighting conditions. Love the color but wouldn't want to care for it.

There was a flaw in that spot. It was never touched up. By flaw I mean there was a spot the size of nail head that looked like it may have had a bubble or some dirt in it. I am positive they didn't try to touch it up, They only wet sanded it because I was there when they did it. That's also why I mentioned I thought they were more aggressive than they needed to be..........meaning I think they could have sanded it less and with a finer grade of paper. But, it looked fine when they were done with it. The discoloration only showed up with the halogen light.

There is just something about this color that makes it totally different than any other gel coat and I believe it's the translucency. In the past Robf300 on our board, who does fiberglass work for a living, has mentioned how strange this gel coat looks right out of the can.

But since there is nothing I can do about any of this, I want to make sure that others with Blue/Purple hulls are aware of some of these strange characteristics. I think the color is beautiful personally, but it needs to be cared for a little bit differently than most other gelcoats and that was the purpose of my original posting.

Dave

 

[douglee25]

Have you ever tried a Clay Bar on your application? I wonder how that would fair?

Doug

 

[jrirvine1]

Jim

The sanding we are talking about here is wet sanding and it's done by hand as was the final application of a polishing compound. I question whether wet sanding could generate enough heat to create the discoloration. It looks more like you have sanded thru one color and got down to another. I think it's just one of the crazy properties of this particular color. What other gelcoat can you think of actually changes color in different light conditions?

Sure Dave, I know it was wet sanded.
Here is a small wager. I’ll bet you one case of Todd’s favorite beer, that if you wet sand any part of the blue hull, followed by any possible regimen of compounding, polishing and waxing, that you will see some color and finish variation in that area. It may look great in most natural lighting conditions, but shine your light on it at several angles and it will show up more prominently. This is because the sanding changes the nature of the “factory applied finish”. Unfortunately, this holds true of many types of finishes, especially gloss and not just on boats.

Address and when to send beer: :grin:
June 21st
Inner Harbor East Marina
801 Lancaster Street
Baltimore, MD 21202

 

[Dave S]

Sure Dave, I know it was wet sanded.
Here is a small wager. I’ll bet you one case of Todd’s favorite beer, that if you wet sand any part of the blue hull, followed by any possible regimen of compounding, polishing and waxing, that you will see some color and finish variation in that area. It may look great in most natural lighting conditions, but shine your light on it at several angles and it will show up more prominently. This is because the sanding changes the nature of the “factory applied finish”. Unfortunately, this holds true of many types of finishes, especially gloss and not just on boats.

Address and when to send beer: :grin:
June 21st
Inner Harbor East Marina
801 Lancaster Street
Baltimore, MD 21202

Jim

I know I stand a good chance of seeing the variation on my hull again if I agggressively wet sand it. That's one of the reasons I created this post to begin with. You would probably see the same thing on other blue/purple hulls too. If some one with a different color hull wants to wet sand it to see what happens, that's fine. You can bet the case of beer with them.:grin:

Dave

 

[jacktm]

What pad do you use for the polish and #45 polish
I guess white for the wax do you use orange for the polish?

 

[RobF300]

Dave- that looks like a touch up

you might have noticed the small bubble or whatever you call it first- which was probably part of the touch up.

If thats the only flaw on your boat put it in the water and enjoy it!
Sunlight will show alot of the flaws, overcast days- or when the boat is in the water everything will look super.

BTW- wool pads are 100% fine for blue hulls, but you must use the right products for the polishing and obey proper procedures. Even with wook pads one can achieve a haze free finish.

 

[skibum]

A couple of weeks ago I went to MarineMax to pick up a Spectrum patch kit to fix a scratch in my blue hull caused by a very large nail sticking out of the fuel dock at a soon to be famous BIH marina at the end of last season. I gave them the information for my boat and they sold me 2 patch kits. One was the Arctic White for the little chip on the edge of the rear seat, and the other was Midnight Blue for the hull.

I went to the Spectrum web site to download the patch kit instructions and FAQs, and I ended up looking at their product list for Sea Rays. I noticed there were 2 different Midnight Blue gel coats listed for 2005. One said "2004-2007 Midnight Blue" and the other says "2005-2007 Midnight Blue LVOC VAL". It made me wonder if MM sold me the right one... I called Sea Ray and gave them my HID. They told me that I had a Valspar gel coat and gave me the code for the blue on my hull (5799A90027). I then calle Spectrum's sales number and gave them this code. Within seconds, the rep says "You need the F551438A patch kit". Well... the one in my hand wasn't that, it was something like F551430A (I have since returned it and the stupid F number isn't on the receipt so, that may be the wrong number).

So... be careful when buying the patch kits. I sugges that you call SR first to get the actual gel coat code, and then call Spectrum to translate the code into the proper kit number.

Have a great season, guys !!!!!
Michael

 

[jarwood]

I just called my Sea Ray dealer and the ordered me a quart of gelcoat to match. It cost $39.00 with shipping. Actualy the shipping was as much as the gelcoat because it is considered hazardous material. My dealer gave me a little hardener. Just add 2% to the volume of gelcoat and it was a perfect match. I used the youtube video from this sight. It was very easy and took very little time.

I will post pictures soon.

 

[tawcat]

So did I miss the answer for the type of pads? When we bought our boat there was a scratch on the hull. They buffed it etc and I'm thinking they got a bit aggressive with the buffing as it looks like they burnt the wax/coat in one little spot.

Thanks for the pad info.

 

[RobF300]

jarwood- what is your plan with that quart of gelcoat? You cant touch up nicks with straight gelcoat, especially that water thin stuff.
You cant thicken it with ballons or cabosil- will change the color.

check it for contamination, 99% of the time they come with some specs of white gelcoat in them right from the factory.

 

[jarwood]

jarwood- what is your plan with that quart of gelcoat? You cant touch up nicks with straight gelcoat, especially that water thin stuff.
You cant thicken it with ballons or cabosil- will change the color.

check it for contamination, 99% of the time they come with some specs of white gelcoat in them right from the factory.

RobF300,

The gelcoat was not that thin once it was mixed up. It was like a very thick paint. I talked to the gelcoat guy at my Sea Ray Dealer he gave me the hardener and told me how much to add. I had a few scratches and and a nasty gouge by the swim platform. I used a small paint brush and applied 3 coats to build up the area. Covered with plastic let it cure 24 hours, sanded with 200 griit -2000 wet sand, applied compound, polish, then waxed. It looks perfect, My wife could not even find the spot in the sunlight. I will take pics this weekend. It was vey easy to work with, give it a few minutes after you add the hardener and it thickens nicely. You have about 20 min workability time.

 

[RobF300]

sounds like you did repairs in the white swimplatform, that gel is thick.

The blue gel is very thin.

ps- check white repairs when its overcast, not sunny!

 

[sbw1]

BTW- wool pads are 100% fine for blue hulls, but you must use the right products for the polishing and obey proper procedures. Even with wook pads one can achieve a haze free finish.

Maybe a statement of the obvious, but wool pads need to be washed prior to using them again. I mark mine with a magic marker. Some say "Finesse it." Others say "wax." They go into a washing machine after each use. Experience with compounding is important to a good finish. You can't just lean on the pad and keep it in one location too long.

 

[jarwood]

sounds like you did repairs in the white swimplatform, that gel is thick.

The blue gel is very thin.

ps- check white repairs when its overcast, not sunny!

Yes it is the pearl gelcoat. Wouldnt the blue gel as the hardener begins to set? Also overcast still looks great. You could not find this spot, it matched better then I anticipated. But you are correct white is easy, I hope I do not ever have to fix the blue.

 

[billandamy]

What I would like to know is, when the hell am I ever going to be driving the boat on a river full of halogen spotlights?:huh:

 

[RobF300]

billandamy- that may never happen.

But when your pride and joy is sitting on land getting serviced and you see what the hull looks like and imperfections you may feel differently. Now imagine that boat a 34+ footer and imagine the pain.

 

[billandamy]

billandamy- that may never happen.

But when your pride and joy is sitting on land getting serviced and you see what the hull looks like and imperfections you may feel differently. Now imagine that boat a 34+ footer and imagine the pain.

Im not exactly sure what the size of the boat matters in any way, but I was just making a lame joke. :smt001