Can Imron be blended into existing areas for repair?

[sgharford]

From what I have read, Imron is one of the better paints for blending a repaired area into the existing paint job. Anyone got real world experience with this? A boat hit me while at anchor at the Macy’s 4th of July fireworks on Hudson River and his insurance is paying for repair of some light gouges he did to bow of my boat after he got hung up on my anchor line.

Again, from what I read, Imron does not fade and I should go with the original color code for blending rather than trying to match “Hatteras White” with color cards. True Statement?

With current proposed repair situation, I know it will be sprayed outdoors after gouges filled. This will be ‘Professionally’ done, but I need ammo to make sure it’s done right, including questions to ask said 'Professional'. I appreciate any advice you can give me.

 

[MikeP]

I have sprayed a lot of Imron but that was back when there was just "Imron," not 4 or 5 different types of Imron. I have no idea how the new formulations act under that condition. The old, original one was not difficult to blend/match though the sanding part was quite a lot of work since the paint was so tough. It would be best to consult DuPont's Imron site and see what sort of info they have re matching vs the specific Imron you will be using.

 

[Fanfare]

I think "patching" Imron refers to repainting with new Imron paint to match existing Imron on the boat. I have always heard Imron was best for this as it was a bit softer than Awlgrip and sanded better. But if my boat was not already Imron I think I would just try to match the existing paint. You might have to repaint a whole section of your boat to make it look right.

 

[TopHattandTails]

Not a problem for the pros. I've had a few places done where I have replaced dodger boards, core repairs in non skid, painting trim to match boat, etc. My paint shop guy is truly a magician at this stuff. He takes the original color code and then takes a spectrometer reading of nearby paint and makes any needed adjustments due to sun fade, etc. Make sure you have a competent paint shop - there's a lot of guys that say they can do it - but it doesn't turn out as well as the pros that do it daily.

 

[GJH]

Yes, getting a spectrometer "picture" is very important. My boat is a testimony to both the right way (virtually impossible to see where the work was done) and the wrong way (trying to match with an off the shelf stock paint) as well as artisanal skills or the lack thereof. Distributors like Finishmaster usually have the "cameras" and mixing capability.

 

[sgharford]

Thanks everyone for feedback. Sounds like it can be done and not that uncommon. I read Awlgrip was harder to blend into existing areas then Imron. I emailed Dupont Imron division with same question, including year of boat and Imron color, as they offer no phone number. See what they come back with. Spectrometer makes sense with use of the original color code (67766U) as baseline. Guess I just use the standard vetting method of asking for local references, checking out work, and calling owners to make sure they are happy with repairs.

 

[sgharford]

Just heard back from DuPont Imron, here is what they had to say:

"The new marine Imron will have a better gloss and DOI than the older "U" quality."

I looked up DOI, means "Distinctness of Image" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinctness_of_image)