Touching up paint, Awlgrip?

[stormchaser]

Saraswati was resprayed with Awlgrip using one of their stock colros (I forget the name)...much whiter than the standard Hatteras white. Looks fantastic, shines almost as nice as fresh paint and it's coming up on 10 years old. I'm really impressed with the durability of Awlgrip. But...the hull has several scratches that go completely through the Awlgrip to the previous paint. I know they say Awlgrip can't really be repaired...but is that true? I suspect it can be, much like chip repair4 on a car. Might not be PERFECT, but what I erally want is to seal it to prevent water from getting under and causing more paint damage. Any tips?

Also, on the topsides, in some sharp corers the paint is cracked and pealing. How can I stop it from getting worse and make it look a bit better? I wast thinking of using a Dremel to grind the paint down to remove the cracked/pealing areas and then use some fresh paint to touch it up, then run a bead of caulk? It seems to me that those very sharp creases/corners should have been caulked to begin with?

Tips? Tricks? Opinions?

 

[GJH]

I am a pretty inept painter myself, but Anchor Bay east over in Dundalk near you did a beautiful job eliminating a big deep scratch (from an errant sailboat's bow sprit) and some old dings from the starboard side of my boat last fall, using Awl Grip. You could have them do one or two of your problem areas and watch the guy to learn the proper method. So yes, it can be done.

 

[stormchaser]

Yeah, the guys down at Osprey in Annapolis did a repair on the rub rail when we first got her. I wish I had been there to watch the process so I could duplicate it. I was told he used a hobby style airbrush to apply the paint, then wet sanded to blend it. It's almost totally invisible. Unless I point it out to someone, they'd never notice. I'm just curious as to the best way. Not sure if it was spray, sand, spray, sand, buff, etc...or what?

 

[Vincentc]

I do not know about sanding or buffing or the order to follow, but I have used a PREVAL sprayer with Imron to re do striping and that worked fine. The sprayer is a kit with small compressed air canister, a glass jar and a nozzle. I bought them had a auto paint store.

 

[chris piazza]

Yup, It can be done. I had the paint shop mix me a qt to match color. Buy some reducer, hardener and mix 4-1. Tape off the area, lightly sand and wipe with a cleaning solvent. You can apply with a small foam brush or a artist brush if its a very small area to touch up. I have done this on several small areas and so far have lasted for three years.

Chris
Superior Nights 53C

 

[surfdancer45]

It would probably be good to caution again that there are two Awlgrip paints. The newer paint is Awlcraft 2000 and is pretty easy to patch. Use your spray gun (airbrush for small areas), roll and tip on small areas only. If needed, use 600 and 800 wet or dry to blend into current surface and then buff with Finessit. Stright Awlgrip is a different paint and is tough to match to an aged surface. It usually will require some custom blending to more closely match the aged finished. Any sanding and buffing must be kept to a bare minimum and done before the paint fully cures or the gloss will be lost. Good luck on your project. Bob

 

[SKYCHENEY]

You can get the Preval sprayers at Home Cheapo for about $5. I've used them too for Imron. They work fine for a small repair.

 

[bobk]

I'll add a precaution. You need to compound the old surface before you start to be sure you are down to unweathered/unfaded paint. Otherwise when you rub out the touchup, you will have a halo.

Bob

 

[Capt.Erich]

Scratches and scuffs in Awlgrip and Imron can be easily fixed. Wash and clean the surface thoroughly. I like to buff the surface with 3M Finesse-It by hand or even using a variable speed buffer. (Be very careful around corners with a buffer as it can quickly go through the paint.) Clean the area again to get all grit and oxidized paint off. Mask off the area and use the Preval sprayer. Allow the area to dry. Remove masking, wash, and gently buff area agian. Don't attempt this in extreme heat or cold or in high humidity or rain.


If that doesn't work at least you can say you gave it a try and then... call a professional : )

 

[Brian Degulis]

Awlgrip is not supposed to be polished because of the resin layer on top that makes the shine. But it can be especialy if it's 10 years old I've done this many times and it works well. Tape off the area fill and sand if ther's a lot of filler you should prime if it's little or no filler you don't have to.

Paint the area within the tape I wouldn't use a prevail because you will have to thin the paint to much to get it to spray. Use a good brush. Mix your paint with the brushing catlyst it's a 2:1 mix add some X138 excelerator even if it's hot weather just a few drops then slow brushing thinner to the consistancy of Alkyd base paint (thicker than normal Awlgrip) Put on a coat wait about 40 minutes then another and another get a good build up without allowing it to completly dry between coats. Wait only long enough for the solvents to eveporate. This method will make a very heavy resin layer that will tolerate some wet sanding and polishing to blend it in. Allow at least a few days before sanding and try to avoid sanding or polishing to much on the adjacent area. This method will make a repair as good as the color match of the paint. Remember paint fades diffrently so take you sample for matching from the area your repairing.

Brian

 

[Maynard Rupp]

I have sprayed small touch up areas with Awlgrip, (on Awlgrip), many times. Prepare your damaged area and prime with an epoxy based primer. Sand your repaired area with 320 grit. Now sand a 6" wide area around the outside of your repaired area with 1500 grit Meguires sandpaper. Do not use 3M, only the Jap paper imported by Meguires. Now spray a tack coat and two wet coats on the repaired area. Spray 1/2 way to the edge of your 1500 sanded area also. Let all this cure about 2 days. Now sand the edge of your new paint with 1500 grit. This will blend your new paint into the old. Wheel the area with a fine polishing compound to remove the 1500 scratches. You're done. I have tried to find the repaired area and cannot.

 

[34Hatt]

Some real good tip's and here the Key when sanding it out to a polish get the meguiars polishing blocks it stops from sanding thru. They have different grits and work great. Just soak them for a day or two before use. Here is a link to one of them http://sector29.com/PRODUCT_PAGES/316/316-MEGK2000.html
They bring it back to shine fast then just finish with finese-it

 

[Walter P]

Maynard,

What's the difference between 1500 3-M and the "jap paper"? I have a full sleeve (100 sheets) of 3-M brand on hand. Of course if it's really important, I'll try to find the jap paper.

Walt

 

[stormchaser]

Ok, so, whats the best way to deal with areas that are already cracked & pealing? Sand/strip. Dremel back to non-pealing then touch up?

 

[Maynard Rupp]

Maynard,

What's the difference between 1500 3-M and the "jap paper"? I have a full sleeve (100 sheets) of 3-M brand on hand. Of course if it's really important, I'll try to find the jap paper.
Walt

Big difference. The jap paper cuts like 80 grit and 1 sheet keeps working for a long time. The 3M feels like you are rubbing a piece of newspaper on the paint, doesn't cut well, and doesn't last long. There is a fair amount of physical work in doing this job and the jap paper cuts that work significantly. It makes me very sad to know that jap wet or dry sandpaper is so far superior to that produced by the American inventor of wet or dry sandpaper, 3M.

 

[spindrift]

Dave:

I know it sounds tempting to tackle this job yourself as you will save some money. However, I have seen your boat prior to your purchasing her and thought the paint looked very nice. Given that it would cost you $50k to $70k to repaint that boat, there is no way that I would tackle this touchup myself. There are some great yards down your way that are reasonable. Talk to yachtbroker Bill in Annapolis. He and others in this forum can steer your to right paint pro.

I had a 52 sloop that was painted Navy Blue awlgrip. I always had Hinckley touch her up every season. The bill was always under a $1k. Money well spent to keep her spiffy. Your boat is white and thus much easier to care for than Navy blue.

Best
Spin

 

[jmccubbin]

Dave,

Call Jimmy at Osprey for the Paint. He has the color that matches perfectly. He even has some left over that he would probably sell to you cheap as he kept it on the shelf as he did touch up every year. It is stock Awlgrip 2000 for the topside. The hull is just Awlgrip. I was told the Awlgrip 2000 was easier to touch up as it was more like Imron. The Awlgrip was used on the hull as we were told it was harder and would hold up better.

He also has the black (for the stripe) as well as the white. As I recall they had three different colors to pick from being the Original (off white), Hatteras White (which I believe we went with), and then the Artic White that we did not like. Jimmy can tell you exactly.

I hope this helps. I also got an email stating you lost my number. It is 1.301.332.6202. I hope all is well.

Jim

P.S. The reason we had them do the touch up was it just was not that much money.

 

[jmccubbin]

Dave, are you talking about the cracking around the two side doors? If so the paint does not adhere very well to the wood and where it meets the fiberglass. You may want clean it up and caulk the seam instead as everytime we tried to fix it...it would only last so long no matter how well you prep'd the wood given the flexing of the boat.

Jim