Trying To Decide How To Paint (Comments Please)

[glen coleman]

I am trying to decide whether to roll by egg with marine Interlux or have it sprayed by a pro with automotive paint. I would love to hear some input from people or even see some pix of the results of different methods. Also I was wondering what a person should pay for someone to spray a 13ft Boler if it was already preped and masked.

Thanks

http://picasaweb.google.ca/gc3076/Coleman7...feat=directlink

[Donna D.]

Glen, did you see Roy's topic... he just painted his Boler: Finished Paint on 75 boler

[floyd]

I am trying to decide whether to roll by egg with marine Interlux or have it sprayed by a pro with automotive paint. I would love to hear some input from people or even see some pix of the results of different methods. Also I was wondering what a person should pay for someone to spray a 13ft Boler if it was already preped and masked.

Thanks

http://picasaweb.google.ca/gc3076/Coleman7...feat=directlink

Here is one painted with a micro roller, which gives a finish far better than a standard roller, it actually looks sprayed. this ia mildewproof paint with a 15year film strength guarantee and requiring no primer. While I won't pretend that it is as nice as an automotive paintjob,it only costs $40 including rollers etc. instead of thousands.

[Raya]

I would be happy to chip in with my thoughts, but could you tell which type of Interlux paint you would be rolling with? They make many different paints.

I can say that in general, a two-part paint will give you a harder, more durable finish. Another difference is the shine. They will all shine at first, but the two-part LPUs can shine amazingly for 20+ years. They are actually more of a "coating" than a paint in that there is a two-part chemical process happening with them.

For myself, if I were going to the trouble to paint my egg (because, after all, 90% of the work is in the preparation, and that is the same no matter what paint you use), I would probably (have someone else because I don't have the experience or the air-supplied respirator necessary) use a two-part product.

I don't know as much about the typical Imron paint (and they may make different formulations, I'm not sure), but as I understand it, they are an acrylic polyurethane. It may be slightly less challenging to apply, and I believe it is buffable and perhaps easier to repair.

The "classic" Awlgrip and the like I'm more familiar with. They are a polyester polyurethane. They are very hard and shiny. Less buffable than the acrylic LPU, but on the other hand they don't usually need it. They are very hard and very shiny. Perhaps a bit more challenging to apply then the acrylics (but I'm not actually a painter!)

That said, the Tremclad-type enamel jobs are interesting; I can't speak to how they hold up over time. If I had to paint an egg on a very tight budget, and if I had plenty of time and liked to putter with paint, I might try it. (In reality I would probably save up until I could afford a two-part paint job, but that's just me, and the enamel is intriguing.)

But it's all just a tiny little step you do at the end of a lot of preparation

Raya

[Robin G]

I guess my suggestion would be to find what type of finish you want then go from there.

Can you get a beautiful finish doing it yourself? Yes, I have seen projects that were awesome! But I have also seen some out of this world pro projects. So you have to decide what end result you want then go from there.

Heres a link to some custom paint jobs.
Paint Jobs





Do you have an inspiration pic?

[Pamela S.]

Here is one painted with a micro roller, which gives a finish far better than a standard roller, it actually looks sprayed. this ia mildewproof paint with a 15year film strength guarantee and requiring no primer. While I won't pretend that it is as nice as an automotive paintjob,it only costs $40 including rollers etc. instead of thousands.

Floyd,
No primer? What kind of prep did you do? What is the paint called? We may need to repaint ours after we do the fiberglass repair. (Hope to begin the repairs this weekend if the weather holds.)
Pamela

[Darnelle]

We needed to really spiff up the inside of our Scamp (ensolite) so I stripped it down, prepped it, and had an auto painter do the spraying. He told us what to buy (I can dig that out later if needed) and I paid him $100 to spray everything inside plus the benches and whatever I had pulled out. We've been using it for about 3 years and not one problem. We'll go the same route for the outside; why go to all the work of a good prep job and then not have a durable and smooth finish.

[Donna E]

We needed to really spiff up the inside of our Scamp (ensolite) so I stripped it down, prepped it, and had an auto painter do the spraying. He told us what to buy (I can dig that out later if needed) and I paid him $100 to spray everything inside plus the benches and whatever I had pulled out. We've been using it for about 3 years and not one problem. We'll go the same route for the outside; why go to all the work of a good prep job and then not have a durable and smooth finish.

I like reading posts from people who have had good luck with painting ensolite - I've heard so many horror stories about paint peeling. I'm planning on spray painting mine as well. How did you prep - just TSP or did you prime as well? Also, how did you deal with the seam. I think I'll use paintable dap (that was a suggestion on another thread). Did you use an exterior automotive paint on the inside?

[Donna D.]

I like reading posts from people who have had good luck with painting ensolite - I've heard so many horror stories about paint peeling.

I think the peeling paint stories are either from poor prep or not rinsing the cleaning product off the ensolite. It needs to be squeaky clean unless you use a paint that designed to stick to just about anything. This comes to mind: Zinsser Smart Prime. This product is used in smoke damage homes to recover after a fire. Works great in kitchens too where there's greasy walls and no matter how much scrubbing one does you can never be absolutely certain it's clean enough for finish paint.

[Darnelle]

I like reading posts from people who have had good luck with painting ensolite - I've heard so many horror stories about paint peeling. I'm planning on spray painting mine as well. How did you prep - just TSP or did you prime as well? Also, how did you deal with the seam. I think I'll use paintable dap (that was a suggestion on another thread). Did you use an exterior automotive paint on the inside?

We almost had to paint our ensolite as a previous owner had washed it with some kind of harsh chemical and it was always sticky. No cleaner worked. Went to a guy who has painted collector cars for years and is well known around here. He sprayed the entire inside (ensolite and fiberglass) with an automotive paint with some kind of additive. No priming, but if memory serves he sprayed two coats. Basically all I did was make sure everything was clean and I removed almost everything I didn't want painted. It wasn't much more than a shell when I towed it to the painter. I know I saved my receipts someplace, so I will see if I can find exactly what was used.

We used a paintable caulk (not silicone or siliconized) in the seam areas. I squirted the seams full and almost immediately dabbed them with a sponge to get it to resemble the roughness of the ensolite. It's not perfect, but I think the seams are much less noticable than with seam tape.