Painting a aluminum boat

J

JOHN FERGUSON

Member
Hi guys im looking re paint my 18 ft c/c aluminum boat a mud brown .What are your thoughts on paint and should i use rattle can or electric sprayer or air thanks .
 
John, I have painted a few aluminum boats,the best I have found is to sand down the boat,get all crud off,pressure wash works well and a hi-power cleaner,and paint it with a good epoxy primer,then the paint you use will adhere well, the paint I would use is FME from Lou Tisch he is on the site,very good paint/one of the best Ive used! And Lou is a super guy! He will walk you thru it,If you plan on keeping the boat for a while,I would stay from rattle can paints,if I can help you let me know Brian
 
Prep of the base material is the key to painting aluminum.
I'm going to assume that the boat is not currently painted.

1) Wash the boat with a soap that will noot leave any deposits (wax) I use Dawn dish wash.
2) Lightly sand the boat to remove any corrosion or other caked on material.
3) Power wash the boat
4) Wipe down with a chemical etching wash or at least acetone to remove any waxes and oils.
5) Prime with an etching primer made for aluminum.
6) Top coat with a marine grade paint.

Did I mension that prep is the key to a long lasting paintjob :-)
 
Good post! I was wondering myself, i see the ice takes a beating on some decent paint jobs! Any good places to order stencils?
 
John-
I have had pretty good success with using Gluvit as a primer (I tinted it darker to match the topcoat) and then used a couple of coats of Parkers. I sealed the Parkers with automotive clear coat (flat) and it held up very well. This is a cheap route to go.
 
Hi John,
I've pasted our "How To" on painting, along with some pics of stripping and painting for the cattail marsh.
Lou


Painting an Aluminum or Fiberglass Boat
  2. Be sure the boat has been cleaned off well with soap and water to remove all dirt, grease, leaves, grime and all that stuff that accumulates from years of hunting.
  3. Lightly solvent wipe things down with a rag and lacquer thinner. This will remove any gasoline, oil or petroleum residues that would mess with your sanding or prevent paint from adhering. When finished with the solvent rag, be sure to let it set out and lose it’s solvents before you put it into a closed container or trash can.
  4. Sand the entire boat, as required, to remove and/or scuff all the paint. Be sure to remove any loose paint. When sanding a duck boat, I prefer 80-100 grit. It gives better “tooth” and, after all……..it’ll help with the dulled surface and paint adhesion. Sanding must be taken into the best previously adhered surface in order to have the new coat of paint hold properly.
  5. For Aluminum boat-Spot prime any bare aluminum with ASG Primer (or AG Primer), specifically designed for use on “Aluminum, Stainless & Galvanized”. Do not thin AG Primer. A second option would be to prime the entire boat with PPG’s Epoxy Primer.
  6. For Fiberglass boat-You can go right to the FME as this is a Primer-Based Paint and will serve as its own primer. If you would like, another option would be to prime with PPG-Epoxy Primer and then follow up with FME.
  7. Once the primer has dried (AG, PPG or 1st coat of FME), you can base coat the entire boat, inside and out, with the base coat FME (Flat Marine Enamel-oil based) color of your choice. FME is a “primer-based” paint and requires no other primer underneath it on a properly prepared surface. You may use a brush, roller or sprayer. When spraying, the best is an airless sprayer though you can thin slightly with a high quality paint thinner for use in a regular air spray gun. If using the air-feed spray gun, we recommend the top-feed, gravity style of gun. It requires less air and less thinning to get a proper pattern. You will also achieve greater success with a couple thinner coats rather than one thick coat. Thinner coats will cure/dry much faster and more thoroughly….thus, more durable. Secret: “thin, you win”.
  8. When the base coat is dry (usually overnight in good temps), you may accent with any other FME color you’d like. The options are endless……match your local vegetation.
  9. We have several camouflage patterned paint schemes and colors available.

*Our 2-tone Reed Stripe was developed for the cat-tail marshes & flooded corn. Base coat in Starcraft Camo Light Brown (#26) and reed stripe with an automotive striping brush with Starcraft Camo Dark Brown (#27), thinning #27 on the palette as you work. We developed these colors through PPG specifically for us and Starcraft. You can even “green it up” a bit with Dead Grass Green (#28), O/D Green (#35) or some Olive (#18).

*Our Open Water Gray Pattern is very effective for layout hunting. You can base coat the entire boat with Open Water Medium Gray (#33) or Open Water Dark Gray (#34) and allow it to dry. Once dry, overstripe with a wave pattern of Open Water Light Gray (#32) by cutting the feed pressure down, reducing the size of your pattern to a small area and reducing the feed rate so it will be easy to control. Move the spray gun around in a lazy “wave”, walk alongside the boat and “wave” the gun to give the pattern you’d like.

We have pictures of these patterns that we can email to you.
You can create your own color patterns/schemes with any of the FME colors we have. All the decoy and boat paints are TRUE - FLAT MARINE ENAMELS and work well with each other. We also do custom colors at no extra cost…try us


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Prior to painting

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Stripping paint with aircraft stripper

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Sanded prior to priming


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Primed

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Base coated with #26 StarCraft Camo Light Brown
 
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