Painting a fiberglass boat....

Nate Grace

Nate Grace

Well-known member
Hi folks,

I am picking up an old GlasStream Starline fiberglass boat this weekend. A friend bought the boat and trailer but only needed the trailer, so I am getting the boat for free. It has a deep vee hull and is 17' long. Needs a little love, but it should be a great fishing and hunting boat.

Question - I am going to paint it at some point. What is the process for preparing the hull surface for painting? Should I wash it down with TSP, lightly sand, prime, and then paint? Is there a special primer that I should use?



Thanks,
Nate
 
Nate, I would sand it down, fill all the wounds and put dpg epoxy primer on it first,than talk to Lou Tisch about what color you would want,if you have any questions give me a shout,Brian Rippelmeyer
 
Hi Nate,
Here's a short reference on painting boats.
The info is also in a pdf file on my website: www.lockstockbarrell.com along with the FME color chart. At the website, click on "FME Color CHart".
Lou

Painting an Aluminum or Fiberglass Boat
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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”.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  1. 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.
Lock Stock & Barrell, Inc.​
123 Avery (shop)​
Clinton Twp., MI 48036​
Ofc.Ph: (586) 790-2678, Shop Ph: (586) 465-0339​
 
I'd wash w/soap & HOT water first.

I wouldn't use laquer thinner to wipe it down. Could be too strong. Go to an automotive supply store and buy a gallon of product made specifically to wipe down before painting.

Scuff with 120-180 grit (it is a duck boat not a corvette).

Then I'd spray it with a flat black automotive epoxy primer. I've had flat grey epoxy auto primer on some spots on a IH Scout II for a couple years with no rust through. Some chance Rustoleum flat black would work but I'm not sure.

Probably not necessary to do anything else, but you could do some camo pattern stuff with most any paint ("rattle can" auto primers)
 
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