Too Paint or Too Decal

C

cjduncan

Member
I have a 2007 20Lund Alaskan that I am rehabbing and wondering whether to paint it or not. Right now it's got the black paint from water line to 3 inches from the rail. Should I just sand it down prime and paint or buy a camo boat decal kit and slap it on?

Is aluminum hard to paint? Do the decal kits stay on the boat in the winter?

Using the boat for sea ducking so camo pattern is not needed.

Maybe get a decal kit with just a drab green...

CJDuncan
 
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Shake the can hard and spray away;-) The hard part is the prep if you want to do it really "right" . I am only half kidding, the more like dirt ,mud and grass a duck boat looks like the less work you have to do to hide it. My humble $.02
 
I've had real good luck in the past using foam rollers and painting after a scuffing up the paint and using Parkers duck boat paint or Hunters Specialties paint. I like the Hunters Specialties because you can get it in spray cans when you need a touch up.
 
Paint it.
Here's info to help you make painting decisions. Quality of paint is right up there next to quality of preparation.
They go hand in hand.
Let me know if there's something we can help with.
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.
9. 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
www.lockstockbarrell.com * duckguylsb@juno.com
 
I was debating between the camo clad and stencil painting. I decided on painting with stencils. I have now done 11 boats and they have all turned out great. There are a lot of good options. I can vouch for the shadow grass stencils from Styxx river. I can email some pictures and can walk you through the process if you go that way.
 
I think paint would be the way to go. I had a friend put a wrap type sticker on a boat last year and it all started to fall off in the cold weather.

then he had to take it all off to paint it and it was a real hassle
if you paint, the next time you need to paint it the prep work will be less of a hassle
 
BTW...The paint that Lou sells is a great product. I had my Starcraft painted using FME and it's hard as a rock.
 
I vote PAINT! Roll the base coat and then stencil on the camo pattern. Look around find a pattern you like. I used Lou's paint and shot it through a Paasche single action airbrush. That way you don't have to be restricted to what is available in spray cans.

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Paint it!
On the areas that are already painted, just give it a light sanding (dont remove the exxisting paint, just scuff it up), wash it well (I used acetone), let it dry and then paint it.
Oils are best, FME from Lou is the fantastic.
That said, I used an exterior latex from a Big Box, tinted in open water grey, and it held up very well last season.
But FME or some other oil-based paint is really the way to go.

On the bare aluminum, you really need to wash, etch & prime it to get a good bond.
 
Paint it...I've painted this twice in the last 7 years...I did clean it and primer it and it held great..i've just added more color to it over the years...Rusty
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paint is your best bet the sticker kits will glair a little

rustolium olive spray can is cheap and if some does chip off it is a couple dollar fix
 
Would it be safe to sand the whole boat with 80 grit? Then prime the whole boat with a primer that has an etching agent included?
Finally finish with the finish coat.
 
CJ follow Lou's instruction,the paint will last for a long time,paint your camo on as well,there are many differant stencils out there to choose from,or you can make your own from Mylar and cut them out with a exacto knife,if using the stencils get some stencil adhesive,it is in a aersol can and will make your life alot easier,you can check out mine on my BB3,any questions give me a holler, Brian
 
I bought my Lowe with Camo Clad on it in 1999 and it has held up pretty well. I have not noticed that it flares any more birds than my painted boat did. I am not sure I would go to the expense of having it installed again as 2 of my hunting buddies bought their boats with the Camo at the same time I did and both had trouble with adhesion. Best advice is paint it up in the colors that best suit the area you hunt and change it if you don't like it.
 
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