: Has anyone tried to use a Gel Coat Paint for the bottom panels of their boat.
: I have a friend who owns a fibreglas shop, and he said that he can show me
: how to apply it so there are no brush strokes.

: Any thoughts?

: Thanks

: -dick
for openers, gel being a styrene based molecule has poor adhesion to epoxy ...despite what the gougeon bros have to say, secondly for best results it needs to be sprayed on. wax can be added to the gel or better yet pva sprayed over the gel once it gets tacky...this is important as gel needs to cure without being exposed to air...then the hard work begins ...to get it slick you need to sand it with 320 grit working down to 800 or 1000 grit finished with polishing..once the gel is cured wash off the pva with water and dry ..i like to ink the cured gel....some pigment in a lot of acetone that allows you to sand out the orangepeel with the 320 grit...forget about wetsanding...dry works just as good...if you want to wetsand 320 grit wet is like 220 grit dry...400 wet is like 320 dry and so on...good luck...i personally awlgrip my boats....i'm not a believer in varnish over epoxy, although i leave the centerline bright on the deck...and even that 4 inch width i go overboard on the system....epoxy has no uv inhibitors and varnish needs constant upkeep...although gelcoat has tremendous abrasion resistance, the increases weight and adhesion problems over epoxy supercede its abrasion resistance...peter