Just wondering what is mostly used or recommended for painting FG hulls?
I was thinking of adding whitening powder to the epoxy when i do my finually coat(s) to obation a white color. But I also want to paint some blue on my hull when I am finished (around the top edge, the transom, and the bulb) and paint the name of the boat on the transom in a white paint
then for the decking i want to paint the edges the same colour blue and around any rigging that is attached to the deck. (kinda light highlighting the areas they attached too ( paint dot where the guy wires attached to the deck, a ring around the mast hole(S), etc , etc)
Also, whats best for finishing a the surface of a boat thats been painted?
I haven?t done any tinting of fiberglass using pigments, so I can?t speak to that. However I personally would recommend painting it, my intuition tells me that if you used a quality spay paint that in the end your hull will most likely be lighter and have a superior finish.
I have used http://www.duplicolor.com on some fiberglass parts before, and was very pleased with the results. It?s an acrylic paint that dries much harder than enamel paints. It can be picked up at most auto part stores for a few dollars a can.
I have used acrylic of similar quality to the duplicolor named above.
For home application it is easy to spray, and also repair later.
You can get a great durable satin finish by wet rubbing hull with 2000 paper. Minor battle scars can be rubbed over with the 200 grit to restore finish, very easy maintenance which will extend repaint times considerably.
I have pigments to try but as yet have not had time to build a new hull over the christmas break. I have been told that by epoxy supplier the painting should be preferred to pigment only as our boats can be exposed to conditions that will deteriorate the bare epoxy over time, and the paint will be an insulator from the elements.
pigment coloring in any resin will not block exposure to UV degredation, even gell coats suffer eventually, and are usually too heavy for model boats anyway.
I would reccommend painting of most surfaces, even if only to block the sun.