Gelcoat 102

[Gelcoater]

Ok..... So you spray the gel colors onto the mold and then it get's ??????? which makes it bond to the fiberglass layup of the boat :headscratch:

Yeah,pretty much.

The fiberglass is layed up on top of the gel.The gel and resin in the layup are basicly the same material,so they bond.The boat is then pulled from the mold as a painted unit.

You really want a mind fock T&Y?,read Froggystyles Fiberglass construction 101 thread.It will blow your mind.

 

[t&y]

Yeah,pretty much.

The fiberglass is layed up on top of the gel.The gel and resin in the layup are basicly the same material,so they bond.The boat is then pulled from the mold as a painted unit.

You really want a mind fock T&Y?,read Froggystyles Fiberglass construction 101 thread.It will blow your mind.

So in between the Gel and the Lay up is the Gel kinda in a suspended state meaning not fully cured or something? That is real trippy having to desing from the outside in.

 

[Gelcoater]

So in between the Gel and the Lay up is the Gel kinda in a suspended state meaning not fully cured or something? That is real trippy having to desing from the outside in.

The gel does dry.There is a chemical bond between the gel and resin,they're pretty much the same material,only the gel is pigmented to give color.

 

[Gelcoater]

Just a couple of shots of the newest 270 going in right now.Customer picked colors/design,he wanted simple graphics.Many thanks to people who are return customers,it's guys like this keeping the industry afloat.:thumbsup Deck shots next week.
Interesting note,in a world of step bottom boats,this is not a step bottom,but a conventional V.

 

[hallett21]

how do you spray the gel evenly? just a lot of practice? Are there high and low spots?

 

[Cooperider]

I love a mold that is so polished, that its hard to take a picture.

 

[Gelcoater]

how do you spray the gel evenly? just a lot of practice? Are there high and low spots?

The force young jedi

I love a mold that is so polished, that its hard to take a picture.

The nicer the finish of the mold,the nicer the finish of the boat.Hallett gives their molds lots of attention.

 

[Luv2gofast]

Man this is soooooo cool!!! Thank you guys:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup

I had an idea of how this was done but to see it is AWESOME. It's still a bit complicated for my feeble brain but I would love to try it.

So many things to learn and so little time...

 

[retaocleg]

Thinking about building one for me, but can't decide on colors. Or if I wan't to get out the polyflake.

I need a color chart and some darts.

poly flake rules! and not being sarcastic either

 

[Gelcoater]

Bumping this thread for those who wonder how its done.
Pssst!Get out of the lounge once in a while

 

[RUNNINHOTRACING163.1]

Very Cool :thumbup::thumbup:




http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-BOAT-DR..._Accessories_Gear&hash=item2c6a7d116a&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BLUE-4-LED-...568?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c6fd92428

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-BOAT-TR..._Accessories_Gear&hash=item3cb4089d56&vxp=mtr



ROCK ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ITS A SKATER NATION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Runs2rch]

Bumping this thread for those who wonder how its done.
Pssst!Get out of the lounge once in a while

Moar pics!!!!!

 

[Gelcoater]

Moar pics!!!!!

The latest pics I have you have seen in the Hallett section.

 

[Flyinbowtie]

I read the thread back when, and just did again. You guys are artists.

 

[Gelcoater]

I read the thread back when, and just did again. You guys are artists.

Cool.At least someone gets out of the lounge every now and then.

 

[Gelcoater]

Moar pics!!!!!

Forgot about these.Boat damaged in storage fire.Getting a new deck,interior,basically new from the trim line up.
The engine fires and runs,the guy even towed it in from Parker on the tires under it from the fire.The top of the deck was scorched bad,steering wheel melted,gauges destroyed,interior melted.The bottom is sound.
The guy is paying out of pocket for all this.

 

[SCBLLC]

Dang that was long, lucky for me I've seen you tape shoot some in the past.

 

[Backlash]

GC, the owner of that boat was lucky. There were several others (Boats and vehicles if I remember correctly), that burned to the ground. My friend keeps a MasterCraft Maristar in the same storage facility and he only suffered some smoke damage; nothing serious.

The story I heard was that someone left some chemical soaked rags somewhere that ignited from the heat. I'm not an arson investigator but that seems like a logical possibility.

GC, post up some more pics and see if you cant drag some other members out of the "Lounge!"

Stay safe and keep up the good work! :thumbup:

Henry

 

[Gelcoater]

GC, the owner of that boat was lucky. There were several others (Boats and vehicles if I remember correctly), that burned to the ground. My friend keeps a MasterCraft Maristar in the same storage facility and he only suffered some smoke damage; nothing serious.

The story I heard was that someone left some chemical soaked rags somewhere that ignited from the heat. I'm not an arson investigator but that seems like a logical possibility.

GC, post up some more pics and see if you cant drag some other members out of the "Lounge!"

Stay safe and keep up the good work! :thumbup:

Henry

Sorry I didn't get pics when it was done.

Side note about this boat.The gel you see in the pic isn't what the customer has.
When we did the job they compound buffed a small spot on the side so I could match the pin and blue colors.
Did the job but it took the laminators a couple of days to show up so it sat the weekend unlaminated.
Chris started buffing the sides of the hull to get the project rolling along and...the white wasn't white,it was light gray.
I sprayed the base white,never even have the base a second thought,neither did they.
So,it fortunately for them hadn't been laminated yet so they blew it out and we did it again.

 

[ChevelleSB406]

Sorry I didn't get pics when it was done.

Side note about this boat.The gel you see in the pic isn't what the customer has.
When we did the job they compound buffed a small spot on the side so I could match the pin and blue colors.
Did the job but it took the laminators a couple of days to show up so it sat the weekend unlaminated.
Chris started buffing the sides of the hull to get the project rolling along and...the white wasn't white,it was light gray.
I sprayed the base white,never even have the base a second thought,neither did they.
So,it fortunately for them hadn't been laminated yet so they blew it out and we did it again.

Just found this thread with your hyperlink, thank you so much for spending the time to document all this, you and retaocleg and the others in your profession are true artists. Also, I think I saw shots of the Schiada 43 in skunkworks phase if this is the silver monster they just finished. :thumbsup

 

[Gelcoater]

Just found this thread with your hyperlink, thank you so much for spending the time to document all this, you and retaocleg and the others in your profession are true artists. Also, I think I saw shots of the Schiada 43 in skunkworks phase if this is the silver monster they just finished. :thumbsup

Thank you for taking the time to wade through it
Retaocleg is the man:thumbup:

 

[28Eliminator]

Bumping this thread with a question.

Is the whole mold sprayed with clear first? Or is clear only used on the colors? Has Gel always been used with a clear coat on top?

Awesome thread BTW [emoji106]

 

[Gelcoater]

Bumping this thread with a question.

Is the whole mold sprayed with clear first? Or is clear only used on the colors? Has Gel always been used with a clear coat on top?

Awesome thread BTW [emoji106]

Depends on the application.
Your old metal flake boats..clear everywhere.
White or solid colors typically not cleared.Clear gel will actually change the tint on white,yellowing it.
We use clears to protect some colors from sun fading,and to float pearls,flake and to protect the color when we fade(blend) a color.For example flames that fade from red to orange to yellow.

 

[Gelcoater]

28Eliminator,thanks for reminding me of this thread,it could use some updated content.:thumbup:


So,the current project.


A 28 Speedster,getting a single Merc 1350:thumbup::thumbup:

The Eliminator text and Speedster text will be Gelcoat,in the mold,with clear and pearl.The Orange is a 3 stage shot,clear,clear with gold dust and solid burnt orange.The black stripes are also a 3 stage shot,clear,clear with silver ice Pearl and black.
As I write this the hull section is complete and in lamination.
The deck will be shot in the morning.

 

[Gelcoater]

And since it's Halloween season the colors fit:thumbup:

 

[Gelcoater]

I need to send out a huge thanks to Dave Barr at Cal Signs and Graphix for supplying me with decals for the text on this project.View Daves work here

www.calsignsandgraphix.com

He supplied low tack stickers in reverse for me to use as a stencil to trace with fine line tape.
In a perfect world I could have just asked him to supply me with a spray mask,but the styrene and other chemicals in Gelcoat attack that material causing it to stretch,break and snap.Tried it before,epic fail.

So the decal needs to be applied,masked around,then traced with 3M green fine line tape.

 

[JRider]

Great thread. Sprayed some gel the first time this year on a couple repairs on my STV. I have now acquired a 17ft picklefork mold and will be attempting my first full boat.

How long can you go before laminating and still get a good chemical bond? Also, using poly Gel in mold, is there anything special that needs to be done to use Vinylester lamination?

 

[Gelcoater]

Great thread. Sprayed some gel the first time this year on a couple repairs on my STV. I have now acquired a 17ft picklefork mold and will be attempting my first full boat.

How long can you go before laminating and still get a good chemical bond? Also, using poly Gel in mold, is there anything special that needs to be done to use Vinylester lamination?

Are you asking how long you "should" wait or how long can you wait?
Typically we let them sit for 6-12 hours before laminating.
I have seen some started sooner on a warm day.
I have seen some let sit over the weekend but that makes me nervous.
The issue one may encounter there is possible pre release;the gel releases from the mold before or during lamination and you get a part not true to the mold...warped.

You will have no issues using polyester gelcoat with vinylester resin lamination.
Make sure you are using air inhibited gelcoat and not gel mfg'd for repair work containing wax.

Post some pics of your prodject along the way,I'm probably not the only one interested in seeing it.:thumbup:

 

[JRider]

Here is the boat, only a few made around 1998 time frame. Team Hawaiian made these in Jet configuration. Going outboard on it for more passenger area and will have a small sun pad like an STV Euro.

Sorry for the Hijack

 

[Gelcoater]

:thumbsup

 

[Gelcoater]

Some shots of a recent 290S deck and hatch going into the mold.

 

[Gelcoater]

 

[jonnyd]

View attachment 537814 View attachment 537815 View attachment 537816 View attachment 537817 View attachment 537818

Looking at the pictures of the white it appears that it has an orange peel texture. I realize I'm looking at the side that is going to adhere to the fiberglass, but wondering about aftermarket repairs and repaints. Does gel go on really thick and then need a lot of wet sanding and polishing?

Many years ago I worked in a body shop as a painters helper and did some painting on cars, but always wondered about refinishing a boat.

Great informational thread. Thanks!

 

[Gelcoater]

Looking at the pictures of the white it appears that it has an orange peel texture. I realize I'm looking at the side that is going to adhere to the fiberglass, but wondering about aftermarket repairs and repaints. Does gel go on really thick and then need a lot of wet sanding and polishing?

Many years ago I worked in a body shop as a painters helper and did some painting on cars, but always wondered about refinishing a boat.

Great informational thread. Thanks!

Depending on the job and who's doing it, it could be a thin film to cover a scratch and lightly sanded, or a bit of beech rash that is dabbed in if not too bad and sanded down to flat.

Check out some of the threads in the from the mold section and you'll probably find some threads with the front and rear cap behind filled and smoothed. There you have thick application needing a ton of sanding transitioning and thinning into existing gelcoat aiming for a seamless transition.

 

[Gelcoater]

So.
This is what happens on a cold and humid day and Gelcoater doesn’t get things juuuust right.
We blow all the gelcoat out of the mold and start over.
F&@K!

 

[DRYHEAT]

That Flippin sucks, hopefully it is a rarity.

 

[lenmann]

Ay caramba! Little consolation but it looks pretty good in your hand right there.

Is that silver/greymetallic right out of the can with that much flake or is that your custom recipe?

 

[Gelcoater]

Ay caramba! Little consolation but it looks pretty good in your hand right there.

Is that silver/greymetallic right out of the can with that much flake or is that your custom recipe?

A simple recipe
Customer wanted something a little darker than out of the can silver, so we added a little black.
Other colors on this boat are white and yellow.
There’s a few pics of the rendering in the Eliminator Daily thread.

 

[Gelcoater]

A couple of shots from today’s birth.
I wasn’t crazy about the color combo...on paper.
But it has a somewhat dark and sinister look to it.

Is raw, hasn’t been sanded/buffed yet.
It will only shine more from here

 

[Gelcoater]

A few pics from today’s shoot.

It was like a little vacation, lol.
In an age where giant 28 deck boats are the norm, stepping in to do a little 19? With some freedom to make something with a bit of flash but not up in your face bold, it was the most “fun” I’ve had working in quite some time.

The lil gal is getting a 250R outboard rumor has it. That should be fun.

 

[DRYHEAT]

View attachment 804441 View attachment 804442 View attachment 804443 View attachment 804444 A few pics from today’s shoot.

It was like a little vacation, lol.
In an age where giant 28 deck boats are the norm, stepping in to do a little 19? With some freedom to make something with a bit of flash but not up in your face bold, it was the most “fun” I’ve had working in quite some time.

The lil gal is getting a 250R outboard rumor has it. That should be fun.

Is there a rendering I can’t wait to see this one out of the mold

 

[Done-it-again]

View attachment 804441 View attachment 804442 View attachment 804443 View attachment 804444 A few pics from today’s shoot.

It was like a little vacation, lol.
In an age where giant 28 deck boats are the norm, stepping in to do a little 19? With some freedom to make something with a bit of flash but not up in your face bold, it was the most “fun” I’ve had working in quite some time.

The lil gal is getting a 250R outboard rumor has it. That should be fun.

Barron boats?

 

[Gelcoater]

Is there a rendering I can’t wait to see this one out of the mold

No
It was a Thursday “you want to paint a boat?”
A Friday tape and a Saturday shoot.

It’s just what came out with a few colors to choose from and a butt load of tape

Barron boats?

Yes.
He’s been bugging me to do one

I might have mentioned. I like little boats
This will be a bit of an old school flashback, with modern power.
Outboard
It’s simple, a little bling, only a few colors.
Three actually. Just varying shades of one

 

[Gelcoater]

I really resisted making purple.

 

[Gelcoater]

I had blue.
I had burgundy
I had white
I could have.
Didn’t want to give Jerry a heart attack

 

[Done-it-again]

I really resisted making purple.

Hey, simmer on the purple. My sled has those late 90 colors.

See anything on the new CC?

 

[Gelcoater]

Hey, simmer on the purple. My sled has those late 90 colors.

See anything on the new CC?

I like purple, man.
Done right it’s awesome.
Mixed with blue, maybe some black and or silver it becomes hypnotic .

Someone go buy a 19.
I got an idea

 

[DRYHEAT]

I really resisted making purple.

Nothing wrong with purple if it’s done in the right shade and maybe a little pearl or flake

 

[DRYHEAT]

I had blue.
I had burgundy
I had white
I could have.
Didn’t want to give Jerry a heart attack

So was this just leftovers that you had left?

 

[Gelcoater]

So was this just leftovers that you had left?

“Could have”... with left overs.
But didn’t.
I probably should have.
Good thing he didn’t have any green