Hi Tom. I found this answer, which will partially answer your question.
Roger Browne How do I paint my fiberglass canoe? Hi. I am fixing up an OLD sears fiberglass canoe, and it will need a coat of paint inside and out when I'm done glassing all the cracks. What is the SIMPLEST, CHEAPEST way to do it, but still do it right? There is NO GELCOAT. Its just painted fiberglass mat. It is just going to be a beater, but I would like it to look decent. Also, I'm CONSIDERING sanding ALL the paint off the outside and covering the whole thing with one layer of light woven glass. How would I paint virgin glass if I choose this route? 2 years ago . Best Answer - Chosen by Asker This question I am having a little trouble with. When it comes to painting anything, your house, your boat, your car - whatever - The last thing a professional wants to hear is that the client wants a cheap job, but must be done right. That request strikes fear into the heart of a competent tradie - you either discount your labor down to zip and make little profit, but at least the job is good, or you try and do a cheap job just like the client asks for and end up getting slagged off or sued when the issues inevitably arise a little further down the track. My first instinct is to flow coat the canoe after finishing your repairs, I would use vinylester resins or epoxy for the glassing, with full prep and removal of any soft or waterlogged glass. The protection of the fibreglass from UV light and moisture is critical. Failure of unprotected fibreglass is inevitable - it is only a matter of when. I might use linear polyurethane, or another two pack finish, at least two coats to help fill wormholes/pinholes. Polyester resin is brittle and weak. It is all about the glass mat, which is the only source of strength in fibreglass. If there is water in the fibreglass and it freezes it will be damaged. If water can get into the glass it will. O.K. that is the way to do it right. But it ain't cheap. The flow coat is pretty fair priced though if you have a friendly fibreglass workshop around, and does have a high build. A simple rule is that you can put single pack paints over two pack gear (including raw fibreglass) but you can't put two pack over single pack. If there is paint on the bottom, it will be best to get rid of it rather than glassing over it. The etch primer idea is reasonable - it is applied lightly to create a bond between a surface and a primer or top coat, depending on what is going on. It is not paint - not meant to cover anything, just to create a chemical bond between two different materials. Some paints are formulated to self prime - they can grip but are often too flexible to handle abrasion. You would have to try. Scrub the surface well with acetone - and a small scrubbing brush perhaps, to remove grease, oil, loose material before any finishing. When a cloth dampened with acetone stays clean the surface is ready. You can't use water as raw fibreglass is very hydroscopic. Water based house paints aren't suitable for this. Oil based enamels and such might work o.k. if keyed. Thinners based acrylic enamels are better - if keyed. Full PPE when working with any fibreglass, two packs etc. Safety glasses are very important when using any hardeners, you cannot get any product in your eyes!! In the end if you find something that sticks to it then use that, I hope it comes up good in the end, and you get some good years out of it. If you keep the glass/resin dry of water then that is the whole point. If you let it get wet then that will create all sorts of problems. Good luck. Email me with specific problems. [email protected] Source(s): Pro painter, Marine maintenance -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tom Wilksch Sent: Saturday, 9 April 2011 4:35 PM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: [Aus-soaring] Paint advice Hi Everyone I am currently in the process of painting the instrument panel for my simulator. The panel was built from glass fibre, and I (prehaps unwisely) followed the advice of the local Bunnings paint guy as to what paint to use to get a matt black finish. Unfortunately, the surface of the paint has started to form little cracks all over it, and needless to say, I'm not very happy with the final look. Can anyone offer any advice on what sort of primer and paint combo would be best to spray direct onto glass fibre? Preferably something available at the hardware store. Bunnings has a pretty large range so I'm sure there is something there, I was probably just given the wrong advice. I also suspect some of it was my own doing in that in my enthisiasm, I probably put on too much paint per coat. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks Tom Wilksch _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
