View attachment TDB-17 finished 001.JPGView attachment TDB-17 finished 002.JPGView attachment TDB-17 finished 003.JPG
View attachment TDB-17 finished 004.JPG
Earlier this year I had the pleasure of discussing and comparing options with Rick Jeeter on a 1993 TDB-17' Classic he purchased and refurbished. Somewhere in our convoluted conversation, we wandered onto the subject of whether to paint or soda blast, and then re-apply the gel coat on his boat. After a discussion with Tom Olsen at TDB on what was necessary to restore the gelcoat, Rick opted to repaint his boat. I suggested either FME or Parker's Duck Boat paint for the job. I think he went with Parker's. I have very limited experience with application of gelcoat outside of some work I did with a Preval sprayer on two sections of my old BW 1994 Outrage 21' and some repairs on a BW 16' Sakkonet that MSU's Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife owned, but did not maintain well.
After reading everything I could find on rolling gelcoat and some coaching from Fibre Glast customer support, I started this process, chipping away at it over the last three weeks when weather conditions and other home maintenance project allowed.
Anyone considering this route:
I recommend buying mohair roller covers in 1/4" nap-nice restoration of the pebble finish on this hull. Fibre Glast does not sell a 4", so this requires cutting an 8" in half. The nap on the polypropylene rollers sheds, particularly as the resin starts to get close to flashing. I used about 60% of a gallon (8.6lbs./gallon) of brown/gray, nearly 1.5 quarts of black, and less than a quart of earth yellow. I left the sand tan fields as is...for now. I used a combination of either PVA or Styrene with wax to seal the application layers to cure: coat with PVA or styrene/wax combo at 5% dilution for the final coats. I burned through about a dozen 2" wide hog bristle chip brushes stippling in the section behind the grassing rail cut-outs, as well as around hardware bases and the motor mounts.
Best application temperature is below 75F, with relative humidity lower than 70%. Focus on rolling with an even pressure over the entire work surface and slow rolling rate, after you cover the majority of the section with material to even it out. Cut-in the edges where the patterns overlap first via use of a Preval sprayer, with at least a 10% styrene monomer dilution. Mix with an accurate dropper dispenser for MEKP in small batches to cover about two fields per application. NO DIRECT SUNLIGHT APPLICATION! I set my tray down in the sunlight behind me after finishing two gray/brown camo. field sections without thinking; it was as if someone had waived a wand over it in that short exposure interval turning the residual resin on the roller and the 1/8" deep excess on the foil tray liner into a solid after around a minute exposure to UV radiation.
I forgot one other issue, all test batches of black I sprayed on scrap were gloss. I mixed half of the styrene monomer volume in the Preval sprayer with waxed styrene and the spray batches cured dull flat black. I st
View attachment TDB-17 finished 004.JPG
Earlier this year I had the pleasure of discussing and comparing options with Rick Jeeter on a 1993 TDB-17' Classic he purchased and refurbished. Somewhere in our convoluted conversation, we wandered onto the subject of whether to paint or soda blast, and then re-apply the gel coat on his boat. After a discussion with Tom Olsen at TDB on what was necessary to restore the gelcoat, Rick opted to repaint his boat. I suggested either FME or Parker's Duck Boat paint for the job. I think he went with Parker's. I have very limited experience with application of gelcoat outside of some work I did with a Preval sprayer on two sections of my old BW 1994 Outrage 21' and some repairs on a BW 16' Sakkonet that MSU's Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife owned, but did not maintain well.
After reading everything I could find on rolling gelcoat and some coaching from Fibre Glast customer support, I started this process, chipping away at it over the last three weeks when weather conditions and other home maintenance project allowed.
Anyone considering this route:
I recommend buying mohair roller covers in 1/4" nap-nice restoration of the pebble finish on this hull. Fibre Glast does not sell a 4", so this requires cutting an 8" in half. The nap on the polypropylene rollers sheds, particularly as the resin starts to get close to flashing. I used about 60% of a gallon (8.6lbs./gallon) of brown/gray, nearly 1.5 quarts of black, and less than a quart of earth yellow. I left the sand tan fields as is...for now. I used a combination of either PVA or Styrene with wax to seal the application layers to cure: coat with PVA or styrene/wax combo at 5% dilution for the final coats. I burned through about a dozen 2" wide hog bristle chip brushes stippling in the section behind the grassing rail cut-outs, as well as around hardware bases and the motor mounts.
Best application temperature is below 75F, with relative humidity lower than 70%. Focus on rolling with an even pressure over the entire work surface and slow rolling rate, after you cover the majority of the section with material to even it out. Cut-in the edges where the patterns overlap first via use of a Preval sprayer, with at least a 10% styrene monomer dilution. Mix with an accurate dropper dispenser for MEKP in small batches to cover about two fields per application. NO DIRECT SUNLIGHT APPLICATION! I set my tray down in the sunlight behind me after finishing two gray/brown camo. field sections without thinking; it was as if someone had waived a wand over it in that short exposure interval turning the residual resin on the roller and the 1/8" deep excess on the foil tray liner into a solid after around a minute exposure to UV radiation.
I forgot one other issue, all test batches of black I sprayed on scrap were gloss. I mixed half of the styrene monomer volume in the Preval sprayer with waxed styrene and the spray batches cured dull flat black. I st
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