Paint how to thread

[WFO Speedracer]

I have been asked paint questions on here quite a few times, while I am not a professional painter (I don't do it for a living everyday) I do still paint skis from time to time and I was employed at several Boat dealers where I did all the FRP, gelcoat and paint repairs.

So follow along I will update this as paint-supplies come in and progress is made, this is on a Seadoo 3D so there are some steps used here that are not needed on SMC, previously painted or gelcoat surfaces, what I am dealing with here is plastic, this plastic is pretty much like the plastic found on ATV's.

First pic is of a really nasty 3D, second pic parts removed and sanded with 180 grit, I went really heavy on the grit because I wanted some tooth to hold the paint on.

Second ,third and fourth pic is of parts painted with Bulldog adhesion promoter, the bulldog is a bonding clear and helps the paint bond to the plastic while creating a barrier.


Fifth pic parts painted with Spraymax DTS filler primer, spraymax is a catalyzed primer, you put the cap on the bottom and mash down this releases the catalyst, shake and spray.

Last pic wax and grease remover and Bulldog products used.

Usually I remove pieces for painting however the way they mounted the nose piece on that ski I was fairly confidant that it would be broken trying to remove it, therefore I masked and taped it and it will be prepped and painted on the ski. The ski is gelcoated if I do happen to get any overspray on the ski it is easily removed.

 

[Quinc]

Came out great!

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Its not painted yet just primed., I have to swing by and get reducer and hardener for the Deltron DBC then I can paint it. I am going with a deeper metallic red base-clear that kinda matches the stock decals

 

[Sanoman]

Great write up WFO.Glad you did this thread

Meant to say,l think we have a couple of guys on here that paint.One of them is @jeastes1

 

[sturat]

Its not painted yet just primed., I have to swing by and get reducer and hardener for the Deltron DBC then I can paint it. I am going with a deeper metallic red base-clear that kinda matches the stock decals

BIG fan of the deltron PPG line. Their pure white and clearcoat are better than factory IMHO.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

When I first started painting we were using Sherwin Williams Automotive paints, that stuff was absolute crap , even spraying with a turbine system all you could do was mist the paint on, if it ran it bubbled up and you couldn't sand it out. We were mostly painting white on Yamahas as we did all the repairs for the Yamaha -Honda dealership.

PPG opened up across the street and I begged the owner to let me try it, the paint work he had been doing you could see tape lines and pick out everywhere he had been, I started using the PPG Deltron and the results were much better, if you had a run you sanded it and buffed it out and it disappeared.

I started backmasking stuff which is where you turn the masking tape up on edge, that way the spray hits it and bounces off and it does not build up a tape line, then you could do a small amount of colorsanding on the edges, buff it out and make it disappear. I always loved the urethane because it was sandable and buffable if you made a mistake you could fix it and believe me I made many mistakes. most of the show car paint jobs you see today are Urethane and most were cut and buffed after spraying they didnt just shoot that out of a spray gun.

Then they had me try their blender since I was doing a lot of spot repairs , the results went to where you could not find the repair no matter how hard you looked, as a matter of fact I used to tell them if you can find it it's free. At that point he told me the student has become the master and he let me run with it.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Also my suggestion if you want to start painting is to stick with solid colors and I would suggest direct gloss or single stage as it is known in the business, these paints do not require clear coat , also white is the hardest color there is to shoot, I know it's the color I learned on, white contains the least pigment of any paint that's why it is usually cheaper and why it runs easier, metallics look really nice but are an absolute no no for a beginner, if you run a metallic paint it is not sandable and buffable like solid colors are, the wet sanding turns the flake up on edge and you get silver streaks everywhere you sand , the only thing you can sand out on metallics are runs in the clearcoat.

 

[E350]

@WFO Speedracer thank you for this thread!

Is the Bulldog only for prep and primer?

Is this the link for bulldog products or is there another link?

KleanStrip Automotive

kleanstripauto.com

Do you use bulldog as the finish coat or do you recommend another finish coat?

I have a compressor and guns for spraying single stage Valspar Tractor and Implement paint with Hardener which I love for metal. But cleanup is a pain in the butt.

But I drink Guinness from the can so I like the idea of the spray can with the catalyst infusion, is there a finish paint like that?

Finally, do you have a suggestion on what and where to buy the "purple" or lavender stock color for the FX-1 bottom hull?

 

[WFO Speedracer]

The bulldog is a bonding clear, plastics like this are very hard to paint because it does not stick, it creates a barrier between the plastic and the primer, the bulldog sticks to the plastic, the primer sticks to the bulldog. The bulldog is not UV stable and is not used for a finish coat. Its ' also expensive this can cost me $38 bucks.

I will be using more primer on top of this primer mostly because it was a very small can and 180 grit creates some very deep scratches so I have to fill all those in with primer before AI can proceed with paint, it will probably be primed and sanded at least three times.

There are some paints like that that look for 2k which means it is catalyzed 1k paints are not catalyzed. Any good paint store can scan your hull bottom with an electric eye tool and mix you up a paint match in single stage or in basecoat -clearcoat or two stage, there are also paints that are tricoat such as candies, those require a ground coat of silver or gold , then a translucent color coat and then clear coat, the metallic that shows trough is from the base coat, candies are very hard to shoot without streaking as each coat deepens the color, some places can even put paint in a spray can for you, you should also be able to get color matched paint at Colorite but it's going to be expensive.

 

[GRiN]

The bulldog is a bonding clear, plastics like this are very hard to paint because it does not stick, it creates a barrier between the plastic and the primer, the bulldog sticks to the plastic, the primer sticks to the bulldog. The bulldog is not UV stable and is not used for a finish coat. Its ' also expensive this can cost me $38 bucks.

I will be using more primer on top of this primer mostly because it was a very small can and 180 grit creates some very deep scratches so I have to fill all those in with primer before AI can proceed with paint, it will probably be primed and sanded at least three times.

There are some paints like that that look for 2k which means it is catalyzed 1k paints are not catalyzed. Any good paint store can scan your hull bottom with an electric eye tool and mix you up a paint match in single stage or in basecoat -clearcoat or two stage, there are also paints that are tricoat such as candies, those require a ground coat of silver or gold , then a translucent color coat and then clear coat, the metallic that shows trough is from the base coat, candies are very hard to shoot without streaking as each coat deepens the color, some places can even put paint in a spray can for you, you should also be able to get color matched paint at Colorite but it's going to be expensive.

SprayMAX 2k clear is some amazing stuff even at $20/can. I've never used it in a marine application, but I have painted some wheels and other car parts and it looks as good as true automotive clear if prepped/applied/and buffed properly.... I think i might try their primer on my hull.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

SprayMAX 2k clear is some amazing stuff even at $20/can. I've never used it in a marine application, but I have painted some wheels and other car parts and it looks as good as true automotive clear if prepped/applied/and buffed properly.... I think i might try their primer on my hull.

Their primers are top notch as well

 

[Baja 252]

Good write up.
I tried using Colorite a few years back, followed all their directions to the letter, but didn't turn out to well. If I was painting a ski white, is there anything in a spray can that would work well?

 

[WFO Speedracer]

As stupid as this is going to sound if you don't mind doing base and clear Duplicolor spray cans work pretty well, I have done a few Seadoo hoods with the Duplicolor in the small cans , it is Lacquer paint but it goes on really well , dries quickly and if you put a good clear such as Spraymax on it it holds up really well.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

One more pearl of wisdom here if I do shoot a hood with Duplicolor I spray the cans into my spray gun mix then shoot the hood with the spray gun two things at least then you are spraying with a spray gun and those cans can vary colors slightly from can to can, if you up mix them all together there is no variance.

 

[Baja 252]

Ever use this? It's what Color Rite wanted me to use for their clear.

 

[JKMike]

Here's a prep question I'm hoping someone can answer. When abrasive blasting aluminum castings such as pumps or nozzles, prior to painting, will using an aluminum oxide based media cause any issues with paint adhesion?

 

[WFO Speedracer]

No it will not

 

[WFO Speedracer]

So it just so happens I am doing a flip ski this week and it's being painted with Duplicolor Perfect match so follow along this is going to go really fast. Pics of roached out ski as I picked it up Saturday morning. XL 700 with 2012 regs, pulled the PTO cover and engine is stuck, I bumped the PTO with a hammer amd wood block , engine unstuck, installed battery engine spun and had compression, checked for spark , it had it, Berryman carb cleaner down the carb throat she cranked and ran.

I pulled the carbs the next day , cleaned the carbs replace main diaphragms and drained the gas, fresh gas and it ran and sounded good on the trailer, water tested it Sunday and it ran out good, on to the next thing.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Seats are cut off with an electric kitchen knife the ground down with a grinder and a flap disc. Basically I made the Waverunner XL seats into Waveventure seats. Then I recovered the seats.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Started on the bodywork . bottom of the ski is trashed , chines ground down etc, the name of the game here is quick, cheap and flip er out the door, that being said Honda Hampstead green in Duplicolor perfect match is close enough to the original color, paint and Spraymax clear ordered, ski is set off the trailer and flipped over, all the top cowlings were removed for repair, several broken standoffs were repaired with a soldering gun and then backed the repair up with JB weld, hood hinges were reattached with JB weld, I will follow that up with epoxy and glass cloth, I may just put another hood on it to speed things up and repair the other one properly later down the road, the holes for aftermarket mirrors were ground , dished out and filled with JB weld as well as another set of holes that were in the ski for an unknown reason, these will get epoxy and fairing compound over the JB weld then primer and paint. Lots of epoxy filler on the bottom , it is rough.