Painting Foils

2-pack will go over existing 2-pack, gelcoat or epoxy with no problems. Anything else you may well have problems. One thing to remember: if you paint your foils with acrylic primer, it will absorb water and dirt very rapidlyand need refinishing much more often. If you flat the foil really well with 1200 grit wet& dry, you will be fine with one coat of 2-pack sprayed on then polished. I would use automotive paint rather than the stuff International or Blakes sell - it's harder, more durable and covers better. Cheaper too!

Is nobody using AwlCraft or Emron?  Are these too hard and, therefore, too prone to cracking?

Do people lacquer there foils after they have been sprayed to protect the finish?

 

foils shoudnt be shiny. A matt finish is best isnt it?

Dennis is right, there are several disadvantages to a matt finish. Dirt sticks to matt finishes much more easily, so they need to be flatted regularly cos it's difficult to get them clean by washing. Skin friction is higher, although the difference is only really noticeable if you compare a matt foil with a perfect polished foil. I'd like to bet that no-one on this forum has any idea of the amount of time and elbow grease you need to put in to end up with a perfect foil. Let me give you an idea of the process

1. Sand with 240 dry to giva a key
2. Fill all dings/scratches with hard car body filler
3. Sand again with 360 - concentrate on the repairs first, use a block
4. Prime with 2-pack high-build primer - at least 2 coats sprayed, 15 minutes between coats
5. leave to harden 24 hours at room temperature - if you don't do this, the primer will sink into the sanding scratches after you put on the top coats
6. Guide coat - a very fine coat of matt black aerosol. Don't cover the foil, you're after a coat that is so thin you can still see the primer. Hold the can about 2ft from the surface, and move it quickly.
7. Wet flat with 400, using a block. Flat the whole foil evenly until ALL the black is gone. For the leading edge, fold the wet/dry over on itself several times to make a stiffish pad, and go easy!
8. Fill any pin-holes you can still see - now you see why you put on the guide-coat! - with primer using a small brush. Leave for 15 minutes.
9. Clean THOROUGHLY with a good quality spirit wipe, then tack-rag the surface to remove any last traces of sandimg dust
10. If you have sanded through the primer in any little spots you will need to spot-prime those
11. Guide-coat again!
12. Wet flat with 800, using a block as before.
13. Wash thoroughly with clean water - at least twice
14. Leave for at least 2 hours in a dry place. Airing cupboard is good!
15. Tack rag and spirit wipe again. Don't leave the spirit wipe to evaporate, take it off with a dry lint-free cloth
16. Spray 3 coats of 2-pack poly, 10 mins minimum between them. Cover the edges and tip first, leave for 10 mins, then cover the surfaces, then spray the 2nd and 3rd coat all in one
17. leave for 24 hours
18. Wet flat as before with 1200 until the entire foil is uniformly matt. This will take some time
19. Wet flat with 1500 or 2000 as before. You will feel the difference as you flat the foil. This is very important, as you won't be able to see the difference easily
20. When the whole foil is free of the 1200 scratches, polish with Farecla G3 until you get a mirror finish.

If you do it right, it should look like glass, literally! Now though, you have the problem of keeping it like that! Buy a new foil bag, cos the one you've got has sand ingrained in it, and make a cotton innner bag that you can wash regularly to keep the grit off! The gain in performance is small, but you might notice an improvement in pointing ability. Is it really worth all that time and effort, when you'd probably gain more from time on the water?

Have fun

Neil