fixing up scratches

Zailor,

The following site http://www.schrothfiberglass.com/LaserMaint.htm#How To Make Your Bottom Pretty is a good starting point, particularly if you have a Laser or RS boat. If it is something a little more esoteric, you might need to follow all the suggested steps and then respray the area if the gelcoat is particularly thin or the hull was sprayed originally.

What I would do sailor is to wet sand the scratches out with 600 grit
wet and dry the. Go to 1200 wet then get some cutting paste/ polish
and give it a good rub with that. If the scratches are significantly deep
then fill them with gelcoat and follow the instructions above.
If your class rules allow of course.

I repaired the 3000 before the nationals in this way but there were a
few patches of gelcoat missing before we started.

Dan

p.s pm me if you need any more help.

If you get the gelcoat itself rather than a filler it's a lot more runny And
will go on smaller scratches and can be put on with a brush or
spatula.

If your scratches are visible but cannot be felt when you run your hand over the area, you will need to simply sand it out using increasingly fine grades of wet and dry paper (with more and more water). Make sure you use a cork block (or bit of wood etc). Going up to 1500 or 2000 grade should do. Then use 'T-Cut' (available from any automotive store) over and over and over. . . . . you get the picture. Eventually you can end up with an invisible repair.

If the scratches are more like tiny cracks or can be felt with your hand, get some gel coat in them. I think Hollandsd was talking about this kind of stuff:

http://www.ldcracingsailboats.co.uk/index.asp?selection=deta iled&uid=8742&itemtitle=RS

The gel coat kit is colour matched to your hull, (laser etc also do them) and nice and runny. I am doing some repairs on my 300 now and my top tip if using this would be to get a bit of clear asetone (the clear plastic stuff of cardboard stiffness). Tape this tight to the area of repair straight after putting your goo in. It will distribute the goo more evenly across the area and greatly reduce sanding time.

Incidentally, why do you always seem to get those few bubbles in an otherwise perfect repair. Is it a result of too much catalyst, temperature, air included during mixing or what? I always get them with the RS stuff but never did with the Laser one.

Hope this helps.

Originally posted by tmoore Incidentally, why do you always seem to get those few bubbles in an otherwise perfect repair. Is it a result of too much catalyst, temperature, air included during mixing or what? I always get them with the RS stuff but never did with the Laser one. .

It could simply be to do with the temperature of the gelcoat or just the brands viscosity, as a less viscous liquid will shed its bubbles a lot faster than a  thick liquid.

My solution to gelcoat bubbles is to just fill them with more gelcoat when it has set.

Dan