colour matching

   Hey guys,
Bit of an issue, probably been brought up before but cant find it. How do you get a good colour match with gel-coat on an older, slightly faded boat? the manufacturers gel-coat seems to be slightly darker and it shows. i know im being picky, but ive seen proffesional boat builders get it right, so there must be a way.

Author	Message Share Topic Printable Version Delicious Digg Facebook Furl Google MySpace Newsvine reddit StumbleUpon Translate Twitter Windows Live Yahoo Bookmarks Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic
Jamesd Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 01 Feb 08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 377	Post Options Post Reply Quote Jamesd Report Post Quote Reply Topic: colour matching Posted: 09 Dec 08 at 8:20am
	Hey guys, Bit of an issue, probably been brought up before but cant find it. How do you get a good colour match with gel-coat on an older, slightly faded boat? the manufacturers gel-coat seems to be slightly darker and it shows. i know im being picky, but ive seen proffesional boat builders get it right, so there must be a way.

radixon Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 27 Oct 06 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 2407	Post Options Post Reply Quote radixon Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 09 Dec 08 at 8:38am
	Can I ask what boat we are talking about? If its a Laser, they do two different greys.

Jamesd Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 01 Feb 08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 377	Post Options Post Reply Quote Jamesd Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 09 Dec 08 at 9:07am
	rs400, its the older grey, dove.

Rockhopper Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 16 Nov 07 Location: Eastry Online Status: Offline Posts: 642	Post Options Post Reply Quote Rockhopper Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 09 Dec 08 at 10:37am
	if you ring rs and give them the sail number of your 400 they have the coulour to match as it would seem that they have about four or five different coulours of grey. hope this helps. andy
	Retired now after 35 seasons in a row and time for a rest. 2004 national champ Laser5000 2007,2010,National Champ Rs Vareo

Jamesd Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 01 Feb 08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 377	Post Options Post Reply Quote Jamesd Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 09 Dec 08 at 12:10pm
	have the correct gel coat, its just not quite there and is quite noticable

craiggo Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 01 Apr 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 1810	Post Options Post Reply Quote craiggo Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 09 Dec 08 at 12:45pm
	Unfortunately its a bit difficult to correct for the fading of the gel due to UV. In time it will gradually blend in, or you could try adding some darker or lighter pigment to try and get a better match but its a bit hit and miss.

Rupert Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Really should get out more Joined: 11 Aug 04 Location: Whitefriars sc Online Status: Offline Posts: 8956	Post Options Post Reply Quote Rupert Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 09 Dec 08 at 2:45pm
	T cutting the hull may help a little to bring the colour back...hard work, though.
	Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686

Stevie_GTI Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Posting king Joined: 21 Oct 08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 134	Post Options Post Reply Quote Stevie_GTI Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 09 Dec 08 at 6:24pm
	every time you do a colour match, you should sand the area you want to match wit 2000 grit paper and polish that area of the hull. this will give you a nice clean and bright fresh colour to match with. If the colour you have from RS does not match (there is a good chance it wont, due to different batches of the same colour gelcoat being a slightly different colour anyway), then you will need to adjust the colour slightly with pigments. The only way to do it is practise, and unless you have done lots of it before it will probably take you ages. For every repair we do we usually allow 1 hour for a colour match, we are pro's and we have every pigment you could possibly need....take from that what you will