Hi

I've one for you all.

There is a  dinghy I am helping to repair.

Glassfibre with gelcoat finish.

It was (accidently)  run into a peebly/gravel beach.  The bow has been fairly  damaged.  4-5 inches of gelcoat is chipped  from the bow back under the  hull and  1-2 inches  up the bow.   The  fabric of the  boat is sound, though some of the  glass-fibres are visible- the   damage is   purely superficial.

This  hull is white.

we  would like to restore the bow and finish. 

I have worked with epoxy previously but have no experience of working on gel coats.

Any reccommendations.    - resins,   colours,  preparations,  jigs,  finishing, sanding etc...

Rgds

  Fin.

For small repairs, I usually sand the edges of the damaged gel coat back to clean it up using a hobby tool.  I then repair any fibreglass damage with CSM and resin being careful to stay below the gelcoat level.  Then apply a small amount of gel coat to one edge and let it cure to check colour match.  If its wrong then sand out and get pigments to suit.  I apply the gel coat to the hole and then place a sheet of OHP film over it and tape it to the hull, this helps mould the gel coat to the right profile and also give a smoothish finish.

Then its a case of sanding flush.  I start with 180 grit and work through to the finest paper I can buy.  To finish it I use rubbing compound, then t-cut then polish and it should pretty much invisable.  Try not to sand much of the existing gel coat as it will look slightly dull.

Hi Barty

- OHP film... good idea.    Rubbing compound - okay -  sounds easy enough.

Thanks

  Fin.

Good advice from Barty esp re the colour. Be aware that white comes in several shades! I use clear fablon (sticky back plastic) rather than OHP flim but the purpose is the same.

If this is your first go, dont expect miracles. It's a bit like plastering, your first effort will perhaps look closer to dog's dinner than dogs danglies and the sanding will test your patience (gelcoat is v hard and brittle). However, you don't mention the type of boat so I'm assuming that so long as the finish is seaworthy it'll be OK as long as it doesn't look too rough.

Also GC is thixotropic so if you are doing the repair outdoors wait for a warmer day when the stuff will cure before it sags out of shape.

Hi all

-thanks for the tips etc.   Will be off doing some work on the boat this weekend,  so will assess then how I will go about the job.

Thanks again

  /f