Autopia.org - View Single Post - Struggling with my gelcoat, looking for advice!!

1988wellcraft21 · 04-29-08, 02:07

Further update on my progress...

I decided it would be a good idea to remove the upper red(thin) pinstripe on the boat, as well as this god awful massive pinstripe on either side in the stern, above the rubrail (it's like interchanging colored lines, gray/brown/orange, totally 80's). So I went after both with a rubber stripe-off wheel (3m makes one called Stripe Off, this one's a knock-off for $10 less, and seems to work fine).

I managed to get the whole port side done, but my arms were too beat to keep going. Basically this little rubber wheel spins off and grinds up the pinstripe, making it a much faster job than it would otherwise be. Problem is, my cordless drill's battery dies every few feet with it, so I'm hoping to get a nice full charge for tomorrow to tackle the starboard side.

After removing the pinstripe, the white area got the usual complement of wet sanding (1200), compound, polish, and Klasse AIO for protection. Overall, it looks good, and the pinstripe being gone makes it look much simpler/smarter. Glad I went that route before finishing up the area above the rubrail.

My revised plan is now to 1) repeat the pinstripe/wetsand/compound/polish on the starboard side above the rubrail. Below the rubrail, I'm going to just give it a few goes with the compound. I decided it's not worth trying to wetsand the whole boat, as I didn't make much headway on the port side. So it'll be compound, then polish the whole hull below the rubrail, Klasse AIO everything, and she's done! I'll be sure to post final pics...

04-29-08, 02:07	#19 (permalink)
1988wellcraft21 Registered User 1988wellcraft21 is offline Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 7	Re: Struggling with my gelcoat, looking for advice!! Further update on my progress... I decided it would be a good idea to remove the upper red(thin) pinstripe on the boat, as well as this god awful massive pinstripe on either side in the stern, above the rubrail (it's like interchanging colored lines, gray/brown/orange, totally 80's). So I went after both with a rubber stripe-off wheel (3m makes one called Stripe Off, this one's a knock-off for $10 less, and seems to work fine). I managed to get the whole port side done, but my arms were too beat to keep going. Basically this little rubber wheel spins off and grinds up the pinstripe, making it a much faster job than it would otherwise be. Problem is, my cordless drill's battery dies every few feet with it, so I'm hoping to get a nice full charge for tomorrow to tackle the starboard side. After removing the pinstripe, the white area got the usual complement of wet sanding (1200), compound, polish, and Klasse AIO for protection. Overall, it looks good, and the pinstripe being gone makes it look much simpler/smarter. Glad I went that route before finishing up the area above the rubrail. My revised plan is now to 1) repeat the pinstripe/wetsand/compound/polish on the starboard side above the rubrail. Below the rubrail, I'm going to just give it a few goes with the compound. I decided it's not worth trying to wetsand the whole boat, as I didn't make much headway on the port side. So it'll be compound, then polish the whole hull below the rubrail, Klasse AIO everything, and she's done! I'll be sure to post final pics...