| Re: Plan of action on boat...please review I'm no expert, but my experience with gelcoat is to go a notch or two more aggressive with fiberglass than with auto paint. I'm not saying to lose any common sense for caution, but trying to do major correction on gelcoat requires hard work.
For example, for heavy correction/oxidation I'd go right to the most aggressive 100% twisted wool compounding pad you have (i.e. if you have the black Edge wool I wouldn't start with the yellow, for swirl removal you'll need at least the Edge green wool, the blue won't "cut" it, etc.). I also think that any foam 'finishing' pad will have negligible effect on gelcoat ... this stuff is usually pretty hard.
You might want to consider marine-specific products too .... gelcoat is a different animal in my limited experience (it's a lot harder, more porous, etc. than auto paint).
I know it's usually the least aggressive approach, and it's always wiser to take that road. However, my guess is you'll end up going hard at it if this is old gelcoat with a lot of fading/oxidation/marring. Might even want to consider wet-sanding.
Good luck. |