Barefoot_Johnny » 03 Aug 2014, 08:15[/url]"]Let me share a different approach of
PAINT with you.
I would wager that most tin boat owners know zero about paint itself.
Me - - - I am a
SIGN PAINTER. I study and use paint for a living. I have gone to many
many seminars and workshops dealing with the scientific and physical aspects of PAINT.
After 40 years in the industry, I now give the seminars as an instructor to my fellow sign painters.
Try to put this concept into your mind - and ponder over it from this approach.
#1. your substrate. what are you painting. wood, brick, glass, metal, etc etc etc.
wood: has little contraction and expansion properties.
glass: same as aboveboard
brick: very little and grips anything you put on it TIGHT
ok, now for metal . . . .
metal, especially aluminum expands and contracts GREATLY with heat and cold, night and day.
If you use a hard enamel or epoxy paint that has little movement properties on aluminum,
it will crack and peel within a year or three. that is just the nature of a hard paint. Even with a good primer.
The best of two worlds is LATEX or ACRYLIC paints. it is flexible and moves with the substrate at the same rate.
Varnish and urethanes are the same. They are meant for wood. wood has "tooth" for gripping.
But, even after a few years, it must be refurbished due to use and abuse.
Over the past 30 years or so, I have painted my tinny many times. strip it off and paint it again.
The paint that held up the best in salt and fresh water was Sherwin Williams 30 year house acrylic.
Look at the "reason" you are painting your boat - is it just for cosmetics or preservation of the metal ?
If you want your boat to have that "automotive" finish, paint it like a car to be your "museum show boat",
sand it down, prime it, spray an automotive finish on it and be done with it. But, never take it out.
Just let it sit in your yard and look pretty. Because once you chip the paint, there you go. like a cancer.
No matter what paint you use, eventually, it will need to be touched up or repainted completely.
The factory finish on todays boats are awesome!! baked on powder coat epoxy that will last forever.
OK - I will end this with the sign makers rule to a good paint job..... PREPARE PREPARE PREPARE the surface.
even finger prints and destroy a good paint job over time.
How many times have you seen a wood panel or metal sign outdoors with the paint just flaking off ??
m a n y - because, a hard enamel paint can not move as much as the wood or metal does. (think about it)
Please visit our website for signmakers - by signmakers.
Letterville (dot) com.
of course, the forums are like any other . . . lots of ramblings over this and that,
but if you read and pick out what you feel is interesting, you might learn a thing
or two about paints - and painting different objects.
Plus the
SEARCH button can find painting on metal, painting on boats,
painting a boat, painting aluminum, painting foam, painting wood, etc etc etc.
https://www.letterville.com/ubb-cgi/ultimatebb.cgi/forum/1.html?
Thanks for listening.
Oh, I used just plain old Rustoleum Stop Sign Red enamel and White on my last paint job. Parked in the sun
and elements all the time. 4 years old now and is time for a repaint. The aluminum trailer is also painted
with the same white.
All of it cleans up well with DAWN dish soap and bleach with a soft brush.