chrisb123 wrote:
ok, so whats the easiest way to apply gelcoat
I've had good luck using Preval sprayers for small repairs (available at most hardware stores). Thin the gelcoat with styrene (acetone works, but is supposedly more prone to "orange peel"). buy a couple of the power canisters for the sprayers, and practice on scrap before you attempt the boat. And WEAR A RESPIRATOR!
SRM's right that color matching is time consuming, but if you're patient it's not too hard. I have a repair I did this spring that I have a lot of trouble finding the edge of, because the color is so close. I use the method outlined in section 2.2 of the following guide:
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/HowTo-Publications/Fiberglass-Boat-Repair-and-Maintenance.pdfIf you're planning on buffing/compounding the hulls, make sure you do it before gelcoating (and then remove any wax that was in the rubbing compound), otherwise your patch won't match the unoxidized gelcoat.
I got my color additives and styrene from
http://www.uscomposites.com/; they seemed to be the best price.