DuckNightmare

I know I have seen some pics of a couple guys on here back before season painting up there flat bottoms. I was wondering if you guys would share some info on it for me. Like the steps you take and what type of paint. Do i need a sprayer to make it look professional? Any tips?

I have an idea and know I can do something like this. Just want to make sure I am doing it right and want it to look good. Anything though will proabaly look better than what it does now, haha.


Also if you have any tips for the old boat motor I have that would be great. It is an old white Johnson, not sure of the year. I just want to paint it black maybe add my own decals or something. Just a little 25 HP beater. Use it on the river. Would like it to look a little better though.

Thanks, Chris

SNOTS

you gotta start with a clean surface! If it isn't clean it will never look good. We acid wash our hulls before we paint them, however, you need to be really careful with this. There are respiratory and dermal hazards with this.

I would suggest you buy a self etching primer. Works really well without the hazards.

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GooseHunter131

If you look at my posts, you can see some pics of how mine started and finished. I dont feel there is a need to strip it down to bare metal. However, I did get a wheel brush that was able to go into my drill. It wasn't a wire brush, but the bristles were of a thick plastic type material. I went over the whole boat with that. As I was going over it, I could see the top surface being stripped right off. It worked well. From there, I washed the boat very well with soap and water using a scrub pad to ensure it was clean. The final step I did in prepping was went over the boat with Mineral Spirits using a paper towel. I went over the boat until I had no residue coming off on my paper towel. Next, I used a primer from Sherwin Williams. It is a mix and a quart was only enough to do the outside of the boat. It was expensive though, 70 bucks for the two containers. When I ran out, I went to Arnolds Motor Supply and bought a self etching primer. That stuff was only 30 bucks, and it was just enough to cover the inside of the boat. Both primers worked well. The self etching primer gave it a gritty texture to it, which I like. I would reccomend either product as both have held up very well, the Arnolds is half the cost. With the primer, it is reccomended that you paint over it within 20 minutes of putting it on, so be ready for that. For the paint, I used Parkers Duck Boat Paint in OD green. I used about half the amount of Parkers as I did the Primer. I put two coats of paint on the boat both inside and out and used just over half a gallon. For the application processs, I did use a sprayer hooked up to an air compressor. I would reccomend doing it this way, you will get an even spray, and the paint will go further. I would also reccomend a gravity fed spray gun, I used a canister that hangs from the gun, and it gets a bit tough when you have to shoot the paint at an angle and the gun cant get any paint. Gravity fed will eliminate this problem. You can buy a gun for 30 bucks at harbor freight that will work just fine. I would also reccomend that you wear a mask, and either paint in a shop where it's warm or wait until summer so your paint will bake onto the boat. Also, if you plan on building a blind, do the blind first. Then take off the blind, and paint away. I painted, then did my blind. Wish I would have done it the other way around. Having metal rub on the boat, and using clamps will scratch up the paint a bit. I have never done a motor, so I can't help you there. I'd imagine if you did it in the same fashion, it would turn out fine. If you need anything else, let me know. Sorry for the novel, but that is how I did mine. Main thing is get the boat super clean so everything adheres well. If you half ass it, you will have a half ass paint job. Huff

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DuckNightmare

Yeah thanks guys, makes sense. I was more worried about what type of paint to use. Sounds like i do need a sprayer. I have few jugs of moratic acid that is temped down from a few masonary jobs that I could use too. Also have the attachments for a drill with a wire brush, but you said it was not a wire brush so not too sure what you mean. Im sure I can go to the hardware store and figure it out though.

So did the paint chip away pretty easily then when you made your blind? I mean the paint I have now on it scratches I guess, but not really easily or anything. Is there a good paint to use that would withstand a little more wear and tear?

GooseHunter131

I got the brush at farm and fleet, it has orange bristles. I see them everywhere that has wheel brushes for drills..They run about 5 or 6 bucks. I have heard to not use a wire brush on aluminum due to bristles being steel. The two types of metal dont mix..As far as the paint goes, anything will scratch when metal is being rubbed/dropped on it. For example, I used square tube to make my blind. I'd have a piece clamped getting ready to weld, and a time or two I didnt have it clamped properly and it would fall into the boat and usually scrape something from the edges hitting the paint. The scratching was minimal, but it did happen. If I made my blind, then painted the boat and re-attached the blind, I wouldnt have any of the scratches..I did a lot of homework on my paint, and the Parkers was the go-to paint. This year, Ive pulled my boat up on shore, onto sand, through branches, etc, and the bottom looks pretty good. The paint has held up very well. I would not hesitate to use that paint time and again, it's pretty good stuff.

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DuckNightmare

Yeah thats more like what i wanted to hear. Sounds like a good paint.

Last Honk

I think my blind is more important than painting the boat this year, but its good to know.

h20fowlkerry

Just cleaned boat surface last night! Getting ready to paint it and going to use some go devil paint! Hopefully it works

SNOTS

Hope you have a warm spot to paint. I wouldn't even attempt to paint it if you don't have it warmed up to at least 70-75 deg F. Paint wont stick worth a chit less than that. We heat out hulls up for 24 hours in the winter to make sure they are evenly heated. Thermostat is set at 78. and then we fire up propane heater while we paint to bring it up even higher.

Metal contracts when its cold and expands when its warm, so if you paint it cold as soon as it warms it will crack, peel, and flake.

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h20fowlkerry

Didnt know all that info! It is warm but dont know how warm!! Maybe i will hold off for a while?

kbcougs33

cool video i found looks pretty good to me


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=yg3_UvZeeOs

ringbill

You can make stencils for the camo painting with an exacto knife and a couple of sheets of card board. You can buy cheep camo colors of spray paint from your local hardware store, and apply as soon as you are done painting the boat and motor. I really liked the way my turned out when I did it this way. I put the boat in the water before I stenciled the grass camo pattern on, and the paint on the portion of the boat that got dirty did not hold as well. I should have cleaned it again. So I would complete all the painting steps you are going to do all at once, to save the pain of cleaning twice. I think I used krylon paint.

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