Anyone experienced with Aquacote marine paint

[mungindi]

Morning
Has anyone any experience withe Aquacote marine paint, i'm using it on my boat and ' I'am having a hell of a time trying to get a reasonable finish with it.
Everything from an orange peel effect to it not leveling out at all when it dries which happens in a couple of minutes out herewhere I live. I have tried all the manufacturees recomendations in regards to getting a reasonable finish but nothing is working. It is really hot and virtualliy no humidity out here
It dries to a really hard finish with a fair gloss which is great but the surface finish looks like shit. I'm using a foam roller as directed so if anyone one could offer me any advice on getting the best out of this product I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank's
Gary

[FNQCairns]

I am seriously no expert when it comes to paint so a suggestion is the best I can do, what about early in the day, between 6 and 9 when the temp is low and the humidity is high in relative terms??

One thing though unless a person uses paint often and knows how a particular brand should perform, trying to get a dud batch to work will be full of never ending hoops. Would some retarder help?

Just one thing that probably doesn't relate to you is every time I have got orange peel it's been caused by the surface below not in a surface roughness type of way but by some old paint/chemical etc I was painting over.

What about a good surface acetone bath if f/g, 10 minutes before adding any paint?

good luck, happy not to be you...;D

cheers fnq

[mungindi]

G/day FNQ,
It's a water based polyeuthrene that has to have a catylist added to it to make it cure properly apparently you can't change the mix ratio otherwise the paint won't harden. I have been starting the painting at around 1.00am in the morning to beat the heat as far as humidity goes that's pretty much doesn't happen out west where i 'am. There isn't any type of retarder for it either. the paint is going onto a new surface on the boat I'm building so there is no old paint residue.
I think I'm stuffed and might just sand it all of again and try and get onto a paint that has some sort of retarder than can be added to it to try and make things a bit easier.
You are dead right i'm not real happy about being me at the moment either.
Thank's for the input mate I appreciate it
Gary

[FNQCairns]

Gary is the F/G still curing? How old is it now, was it basic resin, Iso or V/E? Just a guess but without a really really good Acetone wash just before application the surface will be chemically slick even if sanded, acetone will help create an immediate surface for painting more like old cured F/G than one still actively floating styrene/chemicals etc??

cheers fnq

[mungindi]

FNQ the fibreglass was laminated with epoxy itself is well over 12months old the epoxy high build primer has been on for quite a while as well. All the products are made by the same company and are designed to compliment each other. The manufacture states not to use any type of solvents prior to using their high build primer or paint. I think I will just sand it off and start agiain with a product more suited to the conditions out here. Thanks again FNQ

Gary

[Stuart]

How you going mungindi? It sounds like one of two things to me. The first being the hardner is going off to fast causing orange peel and two, you havent thinned the paint down enough. And even thirdly you may be laying down to much paint at one time. I would put it down to these 3 for your resulting paint problems. Im using pro-tec on my boat, I have had a large piece of alloy sitting out in the yard for 18 months with no prep work before laying the top coat on. The alloy has bent due to the heat but the paint cant even be scratched off.

Stu

[mungindi]

G/Day Stuart
Thing's have been better mate, so is that boat of youre's floating yet. I spoke to the wifes uncle who is a proffesional spray painter/ panel beater. He has contacted a mate of his who paint's boats for a living and I've been told I'm wasting my time out here trying to get any sort of finish with a water based polyurethane. Simple reason being due to the heat and lack of Humidity, Ihave done everything as per the manufactures specs but it's not just going to happen unfortunately.
The pro boat painter has put me on another product line which uses diffrent retarders depending on the conditions, so i think it will work out okay. The Aquacote is a good product just not really suited to be used in certain conditions that's all. It's just that i'm so close to getting this thing wet.
Gary