You will need a dry and warm place where you can work for 12 hours and make a mess (gelcoat dries very slowly in cold weather) and gelcoat that matches the color of your boat. You may may need to order the gelcoat from the manufacturer or request a color match from your Marine Supply store. In addition, you will need the following items which you should be able to order online or from your local Marine Supply store.
Before we start, a little about gelcoat
There are many gelcoat brands. In my experience, the differences are subtle. However, there is an important distinction between gelcoat with wax or without wax. Gelcoat dries through an exothermic chemical reaction that gives off heat (yes, it can get very hot). For the reaction to take place, gelcoat needs to be sealed from air. The process of drying is known as curing. When wax is added to gelcoat, it floats to the surface during drying and it creates a seal which allows it to cure. This is great, but it also means you need to remove the layer of wax (e.g. sanding) if you plan on applying multiple gelcoat layers.
If the gelcoat does not contain wax, you don't need to sand between applications but you will need to use a sealer, wax paper, saran wrap, or mylar to cover the gelcoat and allow it to dry. So, I recommend buying the gelcoat without wax and buying the was separately which you can add to the gelcoat when you work on your last layer.
Materials
- Gelcoat without wax. Please read my note above on gelcoat.
- Gelcoat Wax. You will need to add it to the gelcoat when you apply your last layer.
- MEKP Catalyst. It may come with your gelcoat or you may need to buy it separately. it's also sold as gelcoat hardener.
- Acetone or De-waxer / Cleaner. You will need this to clean up and remove gelcoat you will need, at least, a 1/4 gallon.
- Terry rags or equivalent. You will need them to cleanup your mess and clean surfaces with the acetone.
- Mixing cups and stir sticks. You will need them to mix the gelcoat with the catalyst and wax. You may be able to clean them, or get paper cups without lining that you can dispose.
- Wet-sand paper. You will need 5 sheets of 320 grit and 1 sheet of 400, 500, 600, 800, 1000, and 1500 grits. If the scratches are particularly big, you may need to go down to a 240 grit.
- Buffing compound. There are multiple brands, focus on it being the heavy duty buffing type. The 3M product is expensive but works well.
- Polish compound. Also multiple brands, i also suggest going with the 3M product.
- Marine wax compound. There are a ton of brands, I suggest sticking to the 3M product or going with Maguire's Deep Crystal paste wax.
- Cardboard box. You will use it to test your gelcoat and for mixing.
Helpful Tools
- Sanding block. This will be your main tool to sand down the gelcoat to a shiny finish. I recommend this particular block.
- Rotary polisher. You can use a 10" or an 8" just make sure its random so it does not swirl the finish. It will save you a lot of time and sweat.
- A good squeegee. It will be helpful if you are redoing a large area like the bottom of the haul. It will save you time drying it.
