faded merlot colored hull

[boat guy]

I would like to start a discussion about issues people may be having with their colored gelcoats on 2005 to present. The 2007 320 Rinker I am currently working on  for an area marina has a fading issue that at first glance just looked like severely neglected hullside but after about 15 man hrs to revive the color I literally watched it fade before my eyes. 20 years of buffing hundreds and hundreds of different boats and this one has me baffled. I know it must be a gelcoat issue I but just want confirmation that I am not loosing my touch. I have read in other forums similar accounts of fading and blotchy problems but nothing recently.  Thank you for any responses.   

[alswagg]

You are not loosing your touch but the gel is very cheap.  Sorry guys.  Way to many fillers, not enough pigments.   I have even had to completely respray with new gel from Spectrom, great results.   Many differant manufactures use the same gel company at that time,  Ferro, many the exact same colors but a world of differance in quality. 
Did you happen to wet sand or dry sand with 800 prior to buffing?  If I get a colored boat with any amounts of fade, once hull is completely cleaned, I wet sand with a Hutchins wet DA.  Quick work of sanding, but really messy.  Remember to wash entire boat before evaporation.  Good luck  Al

[boat guy]

I did do a small section of sanding with 800 then 1000 then 3m imperial finishing compound(machined) followed by polish. That section looked no better than or regular 2 to 3 step process without sanding. Looking at this hull from an angle it has a beautiful shine/reflection but looking straight on from a foot away you can see cloudiness deep into the gel, not on the surface. As for the topsides, the white looks like showroom new as usual.I have to meet with this new to Rinker owner tomorrow and explain to him that it will never look the way he wants it without  an awlgrip paint job. New territory for me as I am more accustomed to customers being amazed with the final result then disappointed.

[earl1z19]

Has anyone applied Imron paint over their gel coat?
Formula does this and it lasts for years and looks great. Just a thought

[ParkRode360]

I've been using Buff Magic and Pro Polish, reapply the pro over the summer, and this year especially, my black is fading to chalky grayh (worse than usual). What's interesting is that a warranteed stress crack repair from 2007-08 looks wonderful (obviously the same gelcoat wasn't used.

Al, do you have any price comparisons between respraying the gel and using Imron? Also the life expectancy?

[alswagg]

I have resprayed the color on three differant models.  232, 282, and a 270.   The 232 was 2k.  The 282, 3k, extra cost due to graphics, 270 was 3500.   I have not used Imron on any boat.  I have repainted the hulls of PWC's, basic enamels though.  Formula boats do look great,  I am not a good enough painter for Imron.  I can lay gel down great, but paint is just not my gig.  In fact, I spray gel on the arches, rather than paint.  Al

[trich11]

I have a friend that did his Regal years ago with Imron and it still looks great. He invested about 10K in the paint job but was able to get up in the morning and spray it off or take a damp mop to it while the rest of us were washing away.

[bat32]

I have a dark blue hull that has a hrrible fading problem on the top stripe above the rub rail.  Tried buff magic and pro polish this year for the first time.  The buff magic worked great but the second I applied the polish it faded the color instantly.  Looking to eventually just get the top resprayed white.

[earl1z19]

The blue above my rub rail fads badly as well. I have used Buff magic and then applied Colonite to protect it. It fades about every 3 weeks or so. I have not had much lick with propolish, it seems to last less than 5 minutes.