How to fix spider cracks in gelcoat?
- Thread starter jjuriga
- Start date
smokeonthewater
God
Sand it down and re-gelcoat....
spareparts
God
pictures would help
jjuriga
Junior Member
I will do that tomorrow and post them
jjuriga
Junior Member
Yes sir, with the knicks and dings... but the spider cracks, was hoping there was a filler or something.
Troutkiller2006
Junior Member
spider cracks in gel coat are a b!tch bro. and our boats tend to get a lot of them, just all over.
to fix properly, you have to grind them out all the way down to the glass. cut them out following the crack along its length and going past about a half an inch on each end. then repair the gel coat wich never really comes out right cause it never matches. oh yea, every crack, every single one. if you dont do it that way the cracks will come back. ive heard of easy fixes but never seen one that works. its a heck of a lot of work and on these boats i say leve them or grind all that crappy gel coat off, fair it out and PAINT it. that or just learn not to look at them and leave that crap alone.
and i say PAINT cause gel coat sucks. if your building boats in molds then gel coat is the easiest and most cost effective way to go. but thats the only advantage it has over a good quality paint. paint looks better, is stronger, more durable, and is much easier to repair, and it fades much less. people dont realize how fast gel coat fades. even on a new boat less than a year old. it wont look faded. it will seem shiny. but repair a chip or scratch with factory fresh gel coat and you will see just how much it has faded compared to what it looked like factory new. and you cant color match gel coat.
probably some how to vids on you tube. how to videos for anything on there these days
to fix properly, you have to grind them out all the way down to the glass. cut them out following the crack along its length and going past about a half an inch on each end. then repair the gel coat wich never really comes out right cause it never matches. oh yea, every crack, every single one. if you dont do it that way the cracks will come back. ive heard of easy fixes but never seen one that works. its a heck of a lot of work and on these boats i say leve them or grind all that crappy gel coat off, fair it out and PAINT it. that or just learn not to look at them and leave that crap alone.
and i say PAINT cause gel coat sucks. if your building boats in molds then gel coat is the easiest and most cost effective way to go. but thats the only advantage it has over a good quality paint. paint looks better, is stronger, more durable, and is much easier to repair, and it fades much less. people dont realize how fast gel coat fades. even on a new boat less than a year old. it wont look faded. it will seem shiny. but repair a chip or scratch with factory fresh gel coat and you will see just how much it has faded compared to what it looked like factory new. and you cant color match gel coat.
probably some how to vids on you tube. how to videos for anything on there these days
