Gelcoat is boring

[BillE]

We never have problems with holograms in marine gelcoat.

I would like to believe all gelcoat is the same, but it's not.
We find that since boat builders use different manufactures of polyester/resins/pigments, they
also finish out a little different. A Bayliner boat will need less aggression than say a Grady White.

We don't have enough experience with RV's to give any advise.

Totally totally agree!

I 'did' a smallish boat summer that was beyond neglected, that lil puppy came out pretty darn nice (considering it was toast).

I have a 5th wheel RV, and no way, in some areas, will that thing pop! To be honest, it is not what I'd call a 'good' gel-coat job.

There are/is differences in 'fiber-glass'.

Bill

[Mike Phillips]

We never have problems with holograms in marine gel-coat.

Lucky you....

Just about every boat I've corrected, if it's been buffed by someone before me it has holograms. It's just most boats are white and most people don't even know what holograms are therefor they can look right at them and still never see them.

Here's an example....

How to wetsand, cut and buff a gel-coat boat



Holograms in gel-coat
The below picture is a full size section cropped out of the above resized picture. The lines you see running back and forth across where the flash from my camera is lighting up the side of the hull are holograms from a rotary buffer.










And here's an article I wrote about holograms in the boat detailing industry.... from the lack of feedback I've had on the article on multiple forums, it's pretty easy to see the boat owners world and the boat detailing world are miles behind the car owners and car detailing world....


Holograms in gel-coat boats

[Showtime]

I detail boats quite often and lately, when I'm doing some of these center consoles and walk arounds, when I do the gel coat around the cabin, I can't seem to get it perfect. There always seems to be "residue" left behind in certain lights in random areas. It's not residue as I've buffed it out with detail spray and it doesnt' come off. Am I working too fast? I usually use Marine 31 Heavy Oxidation Cleaner or this stuff called Super Cut that I get locally.

Maybe I don't clean my pad often enough...no clue. But I keep it around 1400-2000rpms depending on how bad it is.

Edit: I've never had this problem before....And I don't really think I've changed much. It has to be the pad washing not being done enough.

[Mike Phillips]

There always seems to be "residue" left behind in certain lights in random areas.

It's not residue as I've buffed it out with detail spray and it doesnt' come off.

If it's not residue then is it just a dull or flat spot that didn't gloss up?

What type of pad are you use and what type of tool?

[KKYS]

It's not residue as I've buffed it out with detail spray and it doesnt' come off.

Could it be that you didn't remove enough faded pigments
in those areas. The polyester resins and pigments usually
decay at different rates of time just because of the different molecular structure. The Color of the pigments also
effect the rate of decay. I've heard some people call these dry or flat spots, but they are really just areas that were not cut deep enough into fresh pigment.
Now the polyester resins may look good, shiny and smooth, but you may have to go a little deeper to get to fresh pigment.

I don't know if that is your issue. Just a little info.

There is a sand paper test you can do, if not you're not sure.

[Bates Detailing]

I love turning around gel-coat! Haven't used a wool pad in ages it seems but to get that mirror shine it takes alot more time, effort, technique, and products than a one step and a rotary most of the time.

[KKYS]

Haven't used a wool pad in ages it seems but to get that mirror shine it takes alot more time, effort, technique, and products than a one step and a rotary most of the time.

That is true . That is why understanding the amount of oxidation or just surface grim is important to a boat detailer.

You can't depend on the manufactures label to constitute
what is light, medium or heavy oxidation.. Because there is
no real industry "standard".

So it boils down to the individual detailers experience,
as to the end result of keeping repeat clients.

We always use wool when needed. There is no replacement for
wool/rotary when conditions present themselves.