Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Bennett
It sure would have been a lot easier if this repair was closer to flat than on the vertical.
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Just in case anyone else has to do some gelcoat work in the future, vertical isn't a problem. The key is to use something like the acetate film that used to be used for overhead projectors or very heavy poly like vapor barrier material, not dry cleaner bag thin film.
The poly is taped across below the repair and hangs down. Tape for the other edges is already in place. Then the area is filled with gelcoat. Judging how much takes practice. Get it right and it's one and done. No sanding required.
Then the poly is slowly rolled up and your fingers are used to brush the surface of the poly in an upwards motion. This distributes the gelcoat where you want it, a tiny bit beyond the edges of the repair and moves any trapped air up and out. Then the top is taped.
With practice you can do a perfect repair with no or very little sanding or buffing required.
Of course you all love your Escapes so much and are so careful with them most of you will never need this tip. I'm only good at this because after bashing my f.g. round bilge sailboat through 457 stone or rough concrete locks in Europe I had, uh, a few, uh, dozens
of gelcoat repairs to do ranging from Jim size to 18" circles.
Ron
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