Thread: Water based marine paint query

I am quite interested in Aquacote aswell. The only thing I have gathered from my web research is it may not like being applied in extremely hot and dry conditions. Probably not a significant problem in Victoria - most of the time anyway.

Used aquacote on the underside and interior in late 2008, underside was undercoated then aquacote, inside was aquacote on freshly sanded timber with no undercoat, underside is perfect, inside is no good, it needs the undercoat! Boat has averaged over 50 hours/season, so gets a lot of use.

Will definetly use again with the undercoat.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/member...tringy/albums/

Thanks for the replies, it sounds encouraging. I realize this is a 'wooden boat' forum and I have a 19' f/glass boat, but I am about to start building a wooden cabin for it so it kinda qualifies.

When finished my boat will be permanently moored in salt water. I was thinking of giving the entire exterior a few coats of high build epoxy primer and then use antifouling paint on the bottom with a product like Aquacote on the topsides and deck and also for the new cabin. I will have to use the roll and tip method to apply the paint and as the boat will be painted in my backyard the idea of a less toxic paint has a lot of merit.

Cheers,
redx.

Suggest you read the thread "WOOD COATINGS" started 6 March 2011, which discusses Aquacote.

As always PAR had some useful insights.

In my experience with brushing, the gloss was non-impressive and multiple re-coats was required which consumed a lot of time. However, you have to like the health benefits and easy clean-up.

Hi Karsten, I had a read of that thread. It seems the water based benefits of Aquacote are outweighed by it's poor coverage and lack of gloss. A shiny boat is not such an important issue with me, I am more concerned about the product's ease of application and it's long term durability in a salt environment.

Thanks for the info,
redx

The long term durability issue is still under trial and the jury isn't in yet, but it's not bad. The gloss can be improved with buffing, though you are literally sanding through the paint in the process, so there must be a substantial film thickness to tolerate much of this.

Thanks for the information PAR. I'm concerned about the toxicity of the polyurethane paints for use in my backyard, with neighbours on either side of me. You once suggested I should use Awlgrip paints and I have been in touch with the Australian dealer and he tells me it cannot be brushed on. I really don't want a mirror finish on the boat but some amount of gloss would be good. I just received the following from the Aquacote Dealer concerning their topcote and epoxy primer -

"Yes, both can be applied with a roller or a brush. We suggest foam brushes or Hi Density Foam Mini Roller a Unipro product, orange in colour and with rounded ends. Yes Aquacote Hibuild Primer is just fine for use unde rthe water line."

I'm still stripping of the old paint won't be repainting till the spring so I've got time to do some more research on the subject.

Here's a couple of pics of my boat. I'm using Peelaway 8 to strip the old paint -






Thanks everyone for the replies to my query.

redx.

Used Aquacote primer and topcoat 7 or 8 years ago to paint a restored timber clinker ski boat inside and out.
Gloss level was poor and almost impossible to maintain a wet edge. And flowed poorly so showed the brush marks. A poor finish as a result. Never struck a paint so difficult to apply. This was in Spring in Melbourne, so not hot weather.
Someone suggested they have changed the formulation. Don't know if these issues have been addressed

Thanks for that information Kingfisher,

I'm in South Gippsland so the weather is not that much different to Melbourne, and I'll be painting my boat in the Spring, so going on your experience of the product I think I'll steer clear of it.

Thanks for the advice.

Cheers,
redx

Hi redx,

Another option for you - Altex elite 321 brushing polyurethane

Product Details | Altex Coatings - Industrial & Marine Coatings

I have used this with high density foam rollers and you can cut and polish it to the same standard as a spray job although the finish is already really good of the roller.

regards,

AD

Hi bloggs1968,

I'll check out that Elite 321, it sounds good. I had a quick Google around for a price of the product but couldn't find any, guess I'll have to make some phonecalls.

Thanks for the info.

redx

Hi Redx
I used aquacote on the MSD rowboat I built a few years back. (I had a thread here MSD rowboat in brisbane) and used what was leftover on a kayak I built last year.
The clear is a good hard finish, brushed easily straight over lightly sanded epoxy and is still looking great except for where there have been a few dings.
The colours were a different story. The cream on the inside of the boat was good, wearing well, now just grotty due to my lack of housekeeping. The green was a nightmare to use. The pigment would settle in the pot as it was used. If I laid it on too thick on a slope (side of boat) the tip of the run would be darker and when I brushed it out it would streak. I told one of the guys at Boatcraft about this and was told that the cream has a white base and the green a clear base. I dont know what tricks the professionals use with this stuff but I wont be using the colours again.
Cleanup is easy of course. I dont think the weather was extreme either, Brisbane springtime both times
Hope this helps
Tom

Hi Tom,

Thanks for sharing your experiences with this type of paint.

Interesting to learn about the trouble you had with the pigment, I'd not heard of that problem before. I've had a lot of confusion in deciding which paint to use for my project.

PAR gave me some good advice on another forum when he suggested I use Awlgrip paints. I believe Awlgrip is pretty good and would like to use it but I was told by Awlgrip's Australian Rep that it is only suitable for spraying, which is not an option for me.

After doing lot's of reading on the subject I am now leaning towards Norglass Epoxy primer and Norglass two pack poly paint. By all accounts it is cheaper and is as good as other more popular brands. I am almost at the stage to start painting so I better come to a decision soon.

Thanks again for your interesting comments.

redx.

Hi All,

I realise this thread is a little old, but i thought i'd add my experience with Aquacote. I'm restoring a ply racing dinghy and bought 4L of Aquacote to paint the undersides.

For preparation i used 3 coats of Bote Cote hi-build epoxy undercoat with sanding in between.

So far i've put on 5 top coats and the finished result is pretty poor! First four coats were foam roller, tipped off with a foam brush. Sanding in between coats with 240 sand paper and 360 wet and dry.

First two top coats weren't thinned. I was getting lots of brush marks and poor flow, so i thinned the last 2 coats with 5% water. Flowed better but still got the brush marks.

Wasn't happy with the result so i rang Bote Cote and their advice was thin with 50% water and apply with a soft cloth (synthetic chamois) which i just did. Weather during application has been spring in Melbourne, so temp between 12 and 18 degrees.

After 3 undercoats and 5 topcoats, i don't think this product worth trying. It should be possible to get a reasonable finish when following instructions and manufacturers advice.

Time to try a single pack marine enamel.

Cheers, Andrew