I have had good luck with G flex epoxy for patching, but am not sure about paint. Has anybody painted this composite skin and does anyone know exactly what it is. It performs very well.
Most Reflections I have seen are Royalex. I would not paint it if you don’t have to. Is it discolored or something?
So, yes, most likely Royalex which has vinyl as the outer layer. Recommendations seem to be to use Krylon Fusion when you want to paint it.
1 Like
I bought a well-used Dagger Reflection 15 this past winter. It was quite faded. Today it almost looks new.
Take a 50/50 mixture of linseed oil and mineral spirits and wipe it onto the boat. Afterwards, wipe off the excess. The following day, apply 303 or similar. It brings the color back to almost new.
A little goes a long way. 1/4 inch of each of the two ingredients in a jar will be way more than enough for the job.
If you’re gonna paint it, Krylon works OK. I have one and I painted skid plates on it to cover over a bit of wear and avoid wearing down the vinyl any more. It holds up well.
As for the boat, it is the smallest of three sisters. They came in 15, 16 and 17. All three are seriously asymmetric Swede-form hulls. They track well and are pretty fast. I put a kneeling thwart in mine and use it mostly as a solo on flat water. Because of the asymmetry, the usual trick of soloing backward from the front seat is not such a good idea. The boat is a favorite of mine.
Peter
I’ve used Krylon but don’t really think it works any better than other brands (at least on Royalex.)
If your Reflection is the aqua blue that Dagger used to use on a lot of their boats, Rustoleum’s Lagoon is a fairly good match.
Here are the before and after pics for the mixture of mineral spirits and linseed oil mentioned above.
2 Likes
wow
thank you
I think I will try that method
I have also use Rejuvinate for Vinyl floors on badly sun damaged Vinyl outer hulls and it works great too. One of my compadres just bought a dark green 15 that had almost a grey cloud on one side and The Rejuvinate took it out. Either way if you use Rejuvenate or the mineral spirits and linseed oil, it will probably be a while before paint, even Krylon Fusion will stick to it.
nah, my 15 became my go to paddler-poler all day boat. Looking down at it from 6’ while poling, and spending countless hours in it, it sure seemed pretty symetrical to me. I did paddle from the center seat, and pole it backwards, which it did just fine. As for painting my royalex boats, I used Krylon Fusion, noting the green would manage to empty a can, whereas the red would clog up frequently, sometimes to a terminal status. Hence, over time, my red boats started turning green 
Study the picture for moment and you will notice that the bow section of the boat is narrower than the stern. It is even more noticeable when you turn the boat upside down.
Peter
far from “seriously asymetric”. Saw the boat upside down daily for 21 years. Paddled and poled it countless times, repainted the scrapes slightly less. Compared it to the other 14 boats in the yard, Dumoine, Flashback, gyramax, rave, encores,pirana, yada yada…yada… Guess we’ll agree to disagree, but check out some slalom or whitewater boats for seriously asymetri hulls, and you’ll see where I’m coming from.