Hi – Looking to purchase a new canoe that doesn’t come in the colour we want. The company does not seem to want to paint it a custom colour and has recommended purchasing a red gelcoat canoe and we spraypaint either on our own or through an auto-body shop aftermarket. Noting spraypaint will add 2-3 lbs. We don’t mind doing this, but is this wise? I’m worried the spray paint will be more susceptible to scratches.
The colour we are looking for is a light-medium Purple. We were also told that a gel coat in purple on kevlar would be susceptible to fading, is this true? From what I read, purple is at a relatively low risk of fading due to UV rays. We also plan to store the canoe indoors. so not sure how applicable that issue really is to us.
Not sure why you want to name the canoe Barney but to each his own :). Purple gel coat is available but there is added cost to the mfg cleaning out the sprayer etc. Have you considered offering to pay, say, $200 for the custom job? It would certainly hold up better than paint.
Thank you @Kevburg, I appreciate the knowledge. I was told by the mfg originally that it would be about $400. they need to buy 5 cans of paint (even though they only need 1-2) based on their minimum purchase, which I totally understand. We were willing to pay the price, but they still seem to prefer not to do it. I guess it makes sense if it’s extra work on their part (sprayer).
Depending on the size of the canoe, painting the entire hull may add up to seven pounds of weight. A weight gain of only 2-3 lbs would probably only occur with a smaller solo canoe.
In my experience, gel coat of any color will fade over time. This becomes very apparent if you have occasion to put a new canoe along side one of the same model and manufacturer, and same color, next to one a few years old.
Two part polyurethane paints are probably the toughest but all paint is susceptible to scratches IME.
I like paint. Don’t make a big deal out of it.
I use a brush and whatever is around. Rustoleum marine enamel is not expensive and easy to find.
Latex house paint is way ahead of old faded gelcoat.
I can touch up some scratches in 10 minutes.
I have several dacron over cedar hulls that are painted. Paint does change color over time and yes it scratches. Its quite easily touched up but after a few years it looks like pox and its time to repaint the whole hull. Dacron sands well if you are careful. Bite a sander too far into Kevlar and you have a fuzzy mess.
My boats are all inside but yes they do change color over time… Consider how your paint is made… Eventually you will need more .
You can absolutely paint a new canoe with marine enamel and make it look like something with rattle cans and some careful masking. It is not that hard. Then if it fades you can touch it up. It is no big deal unless you make it one.
I have a Pintail that’s purple over gray and when I bought it, the deck was so sun damaged that it almost looked white. It took aggressive wet sanding and considerable buffing to get it close to it’s original color. I certainly wouldn’t put purple gelcoat on your boat hoping it won’t fade. For that matter, I wouldn’t put gelcoat on it period, as if you make it thick enough to be durable, it will add a lot of weight. If you have to have purple, paint it and deal with the inevitable scratches.