Matching Gel coat

I have an 1988 E-26 which I am going to install new instruments and will need to regelcoat the bulkhead. I am looking to buy the corect color. any sugestions Thanks Brad

Two links that might be useful

http://www.minicraft.com/index.htm

and

http://spectrumcolor.com/default.asp

White Boats / Pastel Thoughts

Hi Brad,
I have done some gel coat repairs on our prior boat and also the current one.
While it seems "logical" that if one could only find the same color name/code from the same manufacturer it would have to match...
For several reasons, from the practical to the chemical, it almost never works out.

First, the company that made the original color may be: 1) out of business, 2) no longer in that part of the plastics industry, no longer making that particular color or shade. Next, like many other forulated paint and plastic compounds, each "batch" is a bit different from the others. Next, a perfect match when you apply it will most certainly fade differently than the original gel coat around it.
And here we are, 18 years later, seeking a match right out of the bottle.
:0305_brok

I have seen a deck repair that achieved a perfect (no, really, it was...) match by a pro that faded to a slightly different shade five years later.

Then there is the "myth of white" as I call it. Every permutation of white you see on any boat will be slightly different than the others...
You will need to blend a weeeee bit of other color(s) in a batch of white base coat gel coat before you add the hardener. It involves both knowing the effect of the other colors on it, and being able to learn to predict what it will look like after curing.

I have had the most luck with sourcing a can or bottle of base white polyester gel coat from a local boat builder (from their 50 gallon drum) and then buying several tubes of color pigment from the plastics supply store.
My test samples start with quarter cup of white and then adding measured drops of appropriate color, mixing, and spreading a bit of it to dry and studying the result beside the part I am attempting to match. If it gets real close, and the ding I am filling is not too much in plain view, I go for it...
This works fine for divits made by winch handles, etc.

For doing an entire bulkhead, you are going to need a sprayer, and the waxy sealer to spray over it so it will cure. Then you would need to buff it out with compound. I have not done that, leaving that size job to the yard.
As Eastwood's character Dirty Harry said in that movie: "A man's got to know his limitations!"

And yes I have managed to match that pastel-ish off-white slight-bluish cast to the Olson gel coat color.... close enough... kinda sorta... for me....


Best of luck,
Loren in PDX
1988 model Olson built by Ericson

ps: to get just a tough of "warmth" in your base color white, add just a teeny tiny bit of yellow... really... after just a tiny tiny bit of gray...


pps: Couple of links with more info--
http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/02.htm
http://www.malibuboats.com/Gel Coat Repair.pdf#search="gel coat repair"

Has anyone worked with this to know the approximate formula for mixing the white gelcoat that one sees so commonly on the 1980s ericsons--it looks real white, but as Loren says above, it rarely is absolute white--my guess is that it has a bit of grey or blue in it, but does anyone know? I have just a few very minor chips in my 1984 ericson 30+ that I would like to repair.
Thanks,
Frank.

White is White?

Hi Frank,

I remember the days doing gelcoat on a Capri-18 where white was pure white and because things were four years old versus thirty,the colors came out perfect.

I have found that taking a white gelcoat base and adding subtle amounts of black to it have given me the best, though not perfect match topsides. I have pitting in my gelcoat so I could never attain a perfect match. Inside is another beast. I matched the colors perfectly with a tad of brown coloring added to a white base. However, sanding around the 1" holes that I repaired revealed perhaps the original color which was several shades lighter. I have learned to live with the subtle imperfection in color but the satisfaction that I have sealed a previously hacked job properly.

Stuart

Thanks, Stuart--very helpful.
Frank.

This guy has a couple excellent videos on Gel Coat matching...

What interested me most was the "fool the eye" standard he applies in the second video. And that your "white" will oxidize differently on different parts of your boat.

I'll let you know how many drops of which colors seem to work for my very minimal 1987 35-3 white and beige repairs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoURRmkD8MY

Doug

Matching 36 year old Ericson White. I started with yellow and red, adding a little brown but it was too warm. This was my third try. Oddly, it seemed to match better when I added a little blue. I made little patches with hardener on the bulkhead and transom. We'll see tomorrow.

. . . . .

The above was helpful, especially Boatworks Today.
also helpful: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/gelcoat-match.18155/