Avoiding Brush Strokes

[Guest johblow]

Gday. Im stripping back the paint on the top, back and inside of my tinnie (the other bits are OK) and have decided that paint is probably the way to go, rather than a clear finish.

I live in a unit block, so i dont have a great amount of room to work with, so spray painting could be a buggar. Plus, im not that great at it, and masking and overspray will be a nightmare.

So, how about brush painting. I dont need a perfect finish, just one thats decent. I have seen boats that others have done up though, and they have brushed the paint on and it looks awfull. Im guessing that using a good quality brush that doesnt let go a hairs is a start, but does anyone have any tips out their for getting a good finish? Im gonna go a mat finish i think, or maybe a semi gloss? I guess brushed on gloss will look bad?

Can anyone hold a brush out there?! ;-)

[Guest Aron]

use a roller, thick paint - small sections at a time

The key to painting is preparation

[Chef]

Preperation is the key, the more time you put into it the better the end result will be.This will either confuse you more or hopefully may help:

1. Use a quality primer as an undercoat, don't just apply the paint.

2. Use a roller with a very fine nap, short hair, finer the better. Also a quality brush with longer hair as the standard hair length is usually for water based paints.

3. Better to apply in several thinner coats than one or two heavy as this will only increase your chances of runs.

4. Always finish the edges with the brush and always in the one direction. Long even & level stroke not small short ones.

5. The big hint. We use a paint additive, that slows the paint drying time and helps the paint flow better. This allows the paint to gell or lay smoother and gives a more even surface. Most may not believe, but when we do speciality finishes such as fake marble, granite, pearl looks or wood grains etc, we use brush's and have no brush marks - just a glass look.

Talk to your local specialty paint shop, not a Hardware shop, and get some advice relating to the type of paint you want to use. Drop me a PM if you like as i'm not sure what type of paint you want to use and this would have a bearing on the type of gear you can use.

Remember, you can always sand it off if you don't like it. Maybe try a sample job on a old car bonnet that most panel beaters will give you for free.

Tony.

[Guest johblow]

Thankyou very much fellas for that advice - i feel heaps more confident now :-) Cheers, Jon