Help, my boat has RoyaLeprosy!

[canoeman61]

Yes it is really old, at least 20 years, and I should just give up, but as long as I have glue, why should I? The latest problems have to do with the fact the outer colored layer is scraped off a considerable portion of the stern. Should I just mix some paint in with some epoxy and paint over that part, or is there a better way?

[sbroam]

Pictures?

A couple of coats of a plastic spray paint - Fusion is a standard one - is the easy, less effective option.

Gflex resin and cloth (glass or dynel) is the more involved, more effective option.

[kaz]

Buy a composite boat

[phreon]

FWIW. I repaired the severely ground down bow and stern (to the core) of my 2nd or 3rd hand Royalex river tripper with JB weld mixed on the soft side as a general body filler and Xynole cloth + Raka 127 epoxy + silica thickener + graphite filler as protection. That repair has survived my lack of skill, showing hardly any wear but light scratches, despite countless collisions and scrapes. It doesn't hang off the front as a chunky matt like typical bang plates often do and it never hangs up on rocks. And it has a bit of flex.

Regarding the ratio of fillers, per an old email from Raka about how much graphite to use:

"I recommend about 2 tablespoons per 6 mixed oz. of epoxy and after mixing you can add silica to thicken up to any viscosity that suits you".

That mix was a sacrificial layer over straight epoxy and the Xynole cloth.

[JimW]

Don't use paint, talk to your epoxy supplier about pigment for epoxy - it will seem like you get very little for a lot of money, but you will find you need very very little to colour up some resin. thickening the resin with silica first would also be a good idea.

[ClassFive Boats]

Be sure to wear a face mask esp with graphite
Powder. Becomes airborne easily . Once
Exhaled it's there for life .