Painting a boat

Curious. What would it cost approximately to paint a solid maybe 10-12 inch wide stripe down each side of a boat? Is this something an autobody place could do?

Stickers - You can even do a wrap and change it with the trends. A good shop will take a photo and play with it to get it just the way you want and a lot less$$

I would think it would cost you $500-$800. Depending on what color and how many bends you have in it. Could even be alittle more.

I would second the use of stickers from a sign shop.

(Message edited by wakesetter101 on September 21, 2006)

My experience with painted hulls has not been good. It can look great, as long as it doesn't get messed up. The color in the gel coat is deep, survives a lot of abuse. Paint is on the surface, and can be messed up by a fender, scuffing the dock, rubbing against the trailer guides, cover strap blowing in the wind, etc.

Decals can be good. A bit more rugged than paint and when they start looking ugly you can always remove them and get back to where you are now.

"you can always remove them and get back to where you are now." Not totaly true. Leave them on there long enough and the gel around it fades and under it, it doesen't.

Does anyone know what a vinyl wrap costs? Full boat wrap that is......Im somewhat interested.

I print and in stall vehicle wraps among other things for a living. If you let me know what the specifics on your boat are I would be happy to get you numbers or you can call me at my office at 503-236-8400.

Hey Bryan, outta curiosity, what's the ballpark on one of these 'wraps'?

What is the make, model, and year of your boat? I will get you numbers tomorrow.

how about a high low for pricing?

pics?

How much to do a 1983 2001 nautique. 19ft boat with like 78" beam.

father in law painted the solid color stripe on last boat (89 Tristar) w/ Dupont Imron. Boat was in the water all season, incl a portion of the painted area. Traded it in 3 years later, still looked great.

try www.xgxracing.com i believe. they do wraps and what not for quads and bikes, but are looking to expand their horizan. killer looking stuff, or make your own up. prob won't be cheap, but would look great. am going to have them do something for my sled.

I would stay away from the wrap/decals. I was looking into the same thing, went to a vinyl/graphics shop and was told that the marine environment is pretty harsh and the decals would only last 3-5 years. I'm going to end up painting mine, altough I haven't looked into the costs yet. Make sure to go with one of the marine paints. As someone stated earlier Imron and there is one other I can't think of at the moment.

what scott? no more teal?

Scott, you said decals only last 3-5 years? Are the boat manufacturers using different type of decals then or something? I was thinking of ordering new decals through the manufacturer, but not if they only last 3-5 years.

Bob, I've seen 12 y/o mastercraft graphics tht look as new as they did off the showroom floor.

wouldn't several layers of a clear coat maintain the paint a little better?

We are in the process of doing a full wrap on our 21V demo boat for the show tour this year. While it is true that it won't last 5 years, trends change alot faster than that. The advantages are numerous including saving ALOT of abuse from the gel-coat under the graphics. I would rather be reworking my graphics once in a while compared to repairing fiberglass.

Ballpark pricing from us in the $2000 range, installed and sealed correctly. We've been doing full wraps for pro fisherman for along time. It really hasn't penetrated the wake boat market yet.

I'll post pics when it's done. You guys will wet yourselves ;)

Our site is under-construction again but... www.Re-Boat.com

(Message edited by flyspec14 on September 22, 2006)

I would really like to see a picture of a boat with a full wrap done, anyone?

Sparky, the times i have seen the paint look faded, its just oxidation. With a good wet sand, it will come back good as new as long as it was painted right the first time and it hasnt been wet sanded too much before.

Mike, there are pictures on here of a camo wrapped Malibu. Look under the big wake threads or wrapped boat??? I knwo the guy is in Dallas, Texas. There is a local guy here with a partial camo wrap on his 21V. Looks really good.

The decals from the mfg are different than vinyl wraps. Much thicker and more durable. The vinyl wrap is almost like a tint. They stretch it and move it, force out the air bubbles, etc. To wrap both sides/stripes a wrap would need to be used.

Mike, the teal is going bye bye! I know, it will be a sad day.

There is also a photo of that Malibu with the Camo sitting on the trailer. In the trailer shot you can see that the wrap doesn't cover the whole boat. It looks great in the water but kind of funny on the trailer.

Byrd, the pigments that make up the "color" in paint and gel coat fade when exposed to sunlight. You may be able to polish a "shine" back, but once the pigments fade, they're faded for good. Under a sticker is protected from the UV's and won't fade, while the rest of the vehicle will fade. Once one portion is faded and the other is not, they will never match again. That is why removing stickers from boats should be done when they are new or near new. On the other hand, adding stickers can be done at any time.

Where's this Malibu photo?

If no one post the pic of the camo Malibu, I can first thing Monday. I have it stored on my comp @ work. But Im sure someone else will come through with it before then.

as long as you keep a good coat of wax on the boat at all times it shoulnd't fade at all

You can wax every other day and it won't keep it from fading. Never exposing the boat to sunlight will keep it from fading though.

Anyone have any pics of wrapped boats besides this camo Malibu?

The pink Epic wrap.

Heres the Malibu everyone asked for....Not mine!! I can wish though!

Not Bad!

Sparky, in my experience with my old boat, a yellow and white Mastercraft Prostar 190, after I removed all the decals, you could see where the decals had been for 10 years, and the paint looked new under them. I had it professionally wet sanded and you could not tell where the decals had been. Maybe I just got lucky with my boat...It was my understanding that when you wet sanded, you are removing the top layer of faded paint off the boat, not polishing it.

Byrd, I could see wet sanding working if the fade was VERY light. With heavy wet sanding you run the risk of "sanding through" the gel coat, especially on the accent colors since they are usually shot in the mold first and are not as thick as the overall color. With a ten year old boat, unless it was stored indoors all it's life and the fade was very light, you would be taking a big chance on removing stickers and having it all sand out and buff back to a match again. It sounds like it did come out good for you this time though so that's kool but prolly not the normal outcome for this scenario.

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/57706.html

This is a wrap