Gelcoat??

[hawaiianstiln]

How does mastercraft's gelcoat work? I have a 2007 X2 all blue on the front and white on the back (look at my profile pics in album).

I took it out for the first time yesterday and pulled up on the beach. I got home and found out that the blue hull got scratched up pretty bad. The weird thing is, is that I can see white underneath where the blue gelcoat should be. I thought gelcoat was 1/4" thick or something like that. I have always pulled up on the beach with my previous boat (malibu VLX) and have never heard of the gelcoat scratching off and showing another color (white). The scratches underneath the hull are not gouged out at all. In fact, you can't even feel much of a scratch.

Does MasterCraft make all boats with a thick white gelcoat and then whatever color options are ordered, they lightly spray those on after?

Another reason I ask is that I accidently dropped a small allen wrench and it fell on the top of the boat above the rub rail on the blue gelcoat. I noticed it was white now where it scratched the blue gelcoat. Which would mean that it's lightly sprayed on.

Hope this makes sense.

[TMCNo1]

How does mastercraft's gelcoat work? I have a 2007 X2 all blue on the front and white on the back (look at my profile pics in album).

I took it out for the first time yesterday and pulled up on the beach. I got home and found out that the blue hull got scratched up pretty bad. The weird thing is, is that I can see white underneath where the blue gelcoat should be. I thought gelcoat was 1/4" thick or something like that. I have always pulled up on the beach with my previous boat (malibu VLX) and have never heard of the gelcoat scratching off and showing another color (white). The scratches underneath the hull are not gouged out at all. In fact, you can't even feel much of a scratch.

Does MasterCraft make all boats with a thick white gelcoat and then whatever color options are ordered, they lightly spray those on after?

Another reason I ask is that I accidently dropped a small allen wrench and it fell on the top of the boat above the rub rail on the blue gelcoat. I noticed it was white now where it scratched the blue gelcoat. Which would mean that it's lightly sprayed on.

Hope this makes sense.

Most scratches on any color but white will have a white appearance to them. It's like scratching a sheet of ice or glass, it leaves what appears to be a white/light colored scratch. Essentially, the gelcoat is not much thicker than the thickness of a matchbook cover, but once the gelcoat color is worn away, you will then see a gray/pink appearing material that is nothing more than the fiberglass mat saturated with resin, but when drilled/scored/gouged it too will appear white.

48373

48374

[Witness140]

Dark gelcoat colors always scratch white. The scratch on an all black Mastercraft will also be white. White gelcoat scratches white too, so I guess I should say that all minor scratches in gelcoat will be white.

These boats are made from the outside in. They start with a mold and spray gelcoat into the mold. In your case, they tape off the mold in the 'slider' pattern' and spray the blue and white into the mold. Then they put the fiberglass etc in. Then they lift it out of the mold.

What color was your VLX hull? Beaching is a bad deal if you don't want scratches. Especially with dark hull colors. Maybe you should consider getting a keel guard or something.

If you have learned your lesson and aren't gonna beach ever again....it is more than likely easily fixable yourself. (light scratches)

You can wetsand them. Start with the heavy stuff, and work finer. All depends on how deep they are. Start with 800 or 1000 and see how that does. You can work your way to 1500 or even finer. Then the rubbing compound, polishing compound , then wax. It's harder on dark colors and will take some time. Again, all depends how bad. If you gouged the gelcoat, you will have to blend it. This can take a lot of time. If you can see fiberglass or any black in the scratches, you've gone through all the gel and will need an actual gel repair.



If you intend to continue beaching your boat, you are gonna have scratches.

[Chicago190]

If the scratches aren't bad you may not even have to wet sand them. You can try rubbing compound with a polisher and then follow it up with a coat of wax.

[TMCNo1]

I've always considered that if you won't drive a $60K new dark blue Corvette through the woods/bushes/brairs, why would you pull a $60K boat up on the sand/rocks.:rolleyes:

[bigmac]

Gelcoat thickness is about 30 mil. Standard in the industry is about 15-22 mil. MasterCraft and Malibu use the same gelcoat, same application method.

I'd never beach a dark colored boat.

As to the scratches, you can buff them out, or if you prefer you can fill/sand/sand/sand with some gel coat paste from Spectrum Color (http://www.spectrumcolor.com/catalog.htm). For $21 you can get the stuff in an exact color match

[hawaiianstiln]

makes sense then... My VLX hull was white, but orange in the middle. I remembered a few scratches on the orange part on that malibu, but never remember them scratching white.

I think I will definately get a Keel guard. Partying at Saguaro lake back beach in Arizona is a must! :)

Yah, I wasn't sure if I could buff the scratches out or not. I know how to work gelcoat scratches pretty good and have all the variants of sandpaper and 3M products to do it. However, I guess my question would have been if I do the sandpaper, buff, polish process for gelcoat scratches, would the white scratches go away in the blue. Or would I essentially just work on that area that is scratched and I can't ever bring the blue back.

[JimN]

How does mastercraft's gelcoat work? I have a 2007 X2 all blue on the front and white on the back (look at my profile pics in album).

I took it out for the first time yesterday and pulled up on the beach. I got home and found out that the blue hull got scratched up pretty bad. The weird thing is, is that I can see white underneath where the blue gelcoat should be. I thought gelcoat was 1/4" thick or something like that. I have always pulled up on the beach with my previous boat (malibu VLX) and have never heard of the gelcoat scratching off and showing another color (white). The scratches underneath the hull are not gouged out at all. In fact, you can't even feel much of a scratch.

Does MasterCraft make all boats with a thick white gelcoat and then whatever color options are ordered, they lightly spray those on after?

Another reason I ask is that I accidently dropped a small allen wrench and it fell on the top of the boat above the rub rail on the blue gelcoat. I noticed it was white now where it scratched the blue gelcoat. Which would mean that it's lightly sprayed on.

Hope this makes sense.

If the dealer did their job, they would have explained how the hulls are built. The gelcoat is sprayed into the mold and it goes from outside in. Most other boats are fiberglass, laid up in a mold and the gel is sprayed on top, sanded and polished. This way, it's never as smooth and shiny as a MC because under the surface, gelcoat is porous. It can be touched up but I don't know why you would want to beach a bare hull.

[JohnE]

I'm not sure he bought the boat from a dealer. I vaguely remember him saying he bought it this past winter, but ICBW.

[Sodar]

I'm not sure he bought the boat from a dealer. I vaguely remember him saying he bought it this past winter, but ICBW.

He did not buy it from a dealer. He just picked the boat up a couple weeks ago, pre-owned and used it the first time this weekend.

[TMCNo1]

It may be good it wasn't a airplane, trying to park it on the side of a mountain would have created some had to get out scratches.

[woftam]

If the dealer did their job, they would have explained how the hulls are built. The gelcoat is sprayed into the mold and it goes from outside in. Most other boats are fiberglass, laid up in a mold and the gel is sprayed on top, sanded and polished. This way, it's never as smooth and shiny as a MC because under the surface, gelcoat is porous. It can be touched up but I don't know why you would want to beach a bare hull.

Your mechanical advice on this forum is excellent and has, no doubt, been a great help to many members, me included. However, I have to take small issue with your view of the industry standard wrt constructing fiberglass boats using gelcoat. The overwhelming majority, motor or sail, are laid up just as you describe the process MC uses.

[JimN]

Your mechanical advice on this forum is excellent and has, no doubt, been a great help to many members, me included. However, I have to take small issue with your view of the industry standard wrt constructing fiberglass boats using gelcoat. The overwhelming majority, motor or sail, are laid up just as you describe the process MC uses.

Sorry, they must have changed since I worked for those two MC dealers, one of which also sold 'Bu and I know that at the time, they laid the glass and then shot the gelcoat. The first dealership also sold Regal, many used boats and we had a fiberglass shop onsite, where I would pick the brains of the guys doing the work.

If they changed to this method, it's news to me. Thanks for the update.