son of a....

ok, this is going to sound a little long…i glassed a board last night that was airbrushed with red. i used water based airbrush paint. everthing went great until i checked the bottom lam. this morn. the laps were sprayed first with clear acrylic to prevent any bleeding onto the deck. it seemed like i got the cloth down real smooth during the lam. no dry spots, everything seemed perfect. i do think the resin was mixed hot enough, causing a longer set time. when i left last night it looked like nothing was wrong. i got there this morn, and it looked real dry. almost like the cloth was dry. i read about crystalization. which i think it might be because when i stare real hard at the blotchy spots it’s almost like you can see spots through to the foam that look crystalized. the top laps are perfect because they were sprayed with clear. there are also some spots that are fine. i think where the resin puddled up a bit. so i can’t out figure wether it’s because of too long a set time for the resin causing the resin to drain into the foam leaving a dry appearance. or, because of crystalization, which i know can be a few things. sorry for this…

a little more… the board sat for a week before i glassed it last night. i don’t think i oversprayed it because i used a small compressor and airbrush. could it be the paint? too much water? can a board which sits for a week still crystalize if it wasn’t properly dried between coats? will the moisture still be in the paint after all that time…again…sorry,

Teddy - Try mixing a small amount of lam resin and catalyst and rewet the dry looking spots. When it’s wet you’ll get a better idea what’s going on. It’s probably fine - cloth frequently has a weird appearance before the hotcoat. If there are pin holes, try forcing the resin in with a squeegee before you hotcoat. If it is crystallized paint, try using less paint next time. I’ve seen posts here that state red is tricky when applied too thick. Don’t stare real hard too long!

Howzit Teddy, Red and black are the hardest colors to work with. It doesn’t matter how long the paint sets if you didn’t let it dry between paint coats,the moisture is trapped and the heat from the resin kicking off will draw it to the surface,ergo crystalazation occurs. Any color can crystalize if applied incorrectly, I’ve seen green and blue do it. To much water in the paint mix won’t hurt as long as it dries properly, but you will have to spray more coats to get the coverage you need. Here’s a little trick, if the crystalazation spots aren’t to large you can try touching up on top of the lamination( first try adding some more resin like John suggests) with some of the same color. This isn’t a good fix for big spots but will work O.K. on small ones. You can spray some clear acrylic over it before you lay up the deck or do a hotcoat to keep it from coming off. Hope I explained this O.K… Aloha, Kokua

…Plain and simple,TOO MUCH CLEAR KRYLON SPRAY!Okay did you hear me that time. …The petroleum products in Krylon, like so many spray can jobs are way too oily.WAIT,IT’S NOT OVER YET!This crap will transfer into your hotcoat,and gloss by evidence of frogeyes,separation,color fading,air of all sizes- everywhere,including delamination all the way to the foam.Sanding will cause even more color fading,crystalization,delams,and lots of air! …Spray it lightly!Or switch to a better sealer.Herb

you misunderstood me…the parts sprayed with Krylon were perfect. it helped save the deck rails. anyone use Createx brand paint? i didn’t thin the paint out, i might try that to make the paint less concentrated. any good %'s for adding water? i also will let it dry between coats longer, and spray a tad less paint. thanks for the info…it will save my next board,

try Thinner based acrylic laquer you won’t have nearly as many probs.I don’t know anyone that uses water based paint.Mainly because of drying times etc.

can i just get that at an auto body supply shop? thin that out with clear acrylic?

…okay,if that’s the case…use liquitex paints,I never had a problem with this brand.Herb

ok most were close to the money… red and black are difficult royal blue is too… we have had expieriance with crystalization many times and its always come down to using cheap paints. always use high quality acrylics used for cars, use tints and mix your own colours, (often paint companys use good base and cheap mixers) as well as high grade clear gloss acrylic. and even using cheap thinners will cause problems… using slowsolve high grade thinners and high quality paints sprayed on will give you a great finished product. http://www.feraldave.com

ok, so acrylic laquer is better paint to use? crystalization still a problem? can anyone back this up?

i used Createx brand paint. anyone use this type? they sell a catalyst to add to the paint,will this help it dry better between coats?

…Look Teddy,I been doing this for over 30 years,and been down the road at least 3 times.Lacquer/acrylics look good at first ,but fade quick,and if you look really close it has a micro crystalization to it,that later on causes delam,NO GOOD! …liquitex works the best,water is cheap…unless you do tens of thousands of boards a year,stick with this until you get the hang of it,then you can move up in thinners.Herb

thanks Herb. sorry for beating this to death.

…That’s what you got to do to get it right,and not being right there"hands on" makes it more difficult.If you follow what I said you shouldn’t have anymore paint problems Teddy.Herb

Teddy, Epoxy laminations don’t crystalize at all. There… an easy solution.

I am more of a retro resin type of geezer but I have had good luck with foam sprays by using light multiple passes,24 hour dry time and lastly but maybe not leastly spraying a light coat of clear acrylic to lock everything in.I never had a crystalization problem.I do however get my water based paints from a Surf Supply Company. R.B.

Howzit R.B., do the flourecent paints from your supplier have a tendency to fade quickly? The flourecents from Fiberglass Hi. do, I have to add other paint to make it more colorfast. Aloha, Kokua

Kokua I mix most of the colors with clear acrylic for a little more bond and thin with water.But I am not an AB expert…just stuff I picked up here and there. R.B. (I haven’t used many flourescants). R.B.

Howzit Mr.Clean, I think I’d to check out adding extra clear acrylic. I take it it’s water based that I can get from the paint store.Aloha, Kokua