Is an airless sprayer worth it?

[Xlantic]

International (Interlux in the US) has recently come out with a new two-part PU paint which they name "Perfection Pro". This is an evolution of their earlier "Perfection Plus".

Unlike Perfection Plus, Perfection Pro is meant to be rolled and/or brushed-on rather than spayed-on. I have tried it, just rolling it on without even tipping-off and the results were AWESOME. So you get spray quality with a roller! Hard to believe but it is true. While the paint cures it pulls tight and you get an incredible finish.

It is expensive, about double the cost of Perfection Plus, itself expensive, but at least the yield (m2 per litre) is really high.

Here is a good video that describes it:
https://youtu.be/Lqp5iRFIzQI

One thing, while it was launched in Europe last year, I am not certain it is available in other regions ...

 

[gunho1]

Keep in mind my comments were in regards to the interior of the boat. If I were going to paint the whole exterior of the boat I would look at Alexseal paint. They make an additive that allows rolling without any tipping and it looks awesome. Check out BoatWorks Today for some video. No overspray and no forced air respirator needed.

I just did my hull using Alexseal with the rolling additive having never painted a boat before. Highly recommend.

And definitely follow Andy from Boatworks Today instructions.

 

[omoore]

Airless Sprayer

The Awlgrip manual says to test by painting a small area of the one-part with the two-part and inspecting to see if the one-part was lifted or softened.
Priming with Awlgrip 545 will seal the one part. Don't forget that spraying Awlgrip or Alexseal requires multiple thin coats which givesyou a lot of opportunities for runs!

 

[sbman]

I just did my hull using Alexseal with the rolling additive having never painted a boat before. Highly recommend.

And definitely follow Andy from Boatworks Today instructions.

Same here, I've never painted a boat before either. The Alexseal is very forgiving in my opinion. The most difficult part is not missing any spots and having a 'dry spot' that you just don't see until it's too late.

If you scuff/sand at 320 grit (recommended by Alexseal TDS) between finish coats it helps so that you are putting shiny paint on dull paint and it's much easier to see any dry spots. I apply with a good quality foam roller and no tipping with their rolling additive. After applying paint with a little pressure on my roller evening it out and making sure to roll out any roller marks, I then go over it a final time with zero pressure on the roller to roll out any bubbles the roller formed. The paint does the rest, you just have to leave it alone. I like the 4-6" rollers, any bigger and there isn't enough control over the pressure applied. Good foam rollers last about 30 minutes and then you need a new one.

I did NOT like the mohair rollers that Andy uses and I can't understand how he tolerates them. Even after cleaning them with tape, they still shed something awful.

You need zero wind, no sun on the surface and good lighting to apply. Mine laid down much better in cool temperatures (60-70F), in warmer temperatures it did not flow as well. Indoors would be ideal!

Given all that, a pro in the boat yard just painted a large center console with Alexseal and sprayed it, and it came out stunning, just perfect with a mirror finish. It takes a lot of experience and skill to pull that off though, not just a spray gun.

 

[ProMaritime]

20 plus years ago my wife and I did the entire interior fiberglass of our 41'foot sloop, including the headliner, with Rustoleum right on of the can. It just now needs a redo in some, but not all, areas.

Rustoleum now markets a great selection of one-part marine paints, including bottom paint, for a fraction of the big names sold at WM. This stuff probably comes right out of the same vats of one of the big name marine paint companies. This is a common merchandizing technique and has been for a long time. In Hawaii Dole used to can pineapple under 400 different labels, Safeway, A&P, Publix, you name it, plus the labels of dozens of proprietary foreign retailers printed in their own language.

All the great newly engineered one-part paints may spell the end of high-priced, difficult to apply, 2-part pollys for the DIYers.

 

[EngNate]

Well worth the $3 to search up and download Russel Brown's Rolling Perfection. Pay particular attention to the bit about 'wet-edge'. Once the paint loses the wet edge don't touch it again.

For tipping, you need an ultra soft brush and a steady hand to apply feather-light pressure. But with the paint thinned right tipping isn't needed, just make the last roll with feather light pressure - ideally contact with no pressure. Failure of bubbles to pop can result from both under and over thinning. 25% seems like a lot to me, I have had good success with 10-12% but I guess this will vary with the product, still 25 seems like an awful lot. Measure and note your thinner proportions and temperature so once you get it right you don't experiment. A digital kitchen scale is really handy for this. I got good results with microfiber rollers. Go over rollers with a vacuum cleaner to remove loose fibers before use.

I would agree that when all is done the net time saved by spraying is not compelling.