painting an aluminum boat camo

[gengar1960]

I HAVE A 16 FT.ALUMINUM BOAT AND WOULD LIKE TO PAINT IT CAMO FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON AND WAS WONDERING WHAT THE PROCESS IS FOR A GOOD PAINT JOB THAT WILL LAST AWHILE ! WOULD LIKE TO DO MYSELF ! ANY INFO WOULD BE WONDERFUL THANKS !!

[Tom7227]

I went to a real paint store and asked the questions. They sold me some type of primer that you put on after you've sanded and cleaned the surface. It has lasted years when I used it, not so much the time I didn't.

I used a can and a brush to put on the base coat, the sort of dull tan/brown. Then I took a smaller brush, 1 inch or so, and put a lot of random lines over the base coat. I used black, gray, brown and green. If you look at the new patterns they don't have the rounded shapes any more. When I wanted that I cut out templates from old file folders and used spray paint. I like the solid line method better.

I failed to put something decent down on the bottom of the boat to prevent slipping. I was wondering if you could use some of the spray bed liner material to get a rougher surface and then paint over it. I have a 14 foot rowboat without any fancy floor and it can get a bit slippery. I wish now that I had done something to solve that problem. I tossed sand onto the paint when it was wet but that just rubbed off as soon as you stepped on it.

You'll get a lot of advice to spray paint the boat and if you have access to a compressor and sprayer it may be a good option.

Old Thread with spray info..

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1277247/fpart/1

[broken_line]

what i did was sand the entire boat down witha orbital sander then presure washed it then primed it with a thick coat sprayed 2 coats of flat green then went nuts with a spray can

[wplatehunter]

I sanded my duck boat down and primed it. I got some marine paint with a stencil kit and it worked great.

[Phred52]

gengar1960, I have a 17' alumacraft canoe that I bought from the DNR. I replaced 97% of the rivets in it and repainted it in 1983. It still looks like I JUST did the repaint and there was nothing to it! I based it first with 'duck boat paint' in a light color. Then, I used both medium and dark colors on cat-tails, I'd coat them with both shades, beat the canoe, and when the colors faded I'd re-apply. Awesome Camo job and GREAT durability!! If you give me a little time, I may be able to supply some product names and maybe some pictures via email. Phred52