Painting duck boat

[northernsportman]

I was wondering what are the correct steps to take to paint a boat. How to take off old paint and such. Any other things i would need to do to turn a fishing boat into a duck boat is welcome too! Thanks

[northernsportman]

no one?

[Scott M]

Try doing a search in this forum or post your question the equipment/expert information forum.

Here's a quick and dirty version: You will want to either sand the old paint off or chemically remove it. Then you will want to prep the surface. Make sure its either primed or has a textured surface. Then its up to you how you want to do it. Buy some stencils and paint or make your own stencils and paint it. If you plan to fish with it save your registration sticker and boat numbers. Don't forget to give the boat a good cleaning before you start.

[northernsportman]

alright thanks

[hanson]

I think a very important point to repainting a boat (or anything metal) is if the paint that is already on there is sticking good, don't take it off. You'll want to rough up the surface good with some coarse sandpaper and then apply a quality metal primer and then paint. There are some good brands of flat "duck boat" paint on the market. Cabelas carries a few of them. Beyond painting a boat a solid marsh grass color, your options are really unlimited as far as stenciling and camo patterns are concerned.

There are a few FMers how have duck boat "make over" projects posted online here. I believe "BoxMN" is one of them with some good photos and instructions. If you look back far enough in this particular forum, you'll find some more very, very good info!

Good Luck! Post Photos when you are done!

[northernsportman]

alrighty i will try if it ever gets done..

[Jackpine Rob]

I repainted my little duck boat prior to the 2006 season. I originally got it for $75 at a farm auction back in 1986, and it was looking pretty nasty - bent and creased hull, paint flaking and chipping, exposed metal oxidized.....

Back then I was young and broke. Using a framing hammer and some chunks of 2x4, I smoothed out the bends and creases as best I could. Patched a couple of small leaks with liquid aluminum. Using a stiff wire brush, I knocked off all the loose paint, then sanded by hand. A thorough washing with Dawn soap, hosed it down good, and let it dry.

Two coats of Hunter's Specialties dead grass, applied with the cheapest brushes I could find at KMart, and the thing looked like new. Added my own camo with some spray cans, and it held up for 20 years - surviving numerous days in the marsh, a tornado that left it 30 feet up in an ash tree, pulling duty as an ice breaker......

When it came time to redo, I stripped it with some Zip Strip, ran one of those paint stripping discs from 3M that you attach to your electric drill, dragged out my pressure washer and hosed her off good, reapplied the Hunters Specialties dead grass (this time out of my paint sprayer), and felt the same warm glow of looking at a "new" boat I had 20 years earlier.

[WaveWacker]

When I did mine I put a wire wheel brush on an angle grinder and ran that over the entire boat. I than gave is a coat of primer and then paint. That was probably 8 years ago and the only thing that is starting to flake is the inside bottom that taken a beating with boots, gear, dogs, etc.

[northernsportman]

wow, is holding up pretty good...did u clean the boat before the painting? What kind of paint did u use? I am thinking of the spray paint kit from cabela's, would this hold up a long time? thanks for the replys wavewacker, jackpine bob, and hanson!

[Sartell Angler]

Cleaning it well is key...if there is dust, dirt, grime, or other residue remaining when you paint it you will not be pleased. If there is no prior paint on the boat just clean it real good with soap and water, rub it down with a rag, let it dry, and then use acetone to etch the aluminum so it is ready for the paint.

I have had good luck with the Hunters Specialty duck boat paint (marsh green color) and then a few cans of the various spray colors to enhance that.

Going to re-touch the duckboat and two aluminum canoes myself this summer.

[mmeyer]

As Sartell Angler mentioned, clean clean clean. The Acetone is a must also and I used an aluminum primer. I used about 10 spray cans for the inside and outside. It's not cheap at $7 a can but I only wanted to do it once. On top I used HS paint brushed on. It's been a couple years and it's holding up very well.

Here's a photo.

The top is Camo Clad. It's durable and looks good to boot.

[hanson]

I love it!

How old is the Lund? Could be a 25 year old boat and it looks brand new. The Camo Clad looks very sharp as well!

Nice job!

[northernsportman]

thats amazing graphics on your boat there, mmeyer. i dont have the money for the camo clad, but i want my boat to look like that really bad!!! thanks everyone for ur input so far and i will definately put this thread to use when i go to paint my boat!

[mmeyer]

Thanks guys. The boat is a 1983 and it looked baaaddd! The camo clad wasn't that expensive, less than a couple hundred bucks I think. I am very happy with it. I use it for both hunting and fishing so when I go out on the lake fishing I don't get laughed at and when I go out duck hunting I get a lot of looks. It's a great boat.

Good luck on your boat. It's hard work but if you do it right you won't have to do it every year.

[northernsportman]

if mine looks half that good i will be happy, considering i have no artistic abilities. i am kinda on a tight budget right now so i probably wont go with the camo clad but it looks sharp!

[Traxxx]

When I bought mine it was already the dead grass color. I used a can of green, grey & brown. I sprayed the brown & grey in sort of a X pattern lenghtways. Then I cut three reeds and held them tight to the boat and sprayed the green over the reeds. It turned really sweet.

[hanson]

 Originally Posted By: mmeyer

The boat is a 1983 and it looked baaaddd!

LOL!!

1983 + "could be a 25 year old boat" = 2008.

Guess I'm not a bad guesser.

Once again... nice job!