name painting, paint?....
 

The name on my ship is geting a little faded, and i would like to touch it up this winter.

The hull paint is the long-serving two part poly Imron, by Dupont.

The name on the ship is a combibnation of whitre and an orange-red colour for the outline. It really is well done.

I wonder what I would use to touch it up?

I need so little, it's best to have the best.

Most paint stores carry enamel sign paint and it is sold in 1/2 pint size cans. A good sign painting brush may be more important then the paint.

Also, prep the area to be re-touched very carefully... get rid of all the wax and dirt or the re-touching job will look like crap.

Rockter... sorry to throw more questions into your thread but it's directly related.
What would be the best way to remove the old paint? We need to change our hailing port and would like to repaint the name. Would it be best to repaint the whole transom and start from scratch?

When we removed a name in the shop we used Easy-off oven cleaner. If the hull is painted be careful because it will remove some paints. On fiberglass it’s a great way to remove a name.
Robert Gainer
Program Director
Hudson Fisheries Trust
www.fisheriestrust.org

The painting really was so well done and well proportioned that I would not want to change it really.

Although I haven't ventured into painting the name on my boat - yet, I've also been advised of the critically important step of thoroughly cleaning the hull. I've been told, aside from your potential need to remove old paint, to clean the entire area with acetone, and then thoroughly rinse and air dry the area before you start. I understand acetone will not affect existing paint. I checked and found a quart for about $11 (US) at West Marine.

Acetone can damage some paints.. you really need to be careful with the stuff and check it on an unimportant, less visible area IMHO. It is also generally cheaper to buy Acetone at the hardware store than at WM.

The best paint for boat names is probably a highly leaded sign paint by the namebrand of "ONE-SHOT" .... probably wont be available in states that contain an excess of eco-freaks.

RicH...

Thanks. I have found a site for it, and it is available in the UK. The recommended curing temperature is 18 degC+ it seems, and never less than 10 degC, so that might be a problem here.