Gelcoat Question

[Harborless]

I am repairing minor dings and scratches on my boats deck but some of the repairs are located in vertical spots. Now, with epoxy you can add filler like silica to create a puddy paste for vertical jobs but the same cannot be said for gelcoat. I do not think sand would be a great mix as it would stand out from the rest of my deck.
The only way I can think to do this is to apply one layer at a time and let cure then apply again and again until the desired thickness is reached. This seems like it would take a week or more to accomplish. Is there another way to go about this?

I taped around one of the areas but it does not help. The excess gelcoat runs out of the void and drips down the tape. Also, the lower portion of the void is always thicker since the gelcoat at the top of the void always slides down and settles with the gelcoat in the bottom- like an inverted ramp.
Ideas?

[overbored]

the silica is not siica sand it is colloidal silica, also called cab-o-sil and it does work with gelcoat. just got done doing a radius fillet between the hull and a new bowsprit tube with it and it worked fine. it may cause a color change on some colors but on shades of white it does not change the color

[Aac]

I recently done a similar job and the local marine store recommended something called Gelcoat putty . It's Gelcoat but with a thickener. Its feels and looks like thick whipped cream and it went onto a vertical surface without running.

[Sublime]

Originally Posted by Aac

I recently done a similar job and the local marine store recommended something called Gelcoat putty . It's Gelcoat but with a thickener. Its feels and looks like thick whipped cream and it went onto a vertical surface without running.

Yep!

[PorFin]

I've had success using Mylar/acetate sheets you can score at an arts/crafts store.

Cut a piece to size to cover the repair (+about a 1/2"). Tape the sheet at the bottom, then fold it down out of the way. Apply the gelcoat, and roll the sheet up over the repair get the air bubbles out. Use a stright edge to squeegee it a hair proud of fair from the bottom up. Tape the edges and allow it to cure. Remove the Mylar and wet sand fair.

Hope that was clear -- not always easy to explain things.