Spray on. Seriously???

[Docked Wages]

Had my first experience seeing someone in a local boat yard applying bottom paint with a spray gun this morning.

Personally, I've only ever applied it with with a roller... But aside from speeding up this task, are there any other pros or cons to applying with a spray-gun?

[RCARNEY]

Slick bottom equals less drag and less gallons per mile. We use VC paint for the running pad to further reduce drag. Still using original application after 29,000+ nautical miles.

[giantfan]

An old Salt told me years ago never to use a roller. The "Orange peel" effect that the roller leaves makes more drag as stated above.

I have never seen or heard of anybody spraying on bottom paint. I always brush mine on, making sure the strokes are running fore to aft to help streamline.

I do know that the fist couple of times I painted my center console that I used a roller to apply and used a lot more paint than when I brushed it. I would think that with a spray gun that by the time you cleaned up the spray gun and hoses that there would be a lot of wasted paint and at over $200.00 a gallon for Micron extra thats a lot of $$$$$

[Sea Sparks]

I would have thought that the bottom paint would be to thick to spray with a normal gun. It seems like all the added masking and clean up would off set any time gained by spraying.

Does the slight dimples in a rolled paint slow you guys down that much?? I would think that a engine tune up, or fresh batch of gas would have more of a effect.

[Big Jay]

I thin my bottom paint out. I don't know how you guys are rolling on straight micron out of the can. Not only is that UBER expensive but if you don't thin it, it goes on too thick and cracks.

[giantfan]

Does the slight dimples in a rolled paint slow you guys down that much?? I would think that a engine tune up, or fresh batch of gas would have more of a effect.

I sure have never noticed any difference in speed or fuel consumption but I can tell you that I use almost half the amount of paint, brushing it on vs rolling it on. It takes a little longer to do but I can be sure there aren't any holidays when I am done brushing it on.

[clt_capt]

I know the Navy was doing some research into dimpled hull surfaces AND I know that there is a coating made that dimples when applied - http://oceanboatracing.com/index.php...lon_Super_F-1M

I believe the theory is that the dimples break up the surface tension and result in lower drag...

Can't prove it either way.

[Docked Wages]

I guess I was thinking to myself... Is spraying on the paint really applying it heavy enough? After all, it is an ablative paint that has worn through in less than a year's time.

[Big Jay]

I guess I was thinking to myself... Is spraying on the paint really applying it heavy enough? After all, it is an ablative paint that has worn through in less than a year's time.

You want a good coat but not too heavy. Like I said, too heavy and it cracks.

You need a good clean and prepped base to get it to adhere to. After that spray or roll/brush shouldn't matter.

[marlineer]

Golf Balls have dimples for a reason. The dimples actually reduce drag. I read a lengthly article on this very subject a couple years ago in a trade mag. There was extensive testing and the conclusion was that the orange peel surface (which was achieved by rolling) produced less drag than a smooth surface. The author used the golf ball as an example. I have never seen bottom paint sprayed on and would think it would have to be thinned way down to be sprayed thus making it less effective. $.02