TOPIC: Gelcoat color match for 1982 15 ft Rinker v-hull

I have a 1982 15 foot Rinker v-hull open bow that I am trying to color match for a gelcoat repair. Over all the gelcoat is in excellent condition but the boat has an 8 inch scratch that came from contact with a dock. I purchased Spectrum patch paste gelcoat repair from i-boats selecting a color that closely resembled my boat color. The color turned out too light so I want to re-do the repair. Does anyone have a 1982 brochure from Rinker that list the available boat colors and the names they give to the colors. I know they made this model in white or blue. Both Rinker and Spectrum have no information on the gelcoat even though Spectrum supplies Rinker with all their gelcoat.

Have you ever watched gel-coat color matching from Boatworkstoday.com ? He does a very good job of explaining the process. Looks like a 2 part video. You'll have to scroll down thru the videos to find them.

Hi Chuck, thanks for your reply. I have watched these youtube videos and they are very good. It is also a skill I no not think I have because my color matching abilities are not the best. When he is adding colors in the video I do not see any difference. I was hoping a computer matching similar to what Home Depot has would solve my problem. I do not see this type of service being offered anywhere on the web. The pigments I need for color matching would also be a problem. I know I need white and blue but am not sure of the other colors needed for a light pastel blue that is the boat color.
Thanks,
Bob

Not sure if this is helpful or related, but I thought I heard the paint guy at the local Chrysler dealership body shop talk about somehow can do something like having an instrument or camera type equipment that can look at not only the paint color, but can give the mixing formula to match the amount of fade a pigment color may have experienced so that the mixed color actually matches what a person has at time of repair. Sorry if this doesn’t help or if I miss heard something. Not sure if that could translate to gelcoat pigment... but maybe they could say so many parts blue, so many parts white and who knows if their is a gray component? Any professionals out there that knows the facts about this? Any Art majors that know how to mix paint? I am like you... if a computer could figure out how to capture it and match it, I would be interested.

Dr. Go - Hi and thank you for your reply. I was considering taking a paint sample card that is very close to the gel coat color to Home Depot and have them color match it on their machine. The machine is very accurate and I have used it in the past to match colors of paint I needed for the house. The pigment machine/computer gives the operator the amount of pigment that is required to make white paint the desired color. They have an indexed knob on each of the pigments and they just dial in what the computer has determined and pump out the pigment into the paint. I am going to tell them to just put the pigment in another container and then I will mix that pigment with the patch paste I currently have. My thought is that if the pigment can mix with latex paint it should also be able to mix with the patch paste. I may end up ruining the patch paste but it is of no use to me in its current shade of blue. The patch paste kit has a shelf life of about 6 months so I have nothing to lose if it does not work out. I am also very surprised that Spectrum does not offer this type of service. I know they have a color match computer because when I sent them the color on a paint sample card they told me they scanned it and do not have a patch paste kit that is close to the color. They did offer to sell me a gallon of gelcoat for over $200 that would be close to the sample. The boat is currently in winter storage so in the spring I will update this post to relate how the Home Depot color match worked out.

Well if that's the case by going to the depot for a coded color match, and since you have to make a repair to a damaged area on the boat anyway ?
Why not make the damaged area a paint chip bigger to get the exact weather faded color match.... depending on how big of a chip you need to be scanned ?

The size of a paint sample needed by Home Depot is about the size of a quarter/ 25cents. The area I am trying to repair is a fairly deep scratch about 8 inches long but only less than 1/8 inch wide. I already repaired the scratch but am not satisfied with the result. The repair to the scratch is now perfect in terms of a smooth solid finish - it is just several shades lighter and a little more grey than the rest of the hull. When I go the Home Depot route, I will mix the patch paste and then test it to see if the pigment affects its hardening ability. If the test works out, I will scrape out my current fix and try to patch it again with a better color match.

I dont think latex pigment will mix into a polyester resin based gelcoat paste.

Doubt oil based pigment will either

Need to use gelcoat pigment
www.iboats.com/shop/evercoat-marine-gel-coat-coloring-agent-admiral-blue-1oz.html

PITA but its color matching gelcoat

Hi jbcurt00,
Thanks for the link to iboats and the information on pigments and their compatibility with polyester resin. I was wondering that myself. I even posted a question about it with boatworkstoday but never got a response. I guess it is hard to keep up with answering questions when you have a popular youtube channel.