Toplac Plus application

Builder's Forum
1

So the TL;DR is that the second coat of Toplac Plus has resulted in rampant orange peel and roller tracks and I don’t know exactly why.

This is my first time using any sort of marine paint. I applied 2 coats of Prekote, sanding after each with 220. I was impressed with that product and how level and smooth I was able to get things. The first coat of Toplac Plus when on nicely as well. I was perhaps slightly reckless as I knew I would be appplying a second, and likey a third coat. The paint leveled nicely and I was surprised at how good a single coat looked. I did have a few runs, and some tracks and orange peel where my application was less than perfect, but nothing major. I wet sanded those out prior to the second coat. Rinsed with water, wiped dry, and hit the whole boat with a tack cloth prior to the starting the second coat about 20hrs after the first.

Right away the second coat did not seem to go on as well. The roller was pulling up a lot of orange peel, and leaving more tracks than the first time. I’d hoped they would level, but several hours later all of the orange peel and tracks are still there. It practically looks like anti-skid in some areas. There are some areas that don’t look terrible, but even the best parts of the second coat are not as smooth as the first. It really feels like it just completely failed to level out at all.

I have a few ideas of how to improve. One is to trash the rollers I have been using. They leave heavy tracks no matter the technique or amount of paint. To some degree I think I can blame the orange peel on all of the back rolling I did to try to chase way the roller tracks, which didn’t end up working anyway. I think the rollers are too soft. They load up with paint but won’t let it go without enough pressure to leave tracks. I can’t figure out why the first coat would be so much better than the second though. I have a bag of rollers from the CLC finishing kit that I should have used, and will on the next coat.

The temp and humidity were squarely inside the range for Toplac Plus, so there shouldn’t have been a problem there. I am wondering if the partial quart I started the second coat with lost some of its solvent while still in the can. To my knowledge I sealed it up tightly, but I guess it is possible. If there was a loss due to evaporation, it would have needed thinner which I do not have anyway.

I think to be safe I will tip out the third coat even though it shouldn’t be strictly necessary according to Interlux and the internet.

That is about all I can think of as to why the second coat is such a disaster. I’m listening to all suggestions and criticism.

2

What type of rollers are you using? I have used the 4” white foam rollers from Home Depot very successfully with Toplac. I typically apply with one roller and very, very lightly tip with a second dry roller to break the bubbles. Use very thin coats

3

I am using a 4” white mini roller with the rounded ends from some online retailer. After looking more closely now that the second coat has dried to the touch it does seem like excessive rolling may be the culprit. Hopefully the switch to clc rollers helps after I sand back the orange peel and roller tracks.

The worst of it is on the bottom.

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The sides didn’t turn out too bad, although there are a few spots here and there that are unacceptable.

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The good news is I am really happy with the color, Ivory. I also have some Sapphire Blue, and Sundown Buff. I plan to use.

4

It appears to me that you are putting it on far too thick. The CLC rollers will make the problem worse IMHO. When I paint Toplac I put it on in very, very thin coats. Essentially as thin as possible

5

Thanks, I will try to apply the third coat much lighter. I knew that when the roller was full the paint was going on too heavy, so I tried to stretch it as much as possible. The rollers I was using got very soft and floppy after only a few minutes of use. They seemed to hold a lot of paint and became very pressures sensitive. To much pressure left tracks, any less than that and basically zero paint dispensed. I’ll carefully try the CLC rollers since I have a dozen or so of them and go as light as possible. I shouldn’t need much coverage anymore with two apparently heavy coats applied.

6

I typically just barely dip the roller into the paint - I never submerge the full roller. Then I roll it around on the tray before applying to the hull. After applying to a section I “tip” with a second dry roller with the lightest possible pressure - just enough to break the bubbles.

You probably should sand the present layers with 180 or 220 grit paper until the hull is smooth before doing the next coat I always do at least 4-5 coats

7

I wet sanded the whole hull with 320. Whats another 3 hours of sanding in the grand scheme, right? For the most part that smoothed things over with a few ares to touch up. The next coat will be the 3rd and thin as I can reasonably make it. I will definitely need a 4th and I’m guessing a 5th. I thought I was going to get away with 3 coats, but so be it. I’ll be much more careful on the interior where I surely do not want any extra-curricular sanding.