May 8, 2016

Verified Purchase

This is an extremely tough and much safer 2k solution to topside paint. I have used it from the boot stripe up and even custom tinted the hull using BASF pigments. Great paint.

Custom tint hull. Whidbey white on top

February 10, 2016

I have just recently used this paint on my 34' hatteras sportfish. So, to start off I used the Silvertip two part epoxy water based yacht prImer, sprayed with an HVLP gun, the results were great, everything went as planned. Next came the "orcas white" color coat, it sprayed ok through the HVLP but not as I was hoping. After some asking around at local boat yards I was advised to try a non-HVLP spray gun, so I tracked down a low budget "high pressure" gun and gave it another go... The results went from ok to great. I opted to use the clear coat over the color coat to give extra protection and gloss, it also sprayed great with the "high pressure" gun. I am currently in the process of wet sanding and buffing the clear coat and I must say it looks awesome. One thing to keep in mind is water borne paints are EXTREMELY affected by climate. Air flow is a good way to control dry time if in a cooler environment (ie air movement dries the paint), if it is hot do not try to paint large areas. I chose to wet sand between primer-color-clear coats, if you wet sand MAKE sure your paint is totally cured, otherwise it will start pealing off the plastic wrap (very scary!), if in doubt wait longer. The painting over my boat took place in temperatures ranging from 60-80 degrees F, my boat is located in a non environmentally controlled shrink wrap boat house. Everything from the rub rail up was refinished.

August 31, 2015

Whatever your painting should be in a covered environment for an extended time. Not a simple matter for my 38' sailboat. I wrote to System 3 tech support the following questions: I'm preparing to paint the deck of my sailboat with your WR_LPU. I have used this before. I will be painting several coats early in the morning outside in the open. My question concerns moisture that will occur after painting. Such as dew the following morning or possible rain in the following days. The decks are well drained. Is this type of moisture detrimental and if so in what way? Appearance or performance of the paint? Thanks, Paul Their answer: Paul We recommend that the paint stay moisture free until the proper film thickness has been achieved (5-8 mils). After this is achieved, moisture contact from dew shouldn't be an issue as long as it's removed regularly. I would avoid rain contact for the full 14 days to get proper cure. You basically want to avoid any long-term water contact to prevent the coating from being compromised.

September 29, 2013

Verified Purchase

This was my first attempt at spray painting anything and I am delighted with the result. If you apply very light coats running is absolutely minimal. For the few runs that did occur I would remove them immediatly with a foam brush. Becaause the paint dries sufficiently to recoat in a dew hours, multiple coats can easily be applied in a single day. This paint gives off virtually no fumes and requires no special breathing protection beyond a regular respirator. Nice! Because it dries quickly bugs and dust are not a problem. Different colors seem to have different hiding qualities. The Whidby white covers well while the sinclair yellow reqrires at least two extra coats to get a full deep finish. While not considered a high gloss paint it is very close to one and moe thaan sufficient for my purposes in painting my boat deck where I prefer a slightly less glossy finish. A gloss clear coat can be added if necessary.

Transom painted in Sinclair yellow

Deck painted in Whidby White

July 27, 2013

The critical factor with this product is that it is safe to spray. Other epoxy paints are far too dangerous to use without a professional spraybooth and related equipment. As other have said, the temperature needs to be cool and humidity high as the paint is waterborne and dries too quickly otherwise. I was able to get very satisfactory results spraying this paint in my basement using a cheap HVLP sprayer. This was my first time using a spray gun so obviosly I was learning as I went. It took several tries but in the end the finish is far better than anything I have been able to do with the roll and tip method. Resist the temptation to put on heavy coats. You can recoat within 30 minutes anyway while removing runs means waiting a day and then sppending a lot of time doing heavy sanding. I found that wiping runs with a foam brush immediatly was best. It left some brush marks but those were much easier to sand and level than runs. It took 60 grit paper to sand runs the next day as this paint is VERY tough even before the epoxy fully cures. The finish is satin - not gloss although you can apply a clear coat for that purpose - which I have not tried. In my case I am painting the deck of my sailboat and I wanted a satin finish to reduce glare and make imperfections less obvious. I seem to have a slight but amazingly even orange peel on the finish. My wife really liked that effect and creditied me with the skill when in fact I just wasn't able to do otherwise. In truth I like the fact that it has a hint of texture too. If you are satisfied with a satin finish that is safe to apply, a breeze to clean up, is tough as nails and looks great, this paint is the only one out there that I am aware of that can do all those things well.

April 1, 2013

Good leveling characteristics but be sure to monitor runs on vertical surfaces. Do not walk away from project until surface sets up. I was able to put on three coats within a two hour period. Be sure to mix only the amount you can use up in less than a half hour to be safe. I highly recommend this product.

June 12, 2012

You need measuring cups to mix batches. I used this paint to redo my cars aluminium wheels. Looks great. Bainbridge White is a lighter grey than the comput er paint chip shows. Too bad there was not a larger of choice of colors. Have enough paint left to paint my boat.

May 10, 2012

I've used this product on a boat build before the one that I'm currently working on. On that first build I had good results with the "roll and tip" method. However, I still thought it could look better as there were subtle streaks in the finish. For the current boat build I used a HVLP sprayer with a 1.5 mm needle. I painted the interior of the boat with this method. The problems that I encountered were easily resolved still annoying. I prepped the area with the manufactures recommend primer and sanded (a lot). Cleaned with alcohol and masked off the area to be painted. Setting up the viscosity was easy since it just requires mixing in some clean water. I did a few test sprays to get the flow right and started painting. The first problem that I encountered is that the paint went on with kind of a rough finish and the individual droplets weren't flattening out and merging together very well. This left the surface rough. I live in FL and the temp was right around 80 and the paint was partially drying before it hit the surface. To solve this I got a bucket of ice and put a coil of my spray hose in that. It solved the problem. Additional problems are that this stuff needs to be sprayed VERY thin with multiple coats or it will run, especially on vertical surfaces. That required sanding and reapplying. Lastly because you're limited to 24 hours between re-coats (without sanding). So if you figure you want 3 coats (at least), and it takes about an hour between coat and add it the time to actually paint the surface then you need to plan accordingly. After I finished coating the interior I went back over it with a 600 wet sand. The instructions say you can sand up to 1800 for a gloss finish. But this was the interior and I was very happy with the results after the 600. In the end this product produces a fantastic looking highly durable finish. It's a little finicky and requires a degree of "elbow grease" to get that final great result.

Final Interior View

April 25, 2012

Order more than you need if you are spraying. You will need to practice. Once you determine the right feed and speed (less and faster for me) it goes on beautifully. Could use more gloss. I will try to polish or clear coat if that does not work. It really does cover ell and finishes smooth.

March 23, 2012

I use this exclusively on the skin on frame kayaks I build at Tidewater Small Craft. Over a thick Dacron skin, I first build a thin film of System Three Clear Coat that saturates the weave of the cloth. Then three coats of the WR-LPU using a standard black foam brush. The first coat looks blotchy and dull, of course, but by the time I get to the third, the blotches are gone and it has reached a nice semi-gloss. And what I like best is the strength of finish, very abrasion resistant. This gives my clients a lot more confidence on what is very light-weight boat.