Gelcoat repair issues

[cdlong]

Is this what would be considered a stress crack? If yes, how would I repair it. If no, I'll continue with the repair with gel coat. 3rd picture is from the bottom up.

[cdlong]

Based on primer still showing after several attempts to cover it, I am going with Wildfire's recommendation of spraying the gel coat. I have purchased this spray gun. i still have to finish the gel coat repair on a few areas.

[cdlong]

The bow was in worse shape than I thought. Had to extend the repair area due to a yellow substance that was used for repairs. As soon as it was touched, it turned to dust. PO musta smacked something pretty good. Have ordered the items Wildfire recommended. As soon as the bow repair is completed, it's gelcoat repairs again.

[cdlong]

I feel I finally have a system. I grind out the cracks with a dremel tool, using an angled stone. Then sand w/ 220 grit paper. I wash the area with TSP to remove any remaining wax, then wipe with Acetone using a microfiber rag. Wear gloves. I mix one ounce of gel coat with 12 drops of wax sol, ( shake Wax Sol before mixing), after I have the color mixed. Then add 2 drops of hardener. Dab it in the repair area, I don't use a putty knife, only the black mixing stick. Adding Wax Sol has eliminated the air bubbles caused by the heat while curing. Once cured, I dry sand by hand with 220 grit wet/ dry paper for metal. I stopped using electric & air sanders as I feel this also lead to exposing the primer under the gel coat. This paper seems to last longer than regular wet/ dry paper. I wrap the paper around the flex sponge as it seems to hold the contours of the boat better and I don't sand thru to the primer as much. I have tried Starbrite compound for heavy oxidation, didn't like the results. I'm not happy with the Starbrite Polish either. The Starbrite mildew stain remover is excellent. Make sure you wear gloves. This stuff will take the hide off. Worked well on the access covers. Spray on a microfiber rag and wipe the covers. DO NOT spray and get it on the gel coat. Made the fenders, seat covers and throwable like preserver look new. I applied 2 coats of compound and used the Harbor Freight 7 inch polisher. Not crazy how this starts out slow & comes up to speed, but the price was tight. Tried the compounding pad, but got better results with the wool bonnets. Hand buffed after the compound did it's job. Applied the Mother's wax by hand, dabbing it on with a pad, then worked the wax using a terry cloth pad on the buffer, then polished with a microfiber towel over the terry cloth bonnet using the HF 10 inch buffer. Once the repais are completed, I'll be spraying the gel coat on areas using Wildfire's instructions.

[cdlong]

Forgot about the gelcoat thickener. Very helpful on radiuses, curvers & vertical surfaces. The photo of the port side stress crack is a 50-50 mix of gelcoat & duragloss. The pin hole sanded out nicely. Once sanded, I discovered with a straight edge that the fiberglass repair was too low so I had to grind out the gelcoat & build it up more with fiberglass.

[cdlong]

Sprayed the starboard side today using Wildfire's recipe. Looks good so far. Been 1 hour and the gel coat is already set up. Mixed 2 ozs and 5 drops of hardener. Had plenty of time to spray. Actually sprayed all the gel coat, then lacquer thinner. I didn't realize I missed so many small holes. Anyone tell me what I can use to fill them in, (fairing compound?), and respray or do I grind them out again and start over? They are hard to see in the fiberglass, but jump right out at ya when the light color hits em. It's a lot of work, but I do like the spray gel coat. I used the small HF gun @ 35 psi. Very good spray pattern. I probably when overboard on the masking.

[cdlong]

Purchased Evercoat Formula 27 filler. This stuff was a pita for me. Hard to mix so you had a decent amount of working time. Mix small batches. Easy to sand. I have sprayed the gelcoat. Best gun I found was the HF 20 oz gun w/ 1.4 nozzle. Blew thru 2 guns before I got it right. Small gun with dryer sucked. Mixed 3 ozs of gelcoat with 3 ozs of Duragloss, 6 drops of brown & 12 drops of hardener. Had good working time. I got the color very close. Pics of the boat after 220 grit sanding in the next post. I'll be cutting down the air pressure & adding the HF disposable moisture filters on the next spray. With 2 in line filters, I still got water. Articles I read says to place horizontal & vertical 1/2 inch pipe pipe after the ac with a drain to cool air remove water. I though I taped off well, but I found gelcoat over spray where it shouldn't have been.