# Extreme Boat Detailing - Gelcoat Correction and Ceramic Coating - 26' Regulator Cente



## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

*Extreme Boat Detailing - Gelcoat Correction and Ceramic Coating - 26' Regulator Center Console*










This class has being going hard for 2-full days and while I know they're tired - they show up early excited and ready to learn Extreme Boat Detailing!

*Beautiful BIG BOATS!*
Now this is the size of boat you want to work on when you take a boat detailing class. The sides of the hull TALL and WIDE! You'll be able to do all the gelcoat correction and coating without having to hunch over or stress your back, legs and shoulders. There's a reason for the last 11 years I always bring in great training boats. It's for your benefit. We want you to learn a lot but also have a great experience and this includes a great physical experience. You don't get this with small, tiny boats.










*Our Training Academy is 100' deep and fully air-conditioned and more important - Fully POWERED for power tools.*

We can get 2 more boats this size in here if we want.










*BEFORE CONDITION*

First - here's how this 26' Regulator looked BEFORE the class.



















*This boat has medium oxidation and holograms throughout the gelcoat. *




























*Dock Rash or dock scratches from the boat moving up and down against a dock.*


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

Continued....

*Removing old vinyl graphics*
For all my boat classes, the first thing I do is discuss removing old boat registration lettering and branding or personalized graphics

*Boat Registration Letters*
Most boat owners are completely good with removing old registration letters because they are inexpensive to replace and the owners are smart enough to know it will be better for them and the boat if we don't have to try to sand and buff around the lettering.

*Branding and personalized graphics*
When it comes to removing large graphic usually on the sides of the hull, some owners are good with removing the old graphics and some owners want to leave them intact. I fully explain how leaving old, dried-out and brittle graphics will be difficult to sand and buff around but at the end of the day - it's the owners call.

*Ghosting*
When you remove graphics that have been on the side of a boat hull for any length of time, there's always ghosting left behind. Ghosting is the outline or impression left in the gelcoat that mimics the shape and size of the graphic.s I've NEVER seen ghosting removed 100% and it's important to educate the boat owner of this reality if they choose to let us remove the graphics. You can lessen their appearance via sanding and buffing but I've personally never seen ghosting removed 100%.

For this boat, the owner has given us permission to remove the boat registration lettering and the graphics.




























*Heat Gun*
To remove the lettering and the graphics we use a heat gun to heat the graphics and the adhesive until hot and the pull and remove the graphics as best as possible. When graphics are really old they tend to break so then we heat up the graphics and use plastic razor blades and plastic scrapers to remove them. For any residual adhesive left over we use the 3D Gum & Tar Remover.




























*Sanding Options*
Before we get going on the sanding, I go over all the various ways a person can sand down deep oxidation on gelcoat including hand sanding and machine sanding.



















*Test Spot*
It's VITALLY IMPORTANT to always do a Test Spot and dial-in the process for removing the deep oxidation, dock rash, swirls and scratches before attempting to work on the entire boat. For this 26' Regulator, I did the Test Spot and in doing this also demonstrated all the techniques for all the steps the class would do to the rest of the boat. A boat Test Spot is much like a test spot we do on our cars.



















*Waterless Wash*
After the Test Spot, I have the class wipe down the boat using 3D Waterless Wash to ensure there isn't any loose contamination on the surface before taping off and sanding.




























*Taping-Off*
We're not removing the Boot Stripe so the class tapes this off to protect it from damage during the sanding process. We also tape-off any polished metal britework components to protect them too.



















*Machine Sanding with FLEX 8mm Gear-Driven Orbital Polishers*
Before turning the class loose, I demonstrate the difference between using any brand of FREE SPINNING random orbital polisher as a sander and then demonstrate using the FLEX gear-driven orbital polishers as sanders. It's easy for everyone to see that gear-driven tools are the ONLY way to go. Free spinning tools for sanding are great for car paint but increase the amount of time to do the job due to pad stalling and wear you out via BRAIN DRAIN - as you must constantly watch the sanding disc to see if it is in fact rotating or wasting your time.

After demonstrating the difference I turn the class loose and let them choose out of the three FLEX BEAST tools which tool they want to use or if they like - use all three different tools. These include,


The FLEX BEAST
The FLEX Supa BEAST
The FLEX CBEAST

Then the class gets busy sanding down the gelcoat to remove deep oxidation, dock rash, swirls, scratches and holograms from the last time this boat was buffed.


















































































*Thanks Josh for getting the transom...*


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

Continued....

*Machine Compounding to remove Sanding Marks*
After thoroughly sanding down the gelcoat, next up we switch over to the FLEX CORDLESS PE14 rotary polishers and also the corded PE14 rotary polishers using 3D 510 Premium Rubbing Compound and a 8" 4-ply twisted 100% wool pad I had Lake Country make to our specifications for our marine line and body shop line.

*3D Marine Compound*
3D is introducing a fast cutting marine compound but at the time of this class this new compound has not gone into production. No worries - our 510 Premium Rubbing Compound is formulated to cut hard clearcoats FAST and it works just as great on hard gelcoats. After the compounding step will use the 3D 520 Finishing Polish to polish the gelcoat to a mirror shine.










*Correct Rotary Technique for angled vertical hulls*
I see a lot of experts telling people how to use a rotary buffer and we always need more experts. I usually don't agree with the experts so I show my classes the correct way to use a rotary buffer to get the job done FAST without wearing yourself out needlessly. How's that saying go? Work smarter - not harder.










*Time to get busy!*



















*I politely corrected Josh's technique*










*In my classes - the exceptions are 100% sanding mark removal.*



















I* politely corrected Jose's technique.*










*Looking good Manny!*










*Here at 3D we use the SCANGRIP brand for inspection.*










*The Camera Man!*
Below you can see Yancy doing what he does best and that's photography and video capture.










*The Finger Painting Technique*
In the picture below, Vicky is using the *Finger Painting Technique* to put compound up under the rub rail so she can buff out her sanding marks in this area.



















*Nice....*










*Perfect technique Vicky!*










*It's always rewarding to see the passion the people that attend these classes have for doing pro-grade work.*










*Royce has years of experience buffing out boat and is a master with the rotary polisher. Below he shares some tips with Zachary.*










*Then Royce shows how it's done.*




























*Like a BOSS!*










*Perfect technique Q*


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

Continued....

*Machine Polishing*
After all the sanding marks have been removed it's time to switch back over to the FLEX family of BEAST tools. At this stage I let the students pick any gear-driven FLEX polisher they want to re-visit or spend more time with or heck, use all three. The important thing now is to remove all the holograms left by the wool pad and the rotary polisher and maximize gloss, clarity and most important - get the gelcoat as smooth as possible.

*3D Dark Purple Foam Spyder Cutting Pad*
Our test spot showed us THIS gelcoat like a sharp foam cutting pad for polishing versus a softer foam polishing pad. The class used the 3D 520 Finishing Polish to finish out the buffing process.










*Vicky showing all the big strong guys how to get the job done using the original FLEX BEAST!*










*Zachary making gelcoat look beautiful again!*



















*Nice mirror reflection there Manny!*










*Teamwork!*










*Nice work Steel!*










*Josh and Royce doing the hard part - the transom. Thanks guys!*










*The FLEX FS 140 Set - Flexible Shaft for the PXE-80 - aka the **FLEX Shafty*
I'd like to say thank you to Chris Metcalf and FLEX Power Tools for providing us with this little gem. One of the most difficult things to do is remove oxidation from gelcoat that surrounds the boat manufacturers lettering. This is especially true for these three dimensional rubber letters. If you buff on them you'll mar and dull them. With the Flexy Shaft you can easily buff in-between the letters to complete the work and the final results.



















After demonstrating technique - it's time for Jose to take over.













































*Now to the other side...*




























*Just about done...*










*Dan aka the Detail Doctor and Shawn, an alumni student of mine, tackle the engines with 3D 505 Correction Glaze.*




























*Beautiful guys!*


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

Continued....

*Installing the 3D Ceramic Coating*
After all the polishing work was completed, next up the class prepped the gelcoat using 3D WIPE and then applied 3 layers of the 3D Ceramic Coating waiting 30 minutes in-between each layer.

*Here's Vicky applying the coating to a coating saver applicator pad.*



























































































*Looks like a brand new boat!*





































*I'll guarantee you this transom never looked this good from the factory. Looks like a blue mirror.*




























*1933 Ford 3-window Coupe - Training Car*
The 33 Ford makes a nice backdrop to the boat detailing class. This was one of the cars used for multiple step paint correction and ceramic coating and it too looks like a MILLION BUCKS!










*Finishing the 3 layer...*










*Looking great!*


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

Continued...

*Here's the final results!*










*See the ghosting? Everyone thought the darker ghosting looks better than the graphics.*










*Oh so nice...*



































































































































































*Engines look right and tight...*










*Let's bring the 33 Ford around to the side for a reflection shot....*



















_*Check out these freaking incredible results!*_




























_*Incredible results! *_

And this was the first time for most of the people in this class to take on this kind of extreme boat detailing and she came out perfect!

*Nice work everyone!*


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## Mike Phillips (Jan 26, 2007)

Continued....

And here you see the owner taking her home.


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