Thought Id write up a how to on Plasti Dipping your boat letters.

I did this recently and learned a few good and bad things. Figure ill share this so others will be on the Goods only LOL.

First watch a couple You Tube videos on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNY9Dx617N8 long but shows you everything you need to know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvkq-qyY9aY shorter and answers a lot of questions

First Plasti Dip creates no heat while curing so it wont hurt your Gel Coat
Second Plasti Dip is not traditional paint, so dont treat it like it is with your masking and upkeep
Third Dont worry if you get a little run, or heavy on 1 spot versus another
Forth Small dust and dirt that land on the wet paint cant be removed and the finish will still look good


On to the process.
I tried to really screw this up when painting because i wanted to know the limits of the product.
I sprayed thick spots, thin spots, touched it when it was wet, and by the end you would never know you made these mistakes so dont worry. Best of all if its messed up, let it dry and peel it off.

Ok Prep. The more Prep you do the easier clean up is.

First Clean the area. I recommend Waxing around the area you don't want plasti dip on. This will make removal even easier. Use glass cleaner, or some kind of cleaner on the Letters you want plasti dip on. This makes the Plasti Dip grip better

Masking.

I recommend masking apx 2 inches away from the lettering. Any closer and its hard to peel the plasti dip, any farther and you get spray splatter and this wont peel. You have to rub it off.

Once you get your area taped off. Grab your can, i recommend 2 cans for the lettering. This is what i used, and i did 8 coats. Choose how much you want to coat but its better to have extra cans to return then not enough cans to finish.

Once you got everything masked the way you want it. Shake the can for at least 1 minute. The more you shake it the better it works. Also i noticed the can seems to spray best from full to 1/4 ish, after that it wants to splatter and that is a bad thing.

When spraying, just start your spray before the letters and spray at a continuous rate, distance and movement across the letters. Dont spray a heave coat, you want it to take a couple coats to blacken the letters.

I did 2 coats across the letters.
Then i went back on the 3rd and sprayed all the letter edges. This will create some runs, so just be careful and take your time.

You can tell when 1 coat is dry and its time for the next coat because the paint will look Flat when dry, its glossy when wet.

I did 2 coats across the letters, and then 1 coat to the edges, then 2 coats across and 1 to the edges, then 2 final coats, slow and a bit heavier then all the rest as my finishing coats.

Wait about 1 hour before peeling, but don't let it set over night. The longer it sits the more it cures, and curing is what makes it bond and harder to remove.

The edge coats are only needed on the big Moomba letters, the rear and corner letters are flat enough the plasti dip will get in the edges on its own.

What you want to end up with is even plasti dip coat from your letters, to the sides of the boat, and onto your masking. If you have spray pattern or splatters onto the masking but not full even coats then it makes clean up a lot harder.

Now your done spraying. This is when peeling starts, and this is why its CRITICAL you DO NOT mask the letters like traditional paint, as close as you can. If you mask to close then when you go to peel the stuff you don't want it will actually peel your lettering wasting all the work you did.

As you remove the masking take it slow, it will start to peel the unwanted plasti dip. This is where waxing the area is really handy. You can do it with out waxing and it comes off easy also.

As you peel the plasti dip it will edge its self around all the letters. You then just scratch the inside of the O B A and peel it out. If you go slow it will peel out of all the cracks. You might get edges that are stuck or tear and leave small peaces in the edges of the letters, this is where a pic tool comes in handy, Tooth picks work well too. Just careful and pick away from your letters, dont pick at the edges.

Once you peel off all the masking and around all your letters you might have some clean up left. Wax removes the plasti dip well, as well as just rubbing it with your fingers, or a towel. I recommend Micro fiber because the fibers grab it very well.

Be careful not to mess with the letters edges at this point. Let it cure over night and then you can touch it and clean it.