Wrinkle Paint Do's And Don'ts

To get a presentable paint job on a fiberglass stock takes a few special “wrinkles”. (Editors note: You’ll have to excuse Randy for his bad pun.) First, prepare the stock as per finishing instructions; sand, fill, blend with Bondo, then spray with a suitable primer. After the primer is completely dried, sand all the primer off! This will make it easier to find pin holes, plus wrinkle paint sticks best over bare fiberglass anyway so I always take the primer off before I finish painting.

Next, construct a handle of some kind that will permit you to hold the stock horizontally and rotate it, too. This handle is very important. It will minimize your chances of developing runs. If you hang the stock vertically while painting, or shortly after, you’re asking for runs.

You don’t want to apply any paint to the bedding area, so completely mask the bedding area and any other portion of the stock you don’t want to paint. When your stock is fully prepped and is all masked off, you’re ready to paint it. Choose a well lighted and well ventilated place, outside is best. Check the temperature. 70° F. plus is a must but 80° F. is better yet.

Shake the paint until you hear the marble begin to rattle around inside the can, then shake it another four or five minutes.

Paint in long, even passes. Put on a fairly heavy, wet coat. Rotate the stock 180° horizontally every 15 or 20 seconds. You can hold the stock vertically for a little while, but not too long.

Three minutes after you finish applying the first coat, put another coat on. I hold the can back a little farther and fog it on. Wait another three minutes and put another fog coat on.

The three most common causes of failure with the wrinkle paint are:

1. Work area temperature is too cold.
2. Paint not put on thick enough.
3. The paint not mixed thoroughly enough.

Now that the stock is painted, continue to hold it horizontally and rotate it every minute or so. Watch for runs. If you have any, turn the stock so the run will go back the other way. Don’t hold it in the same direction too long or you may create a run someplace else.

After 30 or 40 minutes you can hang it in a vertical position and let it cure. In an hour or so the paint will start to wrinkle. You’ll notice that some areas will wrinkle sooner than others. Don’t worry about this now, the problem can be corrected later.

If the paint has quit wrinkling and you still have a shiny spot or two, follow these directions carefully. Wait at least two hours after the paint has stopped wrinkling. Using an air brush or atomizer, spray on a light coat of lacquer thinner on the shiny spots. Cover shiny spots lightly and be sure not to get the lacquer thinner on anything other than the shiny spots. The lacquer thinner should make the shiny spot wrinkle up.

Now you can let it hang the stock in a warm place to cure. Total curing time could be as much as a week or 10 days. If you have reservations about the paint being fully cured, just smell it. If it still smells like paint it’s not completely cured. Don’t add direct heat to speed cure time. Heat concentrated in one place will cause bubbles. Also, low humidity can be a problem; try to maintain a humidity of at least 50%.