New paint...ideas please

[91eagle]

I'm painting the top half of my boat because the bottom gelcoat is real nice I don't want to mess with it but it doesn't have a bump rail should I make a hard-line or blend it into the gel coat

[XstreamVking]

I guess that you could get some paint to match the gell and blend it on a radius if you have one. A hard line will not look good imo. Have used some pin stripe tape to cover a paint line with good success before. If it looks ok where the surfaces meet that is....I did see some stick on type rubrail that mr demeanor posted a while back that might help out if you want something like that..

[Gmcviper]

You could use some of the pin striping tape to cover the break if you don't want a rub rail.

[RobF]

probably better off just painting the hull as well, leave the bottom gelcoat

or just put a rub rail on it and paint the deck only

[W2F a V-King]

I'm painting the top half of my boat because the bottom gelcoat is real nice I don't want to mess with it but it doesn't have a bump rail should I make a hard-line or blend it into the gel coat

If done right, a hard line looks good.
My truck had a red pin stripe covering the area where the black and silver met from the factory. Production paint, and the lines were not perfect so they cover it with a tape pin stripe.

If you take your time taping, you can get a crisp straight edge between the two colors.

My son and I repainted it 3 years ago in my basement. IMO this looks cleaner than 3 colors, if you include the color of the OE stripe. ( Truck is dirty and in the shadow of a tree, but you can see the lines OK. )

[91eagle]

I guess that you could get some paint to match the gell and blend it on a radius if you have one. A hard line will not look good imo. Have used some pin stripe tape to cover a paint line with good success before. If it looks ok where the surfaces meet that is....I did see some stick on type rubrail that mr demeanor posted a while back that might help out if you want something like that..

Where do I find this rub rail you're talking about I'd really like to find some I need about 18 foot down each side but everything I find is like 400 bucks .... and I'd like to find something that has ends or the Caps so I can start and stop I just want to go down the sides I don't want to go across the back or in between the forks

[XstreamVking]

ends and caps would have to be fabricated or sourced from somewhere else for this stuff. I take it you don't want to drill holes in the boat? https://greatlakesskipper.com/cruise...t-trim-molding

[91eagle]

ends and caps would have to be fabricated or sourced from somewhere else for this stuff. I take it you don't want to drill holes in the boat? https://greatlakesskipper.com/cruise...t-trim-molding

I don't think I'll go with that exact one it's not quite the right size but thank you for hooking me up with that website they have all kinds of rub rails ....if I can't find one there .. it probably wasn't meant to have one lol

[91eagle]

OK but back to the original question ...... I am painting the top and the two sides of my boat .... and I'm leaving the gel on the bottom .... the line will be under the water when the boat is setting but at speeds all of the new painted surface will be out of the water .... I was going to do a hard line from where I stopped painting to the gel coat ... but since it's at a spot that will be underwater setting and out of the water on plane I was worried about the force of the water peeling the new paint at the point where I stop ....should I blend the paint 6 inches or so ? .... the only downside to that is if I blend it that's 6 more inches down on the good gel coat and I really don't want to mess with the nice smooth bottom side .....hard line or blend ? .....I'll see if I can snap a pic at the shop tomorrow if I remember ..to help show what I'm talking about

[W2F a V-King]

If the surface was prepped right, I don't see the paint peeling off. Guess that could also depend on what kind of paint your going to use.