Primer

[dmlach]

Is it necessary to use a primer over a fiberglass pirogue? If so what kind? I'm currently patching the boat and will be painting a camo pattern on it for this upcoming duck season. I was going to hit it with some sand paper, clean it really well, and prime it or just paint over the sanded epoxy finish. I'm not looking for a finish paint job to last too long, it will probably need to be painted every year with the amount of use/abuse it will get. Any comments on whether primer is needed and what kind would work best would be greatly appreciated. First time poster on this site, it looks chock-full of great info!

 

[Hydrophillic]

I have used glidden gripper over epoxy and then latex exterior paint over that. duralux is little more expensive and is oil based but I think most skip the primer step. Also the duralux is ready to go when dry whereas the latex even dry takes two weeks fully harden. Some also use rustoleum protective enamel. If you are as confused as I am do not worry, hopefully some one will chime in and offer the silver bullet. The latex has held up on my end but rather laborious to apply. It takes me three coats to fully cover the primer. Then again it is probably my technique.

 

[dmlach]

Thanks for the reply, I'm trying to stay away from latex paint. I will probably use a finish coat of camo colored spray paints, from what I have read from previous posts the rustoleum may be the best route since I will be abusing it and probably repainting quite often. I thought maybe using a base coat of primer would help with the adhesion, and if there is another quality or proven spray on primer recommendation that would be great! Otherwise I was thinking about using a high quality primer like interlux so that I wouldn't have to sand everything off before each paint job, or is my thinking incorrect?

 

[tx river rat]

The oil base rustolem directly on the epoxy no primer has worked the best for me.
Ron

 

[seedtick]

I've used duralux over epoxy saturated (west system) plywood after washing to remove blush with no problem. Also used duralux primer and duralux over epoxy saturated, but that was just last month so don't know about longer term

Also used Interlux primer for putting their enamel over epoxy no problem

If I were using an expensive paint , like Interlux, I'd spring for the primer. With cheaper paints I'd tend to gamble with no primer