@theBusmonkey Have you tried polish? If it wasn't for the rusty bits, I would - the paint might look bad but with a lot less effort than painting ours could all be rejuvinated...
I've Tcut and polished but I'm afraid I've lost the hard top surface of the enamel It's ok for a week or 2 then it dulls off again. One side of the boat is south facing all day which is nice for living and views etc but really bad for the paint. I've heard of folk using an Owatrol product called Polytrol. Apparently it restores chalky pigments. Have you heard of this or is it urban myth? I may give it a go, as Owatrol has an outstanding rep for extending pot life and eliminating brush strokes on hull sides
Dunno Mike. I guess but would you spray or brush lacquer onto a narrow boat? I can see that ending only one way...
https://www.owatroldirect.co.uk/marine/revive-narrowboat-polytrol/ Just found that @Zed Going to have a punt and will let you know...
My roof is so powdery I'm cutting it back with G3 right now as I have a big tub of it and milder stuff just wasn't doing the job! I have heard of reviving paint with baby oil, but it only lasts a few months. Hopefully your owatrol stuff will be better, but you can't beat polishing it first whatever you pour on top! My ex-neighbour polishes his with pound shop bathroom cream cleaner and I must admit it comes up super shiny. His view is that polish is polish and only idiots buy expensive stuff. Seriously, try a patch with cream cleaner. Edit, sorry, missed your post where you already tried polishing.
Well, that was hard work, I've done about 1/8th of it. At least it's obvious which bit is done. That's not the same roof hatch as the previous picture... Another 12ft to that one. Double
It would be less work if I kept up with the maintenance. i.e. if I'd kept the roof waxed I wouldn't be having to polish it first. I could get a polishing pad for my DA... but that would annoy the neighbours and as much as I moan I'm quite enjoying seeing the shine come back. T'was like this after I'd painted it.
One of them isn't it. I'd fallen out of love with ours a few years ago. Not the lifestyle, but the fact it was rusting away underneath us Now I've seen the standard of the work that's gone into the new base plate I'm dead excited about getting back out on the cut and idling away the hours at 3mph Ordered the Polytrol, so I'll let you know here how that works out..
I'm sure it'll "work". The question is how often will you need to re-apply it. Then again as it's an oil type thing it should be a piece of cake compared to painting or polishing. Far too late for us though. We wax and wane here - we know if we start attending to things there'll be no end to it so have to think we're in the right frame of mind for a long haul. Hence rust removing. painting, polishing all on the go while the weather holds. It would have been better to have started months ago but I've had a dicky health year up until recently.