DuckSouth.com

Gonna paint my aluminum boat. Questions? Should I sand or sandblast the old paint off first or just paint over it with primer? What kind of paint should I use to camoflauge it with? Don't really want to sand it cause that would take days and add to the cost. Any info would be appreciated.

you really should get all of the loose/chipping paint off before repaining. then use a zinc chromate primer. i have had good luck using duralux duck boat paint without priming. it is made for aluminum boats. if it was me i'd pressure wash it real good then paint it with the duralux paint. then camo to your liking

Just got finished primeing mine, i lightly sanded it to get all the buildup and loose stuff off and to rough up the surface, if the old paint is still in pretty good shape i'd leave it, then spray with a good self-etching primer.

no need to use self etching primer over paint. self etching primers are for use on oxided metals. just use a good quality paint over the sanded and cleaned old paint and you will be fne.

You will need zinc chromate primer( i think it is a self etching primer) or duralux aluminium boat green paint of you have bare aluminium. You can wash it with aluma brite first then paint it. I just did one a few months ago. I used the aluma-brite and the duralux paint.

Don't know much about sandblasting, but can you sandblast aluminum or not

You can blast it, but it will be a whole lot faster just to power wash the loose paint off and quickly go over the boat with some med grit sand paper. Once sanded wipe it down with acetone and get to painting. Duralux makes some really good marine paint and so does Lock, Stock, and Barrel.

me and buddy have finished painting /in the process of painting/ both of our boats. Lightly sanded and used vingar (vinager is a mild acid) to etch surface. wipe area clean with denatured alcohol. let it dry for a few hours and use the duralux aluminum boat paint in green. you can order from bottompaintstore.com
the one we finished looks great and i'm sure the other will as well.