Fixing a chip

[Brian N.]

Had a small chip at the corner of the transom about the size of a dime. but it just exposed some fibers in the glass. The chip was just below the rub rail, and certainly not concerning as to integrity of the structure. Most of the online videos concerned much bigger repairs and were not of any help. I made a quick call to Defender Marine for advice and purchased a small tube of "Gel Coat Scratch Patch". $20 plus shipping, a bit expensive, but it was not any cheaper on Amazon

I applied it as the Defender representative suggested: Underfill the area, wait an hour then smooth out. Wait three hours or more, then apply the rest to fill the depression but be careful not to overfill. He advised to apply the second fill VERY slowly, barely squeezing the tube, letting the gel flow smoothly forming a clean smooth  shiny surface. The repair was the prefect color match (white), and while not perfectly hidden, it is pretty good. The first fill was a little runny, but after a about 20 minutes dry time I used the small plastic scraper to remove the runs. On the second fill I was more careful

[Charles Brennan]

Brian, For any future chip repairs, after application of filler, place a small section of Saran Wrap over the  chip repair and smooth it over. Use enough wrap for the surface area to provide sufficient vacuum to hold the plastic in place. When cured, peel the wrap off and you'll have a very smooth finish, possibly requiring no fairing at all.

Hope this helps,
Charles Brennan

[Brian N.]

I saw several videos where they covered the patch with plastic wrap. I asked the tech at Defender about that, and his opinion was that I could get a nice smooth finish without the plastic wrap using this product and the small size of the chip. Perhaps with larger repairs that is the way to do it. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Riggerdood]

Charles, I used that trick when I sealed up the hull-deck joint on my DS with 5200. The stuff is quite saggy when applied, and the gaps were face down, requiring the 5200 to be squished up in there. Plastic wrap held it there until it cured, and came off easily.