# Duck Boat Paint Job



## Outdoorsman95 (Apr 21, 2015)

I recently bought a 14ft Jon boat and want to put a new camo paint job on it. Anyone have any tips, tactics, pattern ideas, or paint advice? I'm also trying to keep it cheap if at all possible. Any ideas are greatly appreciated


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## g0nef1sshn (Apr 21, 2015)

if your not gonna strip it all the way down to bare aluminum, sand, prime, and paint is all there is. If you want it to look pretty, do the same steps but slower. Paint a pattern with colors that look like where you will be hunting. If you strip it all the way down to bare aluminum you will need to use a self etching primer.

Also if you paint with spray cans you wont need to add any hardners to the paint. 

Look through Iboat forums for some aluminum boat restorations and you will see some good advice in there.


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## MudDucker (Apr 22, 2015)

Clean it with Tide before you paint and be sure you remove all residue of the Tide.  Tide will etch the surface.

Paint big patterns.  Small patterns look cool but are lost in a short distance.


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## rnelson5 (Apr 22, 2015)

Paint the boat a solid color then ditch the boat and hide small.


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## Outdoorsman95 (Apr 22, 2015)

Thanks for the responses guys. Ive heard that bigger patterns are better but havent really found a good example of one to go off of yet. Most videos and pictures ive seen have been done with high dollar equipment (which I cant swing considering I can hardly afford shells these days)


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## BrownDog20886 (Apr 22, 2015)

Check out Lock, Stock and Barrel's site.  They have oil based marine enamel that is very tough and some good instructions even if you don't use their stuff.  I actually agree with the advice to just paint it one color and be done with it.  If you put a blind in it, you'll use camo clothe and then brush it in, so all your work will be covered up.  If you hide the boat away from your blind, camo clothe will still cover it better than paint.  I was gonna put a custom, super cool camo job on mine and was prepared to invest some serious time in the job, but then I thought about how much of a pain touch ups would be after I beat it up over the season.  I ended up just painting it a moss green and being done with it.

Nate


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## rnelson5 (Apr 23, 2015)

I had a thread on this one over a year ago. The top pic was when I got the boat and the bottom pic was finIshed. Parkers duck boat paint is what I used with a cheap harbor freight sprayer on my air compressor. It has been sitting outside since then and the paint still looks great except for on the inside where it is scratched from decoys, fishing stuff, etc.


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## waddler (Apr 23, 2015)

Paint the whole boat inside and out with a color that matches the water you hunt. Then use a pattern that matches the blind you hunt from. 

Small river floats in N Ga. is usually on yellow water, S Ga usually black, etc. Put pattern inside boat also.


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## GreatWhiteTurkeyHunter (Apr 23, 2015)

I painted mine a solid color like the one above but slightly darker then used a flat brown, black, and green spray paint to do the camo. I just grabbed some branches with leaves on them from a tree and held it up to the boat and sprayed it. Start with the lightest color first, go all the way around the boat (inside and out) then do the same with the other two colors. Looks like leaves and shadows.


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## g0nef1sshn (Apr 23, 2015)

Im going with this scheme...


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## waddler (Apr 24, 2015)

Spray yourself a tarp with the same paint/camo pattern. Put it over everything in the boat when you are in the blind.


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## Bambi (May 17, 2015)

I made some stencils out of cardboard. Drew them then cut em out. Used the Rustoleum Camo colors ultra flat. Nothing fancy, just breaks the outline to hide the boat easier.


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## king killer delete (May 17, 2015)

Palmetto frons


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## g0nef1sshn (May 17, 2015)

Looks good, that will hide it.


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## T-N-T (May 17, 2015)

Stencils or palmetto. Easy squizy


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