[candanewell]

I recently repaired a small scratch on my hull. I used a gel coat repair kit followed by a light sanding with wet600 glass paper and then polishing with electric buffer and maglens pure wax.

The problem I have is that I cannot polish out the scratches from the 600 wet sanding I conducted. Reading on line instructions it looks like I did the correct things and the surface I have is smooth, but dull and not shiny as the rest of the hull

Can any help and advise me how to get the shine back or what else I could do?

[jgreen]

Did you go straight to wax after the sanding? If so I think you skipped a step. You need to hit it with compound on your buffer before you polish. I would strip the wax with wax & grease remover and then give it a good rubbing with 3M liquid rubbing compound.
Let us know how it turns out.

[WetWilly]

Hi candanewell, I agree with jgreen, and I would like to add to what he said, so follow the rubbing compound with a polishing compound and then follow with the wax when the shine is restored.

Wax does not smooth away scratches, it's more of a sealer, it's the rubbing and polishing compounds that remove those fine scratches and give you that shiny surface.

Take a look at this project member ShabahZ250 documented when he had to do some hull repairs and how he got the shine back - click here.

WetWilly

[jgreen]

Originally Posted by WetWilly

Hi candanewell, I agree with jgreen, and I would like to add to what he said, so follow the rubbing compound with a polishing compound and then follow with the wax when the shine is restored.

Wax does not smooth away scratches, it's more of a sealer, it's the rubbing and polishing compounds that remove those fine scratches and give you that shiny surface.

Take a look at this project member ShabahZ250 documented when he had to do some hull repairs and how he got the shine back - click here.

WetWilly

Right on WW, I guess I skipped a step myself. Also, start with a pretty aggressive pad on the buffer and work down with each different compound.

[Dredd]

Definitely let us know how it turns out! I've got a couple scratches myself that I've been reluctant to fix (using the Marine Tex I bought a while back) because I'm afraid I won't be able to get the shine back.

[candanewell]

just wanted to say thank you for the below advice and while I could not get mirror perfection I was able to get the shine back, the rubbing compound appeared to do the trick, together with some color restorer and elbow grease!