Gel coat walls?

[Agaveguy]

What is "Full body paint with gel coat walls"? I have a Thor Tuscany XTE with full body paint and was wondering is it really paint or is is gel coat? I know it was sprayed because I can see overspray on things. But what is it? Clear coated gel coat? Just gel coat?

I have seen some of the high end RVs at shows that have zero orangepeel and look as if they had been color sanded and buffed for a mirror finish. Is that just in the clear coat? Sikkens?

Does Thor use clear coat?

[RobbieH]

You either have paint or gel coat, not both. Can you post a picture of your RV?

You can't really compare our rigs to Foretravel or Prevot coaches. Ours don't cost a million bucks. I'm sure their paint is higher end than ours, they are paying for it.

[BeachDude]

Originally Posted by RobbieH

You either have paint or gel coat, not both. ...

Well, not exactly!

Thor, and most other manufacturers are now offering a hybrid of sorts. Thor calls it "partial paint". Instead of nylon decals, the swoosh graphics are painted on over bare gelcote. Then the painted coach is polished and waxed. But only the graphics are paint. The white, tan, or grey, (thor calls their gelcote HD-MAX) parts are bare but nicely polished and waxed gelcote.

The Windsport and Hurricane, for example, offer "partial paint" for 2015.

The Thor Tuscany XTE, however, is "full body paint". Which may mean that there is at the very least, a clear coat of paint over the white, tan, or grey gelcote.

[Agaveguy]

The best I have right now.

There is no bare gel coat on my rig, as far as I can tell. I just wasn't sure what the term gel coat walls meant.

[harleyjt]

Gel coat walls simply refers to non-painted walls. Instead of a painted surface, the surface is the gelcoat. From the picture it appears you have full body paint and then probably a clear coat over the entire unit.
jt

[Clay L]

Gel coat is a clear (usually/often) resin sprayed in a mold before the fiberglass (cloth, mat, or chopped) is added. The entire RV with gel coat can be painted completely or partially or not at all.

[nothermark]

At least in the part of the boating world I am aware of gel coat is the color coat so it is pigmented. Clear coats we call skin coats because they weigh less but give no UV protection to the layers underneath. The semi see through canoes are skin coats. Colored hulls are gel coated. If the inside is colored it is probably paint. Any fiberglass built in a mold needs an outer coat to give the fiber/resin matrix a water tight outer layer. Without the layer water can penetrate along the fibers in the cloth.

[RobbieH]

You have full paint.