putty or resin for very minor hull repair

Alright guys ,
I would like to do a bit of smoothing work on my hulls fore and aft of dagger trunks.I have a little gelcoat and fiberglass grooving from beaching my boat.I can see a little transparency through ports and i really want to do a minor repair to make the hull bottoms as smooth as possible. What do you all recommend for this ? Years ago I got way carried away with glass and resin on my old 16 and that was way more work than I antisapated.Can I fill small grooves with gelcoat or should I use putty or resin.
Thanks in advance
Shawn 82 H18 #8211
Div. 3

Shawn...If all you have is minor scratches / grooves in the gelcoat you could use Evercoat "Formula 27" (a body putty / filler) to fill them in. Formula 27 is polyester based, cures FAST, is an off-white color, and can take gelcoat sprayed over it as a top coat if you wanted to go that route. You should be able to get formula 27 at Home Depot, or West Marine. Or any good marine supply place for that matter. Wear exam gloves and old grungy clothes when you work with it too. Once you have the putty ready to apply you can use a flexible squeegee to get a smooth contour.

Thanks Rich,
I have a little experience with gelcoat ,but not much.My hulls have very minor gouges or grooves so I dont think I will do anything major.
There is a west marine around the corner so I will give it a shot.Main thing I don't want is extra weight or an unsightly repair.
Shawn

This might help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0fO8TVEtoQ

J

thanks Jeremy