Painting gel coat advise.

[JBC]

Could really do with some expert advice here !
I'm currently building an Ultima, and the body for this is available in different colours of gel coat covered fibreglass.
I need to order this in the next couple of weeks.

In the future I'll be looking to paint this, probably in gulf racing colours.

My question is, what colour would be easiest to paint over when the time comes. Would white be the best option, or would painting over black give a better finish?

I've no idea, and could do with some help,
Cheers, Jon

[Squiggs]

Why would you think getting it done in black when within the Gulf colour scheme black is only used for numbers/lettering?
Isn't the predominant colour of the Gulf colour scheme a kind of baby blue?
Surely you want to get it done baby blue - and anything else goes on top of that.

Or am I missing something obvious

[paintman]

OP says the shell is supplied with the gelcoat in a range of colours & the OP wants to have it painted in a colour that isn't available from the manufacturer.
I'd suggest consideration needs to be given to what would be the best under the new paint with regards to coverage & hiding of the original colour at the time of refinish although with a full spray I'm expecting it to be primed anyway.
Bear in mind that using a light colour over a dark base will make stonechips that penetrate to the base - in this case the gelcoat - very obvious so my suggestion would be for the shell to be ordered in either a blue that is similar to the Gulf blue or white.

[JBC]

The factory just offer a few colour options so eventually the whole car would require a complete paint job for the correct colours. It's just if a white base or a black base would be a better canvas to paint on.

[paintman]

Would the factory consider doing a one-off with the gelcoat colourmatched as near as possible to the Gulf colour in the same way as is done for paint?
Might be worth having a chat with a gelcoat specialist to see if it's possible. This is a random Google search: https://www.fibreglassdirect.co.uk/gelcoats.html

[V8covin]

Choose the colour closest to your final paint colour

[JBC]

I'll ask the factory about a one off colour, but my guess is it will be cost prohibitive. They dont offer anything close to the gulf colours. My hunch is to go black and then a full paint job / stickers on top.