AutoCoat & Dragon Pro

01

How This Coating Works

If you've been using SiO₂ or standard PSZ coatings, you already know the routine — work small, watch for flash, level at exactly the right moment. Miss that window and you're fighting high spots. Most formulas lean on high solvents that leave almost no margin when flash hits.

Seahorse is built differently.

Our coatings use a proprietary blend of solvents and synthetic carriers — what we call Wet Edge Technology. It allows bonding and cross-linking to begin at the substrate while the surface above stays wet and open. The coating is doing its job underneath. You just don't see it yet.

This changes how you read the product during application. In warm conditions you may see a rainbow flash — but it's not your signal to move. In cold weather you may see no flash at all, or partial flash with wet areas alongside. Neither means something is wrong. The chemistry is running on its own timeline beneath the surface.

You're no longer working panel by panel. You can coat an entire side, a full boat hull, walk away, and come back to a surface that levels clean — no high spots, no second-guessing, no racing the clock.

Once you work this way for a while, going back to a traditional coating will feel like a step backward.

02

What You'll Need

• Microsuede applicator blocks
• Multiple clean, high-GSM leveling towels
• 70/30 IPA and distilled water — or your preferred panel wipe

03

Surface Preparation

Go through your normal paint or gelcoat correction steps. The coating will only perform as well as the surface beneath it. Every step matters.

1. 01

   Wash

   Strip wash to remove all surface contamination. Rinse thoroughly.

2. 02

   Decontaminate

   Clay bar or nanoskin pad. All embedded contamination must be gone before you coat. On marine surfaces, any remaining oxidation will affect bonding — eliminate it completely.

3. 03

   Polish — Required

   Not optional. Corrected paint and gelcoat bonds more consistently and finishes cleaner. Don't skip this step. This goes for any coating.

4. 04

   IPA Wipe-Down

   70% IPA / 30% distilled water. Wipe one panel at a time and coat immediately after. Don't let the surface sit between wipe and application.

04

Test Your Conditions First

Before committing to full sections, run a test on a small area. Working time shifts with temperature, humidity, and surface condition. Know what you're working with before you scale up.

Minutes at 70°F, moderate humidity. Always verify in your environment.

Apply to your test area. Let it sit. Then level it and read the result:

Run a couple of test sections until the behavior makes sense for your conditions. Once it does, you're ready to work large.

05

Application

Apply with a microsuede block using light, overlapping passes. Work one section at a time or follow the natural body lines until you've confirmed your timing — then expand from there.

When you're ready to level, come in with a clean, high-GSM towel using light passes. Rotate to a fresh towel frequently — a saturated towel pushes product around instead of removing it.

1. —

   Second Coat

   Wait one hour or less depending on temperature. Apply the same way.

2. —

   Reactivation

   Applied too late and it won't level? Put fresh product over the area, let it sit briefly, and level normally.

06

Glass

Glass requires its own process. Don't cut corners here.

07

Working in Different Conditions

Any questions? Call tech support 360-783-3899