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Hi fellow boaters.
I have a Cruisers Inc C202 16' in great shape. I am looking for a stain to match the original color. Occasionally like the rest of you I have to do a little maintenance on some wood and I am in the process of refurbing the splash rails and am trying to match the 'Honey' brown stain on the rest of the boat. The one I have, Z-Spar Filler Stain Standard Mahogany is coming out too red and dark.
Could anyone give me a guide into what could help me to get that lovely warm honey tone on the rest of my hull.
Many thanks.

Rusty,

I can only recommend purchasing a few different filler stains and mixing them to get what you want. Also adding oil base paint tint to the stain can be done to get the color you want. You can get oil paint in tubes at an Art Store and use that also.

Couple things to remember the stain on your boat has been subject to many years of sun which will burn off some of the red color in the old stain. Also the varnish has aged and turn color because of the sun. The more varnish that has been applied will deepen the honey color also.

Use a good grade of marine spare varnish. Some varnishes have a deeper honey color then others, which is what I like. I do not recommend using polyurathanes.

It is one of those times when mixing and testing on new wood scraps and applying some varnish is the only way to match or come close to matching the old color of the finished pieces. Keep a record of what you mix and then you can come close to dupilcating it again later on.

Good Luck,

Phill

Thanks for the info. I have found out since that Z-Spar used to do a warm or more brown filler stain but have stopped producing it. I believe that my boat was stained using this some years back. I will do some color tests and hopefully find that honey glow I'm looking for.
Rusty