Honestly i dont know. They remove the rubrail and fiberglass where the top and bottom molds come together and then shoot it with gelcoat. I'm sure someone else with more knowledge on the process can answer that question better.
So i spent the last week and a half scraping glue and putting in new carpet. Had an oil leak last season due to a bad timing cover and when the pump let loose and filled the boat with water, including the bilge water, well lets just say the brand new carpet i put in during the first build went to hell. So its all new and fresh. kinda at a stand still for a couple weeks, my new to me split bowl is getting rebuilt by Jim Brock and Justin, so i decided to change all the guage bezels and forward/reverse handle from the original gold to a new bright blue. This is what it looks like now. Will post pics once the new ones are installed
Jamie, I can shed a little light on the subject, if Sean doent mind.
Basicly the short version. Depending on how well the hull is put together at the cap line(seam) and how well the hull is tabed together on the inside, the more or less the work involved.
The idea is to Vgrind the mating line,between the deck and hull, down to where you barelt kiss the tabing inside. By Vgrinding, i mean that you grind out the mating line, to where the bottom of the seam is narower than the top of the seam, but do not grind any deeper than it takes to barely kiss the inside tabing.
Then sand or grind, out away from the seam one to two inches, only enough to blend the work, around the perimiter, as not to get into any more of the gelcoat than necessary.
Then tape and mask the good gel,very well!
Start laying up fiberglass and resin, inside the ground out seam, from the bottom of the seam, outward, untill the seam is full to the top and maybe just a tad high.
Then grind and sand the built up seam, untill there is a nice radius profile, that blends the two halves of the hull together, with a natural look. Fill if necessary, any pits or air pocket, exposed by sanding. lay up a finnish layer of cloth or finnish glass, remember not too much, as you have to blend and gel. Finnish sand and finnish fill, withfiller to remove deep scratches, i usually like to use a mix of resin and microballoons, or cabosil(Cab is hard to sand most of the time). Sand shape and finnish, till you are happy! Spray gelcoat and sand, wetsand, color sand and buff and polish.
Gelcoats, like Seans, are harder to fix because his is a fade, where lighter or darker colors fad into each other and the fade has to be duplicated and blended. Solid colors are easier, but nothing about a cap job, is easy, unless you are regeling/painting the entire boat......Hal