About ShipSkin
What is ShipSkin?
ShipSkin is an independent, advertising-supported website built around six free marine-coating calculators — tools for working out hull area, antifouling quantities, wet and dry film thickness, paint coverage, thinning ratios, and paint cost. Alongside the tools sits a Marine & Ships Museum, a set of galleries about vessels, hulls, shipyards, and harbors built from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons material.
Who is it for?
Anyone about to paint or re-paint a hull: a boat owner scheduling a haul-out, a weekend sailor budgeting antifouling for the first time, or a yard hand double-checking a coverage figure before opening a tin. There is no account, login, or coatings background required — you enter your own numbers and read the result.
What tools does ShipSkin actually have?
Six, all free, all live on this site right now:
- Hull Area Calculator— estimates wetted surface area below the waterline from waterline length, beam, draft, and block coefficient.
- Antifouling Paint Calculator — works out how many litres of antifouling a hull needs for a chosen number of coats, rounded up to whole tins, with total cost.
- Wet Film Thickness Calculator — converts between wet film and dry film thickness using a paint’s volume solids.
- Paint Coverage Calculator — derives theoretical and practical spreading rate from volume solids, target dry film thickness, and a loss factor for overspray and waste.
- Thinning Ratio Calculator — works out how much thinner to add for a target thinning percentage, and the resulting mixed volume.
- Paint Cost Estimator— estimates the total cost of a topcoat-and-primer job from area, coats, coverage, and price per litre.
That is the complete list — there is no seventh tool waiting in the wings and no unpublished roadmap.
Where do the numbers and formulas come from?
Ordinary coatings arithmetic: volume-solids-based coverage formulas, a block-coefficient approximation for hull area, and simple ratio math for thinning and cost. These are the same conventions printed on paint manufacturer data sheets and used across the marine coatings trade — nothing proprietary, nothing invented for this site. You supply the real-world inputs (your vessel’s dimensions, a tin’s coverage rate, its price); the calculator does the arithmetic.
Are the results professional advice?
No. Every calculator produces a general estimate, not a specification. Real-world coats vary with surface preparation, application method, weather, and the specific product used. Always check the paint manufacturer’s data sheet and, for anything structural, safety-related, or beyond your own experience, talk to a qualified coatings applicator or marine surveyor before you commit paint to a hull.
What is the Marine & Ships Museum?
A separate part of the site (/museum/) with galleries on ships and vessels, the hull and its parts, shipyards and dry docks and coatings, and harbors and seamanship. Every entry, image, and fact in it comes from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. It’s there for anyone who wants context beyond the calculators, not as an authority in its own right.
Is ShipSkin affiliated with any paint brand or standards body?
No. ShipSkin is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any coatings manufacturer, classification society, or standards organisation it may mention. Any brand or standard named on the site is referenced only for context.
Is it free? Do I need an account?
Yes, and no. Every tool and every museum gallery is free to use, and none of them require sign-up. The site is supported by advertising, which is how it stays free — you may see ads alongside the tools and articles.
What about the blog and learn articles?
Blog posts and reference articlescover topics around hull coating and general marine maintenance. Read them alongside the calculators, not as a substitute for a data sheet or a qualified professional’s judgement.
How do I ask something or report a problem?
Through the contact page. Questions, corrections, and tool feedback are all welcome there.