A friend of mine has just repainted his trailer with masonry paint
(designed for the plastered/rendered exterior walls of houses). This
gives a matt finish, but it looks pretty good.

His reasoning is that the paint has to stick to the house for 10 years
or so, so it should stick to a trailer equally well!

Will try to remember to report in 10 years time how it's holding up.

Birdbones wrote:
I have an old Eiri Avion fiberglass trailer. Two years ago I asked an
autobody paint specialist friend how to deal with the deteriorating
gel coat. He said " Why don't you just paint it with house paint". I
took his advice and applied it with a roller and paint brush after a
good scrubbing. Two tone with a third color mimicing graphics on my
ship. So far it is holding up well. Cost: less than $40 in materials.
I live high up in Colorado and a house paint that does not deal with UV
would have little value. Should you be in Moriarty, take a look of some
of the old trailers on the tarmac with enjoyable graphic paint jobs. It
gave me the sensation that a trailer can be a fun billboard. Many of
these were done quite awhile ago and seem to be holding their colors.

Randy "Crash" Cone
.
wrote:

An amazing (to me) amount of interest in refreshing faded vinyl trim
strips indicates pilots are serious about making their [gliders'] rides
look good. But what about the trailer itself? My 14-year-old glass-top
Cobra has a few cracks, nicks, etc., that will require work this
winter. Matching the existing gel coat looks tough. And I'd rather save
my refinishing money for the glider itself some day. So what's been the
experience repairing/refinishing/painting German glass-top trailers?

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"