Urethane Paint

Any idea how much weight the urethane paint option adds to an 18 meter glider?

On Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 9:15:39 PM UTC-5, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
Any idea how much weight the urethane paint option adds to an 18 meter glider?

not enough different from gel-coat to matter unless you are really heavy or really light.

On Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 6:15:39 PM UTC-8, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
Any idea how much weight the urethane paint option adds to an 18 meter glider?

I answer that in a different way: if you go with gel coat, after your first refinish you will be a LOT lighter, but the weight will have come out of your wallet.

I would not consider buying a new glider that was not PU coated.

On Wednesday, November 11, 2015 at 11:17:59 AM UTC-8, ND wrote:
On Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 9:15:39 PM UTC-5, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
Any idea how much weight the urethane paint option adds to an 18 meter glider?

not enough different from gel-coat to matter unless you are really heavy or really light.

I was hoping to get a real number, i.e., 5, 10, 15 pounds, from someone with knowledge in this area. Not to be flippant nor disrespectful, but { not enough ... to matter, unless it does matter due to weight of the pilot} while thoughtful is really a null statement.

Depends on the amount of filler being used, if a thin layer of glass is added (~2kg for a whole glider) and how thick the original layer of gelcoat was. There are cases where there's no weight being added. But usually, around 5kg of additional weight can be expected.

Thank you.

If urethane is requested, the manufacturer will most likely not use gelcoat in the mold and apply the urethane finish after assembling the parts. I know my Genesis was done this way. Ready to spray urethane is about 10# per gallon and it would take about 2 gallons.
JJ

On Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 10:03:38 AM UTC-5, wrote:
If urethane is requested, the manufacturer will most likely not use gelcoat in the mold and apply the urethane finish after assembling the parts. I know my Genesis was done this way. Ready to spray urethane is about 10# per gallon and it would take about 2 gallons.
JJ

Not true of current production yet John. Ships are molded with gelcoat, then filled and sanded, followed by finish paint. This avoids the million pinhole problem,
Maybe at some point they will spray primer in the mold, followed by lamination. That would require knowing and tracking which parts go on a painted ship, plus some process and quality controls.
FWIW
UH

I was just looking at this the other day for a project we're working on. Out of the 10 lbs or so per gallon, not all of that is solids; the solvents and some other additives will evaporate not to mention some lost to overspray. The percentage varies. It seems like 60% is a decent average, so 6lbs/gallon with about 2-3 gallons for a 15 meter glider? Call it 12-15 lbs?

P3

On Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 11:01:22 AM UTC-5, wrote:
On Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 10:03:38 AM UTC-5, wrote:
If urethane is requested, the manufacturer will most likely not use gelcoat in the mold and apply the urethane finish after assembling the parts. I know my Genesis was done this way. Ready to spray urethane is about 10# per gallon and it would take about 2 gallons.
JJ

Not true of current production yet John. Ships are molded with gelcoat, then filled and sanded, followed by finish paint. This avoids the million pinhole problem,
Maybe at some point they will spray primer in the mold, followed by lamination. That would require knowing and tracking which parts go on a painted ship, plus some process and quality controls.
FWIW
UH

The gel coat sprayed in the mold is very thin. I had opportunity to look at my new glider in production, before it was moved to the paint shop.