Sailplane Finishes

Just wondering about peoples experience with various refinish products
for sailplanes. I am going to refinish parts of my glider over the
next couple of off seasons. Right now I am leaning toward using an
Acrylic Urethane from PPG and a polyester filler. I am familiar with
Simtec Prestec. I have noticed more and more shops and manufacturers
using Urethane products instead of, or on top of, Gelcoat. There are
some reputable people and shops who still use Prestec. I am interested
in comments and experiences with these products from the soaring
community.
With regards to the health issues, I have access to a professional
booth and wear the full suit and mask with fresh air. Thanks for any
input.
R4

I think these finishes limited to 50 ft are for wimps !

On Dec 24, 8:11*pm, Buba Smith wrote:
Just wondering about peoples experience with various refinish products
for sailplanes. I am going to refinish parts of my glider over the
next couple of off seasons. Right now I am leaning toward using an
Acrylic Urethane from PPG and a polyester filler. I am familiar with
Simtec Prestec. I have noticed more and more shops and manufacturers
using Urethane products instead of, or on top of, Gelcoat. There are
some reputable people and shops who still use Prestec. I am interested
in comments and experiences with these products from the soaring
community.
With regards to the health issues, I have access to a professional
booth and wear the full suit and mask with fresh air. Thanks for any
input.
R4

The skill level required is much less with "gelcoat'. It is much
easier to fix mistakes.
Prep for paint needs to be really good as there isn't much paint and
sanding out mistakes is trickier. Gelcoat is more tolerant.
AU costs about twice as much for material.
AU more weather resistant. If glider is going to live outside, it is
the thing to use.
Both can give a finish with a useful life exceeding 15 years on a
refinish.
FWIW- I've done both.
The glider I'm doing now will be in Simtek 2481.
Good luck
UH

On Dec 25, 7:32*am, wrote:
On Dec 24, 8:11*pm, Buba Smith wrote:

Just wondering about peoples experience with various refinish products
for sailplanes. I am going to refinish parts of my glider over the
next couple of off seasons. Right now I am leaning toward using an
Acrylic Urethane from PPG and a polyester filler. I am familiar with
Simtec Prestec. I have noticed more and more shops and manufacturers
using Urethane products instead of, or on top of, Gelcoat. There are
some reputable people and shops who still use Prestec. I am interested
in comments and experiences with these products from the soaring
community.
With regards to the health issues, I have access to a professional
booth and wear the full suit and mask with fresh air. Thanks for any
input.
R4

The skill level required is much less with "gelcoat'. It is much
easier to fix mistakes.
Prep for paint needs to be really good as there isn't much paint and
sanding out mistakes is trickier. Gelcoat is more tolerant.
AU costs about twice as much for material.
AU more weather resistant. If glider is going to live outside, it is
the thing to use.
Both can give a finish with a useful life exceeding 15 years on a
refinish.
FWIW- I've done both.
The glider I'm doing now will be in Simtek 2481.
Good luck
UH

beware of tendinitis, it hurts!

On Dec 25, 3:23*pm, Brad wrote:
On Dec 25, 7:32*am, wrote:





On Dec 24, 8:11*pm, Buba Smith wrote:

Just wondering about peoples experience with various refinish products
for sailplanes. I am going to refinish parts of my glider over the
next couple of off seasons. Right now I am leaning toward using an
Acrylic Urethane from PPG and a polyester filler. I am familiar with
Simtec Prestec. I have noticed more and more shops and manufacturers
using Urethane products instead of, or on top of, Gelcoat. There are
some reputable people and shops who still use Prestec. I am interested
in comments and experiences with these products from the soaring
community.
With regards to the health issues, I have access to a professional
booth and wear the full suit and mask with fresh air. Thanks for any
input.
R4

The skill level required is much less with "gelcoat'. It is much
easier to fix mistakes.
Prep for paint needs to be really good as there isn't much paint and
sanding out mistakes is trickier. Gelcoat is more tolerant.
AU costs about twice as much for material.
AU more weather resistant. If glider is going to live outside, it is
the thing to use.
Both can give a finish with a useful life exceeding 15 years on a
refinish.
FWIW- I've done both.
The glider I'm doing now will be in Simtek 2481.
Good luck
UH

beware of tendinitis, it hurts!- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Once you're numb it doesn't hurt anymore.
LOL
UH

For some info about using Simtec for a refinish: http://www.archive.jimphoenix.com/archive09/
Links to the Nimbus articles are on the left.

Other than that, I second what "UH" said. If I had a pro do it, I'd
get polyurethane and, since I'm not a very good painter, if I had to
do it myself I'd go with Simtec so I could wet sand a polish out all
the sags, runs an other imperfections I KNOW that I would cause.

At 07:16 26 December 2011, Hagbard Celine wrote:
For some info about using Simtec for a refinish:
http://www.archive.jimphoenix.com/archive09/
Links to the Nimbus articles are on the left.

Other than that, I second what "UH" said. If I had a pro do it, I'd
get polyurethane and, since I'm not a very good painter, if I had to
do it myself I'd go with Simtec so I could wet sand a polish out all
the sags, runs an other imperfections I KNOW that I would cause.
hi there! couldnt resist replying to this one! ca 40,000 is the
polyurethane paint to use at the moment,although the manufacturer is just
in the process of the formulation,so my sprayer tells me.ca 40,000 is used
on composite structures on airliners,so its good for 50,000 feet!plus uv
barrier in it too!
not cheap though,but we are flying airborne rolls-royces arent we!
6,000 for a 15 meter re-spray,thats prepped by the way!
eastern air executive sturgate lincolnshire
andrew s cullum.

Originally Posted by Andrew Cullum

At 07:16 26 December 2011, Hagbard Celine wrote:
For some info about using Simtec for a refinish:
http://www.archive.jimphoenix.com/archive09/
Links to the Nimbus articles are on the left.

Other than that, I second what "UH" said. If I had a pro do it, I'd
get polyurethane and, since I'm not a very good painter, if I had to
do it myself I'd go with Simtec so I could wet sand a polish out all
the sags, runs an other imperfections I KNOW that I would cause.
hi there! couldnt resist replying to this one! ca 40,000 is the
polyurethane paint to use at the moment,although the manufacturer is just
in the process of the formulation,so my sprayer tells me.ca 40,000 is used
on composite structures on airliners,so its good for 50,000 feet!plus uv
barrier in it too!
not cheap though,but we are flying airborne rolls-royces arent we!
6,000 for a 15 meter re-spray,thats prepped by the way!
eastern air executive sturgate lincolnshire
andrew s cullum.

after removing 99.9% of the old finishes, I had excellent results using prestec 2081 primer/surfacer, with 4981 patching paste, then topcoating with randolph ranthane. as posted before though, errors not easily corrected. However, by following the directions exactly, I was rewarded with an award winning, durable, slick finish.
As a polyurethane paint finish though, it is worth restating, meticulous prep work is the key!!
Good Luck
Scott W.
N-1521