Sailplane Finishes

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