Cobra Cosmetics II: How to Refinish?

With that logic he should have used shingles which
would last even longer.

At 10:30 20 July 2006, Chris Reed wrote:
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'

My friend who repainted the top of his fiberglass top
Cobra says he used polyurethane white deck paint from
'Boater's World.' And he used a roller to apply it.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA



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'

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.

The house paint I'm familiar with chalks noticeably over time. Is yours
chalking or is it retaining a good gloss?
--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA

www.motorglider.org - Download "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane
Operation"

Eric Greenwell wrote:
The house paint I'm familiar with chalks noticeably over time. Is yours
chalking or is it retaining a good gloss?

I used a semi gloss latex paint and so far it is not chalky, but it is
only two years. It is probably not the best way to go if you are
looking for a pristine finish. I used it on a 25 year old trailer to
extend it's life and protect the contents. I may have to repaint it
again sometime in the future as one would a house.
Randy Cone

I will put in a vote for the white,glossy, single-part-polyurethane paint
widely available from marine stores (sorry, I don't remember the
manufacturer's name).
I brush-painted the fiberglass parts of a glider trailer with this. It went
on easily, looked good, had a good self leveling action so the brush marks
largely disappeared, and it held up well for several years, during which the
trailer sat out in all weathers without ever being waxed or otherwise
protected.
Ray Roberts

"Chris Reed" wrote in message
news:e9q5k2$20l$1@qmul...
I think the problem with shingles (or the UK equivalent) is finding nails
which will hold up to trailering along farm tracks. Would the modern
equivalent of corrugated iron roofing be better?

Gary Evans wrote:
With that logic he should have used shingles which
would last even longer.

At 10:30 20 July 2006, Chris Reed wrote:

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'

Chris Reed wrote:
I think the problem with shingles (or the UK equivalent) is finding
nails which will hold up to trailering along farm tracks. Would the
modern equivalent of corrugated iron roofing be better?

Have seen at least one constructed with this as the cladding. Not pretty, but it
was presumably better than open...


Gary Evans wrote:

With that logic he should have used shingles which
would last even longer.

At 10:30 20 July 2006, Chris Reed wrote:

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'

Detco Sterling sells a two part linear polyurethane (the ultra glossy,
long-lasting Imron type stuff) that has a special catalyst that allows
it to be applied by brush. It has flow-out characteristics that allow
amazing results. My father has used it on boats in S. California for
years. He painted a couple of his cars with it and had a number of
other people asking him to paint their cars with it for them when they
saw the results. I think it would be ideal for painting a fiberglass
glider trailer (or maybe even the glider). It's expensive but worth
it. You can get it through WestMarine. This page has more info:
http://tinyurl.com/jh2xf

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'

"Ray Roberts" wrote in message
. ..
I will put in a vote for the white,glossy, single-part-polyurethane paint
widely available from marine stores (sorry, I don't remember the
manufacturer's name).
I brush-painted the fiberglass parts of a glider trailer with this. It
went on easily, looked good, had a good self leveling action so the brush
marks largely disappeared, and it held up well for several years, during
which the trailer sat out in all weathers without ever being waxed or
otherwise protected.
Ray Roberts


I think you're thinking of something like Easypoxy, which is what I used on
my trailer. One of the tricks is to use "tipping." In that, you apply the
paint with a roller and then go across the roll direction with a wide brush
to pop all the bubbles and level it even more. This works best with a two
person team; while one rolls, the other brushes.

My trailer is white topped with a blue bottom, demarcation at the midpoint
height of the trailer. I noticed a big difference in the paint. The white
gets dirty much easier and has faded somewhat. The blue, on the otherhand,
looks as good as the day it was applied and still has a nice freshly waxed
look to it.

The top of the trailer has developed some hairline cracks. Time to try a
house paint primer and latex paint.

Chris Reed wrote:
I think the problem with shingles (or the UK equivalent) is finding
nails which will hold up to trailering along farm tracks. Would the
modern equivalent of corrugated iron roofing be better?

The modern equivalent of corrugated iron is ...corrugated iron. It's a
traditional cladding material in Oz (not just roofing) and is used for
almost everything once you leave the cities.

I've seen a number of glider trailers clad in it and it seems quite
effective. Just tricky to seal at the ends.

They did use pop rivets though instead of the normal, all-purpose, rural
fasteners - roofing nails, fencing wire and binder twine.

GC

I painted my trailer with two part white epoxy paint. It left a
beautiful finish and is just about bullet proof. Costs about $100 for
2 gallons (one each part A and part B). Two gallons did it.

You can find it at high end paint only stores (not Menards, Home Depot,
etc). I used Benjamin Moore "Polyamide Epoxy". It is tintable so you
can get any color your heart desires.

Enjoy, John