On Sunday, April 18, 2021 at 7:53:41 PM UTC-4, John Sinclair wrote:
On Sunday, April 18, 2021 at 9:48:01 AM UTC-7,
Hi Matt,
First off, there are lots of urethanes available, but the one used by factory is Acrylic Urethane and it is an unbelievable great finish............with one notable exception! It will blister if left in an closed trailer too long! My bird is 20 years old and the finish looks as good today as the day it was produced, but it spends its Winters inside its trailer which is inside my barn! If you are unable to get inside storage, I’d recommend opening your trailer every month, even if you don’t fly, let the damp trailer dry out!
As for upkeep, I wax her every Spring and buff and wax it every other year........changing the transition tape after buffing, but before new wax is applied.
AU remains ever so slightly flexible and won’t crack. Scrapes can be filled, sanded, primed and painted in a conventional manner. Color match can be a problem, but several manufacturers use an auto paint color, so exact match can be ordered...........Most will not use any “tint”, so specify “no tint” in most cases.
Hope this helps,
JJ
The blistering is so irritating. A friend refinished his Phoebus in AU and experienced blisters in area of the fuselage dolly. We suspect that was caused by water leaking through a seam in his trailer roof getting the dolly wet. This happened is a short time during the summer since he stored the glider out of the trailer in a heated garage during the winter. I have also seen blistering on an SZD Junior horizontal stabilizer trailing edge (not the elevator), seeming from moisture entering the sharp edge ( never in a trailer but always in a hangar.) There are also many accounts of cars being refinished in urethanes and experiencing blisters while in storage under car covers, even in barns, in some cases fairly soon after painting and in other cases 20 years later! Just when we thought urethanes were the answer! I suspect in all cases it comes down to proper application.