Refinishing gelcoat

It struck me the other day that the materials used to cover R/C models these
days could be used to 'refinish' ships on which the gelcoat had
deteriorated. We are already 'happy' to stick .5m wide pieces of orange tape
to the surfaces of gliders and do so with impunity.

Solarfilm ( a trade name ) can be obtained in 10m long rolls up to .7m
wide. I'm fairly certain that a roll would do the upper surface of a 15m
ships wing. If the wing was lightly sanded first to remove any raised edges
of the cracked gelcoat and to restore the profile, the material could be
laminated to the wing leaving an incredibly slick finish. These materials
are surprisingly srong and an entire roll weighs very little.

Even if the job was only good for a year or two it would be economically
viable. A refinish on a 15m ship these days runs from £5000 to £10000
depending on who, where and how its done. I'm sure a few hours work, perhaps
10 or 20 at the most would result in a job that would fool the best of us!
The materials for an upper surface recover would cost less than £100.

Continuing in the same vein, the BGA's recent investigations into collision
avoidance colour markings would appear to support the idea that the so
called flourescent tape applications that gained a lot of popularity over
the past few years are in fact the worst at making a visibility difference.
It would appear that a reflective finish may be the best at achieving this.
Solarfilm makes a chrome finish covering material that is almost a flexible
mirror, the stuff is very reflective. Adding a band of this to a wing and
the fuselage or the fin could be very effective.

Ian