Gel Coat for Dummies

Nothing new here, but what I do is use a short piece (6 inches) of 1
inch square aluminum bar stock. I put strips of various grades of
wet/dry sandpaper on each side. Say, 200grit, 400 grit, 600 grit, 1000
grit.

I support the wing leading edge down and paint on some matching
gelcoat. The leading edge down assures complete coverage of the
leading edge dings.

When the gelcoat hardens I use the multisided sanding bar to
progressively remove the higher material, using water and finer
sandpaper as I progress down.

Finish with polishing compound and wax.

Bob

On 12 Dec 2004 17:17:38 GMT, Ray Lovinggood
wrote:

Help.

I want to repair some self-inflicted wounds on the
leading edges of the wings on my LS1-d. The wounds
were created when getting the wings out from and/or
putting them back into the definintely non-Cobra/Komet
trailer. While not a Cobra, it is a 'serpent' type
of trailer, but more of a intestinal 'tape worm'...

I scraped off little bits of gel coat from time to
time and I want to reapply gel coat. Fill the little
divots and sand them off.

But, how do you sand the leading edge? These divots
were probably no more than about 50 mm long for the
largest and no more than about 10 mm high, again for
the largest. Others are smaller. And, they are right
on the nose of the leading edges.

I've begun the work with some gel coat and I've sanded
it down, but wondering what the 'right' way would be.
What size sanding block to use? I'm using a milled
piece of wood that measures about 75mm wide by 15 mm
thick by about 450 mm long and wrapping a sheet of
sanding paper around it.

My sanding movements have been parallel with the leading
edge, trying to keep the sand paper right over the
gel coat which 'stands proud' above the surrounding
areas.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

What, if anything, do you do about matching the shade of the existing
surface?

Tony V.
http://home.comcast.net/~verhulst/SOARING

Hopefully, basic white without tints.

Gels and Imron may discolor with age and environment. I had an Imron
painted Open Cirrus and tried very hard to match and sought 7 different
opinions before ordering, using the factory color charts. Under overcast
and blue sky and fluorescent lighting there was some divergence between a
light gray tint and a light blue tint. I went with the predominently female
opinions, since color vision deficiency is more generally a male trait.

It was a bit blue once applied, the gray may have worked better. However, I
had to order a minimum amount and when the person I sold my final share to
damaged the glider, the fuselage was re-sprayed with the remainder, so it
finally matched.

Frank Whiteley


"Tony Verhulst" wrote in message
news:ld8vd.227573$HA.7445@attbi_s01...
What, if anything, do you do about matching the shade of the existing
surface?

Tony V.
http://home.comcast.net/~verhulst/SOARING