Cobra Cosmetics II: How to Refinish?

My son and I repainted my old Komet trailer this winter with two-part
polyurethane paint. Two days to rub down the old paint and repair the
blemishes and two days to repaint - two hours actually, the rest of the time
was for masking, degreasing, detailing etc etc.

Cost me about $400 for the paint and a joy ride for the guy who sprayed it;
my son lives with me so the labour was free.

Gel coat would have been cheaper but paint was easier.

My understanding is you *have* to use gel or poly in order to protect the
underlying fiberglass from UV - cheap household paint insn't sufficient.

I also got templates for comp numbers on the fin and the glider type on the
side, painted in blue trim to match the glider - beats 17" alloy rims every
time

The toughest part was finding a heated workshop big enough to do the job
in - *must* be heated to 20-25 deg C for the paint to cure properly.

wrote in message
oups.com...
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"