>Without your in-depth understanding of the process I too concluded the
>factory finish was something else, hence my use of quotes around the term
>"gel coat" in my 26 September message in this thread. Thanks for the
>details.
>
>
>Best regards,
>
>Rob Housman
>A070
The factory finish IS a gelcoat, it's epoxy , not polyester, so it won't
degrade over time. It goes into the mould first before the skins are laid
up and vac bagged in, (or it used to be, I've not been in the new skin
factory. ) Trouble is, of course, the top aft skin has to be bonded on
which means more filling which negates the advantage of a moulded gel coat.
Trouble with glider style gel coats is they have to be cut back and
rewaxed/repolished roughly once a year. They also tend to add significantly
more weight than paint finish does.
Graham
|