painting fibreglass panels

[jonzi]

Any one got any pro tips on the best way to do this?

[Nickj]

Last time I had to paint any significant area of fibreglass I fololowed an old school painful process of

1)Rub down with the fine end of medium grit to break the surface
2)spray with primer (you should still see sanding streaks but don't worry!)
3)sand again, this time with finer paper. The aim isn't to remove all the primer, just the very surface.
4)sand again with wet and dry
5)prime again
6)wet and dry, then keep doing step 5 & 6 till you have the surface quality you're looking for.

Or you can prime the surface with a fine paper, slap on a coat of filler primer then fine cut it back.

I tend to avoid any 'wet' sanding on fibreglass until there's a coverage of primer

[gary tompkins]

Don't do it in the cold and damp... which would be any time before about May. Unless you have somewhere heated and well ventilated indoors... like a DIY spray booth. I've tried many a time in less than perfect conditions and the finish is usually crap.