Painting on Sails

[colourshift]

I was looking around online one day, not sure how this came up...thought I'd throw it into this thread, well....cause it's ODD. As in, we don't see it every day.

I recently posted a question somewhere, asking what to use for painting on Sails...as in sail boat sails....spinnakers, to be precise. These 'sheets' take a beating, & stretch like hell. The paint used needs to be able to deal with that, never mind being able to adhere to Kevlar, or whatever they're made of. There was a british firm making something called "Flexithane", with spinnakers featured on their web site. They said they woudl ship to the US... I'm thinking this would not be a one man, or one woman, effort. Anyone wanna tackle this with me? I'll travel. I think it's a little tapped market here in the US, maybe. I'm outta the loop. Whaddaya think? But think of somewhere BIG we can paint at... these things are huge.

My friend A.D. gave me the advice that I should be prepared and or market myself beyond Automotive, as that market is quite saturated with talent. (particularly SoCal)...so I'm thinkin outside the box here, and sharing.

[colourshift]

As I said, I have a line on this Flexithane...I just looked at the new Alsa catalog today...and they have a rubberized paint...gotta wonder whether it would hold up or not.
And...I meant it, I'm free to travel...I would love to learn this together with someone. Multiple someones. Whatever.

[Primo Customs]

Their paint is clear, for the rubber based called soft touch. They have it in spray cans now.. pretty cool. I think that urathans will work for you, get a small piece of the same material and try it out... Rick

[minniemouse]

Just out of interst - what happend here? Did you all Go for it? Cant find the results either way on the forum. Just interested to know, what you used etc.
Or, as this is thread is in the "funny section" - could someone explain the joke.
Not confused - just mis-informed!

[colourshift]

I have no idea why it's in the funnier side of airbrushing, I don't recall posting it there...maybe someone thought I was joking and moved it.

Can't use Urethanes on sails, it'll most likely EAT them or degrade the sail at that point where the painted area becomes a weak point.

Looked into painting on sails, and had contacted that British company regarding their Flexithane sail paint, but I never got an actual sail to paint.

Just bikes and what not.

[redanner]

Lynne did you research PPG for its version of what you are talking about! They may have something like that! For example on their site I found a coating that reacts to the sun the way peoples glasses get darker outside! The coating is in the class of dyes I believe! In its description it said it could be painted on just about anything! It comes in colors that don't show themselves until the sun light hits it! Now I know that this is not what your talking about but I would be surprised if they don't make an equal to what you are referring to.

[minniemouse]

Pity. Etac or an ink, when ironed on afterwards- may have worked, though dont know, with all that salt water.
Just wondered, curiosity killed the cat - but, Satisfaction bought it back!
Thanks for the answer on this, Lynne- I know it was an old thread... But, it seemed like such a cool idea.

[colourshift]

Danner, won't work. We're talking about painting on something like Kevlar. These sails STRETCH when they're up, A LOT. Hence the rubberized/flexible paint. E'tac etc simply doesn't have the adhesion binders necessary.

[redanner]

Danner, won't work. We're talking about painting on something like Kevlar. These sails STRETCH when they're up, A LOT. Hence the rubberized/flexible paint. E'tac etc simply doesn't have the adhesion binders necessary.

Lynne I didn't think that it would! I was using it as an example as to PPG and all its varieties of research and coatings! Thinking that they might have something!

After posting this I went and had a look for myself! I don't if this qualifies for sail painting because I know nothing about painting sails but have a look!
http://corporateportal.ppg.com/ppg/search?q=Kevlar%20coating

[fontgeek]

I would imagine that there are a few different materials being used for sails, it might be worth going to an area that is heavily into sailing. The boatyards and sail manufacturer's may be able to help with the paint issues.
You face a lot of battles on this kind of painting, besides the actual size of the sails themselves, you have the stretching, the folding, rolling, or wrapping, you also fight the chemical exposure and the UV exposure, and the UV issue will be huge. But I think the market would be wild if you come up with a formula for the various types of sails and materials.

You would pretty much need a football field to lay some of those big sails out. Plotting out your design would also be a challenge. You would probably have to lay out graphs for the large sails.

[colourshift]

That's what I was thinking, that they would have to be laid out in a huge building...probably a boat ware house... Easier to have it hung (we're talking about a sail for say...a 40-60 foot boat) and work off a grid system for the layout, and use scaffolding so you could see it's development as it's being painted.

But they DO make a paint FOR sails. It's called Flexithane. UK based company. What paint to use was never the point of the discussion. I would never take on a job with an untried paint on such an expensive item. I always go with what's known with this type of project.

The whole idea behind starting this thread was to talk about whether anyone else around that had done it...or wanted to. I live in the Great Lakes region, and there's boats everywhere. Racers, etc...you name it. Was just trying to think outside the box for possible markets.