sandblasting

[twoody]

I have an old fiberglass canopy that I got as part of a trade. It currently has an ugly paintjob on it, and I was wondering if sandblasting would be an OK way to remove the existing paint if I can keep from going through the gelcoat? Has anyone tried this?
Thanks...

[Skiddz]

Sandblastig will eat the paint, gelcoat and fiberglass. Plastic media blasting *might* be ok, but I don't think I'd try it.. I think I'd go buy new packages of 220 and 400 wet/dry and spend an evening with a big bucket of water and lot of elbow grease and sand it all off... It won't take much to get through it all and when you're done, wash it off, prime and paint.

[steve1]

i think sandblasting is a bit over the top
as skiddz says use wet and dry paper and some elbow grease flatern down and prime

[helipainter]

There are fiberglass safe paint removers that if it is really think, you may consider. If it isn't thick just block it smooth and go over it.

[twoody]

OK, so I finally got around to trying to remove the old paint, and sanding was taking forever so I just kept wiping it over with a rag soaked in acetone, that did the trick! There were some spots that had chunks of gelcoat missing, as well as a bunch of cracks, so I patched them up with epoxy & CA glue, we'll see how well that holds up!
I didn't take any pics from the start, but did get around to a few once I was putting on the final coat of black, and the end result, minus the clear coat. I had a few spots where the paint got under the tape, and a few spots that came up with the tape - what are the best ways to fix?
Another thing to mention - the last time I tried to paint a canopy was at least 5-6 yrs. ago, and I used the paint (all spray cans) I left from that - not the best idea!