Dear Sir, yesterday I have received my order, gelcoat GC50, and found that it is very jelly or thick. I need to apply it by spraying to obtain a relatively thin and uniform layer. I have a spray gun with 2mm nozzle.
My feeling is that I need to dilute the gelcoat with styrene monomer. Please can you suggest how to do it without loosing gelcoat proprieties? What weight percentage of styrene can be added? 
Many thanks in advance, best regards,
Miroslav

We do not recommend thinning down GC50 before spraying.  With the correct gelcoat cup gun and compressor set up, GC50 will spray without issue.  In the current climate, you may find the resin has thickened significantly due to the low ambient temperatures.  In transit, the temperature will have gone right down potentially well below 10C. 

You may wish to put the  container in a warm place for at least 24 hours to give the resin a chance to return to ambient temperature.


Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

The G100 Gelcoat cup gun we sell already comes with the FN6 nozzle so is good to go with GC50 straight out the box. It is the gun we use to apply GC50 in the Bonnet Making Video



Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

hello, I just tried the gelcoat GC50, a test with air gun and another with a brush, and my problem is when I put the carbon fiber, I try to stick it to the mold with acetone as in the tutorial but the carbon fiber does not stick, What I can be doing wrong?

The formulation of GC50 has changed slightly since the video was published (there is a pop up box).  The new formulation does not become tacky with acetone so that technique does not work with the current version of GC50.


Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

Thanks for your answer, what technique can I use now to stick the carbon fiber? I do infusion and needed to stick well to the mold so that I do not have bubbles.

You'll get best results using a spray tack adhesive. A light mist on the fabric will be enough to hold everything where you need it

I use Cytec's Aerofix 3, which leave no visible traces when used with GC50, but if this is not available where you are then it's worth testing whatever product you can find first, to ensure it's compatible

You need to be very sparing with any spray tack material as it will be trapped between the GC50 and the fabric so will show up, especially if you over apply it.


Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

You should be able to use virtually any spray adhesive behind an in-mould coating like GC50 and not see any trace of it, provided you don't just pump the stuff on. Even hair spray would be invisible. 

The bigger issue is whether or not the spray adhesive effects the bond strength between the resin and the coating/laminate. But again, as long as you are using it sparingly, this shouldn't be an issue with most spray adhesives.