Hi Dave,

My favourite resin to use as a pattern coat would be our Epoxy Coating Resin. It's actually the most straight forward of our epoxies but this is why it's so good for any 'coating' type application. The reason is that additives (such as wetting agents, accellerators etc.) can settle on the surface during curing and leave the finish slightly greasy or tacky. Our Epoxy Coating Resin doesn't do this at all, it leaves the surface completly hard and clear.

Just about any epoxy can be mixed with silica and bubbles to make a coating pattern coat but my choice (and it's cost effective too) would be our Coating Resin.

Matt

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

Okay thanks Matt i will have to give this a try soon. I guess the EL 2 laminating resin will be fine for this method? or is it better to use a gel coat? 

Hi Dave,

Sure. The ratios arn't too critical with either the bubbles or the silica and will really depend on the consitancy you want the 'pattern coat' to be. The more bubbles you add, the more sandable the coat will be but the less tough it will be. The more silica you add the thicker it will be (the bubbles will also make it thicker too). It's a case of adding until it seems about right. I would guess by weight only maybe 10% bubbles and a few percent silica. The thing to watch out for with the silica is that it takes a while to 'take effect' on the resin because the crystals take time to absorb the resin (several hours to reach full properties) and also a decent amount of agitation so my suggestion would be to add a few percent by weight to the resin (with no hardener added) first and let them soak in the resin for a few hours before giving it a really good stir. You'll be able to guage how thixotropic it then is and then add your bubbles and hardener once you're happy.

I  hope this helps, Matt

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

Hi all i was wondering if i could get more details on a method shown on the EC website under a Q&A section 

Hi will, i hadn't noticed there was another reply on this topic! I am based in cardiff.

Thanks,
Dave.

Hi Dave,

You mentioned that you were looking for somewhere to apply the 2K filler/primer.

Where abouts are you based, we could do that for you...

Will

Okay cheers for your time Paul!

Yes you can get the finish up on the filler primer by hand sanding, it sands really quickly and easily I woudl suggest starting with a 400 grit followed by 800 and then 1200, from here just buff over with the T10 and you should be ready to go.

Then when it comes to getting the finish up on the mould, the T10 should get you a really good glassy gloss, you could follow it with an even finer compound but it's not normally needed, this can be done by hand, a polishing machine will make it quicker, especially on larger shapes, but it's not a requirment if you're prepared to stick in a bit of elbow grease!

We often find that a pattern has the odd imperfection, rather than worrying about perfection at that stage is is often easier to do a little bit of finishing on the mould, we will often flat a mould with 1500 then 2000 grit paper before compounding this removes any fine scratches and nibs.

I look forward to seeing some pics of your project.

Paul Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical

Okay thanks for your advice Paul! 

Hi Dave,

Welcome to the forum.

I will take them to a paint shop to have to 2k primer filler applied and get it to a gloss finish as i don't have good enough equipment for 2k paint. Is it possible for the paint shop to get the finish i want just using 2k filler primer?

A full gloss cannot really be achieved with just a filler-primer, however for most applications it will be good enough, you can normally finish it with wet and dry sandpaper and polishing compound to a soft sheen, the release is fine of this, the mould will need a final compound polish to get it looking like glass but that will be really quick to do. If you need to get a full gloss on the pattern the it will need a colour finishing coat that is flatted and polished.

Secondly how should i prepare the foam for them? Should i coat it in a thin layer of FG tissue and resin or will it be fine bringing it to them showing foam?

The foam will definatly need a hard surface before paint is applied, to standard method it to apply a layer of 160g glass cloth then give this a light sand, then smooth the surface with car body filler and finish smooth with 120grit paper this will provide a solid base for the paint to be applied to. If you were to just paint straight to the foam it would take a huge number of coats to fill the foams porosity and you would be left with a very fragile pattern.

Paul Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical