I'm already planning the next board but I want to put a decorative paint job on the board before clear coating, likely to be only a few solid colours with a little masking but want to have the CF as the main background with the pattern superimposed on top if you get the drift.

Not sure what to use or how to do it, I want to get an idea before I approach the local paint shop with the idea or would it be better to use large vinyl decals instead of paint? The smaller stuff is like ID plates/warnings etc I'm getting done in vinyl to clear coat over but the other stuff is going to be 400mm ish diameter so a large area to have as vinyl.

I've not had to do anything other than clear coat before so a bit in the dark on this one... If I was to to the whole board I'd be looking at hi-build PU primer and paint over that but it's just a small area I want to cover

(no gel surface layer, just epoxy)

Thanks
Chris

Have a look at squirt canoes.  They use a clear gelcoat and paint on the reverse of that before layup.  This essentially traps the colour beneath the gel.  The other way I've seen it done is to mask and paint coloured gel into the mould prior to layup.  Obviously the gel is then your pattern.  you'd have to put your clear in the coloured gel on the back for a small patterned part.  Hope this helps.

For basic shapes like the red stripes on these cycle wings I mask off and use pigmented gelcoat for lettering etc vinyl clear coated.

 I mask off the mould where I don't want colour and spray on the gelcoat, let it tack off, remove masking tape and spray clear gel over the whole mould then infuse as normal.
If you are using a chemical release agent make sure the masking tape is stuck down well otherwise the gelcaot can creep under the tape leaving a fluffy edge. Timing is really important, leave it too long before removing the tape and you will lift the gelcoat off the mould. remove the tape too soon and the gelcoat will run loosing the crisp line.
Hope that makes sense.

Warren




Carbon Copies Ltd

I really didn't want to go the gel route really as its all extra weight, it's bad enough I have to clear coat!

The mould and method I'm using wouldn't work with that method I think, ideally I wanted to add the colours etc after its been released and trimmed.

The board is pretty big (approx 1450x450) so it's a large area to finish too so adding weight just another layer of something increased the weight  and I'm not sure gel would withstand the punishment it's likely to get

Something like GC50 will stand up far better to abuse than clear coat. Something that is applied afterwards is only ever going to have a mechanical bond whereas if you use gelcoat you will get a chemical bond to the part, much less likely to chip etc. I doubt there would be much difference in weight between gel and clear coat. For me the benefits far outweigh any negatives.

Warren

Carbon Copies Ltd

I'll have a look into it but this is the stuff I was going to use http://www.marineware.com/pdf/Durepox%20H%20P%20Clear%20TDS.pdf

as they say, " 'ard as' " after a few days totally unsandable after a week or so but takes flex and impact well, will the GC50 take an 80-90deg cure and a lot of flex? (I'm talking 50-100mm over 300mm)?

oh, forgot to ask, how do you double "A" side with GC50 without having matching moulds?

Short answer is I don't know for sure as most of the parts I have used it on don't require that amount of flex, happy to do some test pieces and give feed back if that helps. Would need to know and replicate your lay-up to be fully representational.

Warren

Carbon Copies Ltd

Sorry missed that earlier must have been typing reply.

The only thing I have made that is similar to what your doing are Long Boards. For that I used upper and lower deck moulds and then bonded the two halves together post infusion. Spray tacked pieces of peel ply into the mould for areas needing grip before laying down the GC50. Doing it that way you can alter the core depending on rider weight, riding style and the amount of flex required whilst keeping the upper and lower skins standard.

Warren

Carbon Copies Ltd