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Old 1st January 2018, 12:08
NeilF355 NeilF355 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveP View Post
ll,

First foray into a kit build starts next week or so. I will have questions I'm sure

First one is with regard to flow coat. I'm doing the underside of the bonnet of a Kobra. I assume it would be good practice to do under the rear clam?

Bonnet gets painted in body colour I assume though.

Any tips on the amount of flow coat I need. Best makes and where I can purchase them and method of application ( rush or roller?). How many coats?

As background I am intending to go a dark silver body. The donor is black so I a, planning black or grey flow coat.

Any help is appreciated

Dave

Hi Dave
I would endorse Jaguartvr’s recommendation of eastcoast fibreglass as suppliers (they have the added advantage of being close enough for me to pop in when I need something).

I’m building a Dino at the moment and have covered the inner raw fibreglass on the panels and interior with gel coat.

I buy clear gel coat and add the required pigment to give me the colour I need.

I have tried flow coat but was not happy with the finish I got, it’s dull and without removing the wax coat with copious amount of meths you can’t paint it or put another coat on.

I now just use normal gel coat, it’s curing is supposed to be air inhibited and so after I have applied it I wait until it’s hard but still tacky, then cover it with an acetate based film such as cling film or pallet wrap to exclude the air. After a day or so it’s fully cured and I just pull off the film.
To be honest though I have noticed (from drips of gel coat on my garage floor) that it only takes a few days to cure properly anyway without being covered.

I apply it with a brush if I’m working upside down (this does get messy and I go through quite a few pairs of latex gloves!) or on a vertical surface. For horizontal surfaces I just pour it on and use a spreader to get an even coat.

I used about 500ml of gel coat for the inside of the my Dino bonnet.

When working at this time of the year I would advise heating the gel coat before you add the catalyst, I have an old microwave oven I use, a quick blast of about 10 seconds per 100ml of gel coat gets it nicely warmed up. An infra red heater is also useful to warm the panel up before you gel coat it.

I find that acetone is the best cleaner to use for brushes and any gel coat spills or splashes that you need to clean up afterwards.

Good luck with the project
Neil
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