Crystic Gelcoat 252PA is a pre-accelerated, isophthalic ‘polyester’ gelcoat designed as an in-mould gelcoat, once the 252PA has cured, any infusion or laminating epoxy resin systems will have excellent adhesion without the need for a tie-coat.
The 252PA is formulated for brush application, if used as a clear coat for cosmetic carbon parts, we would recommend a good uniform, thin and even coating into your mould, avoid any runs or thick gelcoat building up in some areas.
Although 252PA is compatible with epoxy as a first layer in epoxy moulding applications, it is not designed to be used as a finishing coat on top of epoxy. Also being a ‘polyester’ epoxy compatible gelcoat we would advise using only ‘polyester’ pigments to colour this product if required.
Crystic Gelcoat 252PA is designed for use with wet lay and vacuum injected epoxy systems. If 252PA is used as a gelcoat with polyester laminating systems, then adhesion failure is likely to occur. Similarly if 252PA is double gelled, then this is also likely to lead to adhesion failure. For these reasons, neither of these procedures is recommended.
It is not recommended for use in any application which is subject to continuous immersion in water. It is also not recommended for epoxy pre-pregs.
Features and Benefits
Crystic Gelcoat 252PA has good epoxy bonding characteristics and excellent weather resistance. It has been shown to give a robust, reliable bond with a number of wet lay epoxy resin systems, but users should check with their specific epoxy system supplier or perform a test themselves before proceeding with use.
Can i apply 2 layers of the Epoxy compatible Polyester Gelcoat?
No, this will lead to adhesion failure between the two coatings, only 1 single layer is advised.
Will this work with a general purpose Polyester resin?
No, it is only to be used with an Epoxy system, again adhesion failure will occur in this instance.
Can i add pigment this Gelcoat and which one do i use Epoxy pigment or Polyester pigment?
You should use polyester pigments in this - add enough to make the opacity acceptable but try to keep this at 10% or below and do not go above 12%. For very strong colours like black then 5% should be adequate.
