Exposing carbon visual thru gelcoat design visuals

[skorpio2x]

Hey all, first time post here.. got a tricky one here, been trying to research ways on how to do this possibly but seem to be asking the wrong people, hopefully you guys could help out!

Me and a few mates have designed a jetski from scratch finished the tooling mold, and the finished products will be laid up in carbon fibre/kevlar composite.
I've come up with a wrap design (black on white gelcoat) but want to know if its possible to spray on the white gelcoat down first with maybe a template blocking out the design idea, so that when I lay the black carbon on top of the gel, it'll come out exposed once released.

I'll include the wrap concept to give a lil better explanation on what I'm talking about..
Please don't hesitate to ask any other questions or make comments, any info will be greatly appreciated!

[Landlubber]

Yes you certainly can mask out the black (carbon) sections but the mould will have to be marked so that you can see where to mask consistently. It will be a pain in the arse......

Did you know that you can get phoney carbon fibre material, it is simply a print, it may be easier for you to have a pattern made up that can be applied to the finished boat as a sticker...there are a few people doing this sort of thing and it is very effective (visually)

[Herman]

Masking such a pattern is a pig to do, but it can be done.

Do you use polyester gelcoat? If so, use a ty-coat behind it if you want to use epoxy for your laminate, or use a compatible resin (polyester or vinylester).

Your transparent gelcoat should be with MMA added, to improve UV performance. Your supplier should have it.

[PAR]

It's much easier to make a faux carbon job, then the actual stuff. Not some much in terms of doing as in terms of durability. A clear coated carbon paint job will last a few decades with reasonable care, not so with the actual carbon showing through. Then of course are the use of black 'glass cloth instead of carbon and the above mentioned printed "veil" products that are available.

[rwatson]

Picture of it being done in a production mould

http://www.macgregor26.com/construct...nstruction.htm

[susho]

Originally Posted by Herman

Masking such a pattern is a pig to do, but it can be done.

Do you use polyester gelcoat? If so, use a ty-coat behind it if you want to use epoxy for your laminate, or use a compatible resin (polyester or vinylester).

Gelcoat is heavy, ty-coats are heavy, lots of work. Why not use paint?
Applying a paint job is some work too, but then your not working in a mould wich is already coated with release.

[latman]

that is certainly possible , but it will be difficult to mask up , ps The Kevlar in carbon/kevlar is gold and it will fade to brown over time , and be a pain to repair if ever needed

[tunnels]

Originally Posted by skorpio2x

Hey all, first time post here.. got a tricky one here, been trying to research ways on how to do this possibly but seem to be asking the wrong people, hopefully you guys could help out!

Me and a few mates have designed a jetski from scratch finished the tooling mold, and the finished products will be laid up in carbon fibre/kevlar composite.
I've come up with a wrap design (black on white gelcoat) but want to know if its possible to spray on the white gelcoat down first with maybe a template blocking out the design idea, so that when I lay the black carbon on top of the gel, it'll come out exposed once released.

I'll include the wrap concept to give a lil better explanation on what I'm talking about..
Please don't hesitate to ask any other questions or make comments, any info will be greatly appreciated!

Doing exsperimantal designs !! ,then do it on a sheet of clear glass ! Wax a couple of times all over including the edges and reverse side and mask the edges and let the tape overhange the edges !,dont fold the tape down so the product dosent go over the edge of the glass !.
1/4 Inch thick about 500mm x 600mm is a good size to work on when its all gone hard can be peeled off and reused many times Just wax and tape everytime you use it !!.
I have been tryng to duplicate gel coat faults recently buy doing it on a sheet of waxed glass !,its great and You are able to see instantly what you got without all the mystery of having to wait till its gone hard and laying some chopped strand glassing etc etc .
Things that happen to gel coat are easy to understand but trying to reproduce those problems 99% of the time never works .
one i cant reproduce is pigment separation have tried a 20 times and cant make it work!! the old gelcoats it used to happen in the blink of an eye ! The new gel coats dosent seem to happen any more !!.
Wet on wet spray i never get any problems but the guys i work with can never get it right and end up with drifts and colors bleeding into each other all the time . Trying to reproduce what they are doing wrong is a major even when they do it on glass for me it still never works .