Best Gelcoat Money Can Buy

[jiggerpro]

What is in the opinion of you ilustrated forum colleagues about the very best gelcoat in the market ?? naturally in terms of weather resistance and gloss retaining, in my opinion is probably some of the line made by Cook Polymer Composites ........ is the use of Vynilester gelcoats any good ??

[War Whoop]

Originally Posted by jiggerpro

What is in the opinion of you ilustrated forum colleagues about the very best gelcoat in the market ?? naturally in terms of weather resistance and gloss retaining, in my opinion is probably some of the line made by Cook Polymer Composites ........ is the use of Vynilester gelcoats any good ??

I have used Vinylester Tooling Gelcoat in the past and the barcol was lower than the polyester Gelcoat, For production the ArmorCote would be a good choice, we had real good luck with it.

[tunnels]

Dont forget there are gelcoat produced for other parts of the fibreglass industry other them boats , High uv protection is way up on the list of New Zealand gelcoats , some gelcoats chalk quickly and has a lot to do with the amount of Pigments to get added to get a better coverage when being sprayed .
Darker shades of any colored gel coats break down quicker than light colors . Its all to do with the heat that it draws from the sun as well as the pigments used , amount and quantity added !!!
The right catalys for gel coat is very important as well as the right raitio and conditions That its sprayed in to add to the list the temprature and the humidity ! Add the lot together and get all the boxes ticked and you have a pretty good chance of getting a better job than ususal .Humidity is something few people even think about or even consider but it alone can and does have a lot of bareing in the quality of most glassing and gel coating jobs .

[tunnels]

Originally Posted by jiggerpro

What is in the opinion of you ilustrated forum colleagues about the very best gelcoat in the market ?? naturally in terms of weather resistance and gloss retaining, in my opinion is probably some of the line made by Cook Polymer Composites ........ is the use of Vynilester gelcoats any good ??

Just remember that whats the best in one country is not nessasarily the best in another ,even if its imported !! .Theres a great long list of things to take into consideration that change the supposed best to just medioca . Lot is also to do with the operator doing the job along with the equipment being used to do the job and then theres the conditions in which it used .

[ondarvr]

If you want white, or shades of off white, then the best is actually a product that you really wouldn't be able to buy or use easily, its a 3 component system. It has much better UV, crack and water resistance than anything else on the market.
It can also be used as a paint, it will bond to almost any surface with very little prep and cures to nice smooth glossy surface.

For colors there's a product that is very water and crack resistant, plus it doesn't blush (turn cloudy with a white-ish tinge) like other dark colors can.

Both are PCT products from Cook.

[jiggerpro]

Why wouldn´t I be able to buy this 3 component product ?? is not for sale or what ? couldn´t you elaboarate a bit more about those products you mention like giving their names or are they still under development and so there is some secret about them??

[ondarvr]

PCT is the line of products.

You need a special three component spray gun which would be difficult to get in Spain, it could be shipped from the U.S. though. On small parts you could use a pressure pot, but its not like spraying normal gel coat, so some training is needed. You would also need to import the product from the U.S., again not easily done.

For colors you don't need any special equipment, but you do need some training and have it shipped from the U.S.

These products aren't hard to use, but they are different than normal gel coat, so if you want good results a little training is needed.

[Herman]

When asking for products, please make sure you get products recommended that are available in your area.

I think for your product a good ISO-NPG polyester gelcoat is a good performance / cost ratio product. For instance Ferro gelcoats (produced in Spain, I believe you should get the GH range for brush application, or GM for spray) or Nord Composites (produced in France. GC194 for brush, GC195 for spray).

For products, stay away from VE gelcoat. They can yellow. They are good for tooling however. Nord GC206/207 is a good one.

[jiggerpro]

For our boats, and the cosmetics and durability being so important I can not trust a small spanish gelcoat manufacturer, for this and even if only to have some extra peace of mind I prefer the use of products made by well renowned brands, so far I believe Cook Composites Polymers to have the best reputation and following your advise of an ISO/NPG product I believe theirs Polycor 943 W016 ISO/NPG series to fit the bill.

But still would like to hear opinions about the very best Gelcoats with a well proven record of excellent performance.

The problem with CCP is probably its availability in Europe, maybe Nord, or DSM make a comparable or better product ..... but I do not know

[ondarvr]

The 943 series has been around a long time and has a good history.

Check with Cray Valley, they are the sister company of Cook, and while the product lines have been somewhat separate, there is more information and product sharing going on.

[jiggerpro]

Thanks Ondavr, so CCP and Cray Valley offer many products which are common for both brands, it seems taht way afeter visiting their website, even sharing trade names for some products so they have to be the same ...