Gel coat or clear coat?

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#1

Bear with me as I am still in the dark ages using vac bagging!
I have been vac bagging my parts and using a clear gelcoat in the mold first then epoxy and cloth etc. Once out I just give the surface a spray coat of clear auto laquer and it looks resaonably shiny.

someone has recommended that I miss out the gelcoat in the mold first and vac bag the epoxy+fabric as normal. Then once its out I can spray clear auot laquer over the top and it will hide any blemishes/pinholes/ weave that you often get without a clear gel coat in first.

Fact or fiction?

#2

Fiction…if you have pinholes…the fabric will suck up the auto clear until you cry.

I bought some parts out of France a few years ago (before I made my own parts) and I tried to fill the holes in the gel with clear coat.

9 coats and I gave up.

#3

Thanks for the info… and saving me from crying!

#4

yup,load of rubbish.make your molds shnier and your parts pop out shinier :slight_smile: ie if your mold looks like glass then the part will replicate this perfectly.

#5

by the same token. If you don’t have a glass like finish, it is worth the time and effort to wetsand and polish it out to a class :A" Glass like finish!!!