The 9 m long glass fibre reinforced plastic (GRP) hull and deck sections of the Scorpion 85 RIB are manufactured using Scott Bader’s Crystic® VE679-03PA vinyl ester resin.
The infusion process used a Ciject® One resin mixing and dispensing machine and vacuum system supplied by Composite Integration Ltd, Saltash, UK.
Tygavac Advanced Materials Ltd, Oldham, UK, supplied the consumable infusion materials and provided training in bagging techniques.
The switch to infusion
Scorpion RIBS had previously used hand lay-up processing techniques. During 2012 the company moved into a new manufacturing facility in Lymington and in 2013 it began the switch to infusion processing to improve quality, increase productivity and enhance shop floor conditions.
| “We have used Scott Bader resins and gel-coats since we started the business 17 years ago. Today 99% of what we use to fabricate our high performance RIBs are Crystic products, which have proved consistently reliable for long-term build quality." |
| Kevin Hunt, General Manager, Scorpion RIBs Ltd |
Experts from Scott Bader’s Technical Service team were brought in to advise on suitable marine-approved infusion resins and best practices.
The hull and deck laminate system for the Scorpion 85 uses Lloyds-approved materials: Crystic® 65PA gel-coat; Crestacoat® 5000PA barrier coat; and Crystic VE679-03PA infusion back up resin. This system provides a high gloss gel-coat finish.
Glass fibre reinforcements are used in the hull.
Grooved infusion-grade PVC foam core material was specified for the deck.
Areas of the deck and hull are bonded with Scott Bader's Crystic Crestomer® structural adhesives to save weight and avoid print-through.
Meter-mix technology
Scott Bader recommended using Composite Integration meter-mixing injection equipment, which is designed to enable the reliable, cost effective moulding of large, high quality composite parts.
Scorpion RIBs selected a Composite Integration Ciject One machine. With this model pressure sensors positioned in the mould feed data back to the injection machine during the infusion process. This automatically controls the supply of mixed resin at an optimum metered rate directly into the mould.
