The minimum order quantity is 25 kg and delivery time to UK customers is 3-5 working days.
The automated gel-coat and pigment dispensing system is a significant capital investment by Scott Bader, answering customers’ requests for shorter lead times and smaller order quantities for a coloured gel-coat. Composites manufacturers making parts for transportation, automotive, building and general industrial applications are using the new Crystic Rapide service.
“Our operators and in particular our experienced finishers, who have used gel-coats from a variety of suppliers, made a particular point of telling me how good the Crystic Rapide gel-coats are, even greys and other darker colours, having an excellent colour match and seeing no pin-holing on reworked joints,” says Robin Williams, Sales Director for Aquafibre Mouldings Ltd, which built complex jointed mouldings.
The Crystic Rapide project took 12 months to develop and test. To ensure consistent quality, the Crystic Rapide service uses the same pigments and marine-grade gel-coat base technology used in larger batch Crystic gel-coat production and the same quality checks are done on both the gel-coat bases and pigments. This means that long-term weathering performance is not compromised as the individual base pigments have all been selected to offer the lowest colour change and best gloss retention over time.
"The new automated dispensing has excellent batch-to-batch colour consistency and accurate colour matching, which were critical success factors in the project,” notes Samantha Bell, European Product Manager, Gelcoats, Scott Bader, who led the project. “We know they have been achieved as so many customers have told us that they cannot see a difference between a standard manufactured gel-coat batch from Scott Bader and a Crystic Rapide keg."
Customers can order either Crystic 65PA Rapide for brush application or Crystic LS97PA Rapide for spray application; both are isophthalic gel-coats, suitable for a broad range of applications. Both gel-coat grades are Lloyds approved. Topcoat versions of both in any RAL, BS or colour matched colour are also supplied via the service: Crystic 65PAX Rapide and LS 97PAX Rapide.
The Crystic Rapide service is available to both UK and export customers.
UK-headquartered Scott Bader Composites supplies polyester resins and gel-coats under the Crystic brand from manufacturing locations around the world.