Pigs Lipstick?

Clear coating carbon always raises mixed opinions.

These opinions are founded on knowledge of the industry, either current or outdated, and by the practices and methods used by companies that may have little understanding the differences in the methods required.

We however don't cut corners when it comes to clear coating, and is a considerable chunk of our cost, it's expensive, but it works.

Carbon fibre is by nature a porous material, just like the shirt you're wearing, if you sprayed lacquer on it, it would soak through the fibres and would leave dimples on the surface of the shirt.

If you sprayed a lacquer onto a waxed jacket, this would obviously flake off this, with an opposite problem to the shirt.

So the problem isn't the product, but how you prepare the surface.

We have tested a few options over the year, and even tried a bodyshop used by a Ferrari dealership, with diabolical results.

However, we have been speaking to the best people in the industry, travelling over the UK and to Amsterdam for Europe largest marine show, we have nailed our clear coating system down to three products depending on the size and requirement of the part, two of these come from Germany, the other from New Zealand.

These products seal and primers the carbon on a molecular level, creating a chemical bond as opposed to the mechanical one relied on by 'off the shelf' automotive products, this bond is what makes it difference and what the real players are using.

With this perfect base, we then searched for the best top coat that works with our base systems, and we have found them! depending on the base, we have products from PPG and Glasurit that gives us a gloss factor that exceeds anything we have seen available by others.

I stand by my products and process, I have seen it on Admiral Cup racing yachts, I have seen it used in the toughest of environments. It works!

With this system, we can tint it in a candy finish, or matte it or add sparkle, the options are close to limitless and always open to ideas.