Tips and Techniques for Manufacturers – Stealth Veils

MANUFACTURER TIPS & TECHNIQUES

Stealth Veils works great in all Open & Closed Mold Processes, Pultrusion, SMC, and Epoxy Pre-Preg

Tips & Techniques

Play with different backing colors to change color tones and manipulate the appearance of the veil. In most cases white or a light beige are your best backing colors to maintain the exact color of the veil in it's original state. It doesn't matter if its in mold or post application. The first picture below is our Cherry wood grain with 3 different backing colors, same veil in a in-mold application, using a clear polyester gelcoat. The next pictures are a post application using Epoxy and our Stealth High Tech Polymer Coatings.

We’ve tested numerous Polyester Clear Gelcoats and Resins from all of the major manufacturers in the industry, and we’ve come to the conclusion they all work, but some work better using Stealth Veils. For Exterior applications be sure your clear gelcoat has good UV protection.

Step 1. Spray 20 to 30 mils of a high quality Clear gel coat. For the base coat that is going against the mold, like a marine grade gelcoat, Polynt, & Duratec 904-070 work great.

Step 2. Once this 1st layer has come to a cured tacked, where it just leaves your finger print. Its time to spray your second layer of Gelcoat. You’ll spray another 15 to 20 mils of Clear gelcoat. This is where we highly recommend using Duratec’s 904-061 due to it’s low viscosity and doesn’t trap air under the veil the higher viscosity clear gelcoats do. Once it’s been sprayed you’ll now apply a layer of 1oz to 1.5oz of CSM “Chopped Strand Matt” or a 40 to 50gsm fiberglass veil. This does two things. 1. It adds a layer of protection in front of the Stealth Veil. Don’t worry it’s completely transparent and can’t be seen at all, nor does it degrade the color of the veil. The CSM or fiberglass veil will wet out easily due to the low viscosity of the Duratec 904-061. Now the 2nd reason is the “CSM” or fiberglass veil aid in the removal of air that gets trapped under the Stealth Veil. Now it’s time to place your Stealth Veil face down with the image towards the surface of the mold. The fabric should immediately start to wet out and become fully saturated.

Step 3. Using a fine detail roller, start in the center of the mold and roll trapped air to the edges, then off the mold **See picture to the right. Some customers have found that rubber or silicone squeegees work well to remove the air as well. Be sure to take your time, and make sure all trapped air has been removed from under the veil, once done let cure. *See Video below.

Step 4. Now that the Stealth Veil has now been encapsulated between two layers of clear gelcoat, it’s time to move forward with your lamination. You’ll want to pigment your lamination resin (White) or (Light Beige) if you want your Stealth Veil to stay in its original color. For those wanting to manipulate the color, simply pigment the resin the color you’d like to change the veil to. Example if you’d like to change a wood grain to look more red, simply pigment your resin orange to red. Making test panels is a must to nail down your exact color.

FYI, “ASK US WHAT DIFFERENT COLORWAYS ARE AVAILIBLE FOR THE PATTERN YOU’RE CHOOSING. IT’S LIKELY WE ALREADY HAVE THE COLOR YOU WANT.”

**We recommend using United Initiators 925H for longer gel times or MEKP 950 if those working times are not needed in any clear gelcoat you choose to use. When it comes to your laminate, we highly recommend using United Initiators 750 or 757 pending on your working time, 757 for longer working time. These two particular initiator/catalysts do the best job tying up residual styrene, and all but eliminate any post cure.

This video shows you how to manipulate the color our veils, in this case our Italian Alder wood grain. It also shows you the complete process of using our Stealth Veils in an In-Mold process step for step.

Any of our printed veils can be used in an In-mold application

Stealth Veil is very responsive and has a high degree of elasticity that conforms to most shapes. You can be aggressive with Stealth Veils without worrying about pattern bleed or tearing like other veils. In cases where the mold has difficult shapes or radii, slits or darts may be used.

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