Why is Silmar Blue and Reichhold Pink?

I looked into the archives and couldn’t find much on this topic but i am sorry if it has been discussed before.

i am curious as to why different resin’s are different colors… what additives do each company add to change the color… does color effect transparency? will pink be harder to see a lap line compared to blue or green? just from personal experience i notice a lap line more with silmar than Reichold…maybe it is just my experience i dont know. Is “Solarez” base resin Reichhold with UV additives…? I am not a chemist nor do i conside my self knowledgable in the field… but i would like to understand the makeup of the resin more.

i am a chemist, although not a polymer chemist.  thus, i will offer what i believe to be a very reasonable, albeit nonauthoritative answer.  i would most certainly defer to a more specifically knowledgeable chemist who had intimate familiarity with these formulations.  that said, i suspect if you know more, you’ve probably got a signed nondisclosure agreement somewhere in the past from where/when you gained that knowledge.  it’s not much of a secret, but identity and concentration of a manufacturer’s additive package likely does classify as a “trade secret.”

 

i strongly suspect the color difference is due to differing cobalt accelerator (“drier” for the oil painters out there) used in the particular resin.  my best suspicion is that silmar 249a uses cobalt octoate, which tends toward a blue-green color, while i would guess that reichhold polylite uses cobalt napthenate, tending more toward a pink/purple tint.

 

regardless, in my experience both resins are equally clear and colorless upon cure.  one would suppose the reichhold product to be promoted more strongly, as it is intended to be used in a low viscosity and high surface area to volume (read:thin layer) application for topcoat gloss, and would need to be formulated “hot” in order to experience sufficiently fast cure times while losing heat more rapidly due to that greater surface area to volume ratio.  silmar 249A is formulated for lamination or possibly bulk casting, and is typically thinned, waxed, and “shot hot” (strongly catalyzed) by the glasser when used for hot or gloss coats.

 

note that silmar 249b is even bluer, but i belive that represents a colorant added to “cool off” the color and improve perceived whiteness.  i’ve noticed the newest batches of resin research epoxy to be similarly “blued”, again likely done to make the white “pop.”

 

-cbg

 

 

 

why thank you! that was a much better answer than i was anticipating… i am now enlightened!

Reichhold lam resin is clear Blue not pink.

The colors are for differentiate the types of resin too; after you put the reactive all become transparent or ambar

Reichold gloss resin is pink to almost amber depending on the batch. Not sure about their lam resin.

My eyes are blue, and my sunburned ass is pink.

HA!  I think I just blew a snot bubble!

Dion was kinda green.Evercoat is purple. Casting resin is clear. Maple tree resin is sweet. Pine tree resin is amber and sticky as hell. This getting stupid and I am wondering WTF I am doing.

Consistent.  Zig when everyone else Zags.

Silmar is for boys, reichold is for girls.