Base-coat in-mold coating

1. A coating composition, comprising;

a saturated aliphatic polyester urethane acrylate;

(b) a hydroxyalkyl (meth)acrylate;

(c) a vinyl-substituted aromatic compound;

(d) a polyacrylate ester of an alkylene polyol wherein said alkylene group has from 2 to 30 carbon atoms;

(e) a (cyclo)aliphatic (meth)acrylate, wherein said (cyclo)aliphatic group is saturated and comprises from 1 to 50 carbon atoms wherein, for every 100 parts by weight saturated aliphatic polyester urethane acrylate, the amount of said (cyclo)aliphatic (meth)acrylate is from 0.1 to 15 parts by weight; and

(f) optionally, a peroxide initiator.

2. The coating composition of claim 1 wherein at least one of the following is true: the number average molecular weight of the saturated polyester portion of said saturated aliphatic polyester urethane acrylate is from about 1000 to about 5,000, said vinyl-substituted aromatic compound comprises from 8 to 12 carbon atoms, and the alkyl moiety of said hydroxyalkyl group comprises from 1 to 10 carbon atoms.

3. The coating composition of claim 1 wherein, for every 100 parts by weight of said saturated aliphatic polyester urethane acrylate, the amount of said hydroxyalkyl (meth)acrylate is from 2 parts to 20 parts by weight, the amount of said vinyl-substituted aromatic compound is from 10 to 70 parts by weight, and the amount of said polyacrylate ester of an alkylene polyol is from 10 to 40 parts by weight.

4. The coating composition of claim 3 comprising, for every 100 parts by weight of said saturated aliphatic polyester urethane acrylate, from 6 to 16 parts by weight of said hydroxyalkyl (meth)acrylate, from 20 to 60 parts by weight of said vinyl-substituted aromatic compound, and from 15 to 35 parts by weight of said polyacrylate ester of an alkylene polyol.

5. The coating composition of claim 1 wherein at least one of the following is true: said saturated aliphatic polyester urethane acrylate is prepared from ingredients comprising neopentyl glycol, ethylene glycol, adipic acid, isophorone diisocyanate, and hydroxyethyl (meth)acrylate, said hydroxyalkyl (meth)acrylate is hydroxpropyl methacrylate, said vinyl-substituted aromatic compound is styrene, and said polyacrylate ester of an alkylene polyol is a diacrylic ester of hexanediol.

6. The coating composition of claim 1 wherein a polyester portion of said saturated aliphatic polyester urethane acrylate is derived from at least a saturated carboxylic acid or an anhydride thereof and a saturated diol, and said urethane portion of said saturated aliphatic polyester urethane acrylate is derived from an aliphatic saturated polyisocyanate.

7. The coating composition of claim 6 wherein at least one of the following is true: said saturated carboxylic acid or anhydride has from 1 to 15 carbon atoms, said saturated diol contains from 2 to 15 carbon atoms, and said saturated polyisocyanate is a C 5 -C 18 diisocyanate.

8. The coating composition of claim 1 wherein at least one of the following is true: said hydroxyalkyl (meth)acrylate comprises a C 1 -C 5 alkyl group and said polyol comprises a C 2 -C 10 alkylene group.

9. The coating composition of claim 1 wherein said (cyclo)aliphatic (meth)acrylate is selected from the group including methyl (meth)acrylate, tetrahydrofurfuryl (meth)acrylate, isodecylmethacrylate, 2(2-ethoxy)ethoxy ethylacrylate, stearyl (meth)acrylate, lauryl (meth)acrylate, glycidyl methacrylate, isodecyl acrylate, isobornyl (meth)acrylate, tridecyl (meth)acrylate, and caprolactone acrylate.

10. The coating composition of claim 1 wherein said (cyclo)aliphatic (meth)acrylate is isobornyl acrylate.

11. The coating composition of claim 1 wherein the amount of said (cyclo) aliphatic (meth)acrylate is 0.5-10 parts by weight.

12. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said (cyclo)aliphatic (meth)acrylate is added as monomer diluent for the aliphatic polyester urethane acrylate component.

13. A process for applying a coating composition to a molded, fiber-reinforced plastic substrate and forming a coating thereon, comprising:

a) into a die defining a mold cavity in which the molded, fiber-reinforced plastic substrate has been allowed to harden, injecting a metered amount of the coating composition of claim 1 and allowing said coating composition to contact at least a portion of a surface of said substrate;

b) applying molding pressure to distribute said coating composition over said surface;

c) maintaining said pressure while said material bonds to said surface and solidifies sufficiently to permit complete separation of said component pieces of said die without disruption of the coating thus formed; and

d) opening said die and removing said coated substrate from said cavity.