Help needed: Fiberglassing wooden boat

[RC]

I just fiberglassed the hull of a Sterling Chris Craft Corvette (48" in
length). Needless to say I had some problems. There are some bubbles in
the cloth as well as some ripples when I pulled on the cloth. Should I sand
them all the way down and put new cloth on and reglass or is there some
other way? How can I thin the epoxy so it doesn't drag the cloth so much. I
used Z-Poxy and it wasn't the easiest to work with. Should I sand before
putting on another coat of resin? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

[mrboats]

I have just finished the same process on the same hull. If you get bubbles,ripples, sand till level, using 220 or even 180 wet sanded. If you go thru the mat, or cloth, pat in more and resand. I used a kit from an auto supply store, and it worked fine. I used Bondo body filler to smooth to near final finish, and a Bondo tube of red scratch filler for final smoothness. Then, sandable spray primer, and many coats to make it perfect. (I sanded most of it off.) I needed to have sandpaper up to 1500 to make it perfect. I started with a lumpy hull made 50 years ago, and it is near perfect. I also used an airbrush and gloss latex house paint well thinned for the top coat. A lot of work, but glorious results....good luck!! Keep us informed.
M R Boats

[RC]

Thanks for the info.Sanded out the hull. Put new mat in the bad areas. Put
on three more coats of resin. (Warmed bottles in hot water to thin) That
was a good trick. Came out super smooth. Sanded again. Covered whole hull
in Bondo. Sanded most of that off til smooth. (Got that from the
motorcycle shows on TV) Only needed 2 coats of primer sanded for the paint.
Came out super smooth. Just waiting a couple of days til I shoot on the
clear. Great thing about a hull this size is the ability to use power tools
on it! Got a variable speed orbital sander that really did the trick.
Fiberglassed the deck too. Put on thin black striping tape first to simulate
the caulking between boards. Surprised me on how great that looks! Now on to
the cabin area.

[Himszy]

"RC" <spartan987@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:QsGdnYtPRYfxULDfRVn-2Q@comcast.com...
> Thanks for the info.Sanded out the hull. Put new mat in the bad areas.
Put
> on three more coats of resin. (Warmed bottles in hot water to thin) That
> was a good trick. Came out super smooth. Sanded again. Covered whole
hull
> in Bondo. Sanded most of that off til smooth. (Got that from the
> motorcycle shows on TV) Only needed 2 coats of primer sanded for the
paint.
> Came out super smooth. Just waiting a couple of days til I shoot on the
> clear. Great thing about a hull this size is the ability to use power
tools
> on it! Got a variable speed orbital sander that really did the trick.
> Fiberglassed the deck too. Put on thin black striping tape first to
simulate
> the caulking between boards. Surprised me on how great that looks! Now on
to
> the cabin area.
>
>
How can I get the air bubbles out of my hull? I've done one layer of mat and
resin.

[Boat Hull Maker]

Woven roving fiber are difficult to make smooth surface. Because the
fibers are long, will cause grove/ripples anywhere. Chopped strand mat
fiber are easy to make smooth finish. Yet, small bubbles are
inevitable. Chopped strand mat are difficult to make sharp corner.

Epoxy is expensive. For fiberglass, no need to use epoxy, not much
could be gained. Polyester resin highely recommanded.

RC wrote:
> I just fiberglassed the hull of a Sterling Chris Craft Corvette (48" in
> length). Needless to say I had some problems. There are some bubbles in
> the cloth as well as some ripples when I pulled on the cloth. Should I sand
> them all the way down and put new cloth on and reglass or is there some
> other way? How can I thin the epoxy so it doesn't drag the cloth so much. I
> used Z-Poxy and it wasn't the easiest to work with. Should I sand before
> putting on another coat of resin? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
>
>

[dancnfol]

I have fiberglassed for years and if you want some really good hints please write me and will be glad to share I did repair for the real thing as well my friends like my repairs that are not noticable to them