I’ve gone over the hull three times with blue epoxy filler to get the edges sharp. Plus a great deal of sanding, the long board is a good friend. The P40 grit takes the filler off where needed. There are lots of high / low areas I will deal with at the high build primer stage. The lows are tricky to see and I’m trying not to sand off anymore than necessary filler as it is expensive.
I’ve used a orbital sander in areas with P40 to get the shine off the filler which makes it easier to long board. This is going to take some time indeed. The edges have some high and low areas which I will tackle in the next fill stage. Lots of blisters and might have a break over the Xmas period !!
The finish after the peel ply was pulled left a reasonable surface. The biggest areas to fill looked like the edges from the taping building up a higher surface. Anyway only one way to find out.
Filler mixed, blue grade used, 1:1 mix ratio keeps it simple. I had some evening help and we managed to cover the hull in a few hours with a fairly thin coat. The epoxy is good to work with for a few minutes but quite quickly gets tacky and harder to pull a good smooth finish. I don’t think I’ll get away with one coat!
I had planned to have rounded edges running down the chines and a really good edge on the transom to break the water. After some research and advice on site I changed my mind and filled in the chines for a sharp edge. This was easier said than done.
The time arrived to get on with the matting. I’d been looking forward to this stage, felt like a milestone getting the build to this stage.
I used 450g Multiaxial glass reinforcement fibre matting, 2 layers followed by 1 layer of 300g Woven glass cloth and a peel ply to finish.
Started with some help of 4 friends, plan was to start early and do the whole lot in one day. Bacon butty at 8am, mixed up a batch of epoxy resin and rolled a thin coat onto the plywood, left that for 10 minutes to soak in.
The a mix of epoxy resin and some cilica to make a runny paste, this was rolled on liberally to accept the first layer of glass. All seams taped with 1 x 450g 100mm then on the lower chines a second tape of 450g 140mm. With the whole boat covered in the epoxy paste on went the first layer of 450g multiaxial glass, laying it port to starboard across the hull with a 100mm overlap. Liberal epoxy resin rolled in and then bubble buster rollers used extensively to push out any air bubbles and thoroughly impregnate the glass with the epoxy. A layer on the transom then the second layer of 450g multiaxial laid bow to stern, again a 100mm overlap.
Couple rounds of tea, many many rubber gloves, minimal spillage. The matting absorbs a phenomenal amount of epoxy resin.
I put an extra port to starboard layer of 450g around the chainplate area and across the keel area for additional strength.
The the 300g woven cloth stern to bow, 4 sheets to get the overalap.
Finished off with 4 sheets of peel ply stern to bow and lots of squidgy cards to smooth off. Took 7 hours start to finish with 5 people. I’ve now left if for a few days at room temp to go off well. Put a heater under the boat on the second day just to make sure it cures perfectly. Pull the peel ply next week. Suppose to be pulling that off!
I plan to sharpen up the transom edges with thickened epoxy during the fairing stage to get a crisp break for the hydro dynamics. Will leave the chines rounded as they are now. Not sure of any advantage having those as a definitive edge.
Shout out to Harry, Alex, Jamie and Chris for their help. Ace job. Thank you!
I’d have loved to laminate in the Union Jack but resisted temptation.
Getting the second layer of 9mm ply on the bottom was a bit of a balancing act, perched up on the boat dropping the three pieces on was fun!
I used a tiling comb to spread out the thickened epoxy as advised by an experienced boat builder. Was magic. Even spread and took minutes. I also drilled lots of small “breather” holes in the second layer to stop any air gaps forming. Also allowed some epoxy to spill out.
The sheets went down fine and the next day I faired them in. Took out all the screws and filled the holes. The belt sander and electric plane are very effective tools for this, a lot of material needed removing with some control.
Sanded back the filled holes and spent a long time getting the bow all even and sanded smooth. Just about ready for the fibreglass matting stage!
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