Hi Damo,
As promised here are photos of the glassing process and some other stuff.
It doesn't usually matter what order you put the glass on. it gets feathered together and unlike plastic coverings, it's not going to get fuel under it at the seams. I still use that order though. Bottom to Top, Rear to Front.
Photo 1) First piece on the bottom. I wasn't being very careful and got lots of resin on the sides. Took less than 10 minutes to sand it off after the resin cured so not a big deal.
Photo 2) The piece overlaps the firewall onto the front upper deck. In fact all pieces overlap the firewall which give four layers of glass over the firewall. It didn't need any of it and is now massively strong and very fuel-proof as long as the holes are fuel-proofed. I did it just because but none of the glass on the firewall was necessary.
Photo 3) When the resin is cured, use fine sandpaper to remove the excess. The only thing to watch for here is that you don't get hard glass between the sanding block and the wood and make deep gouges.
Photo 4) You can see where the glass is attached to a side due to the excess resin. Not a big deal but best to avoid.
Photo 5) All the excess glass is removed and the edges of the cloth are feathered. Doesn't take long so don't rush and do not sand through the glass in other areas.
Photo 6) Opposite fuselage side with excess removed and glass feathered.
Photo 7) Ditto for the top deck. That whit you can see on the corners is glass where the resin soaked completely into the wood. More resin is needed to fill before any more sanding. I'm going to put on the rest of the glass and then see what I need to do so I'm not filling these areas now. Most of it will get filled as new pieces are attached.
Photo 8) Next piece goes on either side. Two layers of glass on the firewall.
Photo 9) I was a lot neater this time.
Photo 10) After resin cures, excess is removed and glass is feathered.
Photo 11) Close-up of twice-glassed firewall.
Photo 12) Fiberglass is feathered on all edges.
Photo 13) Fiberglass over openings will be cut away with a sharp razor and then sanded.
Photo 14) I didn't weigh the fuselage but it now weighs 165 grams (5.8 ounces).
Photo 15) I made a test piece about 3" x 6" that is finished exactly as any piece on this plane that are glassed. It is glassed on both sides. I can cut it into four pieces which gives me eight test pieces to see if the rest of the finish will do what I want it too.
Extra stuff
Photos 16-18) The interior was coated with resin three years ago when I last worked on the project. I used self-adhesive foam to cushion the fuel tank.
Photos 19 & 20) Hard Maple exit fairings. I've made them from balsa in the past but didn't turn out to be very durable.
Photos 21 & 22) Antenna exit fairing. I built this plane before I had a 2.4 system. I don't know if I'll use my old Super 8 or my 12fg but the fairing is going on regardless.
Photos 23 & 24) Tail wheel cable exits and fairings. Two more exits and fairings are on top of the fuselage for the rudder cables. None of the fairings will be fiberglassed but they will receive a coat or two of resin.
Photo 25) Miscellaneous parts including the glassed tail feathers, hardwood tailwheel mounting, stabilizer fillets and plywood elevator control horn.
Photo 26) Fiberglassed fin and rudder.
Photo 27) Fiberglassed stabilizer and elevator.
When all the pieces are sanded and feathered I will glue the tail on but none of the fairings. The stabilizer fillets will be sanded and then glassed. The glass will overlap onto the fuselage and stabilizer. When that is cured and the glass is feathered I will brush on another coat of resin to ensure the glass is fully sealed.
After that it the entire fuselage and tail will be sanded only to remove hard dust specks in the resin and strings.
The finish is supposed to be a candy red. I want the red to be transparent so the wood grain is visible, but I also want it to match the wing which is covered with red silk. That's why all the test pieces. I'm not sure it will work the way I want it to and I have three ways of getting clear red:
1) Mix red with a lot of clear.
2) Put Red powder dye in the resin. I've done this and can testify that it works.
3) Add red tint to the resin.
Anyway, this is all well beyond what we were suggesting to you. You only need a small piece of glass on the firewall and overlapped onto the fuselage about 1/2".