dadkins

So my cedar strip over foam wasnt holding up to ice and snow and gravel with just the varnish finish. I decided to strip er down and take the bottom down about 1/8" with ... a belt sander then a glas shelf with sandpaper glued to it and sliding the boat back and forth over that to get a super flat smooth bottom, then I laid down some kinda heavy glass cloth -I am thinking just the bottom sides and transom. I am trying to have it ready fro a meet This Friday with a couple of RCU airboaters - still some work to go. So Far.

1QwkSport2.5r

Looking good so far. If you want an ultra slick wetted surface, scuff the resin down after curing and slap a coat or two of some water based polyurethane satin finish. This stuff dries quick and is quite slippery when dry. I do this on all of my boats. The glossy resin is kinda "grabby" with water adding drag. You could get the same results with sanding the cured resin with 320-400 grit sand paper and wipe it down with silicone.

OR you can run it as-is and have a hay-day. LoL.

dadkins

Tim, After scuffing this surface I plan to lay down one or two more coats of resin - not sure if I will squee gee it on or paint it on to fill in the glass weave then like you say a water based satin poly followed by my sliver of a keel and I will be ready to roll.

1QwkSport2.5r

I always brush my resin, but I use a finishing resin which is pretty thin already and warmed up its thinner yet. If you're using a quick cure 15min resin or something close, you can thin the faster curing resin with alcohol to buy some open time. When I glass, I always do a coat of just resin on top of the first coat of resin + cloth. I always wipe the scuffed resin with acetone to get rid of any residual wax from the curing process. You'll get fisheyes otherwise.

What resin do you use? Cure time?

dadkins

I just had some cheapo bondo brand resin laying around - polyester - with pretty heavy glass cloth.
so sand lightly then degloss with acetone, or just acetone before applying the next coat of resin?
I hope this stuff is fuel proof - even if not - its on the bottom of the boat.

1QwkSport2.5r

I don't use polyester myself, so I don't know if it has the same curing properties (wax production) as epoxy.

Acetone is used to clean the surface to promote adhesion, prevent dust contamination, and prevent fisheyes. Use it after scuffing/sanding.