starinstripes

I am ready to glass the hull of a.1:22 j boat 65" low 12"/draft. I'm using west epoxy.with 6oz and have the hull inverted. Am I best draping the hull with one piece or one side at a time. My intentions are to finish it clear to see the wood planking.
Thanks in advance for any advise
Don Z.

Michaelj2k

Normally on a Marblehead I could drape it with one piece. Since you have large convex and concave surfaces, you might consider applying several pieces that would be easier to handle. Use as little resin as possible to bond the cloth to the surface. Use an old credit card to squeegee out excess resin. Sand then apply more coats of finishing resin as needed, spreading it out with the credit card. Sand each coat until you get the surface you desire.

ren3

Six ounce cloth is too heavy for a small hull. I have used it on full size wooden hulls 16' long with good results though with a clear two part urethane finish over the epoxy. It takes a lot of resin to fill the weave. I would recommend three ounce cloth, and you do need to saturate the wood planking first with epoxy, then drape and work one piece of cloth over the tacky first coat of epoxy. Do not use a credit card. Use a softer material, and do not remove too much epoxy, because if you have resin starved areas they will show up when the resin cures as frosty white and somewhat opaque. Resin is heavy so only apply enough to fill the weave. Be very careful sanding so you do not sand through the cloth as it will show in the final finish. It has to be uniform. Do not overlap any cloth if you can avoid it, and do so along the keel if necessary. The overlaps add strength but can compromise the transparency of the final finish. Epoxy has poor UV resistance so you should spray the hull with a UV resistant clear coat. It will really increase the "depth" of the clear finish that you are looking for. I use Interlux two part linear urethanes. I would suggest that you use a couple of layers of cloth and resin on the inside of the hull to give it adequate strength. The layer of cloth on the outside does not add much strength by itself

starinstripes

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Thanks again for the advice. After thinking about it for a day i came up with a support for the glass over the stern so I could use one piece. The only seam was on the stern and trimed the overlap as per West system manual. it is unnoticeable.Used 6oz with west 207 hardener. Set glass on the dry hull wetout first coat at 5am 2nd coat at 10am and will do 3rd coat at 2pm. The inside has a coat of west 105 with 206 hardener no glass. Tomorrow I can sand and fair any imperfections below the water line. Will finish with interlux urethane varnish.
Don Z.