Plastic on Peel Ply

Final check on the bow cap shape. The picture shows how tightly the final shape fit the template cut into plywood.

As far as the fairing and shaping goes it got to the point where I just said - enough! So I cut the cloth, peel ply and this time a 'heavy' plastic sheet from home depot.

A comment that Biol made on Jay's site led me to investigate a technique called 'poor mans vacuum bagging'. This really just consists of applying a plastic sheet over the peel ply and using the seal to push air bubbles and excess resin out of the area with a plastic squeegee. I started a discussion on this on the F22 builders group site.


Here is my first attempt. There is a shiny clear plastic sheet over the black peel ply. In application it was not such a revelation. The plastic sheet does help to hold the laminate to the foam. However, the application of the two layers of my b spec. s-glass cloth applied so smooth and bubble free that I am not sure if the plastic really is doing much. There was one area where I did note excess resin getting worked out.

I also complicated the experiment by using a different resin. Now that I am laminating the outside of these parts I used a resin that

1. Advertises good moisture resistance.
2. Was on sale at Noah's.

The epoxy is MAS low viscosity resin with the slow hardener.

First complaint. The resin and hardener are the same colour. It is not so easy to tell when it is fully mixed. If anyone has any comments or experience with this resin. Comment away please.

My work place has moved and it happens (life is strange) that I am now about a 3 minute drive to Noah's Toronto main warehouse. Very handy indeed for quick lunch break supply runs.