Well, I got the boat flipped back over yesterday and back onto it's cradle. It looks great from 10ft away, up close and you can see all the imperfections. I just got done doing a final sanding of all corners and radiuses and I think it looks ok. Now on to laying the glass..
  My question is how do you get the glass around all the corners like say the rounded roof and down the sides evenly? and the seats? My seating design is like "Spiritwind's"... I've already cut my 6 portholes out but was wondering should I wait till the glass is wet to cut out the holes?? or do it before I put epoxy on the glass?
Light weight 'glass will drape over modest curves and raduses. Sometimes you have to cut slits, darts, etc. to get it to lie down nice. A dry run will usually show where these places will be. You can pre-cut the fabric, but I've found you can rarely put it back in place exact enough to let the pre-cut fabric lie down. I cut the fabric as I go. I don't cut out holes until the goo has gone "green". Also, you don't have to cover things in one shot. You will have seams and butt joints in the fabric. Don't worry about it, this is normal. You'll fair it smooth later, just get the 'glass down so it makes good contact with the substrate.
MIke, I have never had the glass lay right everywhere. Just get it on and stuck firmly down as PAR says. You sand and fair fixing as you go after. It needs a second and possibly a third skimcoat coat of epoxy anyway and that will seal everything up nice and tight. Don't make this a hi stress operation. New skills are good!! 8) 8) 8)
Thanks, the only thing I'm gonna try and not do this time is overlap the 6oz fabric I'm using. Makes it much more dificult when trying to fair it smooth..
Coincidentally, I just today found this really helpful suggestion for making crisp butt joints with fiberglass without overlapping. Check out this link:
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/applying-cloth-tape/
The basic approach is to first overlap the cloth, apply epoxy, and let it stiffen a bit. Then slice through both layers of fabric. Remove the excess fabric from the top of one side, then lift the other side and remove the overlapped trimming. My shortened version of the technique might be confusing, but the instructions and graphic provided by West System are very clear.
West System has a treasure trove of free publications and video clips about applying and finishing epoxy. I use their site all the time. It makes me feel guilty that I am using the cheaper Marine Epoxy.
I am gaining confidence with my fiberglassing. Flat surfaces are easy, but I sometimes have trouble going over edges. Six oz cloth draped over a sharp angle doesn't want to stick down in my experience. It pops out, creating a rounded corner with a bubble underneath. Four oz cloth doesn't have that problem. I'm still working on solving this dilemma. I'll probably figure it out after my boat is finished.
Paul, use a bigger radius on corners if the fabric doesn't lie down neatly. Also if the warp of the fabric is on a 45 degree bias (or there abouts) it will lay down a lot better, then if the warp or weft is perpendicular to the corner axis. This is one reason 45/45 biax fabric drapes over corners so well.
Paul,
I agree that rounded corners work better. But in this case I was trying to drape cloth along the end of the deck and onto the hull sides. This is an especially tight angle and I didn't round it off because I am planning to attach a rubrail later. With a rounded edge, the deck edging would make a gully along rubrail, if that make sense. So that's why I had trouble getting my cloth to stick--the angle was too sharp and the cloth was too heavy. In the end, I had to trim off the cloth flush with the deck edge, which was irritating because I like having the corners covered. But I also plan to make a sturdy fillet from the rubrail to the deck, so I hope that will keep everything watertight.
By the way, Paul, I followed your suggestion and used the six oz cloth on the deck to create the appearance of canvas decking. With one coat of epoxy, the weave shows through and I think it will look great with paint. Thanks!
Yep, there's no way around the radius corner issue with 'glass. Basically you have to back fill and build it up if you want a crisp edge. You'll love the canvas looking deck trick, especially considering it'll last 10 times longer then the actual thing.