My brother and I just finished applying epoxy/color to the deck of our wakesurf, it looks real bad. We had previously done the bottom with a single layer of cloth, turned out ok other then the swallow tail.
We added a 2nd layer of cloth to the deck, you can see the outline very clearly in the images below but we failed to cut the cloth to the exact size of the deck - this leaving some gaps and overlap from the bottom cut laps.
How do you get consistent color between the middle and the rails? Ours is really blue in the middle, light blue on the rails.
We added the color to the epoxy, mixed for several minutes before adding the hardener.
Any suggestions on cutting cloth for the swallow tail, this just looks brutal, hopefully it will sand out.?
Any help or suggestions on how to improve would be great, thanks guys
As you can see the dark outline is the cutlap coming up around the rail from the bottom.
The other uneven line is from the layer of cloth we cut to place on the top to fill in the gap. Is it better to just use to full sheets, rather then just just and fill the gap?
I’m not sure what i’m looking at here, but to glass the deck you definitely want to cut a full sheet with laps, don’t just fit the deck patch in there. The inconsistency in color is just pooling of resin. The darker the color the more resin is pooled up in there. Assuming the color was mixed enough to be even. I wouldn’t sand to much because of the exposed foam. Just accept the color is going to look bad and move foward.
As far as cutting the fabric for a fish tail I’m sure some one has a pic or two. Do the same thing you did on the deck with the cutlap. This makes the rails darker because the color tint is doubled on the rail. Epoxy resin can really be leached out of the fabric so it is nice and even.
Where the gaps are now, you may get some air bubble problems. Really take your time and pull theat resin into those areas and let it fill in the gaps. Now that the color is on there you can work without any more color and do a nice strong glass job.
At the stage you are at, it would be worth it to check out some glassing videos online or watch someone in action. Good Luck.
Sorry should have explained the deck glass a little better... its a deck patch with a full width and length sheet on top (so two layers) the deck patch just didn't fit the hole overly well. Next time ill just to with two full width and length pieces to ensure a good fit.
We really felt rushed as the epoxy hardens in 15 minutes, not a lot of work time...
Howzit randomgo, Is that tint? Don't take this wrong but you should do a few clear boards and get comfortable glassing before doing a tint and even then use yellow for your first time. Tints are the hardest to do and the darker the tint the more the mistakes show up and yes, what a mess but now you have an idea of how the beast can bite you. Aloha,Kokua
Not to worry its just a stringerless blank so its only time. Even though it didn't turn out as expected it was a great learning experience, the next one will be better.
I'm going to try and clean it up a bit tomorrow, a little sanding may just clean it up, who knows.
Howzit randomgo, If you insist on doing color,use opque pigment next time or paint the blank. Yes I imagine you did learn a lot on this one. From what I see I don't know what you can do to clean it up, just finish it and surf it. Aloha,Kokua
Howzit randomgo, I don't know where you live or if you are even near a materials supplier but Yaar43 had a good answer and you should check Foamez out. I would just use what Fiberglass Hi had. Aloha,Kokua
Tint a big batch of resin and set half aside. Do your bottom lam and ral lap with a cutlap like you did. Then, tape off the rails at the cutlap, take the other half of the tinted resin, add your hardener and cutlap the “inlay.” Then do a clear freelapped second lam over the inlay once it’s cured. Pinline the lap line. This will give you pretty much the same color top and bottom.
Yea Kokua … starts with about the hardest color there is. Try an opaque next time. A solid color opaque … there’s a technique that doesn’t even require trim laps.
To learn sometimes you just have to go for it, it turned out bad but I learned a few tricks and the next one will be better. I'm already working on it.
nj_surfer: great tip, ill put that to work next time.
Cut the deck patch right to the edge of the board. Then second layer laps. The learning curve. I feel it everyday. I had a few boards I made that were really terrible and once I got an apprenticeship, my mentor told me I couldn’t have those boards around at all. Now I have these messy stained and tinted abominations in my home. I don’t want to throw them away but sheesh, he’s right. Told me the same thing as Kokua, Learn strength in the glass work then you can experiment with color tints later. Also I got a lot in my head, shape and color wise, when I first found this site. Know that many of the people here are immensely talented and have put their time and passion into perfecting this craft. We have to put our time in too.
