Fairing

Wow, am I glad to have finished this first stage of the faring. It was a test of endurance, patience, strength and mental resilience, which had made me question myself multiple times.

I had thought that it would be much easier because my lamination schedule didn't create large overlaps. Still I struggled and had to do multiple passes. I started of with using Sicomin Mixfill 80 epoxy putty und used that on the bottom and chine planks. I had to do two full passes on the bottom and one on the chine sides.

I completely underestimated the amount of putty that had to go on, which is why I ran out and had to re-order.

While waiting for more mixfill80 to arrive I decided to use west System epoxy for the topsides, and I am glad I did. I turned out that my own mixture was easier and quicker to apply, as well as to sand down, than the Mixfill80. its's also about half as expensive which is why I will be doing it this way going forward. There is some justification for the Mixfill80 though. As it is purpose engineered it provides the best resistance to water and impact and it has a pretty long open time.

I was able to cover one topside with 3 batches of west epoxy. I used the slow hardener at roughly 18°C. My recipe was 16 strokes resin and hardener. 4 spoons of colloidal silica, 4 spoons of cotton, and 16 spoons of glass bubbles. I mixed in a small bucket with mixer and drill and was very careful not to draw down any air. After mixing I spread the still very runny mass on a large piece of cardboard to slow the curing and started the application.

When I applied the putty, I always did a first pass just trying to fill any pores and taking it off again flush to the surface. I then applied the actual mass, wet on wet, trying to be as even as possible.

I had to do about 3 more passes on some of the low spots and along the chine until I was confident that I would be able to achieve a nice surface with the epoxy primer that will follow.

Most of the Sanding was done with two self made torture bords and 80 grit sandpaper. In the Bow section above the chine I used a smaller hand sanding block and my Mirka disc sander. After I was pretty happy with the results I did a final pass with the Rupes also 80grit before applying the first couple of rounds of epoxy Primer.

Many thanks to Joe Hull #165 https://jogotransat.ch for letting me borrow his Rupes sander. It truly made a difference and will prove even more useful as it will get more use sanding back the epoxy primer and getting the hull sanded up to a 240 grit finish.