epoxy painting question?

[plurpimpin]

i'm building a ply boat and coating it with epoxy and cloth. my big question is about painting it. do i paint before or after applying the fiberglass? also if i'm going to leave alot of the boat with the plain wood look do i need to apply something after fiberglassing (clear paint, varnish, or something else) or can i just leave the plain epoxy untreated?

[PAR]

Epoxy has to be protected from UV, so it must be painted or have a clear coating applied (varnish, polyurethane, etc.). These types of coatings (with color or clear) always go over the substrate. In other words, do your 'glass work then paint it, to finish off the surface. Clear coatings over wood are the same deal, a protective layer to keep moisture and UV out of the wood and always go on last.

[rwatson]

If you are after a totally top effect with the wood and epoxy, make sure you use a special 'clear' epoxy. Most epoxies dont give that perfectly clear and transparent effect.
For West Systems for example, you would be using 207 hardener , which is very expensive.