Favorite Epoxy/Resin Fillet Fairing gel coat combo

I am planning on laying fiberglass on Aquatek marine grade plywood.I would like to know what is the best epoxy/resin, fillet, fairing and gel coat paint for this job.I am asking because I have read so many articles about certain resins that do not work well with gel coat.I am asking so I don’t make the mistake of doing it twice.

 

Why do you want to use gel coat?

 

Agreed ondarvr.

Munson, if you're doing a composite with plywood as the base and then a fiberglass layup with an epoxy coating I'd recommend a good quality marine paint as a finish.

Some say it's too expensive but I use Interlux Perfection on just about everything. If you are not familiar, I'd recommend doing some research into it. I find it harder and more durable than polyester gelcoat. Much easier to repair as well. I'll see if I can find a photo to give you an idea of what it looks like. Those flat panels are just Araucoply Radiata Pine Plywood. It's not marine ply. Would I build a hull out of it? No but it's fine for my flybridge. Those flat panels you see have been installed for over a decade and look as good today as they did when they were new. The schedule was two coats resin as a sealer. 4 oz cloth. Three additional coats to secure the cloth and fill the weave. Two coats Interlux Epoxy Primer and three coats of Interlux Perfection. When ply is sealed that well you'll have no problems.

Here's a little different profile of a panel done as I just described. Perfection can be "rolled and tipped" to give a very smooth and shiny finish. This photo shows it just rolled but not tipped. I like a little matte finish on my panels so I don't go for the super shiny look.




Good Luck and welcome to the forums.

MIA

 

I think I am going to take Missinginaction’s advice.thank you

 

Thank you,I think I will go your route.Did you use penetrating epoxy or regular epoxy as a sealer?Did you use fairing compound over the resin or did you sand the resin smooth?I have some interlux inter protect 2000E left over from my bathtub, can I use that instead of epoxy primer?Thank You

 

Thinned (penetrating) epoxy is significantly weaker than normal epoxy.
Fair if required to meet your surface expectations.
Primers usually sand easier than paints. Using 2000E as a primer will not negatively affect the final results, but may require an extra sheet of sandpaper.

 

You don't use penetrating epoxy.

You also don't say fair use plan.

For a simple piece of furniture, sheath ply in say 4-6 oz glass. Precoat the plywood with epoxy at 2 oz/yd and about 30 minutes later wet the surface and lay the glass again. This double method is used to avoid dry suck that plywood can do to thin layups. You can also wait and lay it the second day.

Infill of weave can be done by 2-4 'lifts' of same 2 oz per yard resin, or you can use any number of fairing compounds if you need it fairer. Typically after about 2 weave fills, you may wish to sand a bit, avoiding sandi g thru the glass.

for a better response, provide more details about the need

 

I am extending my Anchor locker in order to install a windlass (it won’t have the proper fall distance).So I am building a “Box” that will be bolted to the anchor locker and caulk the seams with 5200.I was thinking of using West system or Mas and using woven mat on inside and to build corners and chopped strand to cover outside (does that sound right?) I thought about glassing to my boat but I would have a tough time accessing the inside and I wouldn’t be able to properly glass it.I am also concerned with not blending the colors properly from the boat to the box and the last thing is the bottom part of the box meets my non skid and I’m a little worried I will ruin the nonskid if I go that route.The box would be portable enough that I can take it home and work on it.Thanks for your advice I truly appreciate all the help I’ve been getting from you and the others in here.

 

Hi Munson,

I'll respond in more detail later today or tomorrow. Just a question. This is an anchor locker extension? So it's inside the boat, right? Up by the stem or bow? Below the deck?

Maybe a picture would help if you can.

MIA

 

Above deck,I am bringing the pitch of the access hole out from an angle to 90degrees so I can mount the windlass and I will have proper fall.From a side angle it’s like adding on a slice of pizza.10 inches high and less than 8 inches from bow with Triangular sides.

 

You’re over engineering this thing.
Build a mold of melamine, gel coat it, and glass it with polyester.
Mount it with tabs, or flanges and screws and go fishing.

 

Hi Munson.

OK, I think I got it. I just want to make sure I understand what we're trying to do here. You need a little more distance from the anchor on the pulpit to the windlass. You don't have a windlass, you're installing a new one. The purpose of the box is to provide an area to mount the windlass that is the correct distance from the anchor/roller on the pulpit and so that the geometry works.

If I have this right you can certainly do this. But before we get into building this box I think that we have some more sophisticated engineering questions to answer.

That windlass is pulling on your anchor and there are significant amounts of force involved. Have you thought through how much stress will be placed on this box? Will it be up to the job of pulling your anchor?

I'm not saying this is a bad idea but as you said you want to do it once and be done with it.

MIA

 

The rode Drop according to lewmar say 12 inches minimum from what the windlass is mounted to and the peak height of the rode buildup in the locker.If I mount it on the existing structure of the boat I will not have the drop clearance because of the v-shape of the locker at the nose of the boat. The only way I can get the proper drop distance is to move the windlass out a few inches And that is why I have this issue with building the box.
I planned on bolting this box to the perimeter of the existing access panel and through the floor.
I originally thought of using 3/4 marine plywood and fiberglass but capnD mentioned a melamine mold.That sounds great also.
By bolting through the floor and sides, will it withstand the forward pulling force of the windlass?

 

“Will it withstand the pulling force of the windless?”
Build it stout!
I suggested earlier that you could make a longer bowsprit and mount the windlass on it, that would help spread the load.
Even a piece of lumber on top of the existing?
As for the free fall requirement, you can raise the deck or lower the floor, but that’s major surgery!