[Ken O.]

Here is how I do my model boats. Same process but these are all carbon fiber. The pictures are layer by layer. First layer of 5.7 oz carbon, 2nd layer of carbon, 2mm Honeycomb core for stiffness. Then I added a little bit of ballistic Kevlar around the area where the removable cockpit will be. Then the 3rd layer of carbon. Then a white layer which is a nylon Peel ply. This is removed after the part is done and keeps the next layer and the bag from sticking to the part. Then the green flow mesh which helps the resin to flow across the part during the infusion process. ( The car parts are 5.7 oz fiberglass, 5.7 oz carbon, 2mm honeycomb, then 1 more layer of fiberglass) Then I put it in a vacuum bag. I do an envelope bag meaning that the mold and everything is inside the bag. A perimeter bag just goes around the outside edge of the mold. Then you turn on the vacuum pump and suck all the air out and look for any leaks. The pump should pull about 26-28 inches of vacuum if there are no leaks. Usually have to shift the bag around and get it down in all the corners so there is no bridging across gaps. Once that is all done then you mix up the resin and open the feed line. The resin is then sucked into the part and flows through the fabric. The nice thing about this system is that you get the optimal fabric/resin ratio. To some people it looks like it’s dry, like it didn’t get enough resin, but it’s ok. You don’t have a bunch of extra resin making your part heavy for no reason. Once the resin is cured the bag comes off, the green flow mesh and peel ply are removed and discarded. The peel ply leaves a nice textured finish that is easy to glue to later.