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Fairing the bulkheads

One lesson I have learned on the Bluejacket build is to think ahead about tasks to be peformed. Just aft of this bulkhead will be the cabinet that supports the crew seat. I was ready to leap into fabricating cabinets (because this is the fun stuff) when I calmed down and realized that fairing the taped bulkhead seams while unobstructed by cabinets will be so much easier than after cabinets are installed.

 

Use of peel ply when the bulkheads were taped long ago is making this job easier. Picture shows first coat of micro-balloon fairing applied. The fairing will be sanded off where the cabinet is

taped to the hull. Not sure if this is overkill but I prefer not to have items bonded to fairing compound. Yes, I remember that hot glued wood blocks couldn't pull fairing compound off the hull but why not find something else to worry about.

 

My practice was to apply the epoxy saturated fiberglass tape, peel ply and let it cure and then later add fairing compound. This required scrubbing the blush off (yes i understand that peel ply is supposed to remove the blush...but) and then lightly sand which usually removes a small though itchy amount of fiberglass tape. Today on these major seams I would experiment and let the epoxy on the tape harden sufficiently to hold its shape, forego the peel ply and then immediately apply fairing compound thus creating a chemical bond. Now I would be sanding mostly fairing compound and applying subsequent coats as required. This approach may be a time and itch saver.

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Uploaded on April 26, 2011
Taken on April 26, 2011