Other life stuff has completely halted progress over the past 4 weeks but now hopefully that is resolved and I can begin a big push to get this bloody project finished.
Today I put the sealing wax around the edges of the tank pattern divider, applied 5 coats of release agent and then laid down the first gel coat on the top surface of the tank.
I also nearly finished filling and rubbing down my re-profiled seat pattern.
I think I have also worked out a way to a) minimise wastage of the carbon fibre cloth when laying it and b) provide the best prospect of an aesthetically pleasing weave pattern in the finished article.
Some of my moulds are quite deep and intricate and my concern was that cutting out a rough shape in the CF cloth and then simply laying it in the mould would lead to creases or worse having to cut the CF after it had been wetted in the epoxy resin.
I am going to cut up some old cotton sheets and use the material to make patterns for the exact shape of the CF that will then hopefully fit into the moulds with least number of creases or strategically placed alleviating cuts. This will take quite a bit of extra time (and probably multiple attempts) as I have never been very good at envisaging the best flat shape that will conform to a multi-faceted concave surface nor have I ever been any good at appreciating how and exactly where to remove material to compensate for corners, etc.