After the epoxy had hardened it was time to work on the glass that overlapped the other side. I used the scraper to smooth and feather the edge. This provides a smooth surface for the glass that will overlap when the other side is done. All the scrapes and dullness vanishes when the epoxy is applied. The other side is then glassed in the same way and smoothed.
I applied the protective keel tape as part of the first fill coat. I first carefully positioned the tape and used the provided push pins to pin it it place. I then used a brush to epoxy saturate the entire tape. The tape lays down on the glass surface quite nicely until you begin to make the curves at the bow and stern. I continued to saturate the tape anyway and then went back and made a series of cuts from each side toward the keel which allowed the tape to lie flat. (I have marked the places where I made the cuts in the third picture.) These cuts allow the tape to overlap slightly and these overlaps will easily scrape and sand flat when the epoxy has cured.
I applied the protective keel tape as part of the first fill coat. I first carefully positioned the tape and used the provided push pins to pin it it place. I then used a brush to epoxy saturate the entire tape. The tape lays down on the glass surface quite nicely until you begin to make the curves at the bow and stern. I continued to saturate the tape anyway and then went back and made a series of cuts from each side toward the keel which allowed the tape to lie flat. (I have marked the places where I made the cuts in the third picture.) These cuts allow the tape to overlap slightly and these overlaps will easily scrape and sand flat when the epoxy has cured.
The fill coat fills much of the remaining weave pattern and leaves a nice finish. However, because of the way the tape is woven, one edge likes to stand up and becomes very hard and rough. But after some scraping and sanding the rough edges and overlaps are gone and the surface is nice and smooth and ready for the second fill coat.