Since it will require a fairly good quantity of resin, a project like this will have to be done in small batches that are applied quickly. I was hesitant to dive into this part of the build but here goes...
Epoxy is a two part system consisting of the resin and a hardener. The length of time it takes to set up can be extended by using a slow hardener so that is the route I took.
The "pot life" or amount of time you can work with the resin depends on the temperature in the work area plus the hardener you use. Even with a heater in my garage the temperature was hovering around 65 degrees while I was doing this and with the slow hardener I could easily mix and spread a cup of epoxy onto the glass cloth saturating a section then moving on to the next before the previous area had started to set up.
In this way I was able to do one side of the boat in about thirty minutes by pouring on a little epoxy then, by using a plastic spreader, I would move it around until I had an even coat and the cloth disappeared.
In this picture you can see how the nearly opaque fiberglass becomes transparent as the cloth is saturated with resin. However, after one coat the weave of the cloth will still be visible so you will need a few more coats. Try to keep it smooth and even while minding the way the cloth is getting pushed around.
Here's how it looked after one coat and you can see I chose to leave the cloth a little oversized and trimmed it back later.
The Whitehall is beginning to shine after two coats of resin and the weave of the cloth is nearly gone.
Here we are after four coats of resin. Between coats, the resin needs to cure enough so that the surface is not too tacky but not so dry that you need to sand again. If you apply the next coat before it dries completely you will achieve a chemical bond but if it becomes too hard then you must sand and go with a physical bond. I was able to get a chemical bond between all coats.
Next up-preparing for varnish.
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