Today I started on the fiberglass layups that will fair and attach the windshield. My good friend Jim helped with a second set of hands, which made things go well.
1. I taped three 18' x 34" strips of Saran Wrap onto the work table, laid the first pieces of fiberglass onto them, and laid three identical cover pieces of plastic wrap and the paper templates nearby. My plan was to prepare and apply each piece individually, and this plan seemed to work well.
2. Mixed up a batch of Aeropoxy resin, then mixed black pigment into it. Spread the resin onto the fiberglass, then carefully spread the resin around with a brush. I have never used thin plastic wrap to do this, so I was a little worried about ripping the plastic, but it seemed to be pretty tough.
3. After the fiberglass piece was saturated to the edge, I laid the "cover" piece of plastic wrap on top and attempted to squeegee out as much resin as possible.
4. Next, I laid the paper template onto the top of the sandwich and used a roller cutter to follow the edge of the template. This is where the thin plastic wrap actually shined -- it's far easier to cut this stuff than the 3-4 mil plastic sheets I've used in previous projects. I pulled off the excess plastic and threw it away, then lifted off the top layer of plastic from the layup. I carried the layup to the airplane and applied it, pushing it gently into place along the top strip of masking tape with my fingers and some gentle pressure from a paintbrush.
5. Next, I stippled the piece down against the airplane to eliminate air bubbles, trying not to brush it too much.
6. I did the same with the other two pieces, only I had to trim an edge on each one to get it to butt up against the previous one. All three of the bottom pieces seemed to go into position pretty well, with a few small glitches along the top edge. I tried to rectify these as soon as possible with a small brush or with my finger. The upper edge is the truly critical one, because it's arguably the most visible fiberglass edge on the airplane and it's right up against the windshield glass, so it's tough to sand. I spent some extra time stippling out any bubbles or slight imperfections in the layups.
7. Once the base layups were in place, I waited for about an hour until the layups were tacky. The reason for waiting is that I didn't want the dry fiberglass layers that were going to be added next to wick away any of the tinted resin from the base layer. I also want the base layers to set up a bit so I wouldn't disturb them in any way as I applied the next layups.
8. Next, I began applying varying sizes of fiberglass, both bias-cut and straight-cut, using clear resin. After each layup I checked the layup radius with my homemade 3" radius tool, then decided what size and length layup to do next, and where it would be applied. I did at least 20 total layups, building up the fairing bit by bit until it was just slightly oversized. This will allow me to sand down to the final 3" radius profile in the coming days.
9. To finalize the day's work, I did a final wet resin coat, pulled off the top layer of green masking tape and laid down some peel-ply. Tomorrow, we'll see how things came out!