once again i must ask the v20 gods

[smokeonthewater]

no clue on the pva and duratec BUT if you have the clearance, a couple of 2" ribs made from ply strips glassed on the bottom on edge will REALLY stiffen the hatch.

[wellcraftv20step]

Smoke, i am going to add a full size core to my hatch

[smokeonthewater]

yeah I got that.... I'm talking about a couple ribs in addition the the core glassed to the bottom of the hatch..... makes the difference between little flex and no flex

[wellcraftv20step]

ok Sorry Smoke i got you now, thats a good ide. thanks,

[randlemanboater]

Just be sure to test fit, dont want to have your tank cover higher than the floor.

[RidgeRunner]

Originally Posted by wellcraftv20step

After getting advice from Ridge and phat i decided to go for a completely new build of my 34"x35". gas tank hatch. so today i built the mold for hatch out of MDF it was actually very simple to do, i have a question regarding Duratec. i understand it is applied after i have waxed and sprayed the mold with PVA. is the Duratec meant to adhere to the first coat of Mat or is it also just to keep the Mat from sticking to the mold? and do i even need to use Duratec .. i will try to get molding putty and all the other supplts this weekend. And yes i know this thread is useless with out pics. i will be taking pics of my rebuild. thanks guys,

PVA is the stuff that prevents things from sticking. Once your mold is built, wax the surface to make it slick, spray the PVA (mold release agent). The next application is the first thing you will see when you pop your hatch out of the mold. A guy on Classicseacraft.com used Duratec in place of gellcoat. It came out great. It would go PVA, Duratec, mat, reinforcement glass, core and more glass. The gent applied the Duratec and let it get tacky before he started to lay in the mat. He also had help because he was working on a large section (the entire sole)

[macojoe]

I forgot who it was but they made a cover out of that plastic lumber that they use for decks, looked real nice!
On my Sea Ox I had to remove the cover to fix gas tank when I bought it, its a huge cover!! I say about 3 feet buy 6 feet, I call it the coffin as that's what it looks like (110 gal) Sea Ox used PVC pipe cut in half glassed under the cover to help with flex, floor is solid!

[RidgeRunner]

One other note is you will probably end up painting some sort of non-skid surface when you pop the product from the mold.

[wellcraftv20step]

Again thanks for the help guys. I got it now Ridge, Duratec = primer. I think the gent you mentioned was Strick, what a talented guy. I still however am not sure about the molding clay, dues it get rock hard or do i need to press gently as i use the roller to remove the air bubbles? and i think i might use the factory grey color gelcoat that i have left over from redoing the rest of the deck this past summer. Cant wait to see how this comes out. thanks ,

[RidgeRunner]

If you can use the gelcoat that would be great. The modeling clay needs to be glassed over gently. It is tougher than you think. Yes, Strick definitely has skills.. Any updates?