I did a bunch of cleanup on the top hatch fillet. I both sanded and polished the exterior of the fillet and filled voids where thickened epoxy hadn’t fully squeezed in. The fillet will get a coat of un-thickened epoxy and then varnish along with the rest of the shell when I do the final finish. I added cel-o-fill along with the wood flour when I was thickening the epoxy for this fillet, so it is somewhat lighter in color than all the other fillets and hopefully will blend with the color of the shell a little better in the end.
Then I wet-sanded the rough edge of the hatch lens up to 600-grit and finished it with polishing compound to get it optically clear. I am very pleased with the result of that.
After that was done, I couldn’t take it anymore and removed the protective film from the hatch. Behold:
Pictures can’t really do it justice. I somehow got everything square and even and shiny. I am sooo happy with the result! So now the hatch now goes back in its box while I finish things up. It will eventually be bedded with butyl caulk and carefully screwed down.
Next, I installed the transom panel. No need for copper stitching… I just held things in place and tacked with CA glue. Then gaps got covered with masking tape to prevent epoxy squeeze-out.
Nearing the end of the project… I’m finally getting decent at fillets.
Next we got the whole thing flipped over for bottom finishing. That top hatch fillet and frame is very strong!
A little 60-grit sanding and gap filling to do then we’ll be ready for glass.