Over the top teardrop

[schnottus]

Its impossible to convey just how much work getting the carbon fiber on the sides ready for paint was. When you apply fabrics there is a weave texture that needs to be filled in. Not a big deal for the fiberglass on top thats getting painted since we can just fill the weave with fairing compound, sand it flat, and go. The carbon however we are leaving exposed. I fill the weave by applying several coats of epoxy. I had to do 5 which is a little more than typical. Between each coat I sand it back close to the fabric using about 220 grit, being very careful not to remove the actual carbon. The sanding back is to avoid having a thick layer of epoxy which can crack, but also makes a milky or yellow layer in front of the carbon we want to minimize. After about 6 straight days of epoxying, sanding, and letting my arms recover, we are left with a uniform gray surface. At this point i give it one last epoxy coat and to make sure there are no carbon fibers exposed - if you hit any carbon with sandpaper at this point the clearcoat wont stick to it. This final epoxy layer gets sanded up to 400 or 600 grit. The second picture is masking for paint.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[schnottus]

Painting. This is my first time using automotive paint so I read through all the datasheets to come up with a paint schedule that i put on a whiteboard. This is to make sure i dont forget any steps. Automotive painting is an underappreciated skill. In addition to all the equipment like compressor, guns, and ventilators, you need to be meticulous. Each one of these steps has multiple things that could go wrong and if you screw up any step and botch the paint job and youre out $700 and a weeks worth of work to start over.

Im priming the non-carbon parts of the camper with Omni automotive 2k primer, then Nason metallic flake teal 2k base coat for color, then an automotive 2k clear coat over everything including the carbon.

The result is so shiny its hard to get a good picture without just seeing the reflection of my garage.

[GarthB]

Very nice craftsmanship. I wish I’d given carbon fiber more than a few seconds of consideration on my build. The paint/carbon contrast looks great.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of your plans come to life.

[schnottus]

Thanks, pictures really dont do it justice. I wasnt actually planning to put carbon on the sides but my composites supplier had a black friday sale where it was like $5 a yard so i figured why not and bought a bunch.

Being cheap carbon it has a very loose weave you can partially see through, its why i stained the wood behind it dark purple. You cant see it in the pictures but when light hits it at the right angle you see through it to the purple, a subtle but neat effect.

[JasenC]

That came out awesome. It'll be worth the work in longevity and the head turning you're going to get going down the road.