I followed the Van’s fiberglass fairing how-to video series to bond the windscreen to the aluminum skin and build up the fairing.
I started by marking the upper edge of the windshield fairing. I 3d printed a template with the fairing radius to set the height of the fairing across the front of the aircraft. I then used string to guide the edge to be tangent with the lower edge of the windows in the doors. I used painter’s tape to establish the final edge of the fairing, until I was happy with the overall alignment and position.
When I was happy with the edge, I used 20mil PVC pipe wrap tape to set the edge. I chose this upon recommendations from other builders, as it is much thicker than electrical tape. I’ll sand back slightly beyond this tape later, but I want a solid black appearance from the insiude.
I sanded the plexiglass and aluminum to thoroughly roughen up the surface.
I mixed up some epoxy with microballoons and black epoxy pigment to fill the gap between the lower edge of the windshield and the skin.
I sanded the fairing mating surface with 60 grit sandpaper. I used Klean Strip concrete etch to etch the aluminum surface, and cleaned and dried it thoroughly.
I used epoxy pigment for the first layer so that the fairing appears as a solid black surface from the inside. I let this tack up a little bit (so that subsequent layers wouldn’t wick out the black layer), then proceeded with the remaining layers. I had everything pre-cut and ready to go, so I could keep moving.
I had 3d printed multiple profiles for the transition to the sides in advance, which helped guide me when positioning each layer. The final layer was quite close to the final curve I was aiming for. I used peel ply as recommended to provide a bonding surface for filler.
The interior reveal came out really nice with no light showing through.
The fairing surface after removing the peel ply was close but had plenty of high and low spots.
This was followed by many rounds of sanding and filling to create a smooth transition.
