I got a sheet of a diamond pattern last year and experimented with it a little to make sure I was not going to mess up my deck. There is a mixture of skill and art required. It comes with a mold release already applied that they say is good for a couple of uses but a spray of PVA before the second use would be a good idea. You need to make absolutely sure there are no bubbles in your resin/gelcoat mix. Tape off the area carefully and burnish the tape with the back of a spoon or something. I taped the sheet to the deck at one end to keep it from moving and laid out a generous blob of resin. Slowly rolled the Flex-mold over the area pushing the resin ahead and working from the center out used a J-roller to force the excess resin out. You get a lot of goop squeezing out the side so you need to mask off a good distance.

My first try didn't come out so good because I was a bit to energetic in the mixing. The bubbles left little pock marks. The second try was better but the female ptterns it would really work better to match up a repair to a damaged area in a production boat. Gibco makes patterns for many makes. It would also be good in a male pattern applied to a plug to make a mold in a production yard. Considering the cost and the risk of getting a less than perfect result, in the end am thinking more about using a ground up rubber additive in the paint.

Also, philosophically, Rutu is a hand built yacht. Not a mass produced boat. No reason to go to the expense and extra labor to try and make it look like it was squirted out of a mold and cut off with a hot wire. :-)

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"John Cassara" wrote in message news Thank-you for the contact info. I had sent an e-mail earlier and received a response. They are sending me information.

Has anyone used this product? Comments good or bad?