I would not suggest a thick epoxy. With 5 coats you probably have enough epoxy on the boat. The resin will often telegraph the weave even though it is well covered. Try sanding. You will probably be able to get it very smooth before you hit the glass. Any coats after sanding will use much less resin.

: I'm in the finishing stages of my redfish Spring Run. I'm putting on fill the
: final fill coats right now. I've been using MAS slow formula epoxy which
: has worked pretty good for me so far as fiberglassing goes, but it seems a
: little runny for filling the weave. I'm up to about 5 coats so far on the
: hull & deck, plus I would guess 3 or 4 extra coats I painted just
: along the seam ridges left by the fiberglass tape.

: It seems this would go quicker if I used a thicker formula. I'm rolling the
: coats on and then tipping them off with a brush dipped in epoxy. This
: seems to get nice even coats, but the problem is if I try to slather it on
: a little thicker I get runs everywhere. Plus the epoxy seems to bunch up
: in some places as it cures, leaving a sort of orange peel effect.
: Subsequent coats just exaggerate this. I've sanded everything smooth but
: the weave shows in a couple spots and reading Vaclav's advice a few posts
: down I think I need to add a few more coats before varnishing.

: I need to buy more epoxy anyway, so I was hoping for opinions as to maybe a
: different formula - one of the West formulas? MAS fast cure? Also I'm new
: to the Olympia WA area - anyone know a local source for epoxy and glass? I
: need to finish this boat so I can start working on the next one!

: Steve