| It is extraordinary to look back over the years and see | | | | WHAT DO WE DO? |
| exactly how much boat windows have increased in | | | | Ø Lay out your base plate (shiny surface up). |
| price. On my own boat I made all the frames out of | | | | Ø Lay out first sheet of cellophane (or |
| plywood and Lexan but there are some areas that | | | | polythene) taping flat, clear of wrinkles. |
| could always do with some more light and I am sure | | | | Ø Cut your required glass panel size from |
| that always applies to most boats. I had a look at | | | | glassfibre mat (ensure mat is smaller than base |
| some of those glass and metal prisms the other day in | | | | surfaces). |
| an antique parts dealer and nearly fell over when I | | | | Ø Mix up your resin (with or without translucent |
| saw them priced at nearly two hundred dollars each! | | | | colour paste). |
| RESINS | | | | Ø Apply generous amount of resin with a hair |
| One of the major problems with moulding clear panels | | | | free brush. Work out all air bubbles. |
| in Australia is the difficulty of dealing with Ultra Violet | | | | Ø Apply second sheet of cellophane (or |
| discoloration in resins. To overcome this we have to | | | | polythene) on top of glass mat and resin. |
| use resins and hardeners with a resistance to U.V. | | | | Ø Taking time, roll out all the bubbles. |
| degradation. This is done by substituting some of the | | | | Ø Take second sheet of shiny hardboard or |
| styrene content with methyl methacrylate. This is | | | | glass (safety glass please) lay on top of second sheet |
| referred to as a methacrylate Resin or light stabilised | | | | of cellophane (or polythene) making a 'sandwich'. |
| resin. Before attempting any part of this project clear | | | | Ø Roller carefully all over |
| the details with your resin supplier who will be sure to | | | | Ø Allow glass to cure and harden |
| put you on the right track with brand names and | | | | Ø Peel off cellophane (or polythene) off the |
| materials. The resin used matches as near possible to | | | | cured panel. |
| the refractive qualities of the glass. | | | | Ø The panel can then be cut square or shaped |
| USING THE RIGHT GLASS. | | | | with a jigsaw with a metal cutting blade (fine toothed, |
| The glass side of things can be taken care of by using | | | | slow speed) after full curing. |
| powder-bonded chopped strand glass mat but | | | | USES AND APPLICATIONS! |
| emulsion-bond mat can also be used for translucent | | | | These lightweight, tough and virtually unbreakable clear |
| panels. The actual technique for producing flat clear | | | | panels are great for areas where safety is paramount. |
| panels is not as difficult as you might think but a few | | | | A garden shed is only one application, hatches or light |
| criteria are needed. First, cleanliness is essential, a level | | | | panels on boats is another. Coloured panels can be |
| surface/i.e. table, solid bench to work on, dead level, not | | | | made for 'stained glass affects' using translucent |
| partly! | | | | colours and are pleasant on boats. Other uses are |
| WHAT DO WE NEED? | | | | heat resistant tabletops and mats and really the |
| Ø A smooth shiny flat surface i.e. glass, new | | | | applications here are limited only by your own |
| hardboard panels (shiny side up) 6 inches bigger than | | | | imagination. Hang on, I have just thought of |
| the required panel, two off. | | | | another....shower screens! I'm sure with enough thought |
| Ø Glass mat 1.5 oz (450 g/m2) for medium | | | | more will spring to mind! |
| panels, a single piece of 2 ounce (600 g/m2) can be | | | | NOTE: if you would like to view some pictures that |
| used. For a larger heavier panel, two pieces of 1.5 | | | | accompany this article go to and follow the links. |
| ounce (450 g/m2) can be used. | | | | TEXTURED SURFACES |
| Ø Some new cellophane or polythene sheet. | | | | It follows of course that surface textures may also |
| Ø Polyester methacrylate Resin/light stabilised | | | | spring to mind. You can incorporate already textured |
| resin and catalyst. | | | | plastic panels as your original moulds, provided the |
| Ø Glass roller and normal roller (no fluff, good | | | | textures allow faithful reproduction through the |
| quality). | | | | cellophane (or polythene). You can even make several |
| COLOURED TRANSLUCENT SHEETS. | | | | panels of different coloured pigments, cut out shapes |
| If you want your panel to be coloured or tinted, you | | | | and by the adhesive lead moulding to make a very |
| must mix up the pigment into your resin before | | | | attractive non-glass lead lighting panels for internal |
| application. The only stuff to use is translucent colour | | | | cupboards. Experimentation is recommended here and |
| paste. Opaque colour paste pigments must not be | | | | no results guaranteed! |
| used. | | | | |