I'm doing a repair on a bicycle fairing and the last time I did it, when I removed the peel ply, the surface was matt. The rest of the fairing was glossy. I also did another repair without the peel ply and it remained glossy but ran the risk of not being smooth. I watched an easy composites video on the canoe repair and they seemed to use a film, not a peel ply. Is that the vacuum film? Should I be using that instead?
All advice gratefully received.

To get a reasonably good smooth (and glossy) finish on repairs like this, you want to stretch over the surface some of our Unperforated Release Film The film is smooth by nature and if you are careful and it isn't too curvy, you should be able to smooth it out and get a crease free finish.

Once cured, depending on desired finish, you can leave it as is, or do a bit more sanding and polishing to blend the repair surface in.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant