i was reading about making your own pre preg CF. the article stated the amount of epoxy needed was about the same weight of CF
.if you make too much epoxy it will get bubbles in it as you brush it. when we do FG and polyester repairs on heavy trucks when the tires blow and
blast the fenders apart, we take the FG and wet it down in pieces and then lay them in wet on wet till the shape is built up. then use heat lamp or heat gun (in cold shop climates) and warm it up to get the exotherm to kick off.
 with CF the epoxy will puddle as it warms up for its exotherm process and it's viscosity goes to pot. IE it is thick when cool and gets runny as it heats up.
if you have an old air conditioning vac pump( most all AC for automotive applications are done with recycling machines) you could put your resin after mixing in a vessel and vac it down to de gass it. then brush or use bondo spreader to spread the epoxy onto your dry CF.
 for your pre preg. use plastic sheeting to keep sheets separate til you need them. you can make small quantities with air dry epoxy
and it will be ok, just dont make more than you will likely use.
 you can also blend catalyst (if from same maker and same products) to make a custom temperature mix. too much MEKP will cause bubbles in the polyester and i am 99% same for epoxy.

CarbonFiberCreations

I have never worked with glass bubbles, neither with GC50 so I can't tell you more about that sorry...

Thanxs Matt

what about thing that Warren suggesting simply couple layers epoxy the to spray GC50 and that be perfect only polish be needed? or simply mix glass bubbles into resin on last layer and polish? i think tiny bubbles appear from law temperature?

I did a simillar project with a helmet I skinned with epoxy resin.

i always waited till it dry and then putted each layer more. and last time i tryed to wait till tacky and also bad bubbles not came our as they appeared after one more layer not degased i not get. and why its all over those tiny holes? as when i brush dry paper then clean nefrase - cleaner holes filling with dusk ;( i dont get... or one time i done everything good like on video but in the morning surface was like goose so i did not get is it was temperature?


Last my project was wrap door panels everything was great until i putted 3-4 layers on epoxy as small bubbles not came of ;(

Warren told best is only one layer resin then gc50 and then polish? what think?

Hello Tom

I am sure there are members that know far more than I do about skinning but I have done two parts that came out really nice and I will share my experience.

I had no success using normal epoxy resin it is far too thin in viscosity. I ordered some skinning epoxy resin from Easy Composites, it is very thick and did the job well. 

I added some black pigment to the first brush on coat.(it must be epoxy compatable, Or in the kit you will get a black epoxy coat included)

Once it reached a tacky state where no epoxy came off on your finger I draped on the carbon fiber.

I then gently brushed on a good layer of  skinning/epoxy. You will notice a few bubbles staying on the surface so I took my paint stripper and waved it over the surface which pops all of the ait bubbles. (some people even use a propane torch or a misting of acetone to pop the bubbles) 

Let this cure to the tacky nothing sticks to your glove state and brush on another layer using the same technic.

WARNING! Do not let the resin cure to a dry to the touch state and hope to put another layer on! Ask me how I know? The layer just beads up and does all sorts of none adhesion things. But all is not lost. I simply sanded down to a complete rough state with 220 paper and brushed on another layer of epoxy and it layed down nice.   

Then I did the flat sanding- 2K Clear - wetsand-polish and it looks like a jewel without a trace of bubble anywhere.

Hope this helps.

Fred 

why im getting these small bubles? after i lay resin and if i brush soft paper then clean all dusk stay inside... can someone advise what to do? or simply lay first layer epoxy then lay gc50 and to polish without brushing surface not to get dusk into tiny holes.