You were waiting for that ? You were checking everyday on the AIRSQUAD website for new updates ? Your mother had to stole your computer because you stopped eating ?
Yeah, finaly here it is : the last part of MAKING YOUR FREESTYLE KAYAK !


So the last time we had a foam kayak.. not really easy to paddle and not very strong..

The first thing you have to do is protect your shape (you just made the best boat ever made, it would be very stupid to break it hitting a wall or running over it with your car)

So go to your composite dealer and buy some epoxy resin ( 0.5 gallon should be OK) and some glass fiber : 8 OZ, 10 yards (to put 2 layers on the deck and 2 on the hull) and release ply (5 yards : only 1 layer needed)

Start with the hull it should be the easier : put some resin all over the hull ´til the mid-height oh the boat, apply your 2 layers of glass fiber, be carefull not to leave air bubbles. Now apply the release ply, here again, be carefull with air bubbles.
Leave it drying for 24 hours.
Remove the relaease ply (Wow, you´d never thought to do it !) and sand very carefully if you have resin drops on the deck. Same as for the hull, apply the resin + fiber glass+ release ply on the deck.. and let it dry.




Now your shape can be handle with a little less care.
Your shape have now to be sand a little bit to remove all resin drops (be carefull not to sand over the glass fiber).
Correct the more fault with a polyester mastic (used to repair cars).
Now to have a very good finish on your shape, a good thing is to cover it with a thick coat of sanding primer (contact your composite dealer for that), The best is to do that with a paint gun.
Put a good coat on both hull and deck (about 1/8 in).. and now you can sand it with very sweeping movements to remove almost all the faults. Sand it starting with sand paper #80 and finish with #400.




Now your plug is ready !

The mold :

For the mold you need at least 2 gallons of polyester resin and 25 yard of glass mat, plus 1 gallon of polyester gelcoat.
You also need PVA mold release and release polish.

Draw the line who will separate the deck and hull and bond some foam all over that line (no styrofoam) with “hot glue”




Apply 2 coats of PVA with a gun an 3 coats of release polish all over the hull (if you start with the hull) and foam.
Apply 1 or 2 thick coats of gelcoat (with the gun... again). Before it’s dry start applying the glass mat with polyester resin, start applying only 1 layer and be very carefull to remove every air bubble. Leave it dry and the next day add 4 layers of glass mat.
Remove the foam and repeat the previous step for the deck (PVA – polish – gelcoat – 1 layer – 4 layers)
Leave it dry at least 2 days.

Now you can open your mold (carfully not to damage it) and remove the plug. It can be hard so take your time and try not to force. Use non-metallic tools (wood triangles are perfect).




Your mold is done so sand it with waterproof paper (and water of course) start with #320 and go to #800 if you want a veryshinny boat, stop at #400 if not.
In my case I wanted a satin finish so I stopped at #400 and applied a satin finish (you´ll find it in every home depot with paints).
Apply at least 10 coats of release polish on your mold, glossing it between every coat.

Your mold is ready to start making your boat.

Basicly, now all depends on what you want. You have to apply a gel coat on your mold (can be colored as you want, it will be the outside of your boat)
I used a clear polyester gel coat and I made my own colors with some dyes. (dont put too much because it will chip when everything is dry and the boat s finish)
Apply it with a gun, in order to have a clean coat.
Leave it drying 2 days (at least), the gel coat has to be perfectly dry before starting epoxy resin.








Now apply your different layers of carbon, kevlar or glass depending on what you want with epoxy resin, the last layer has to be a release ply.
In my case, for the hull I used 2 layers of carbon and 6 layers of kevlar, for the deck 1 carbon with 2 kevlars and a spherecore foam between the 2 kevlars.








I used vacuum bagging moding technique that mean all the diferent layers are compressed and you can minimize the quantity of resin (and it removes almost every air bubble when used properly)




I think if you don’t work with vacuum bagging it´s a leak of money to use carbon... it’s better to use kvlar and glass. That’s what I used on my previous boat : 2 kevlar and 4 glass layers on the hull and 4 glass layers on the deck... and the boat is quite strong. I put-in on rocks with it and I never had any problem.

So you applied your different layers on both deck and hull, leave it 2 or 3 days in the mold before removing them from it.

Now you have your hull and your deck, waw that´s light and that looks cool !






Cut the edges of both hull and deck to adjust perfectly one on each other.
Make the cockpit rim. For that the easier is to bond garden hose (3/4 in outside diameter) around your cockpit and to apply some layers of fiber on it (I used 2 kevlar and 2 carbon). Try to cover at least 2 inches of the inside of the boat (from the cockpit) with those layer in order the boat to be waterproof (it helps...)
Remove the hose after it´s dry and cut it properly. Your rim is done.

Now it’s time to bond the deck with the hull : put the deck on the hull and hold it in position with tape from the outside, be carefull to adjust it perfectly.
Apply 2 layers of a kevlar tape (3 inches width) form the inside all around the boat (you can add some layer on front and back ends to make it stronger).
When it’s dry remove the tape from the outside and apply a 1 inch kevlar tape all around the boat. Hold it in position with some tape, try to do it very smooth.

Try to find a seat or make your own and bond it in the boat .... and GO PADDLING !

Some pics of the final boat :







If you want to see some pictures of the boat in action simply click HERE

Hope you enjoyed those articles, see you in a river near you.