Nice start Hacky.
And don't be anxious about fiberglassing. You can always cut out any bubbles or jagged pieces of fiberglass with a dremel once it is cured and just reglass those areas.
For some of those sharp corners you may want to use fiberglass cloth. It conforms to thse sharp bends alot better. What I do is use 2 layers of mat for the flatter sections and 4 layers of cloth for the tricky spots because the cloth is thinner. You can usually find FG cloth on the shelf right next to the FG mat.
Another way I learned to reduce air pockets was to reduce the amount of resin. The first time I fiberglassed something I figured the more resin the better. This is not the case. Fiberglass mat and cloth are sold with a weight designation. (example - 6 oz mat, 9 oz mat ect.) At first I thought that this was the actual weight of the material per square yard.
Actually, the "weight" designation of the cloth or mat is how many ounces of resin it takes to fully saturate 1 square yard of mat or cloth. So for 6 oz mat you would need to mix 6 ounces of resin for a 3 foot by 3 foot piece of mat. Any less resin and the mat won't fully "wet out" which can be easily fixed . But add too much, and the fiberglass cloth kind of "moves around" within the wet resin layer. On top of that, adding alot of resin significantly increases weight, but doesn't add any strength.
Maybe someone here can give you a more understanable explanation, but I know from my expeirence that less resin is better.
Now when I glass, I first cut my fiberglass into various small squares, (1"X3", 2"X3" 3"X3"). Next I brush a coat of resin into the piece. Then I start placing the small squares into the part, dabbing them down with the tip of the brush. Add a few more pieces and make sure sure that your squares overlap a little. Once I have a small area done, I dip the brush into the resin and DAB a little onto the mat. Don't brush it on or the mat will get messy . It may take a minute or so for the cloth to "wet out", so start working on the next section, be paitent, and wait for the resin to soak through. If an area of mat looks white, then I go back and add little bit more resin (usually on the overlaps). Once the mat looks transparent, it's "wetted out"and I do not add any more. As I continue to work, I check the completed ares for air bubbles. If a few pop up, I scrape the brush on the edge of the mixing container to remove any excess resin from the brush, then dab down the bubbles with the tip of the brush. When the resin starts to gel, I stop applying it and do a final check for bubbles. Then I clean the brush with acetone before it turns into a stick. Once the brush is clean set it aside to dry and use another one for your next batch.
Working with smaller batches as opposed to trying to do the entire part with one batch will give you more time to work and produce much better results.
Anyway, that's just what works best for me, hope it helps, and good luck!
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