I still would like to know what products are being used to cause this atrocious color. It appears that the color is in the epoxy, not the layups.
The previous thread (Nov. 2007) did not address this. Thanks!
For the past 10 years or so the RV cowls have been made from prepreg fiberglass materials. This means that the fiberglass cloth is pre-impregnated with epoxy resin. As opposed to a wet layup where resin is added to the cloth, while it is held in the finished shape (in a mold, etc.) we want until the resin cures.
Actually the glass fibers in pre-preg. cloth materials are coated with resin on the outside before they are even woven into cloth.
So when parts are made, the worker is actually cutting and laying dry cloth pieces in the mold. It is then vacume bagged to get everything to lay down tight in the mold, and then baked in an oven at about 250 deg F. to turn the epoxy liquid, blend through out the entire part, and then cure.
The cloth is stored in a freezer to prevent it from age curing, but it still has a limited storage life. Because it is cured at an elevated tempurature, it is more stable for shape and stiffness when it is exposed to the hot temps of an engine compartment.
This is what makes the parts so very light, there is no excess resin in the part, only what is needed to tie it all together.
The down side is that without a lot of excess resin, there is lots of voids and weave texture that is not filled.
I believe the pink color is the result of a particular manufacturer of prepreg materials attempting to make a name for them self as a competively priced supplier with a signiture color (just like pink panther insulation
).
Even the RV-10 cabin top now delivered by Van's is pink. And because the material is competitively priced I have heard that some of the composite aircraft kit mfr's have started to use it.
