After two weeks of amazing progress with the 140, smashed into a rock yesterday and came out with a ding. It looked pretty chunky and gnarly at first but after sanding back the chunks it doesn’t look terrible but I’m new to the world of foil repairs.
Any tips on what to do here? I searched around the forum and it seems some suggest fixing with epoxy while others say sand it down and leave it.
Everything can be fixed! with that, for the leading edge I would build it up with epoxy with some black pigment. Then carefully wet sand back to shape running a block and paper lengthways along the leading edge. The scratches on the flat bottom of the foil I would fill with just clear coat brushed or dropped in. Then wetsand flat… then when the repair is done hit the whole area with a bit of matt clear coat. After that you can wetsand with 1500 or 2000. My progressions are all lightly wetsanded in the direction of water flow with 2000 grit… not because I think (like all those youtube vids) that it make your foil faster… but because it means you cant see my repairs as much against the standard finish 
You might notice if you sand too far that the carbon of the foil gets lighter in colour. Thats because it all has a mist coat of black on it at the factory. I found that out the hard way. If you can be arsed you can blend in a bit of aerosol black before putting clear coat.
If you want the absolute easiest option then there is a carbon filler made with carbon strands… it’s super easy to use and sand/shape. It’s more grey than black after you sand it but you could always dab some paint before clear coat
Sand the area with 120 grit and fill with bondo(or total fair epoxy fairing compound if you want to be more fancy). Sand, find the low spots, repeat.
If there is real structural damage, you’re not gonna be able to do a thing about it. Epoxy doesn’t really go on fair and doesn’t sand well. This is a job for fairing compound.
I sand lightly and use solar res once I accumulate a couple dings, carefully cover in small pieces of packing tape or plastic wrap before curing for a finish shape requiring minimal sanding.
I agree with TME. With these repairs you need to use a compound that is softer than the actual foil itself. Epoxies (including SolarEZ) are too hard and you will have trouble sanding them smooth with the original shape, or you will wind up sanding down the actual wing too much. These softer compounds are also easier to work with and much lower consequence for mistakes. Save the epoxy for structural repair or repairs where sanding to shape isn’t critical.
Agreed. I used some Formula 27 with success when I filled in some light scratches. Way easier than epoxy.
What kind of Bondo do you recommend?
This stuff is pretty great! Its nice to keep around and use for everything. Just make sure you have one disposable stick for each color so you don’t contaminate the whole pot. Easy to mix, easy to work with, epoxy based so it stick well. Easy sanding. I use it for board repairs alot too.
Bondo is a little smoother and easier but the epoxy product is chemically a little better. Looking at these pics the regular bondo body filler product would be my choice actually. These a pretty minor.
Make sure to play with the product before hand - don’t do your first run on the foil. Make sure you understand how it works, timing, cleanup, etc.
I’d recomend you start by meticulously sanding the low spots - the scratches will probably hold filler fine wihtout sanding so you can probably just leave as is. Then tape offeverywhere you don’t want bondo to go. Then clean with acetone. Then apply fairing compound. I like letting it cure with the tape on then sanding.
A power sander is a good investment. A quarter sheet jitterbug sander is fine.
any suggestions on black pigment or matte clear coat? Making a shopping list of things to get now haha
