Can you see through fiberglass?

[Ben Awes]

Hey all, I need to fiberglass my main airframe that has two tagboard transitions/shrouds. The shrouds are laser cut with etched lines for placing overlay detail panels later. If I fiberglass the whole thing is there anyway to see through the fiberglassing to still see the etched lines on the tagboard shroud or are those lines lost for good? Does some glass cloth end up more transparent than others? some glass cloth weights to heavy?

Thanks for the feedback in advance!

Ben

[GregGleason]

On the lighter weight cloths (say 3oz or less), it is fairly transparent with 1 to 2 wraps. When you get up to 6oz, it is more translucent at 2 or more wraps, but you can see major markings. I cannot comment on heavier weight fiberglass.

Greg

[bjphoenix]

This is a photo of my baffle in a mid power rocket with 29mm motor tube. I drew some lines on the motor tube, cut the hole through the motor tube, wrapped a couple of layers of thin glass cloth around it, soaked it in epoxy, and when cured I cut out the window with a knife. In the photo you can see that the lines that I used to mark the cutout are still visible through the fiberglass. When the epoxy wets the fiberglass it makes it all sort of a uniformly translucent material.

[Ben Awes]

Thanks guys for the info. The photo is particularly helpful. I read that the natural color fiberglass cloth becomes transparent with epoxy, which is what I hoped.

Best,
Ben

[Eat, sleep, and Fly]

If I were you I would highlight the marks with a sharpie, then glass it with 6 oz or lighter (I dont use heavier cloth, so dont know if it is transparent) Once you are done glassing, you will have no problem seeing the marks.
Eat, sleep, and Fly

[SwingWing]

My cedar strip canoe looks just like wood/wood grain and you can't see the FG. two layers of 6 oz (e-glass and s-glass) on the bottom. Amazingly clear.

[sandman]

My cedar strip canoe looks just like wood/wood grain and you can't see the FG. two layers of 6 oz (e-glass and s-glass) on the bottom. Amazingly clear.

Yep, mine too. Same, two layers of 6 oz. cloth. Not perfectly clear, a slight amber tint.