Somewhere near Yuma

[rruff]

I'd guess Bondo would work fine to fill chips. You can buy gelcoat as well. I've never tried to do fine finish work.

 

[ponderosa1]

I'd guess Bondo would work fine to fill chips. You can buy gelcoat as well. I've never tried to do fine finish work.

I see, I got a boat chip fix kit from Amazon earlier but it mixed very thick despite following instructions, like very heavy putty, solidifying very rapidly too and was impossible to apply in a fine manner, and impossible to clean up/wipe off where it went on wrong. Is fiberglass supposed to be that thick during application or should it be kind of flowy?
I wonder if it was just a bad product and I better get Bondo (some boat chip kits from amazon allow to blend to the right shade with a pigment, though, unlike plain white bondo, a big plus)

 

[rruff]

What you were using was probably polyester resin (with MEK added to set off the reaction) with something in it to make it thick. This is what Bondo is as well. If you use too much MEK/hardener, it will set up very quickly. The amount of hardener required varies with temperature.

I'd just fill the chips, paint them or put a vinyl sticker over them, and call it good. Best to not get too attached to cosmetics on something you actually use offroad. I worry about breaking things, not scratching them. My rig is covered with scratches.

 

[ponderosa1]

What you were using was probably polyester resin (with MEK added to set off the reaction) with something in it to make it thick. This is what Bondo is as well. If you use too much MEK/hardener, it will set up very quickly. The amount of hardener required varies with temperature.

I'd just fill the chips, paint them or put a vinyl sticker over them, and call it good. Best to not get too attached to cosmetics on something you actually use offroad. I worry about breaking things, not scratching them. My rig is covered with scratches.

I actually will sell my camper soon so need to fix things up for that.
I see, looks like I should just use less hardener.

 

[ITTOG]

Mine has 1.5" PVC foam walls and top, and the windows are covered, no vents. Thinking of the places I've traveled, it probably has never been over 100 inside. On the other end, below freezing the plastic can get brittle. Pounding over rough roads at low temp might not be a good idea either.

Sounds like insulating first will most likely prevent any issues. Right now the roof is just galvalume so it is like a radiator in the summer. Putting in some radient barrier and the 2" xps should resolve that.

I actually will sell my camper soon so need to fix things up for that.
I see, looks like I should just use less hardener.

If the chip went through the fiberglass I would just use bondo with fiberglass in it. You can but it as a kit.