Some Cooler Weather Fiberglassing - its November

Well here it is November and boy is there lots in the air:  Hurricane Sandy struck the New Jersey area leaving vast flooding of neighborhoods, flooded vehicles and homes.  They are in for another storm approaching as we speak, leaving thousands without heat. Then there's the presidential election and the wars following, and here I am trying to do some cold weather fiberglassing in November.  

I made myself a makeshift workspace totally enclosing the area around the camper so that I could heat the ambient air and the camper itself, in preparation for cold weather fiberglassing.  I used a sheet of thick mil. black plastic on the sunset side of the working area which really heats the interior area nicely on that side during the lunch-evening hours.  I am pumping heat into the area through a duct from a remotely located propane, forced air heater to keep the area warm when the night temps drop down into the mid to low 30s.

The days are reaching highs in the 50s right now, next week possibly low 60s day.  So the little bit of fiberglassing I have to do, I really have to work to get it finished before the...well you guessed it, "the colder winter temps continue to creep in."

I was concerned with fiberglassing at such temps but the setup seems to be working.  Plus the structural seams have all been done, most of which were done in optimal polyester resin working temperatures.  What I am doing now is just the last layer for aesthetics. 

I know this makeshift workspace is not the most aesthetically pleasing but it was fast and was cost effective for what I was trying to achieve.

The infrared heat lamps were oriented as far away as possible to keep the seam areas warm but not placed so close the resin would kick too fast.  The resin still cured faster than what I desired but I really have no other alternative at this point but to move forward with the setup.

I distributed the projection from four infrareds to cover the length of the seam.

I have quite a bit left to do, but given current weather and some other circumstances am left with no other choice but to go one seam at a time for now.  Seems to be working, I just hope the faster cure does not create a brittle layer, later.

I'll keep you posted on progress. 

* update:  some warmer weather moved in shortly after date of post and we experienced 65-68 degree temps with nights at 49-50...I was able to get most all of my camper exterior joints glassed and finished....Thank God..finally!  see - Nose of Camper Rough-In Complete