It was a hot one today, but sand I did. Started out sanding the polyester based fairing compound. It was close, but still had some voids. So I started the seemingly never ending cycle of Bondo, sand, vacuum; Bondo, sand, vacuum. And got it really close today.
It may not look like much, (except septic tank camo???), but trust me, it's as smooth as a baby's butt. The corners were an absolute pain in the buttocks.
I want a factory gel coat bow look when this is all said and done. I don't want carpet in the bow. I used 3/4" conduit couplers to get the radius in the corners. I used Bondo to clean up the curves which all had to be hand sanded. It's real difficult to see the radius in these photos.
My wife and daughter painted the bench. I think it needs a third coat.