Well, it's time for updates and new photos... WOOT!
First a little news for those who expressed their condolences. My friend appreciates your kind thoughts. He flew out today headed to New York for the funeral. Thank you all again.
Okay, on to the news at hand. I went over today and saw the tank for the first time since applying the first coats of epoxy. It dried very well. However I will note that the last application was probably done a hair later than it should have been. I had a few micro bubbles in that last coat. I sanded the tank down with 400 grit sandpaper and steel wool. It really buffed it up nicely. I was proud to see that.
I decided that since the instructions stated that I could use dyes to modify the colors to any of the pastels that I would do so. I did this because I wanted to see how good the coverage was and painting it on over white would be easy to tell. I also did it as a precaution, with an base coat of white, I would be able to tell if there was wear or damage because I would see the white through the colored paint. I chose a very nice wet sand color. I must say it's a major improvement over white.
The epoxy paints on almost a dull color and as it sets for a few minutes changes color a bit to a richer darker more glossy finish. It stays tacky for a very very long time. Over 6 hours as far as I know and I think as long as 10. I do know that the thinner coats do dry much faster than the liquid so it acts like a paint as much as it does an epoxy. There is no heat in this stuff from a reaction. I waited 30-45 minute between the first 2 coats and a little more than an hour for the third. I should have stayed with 30-45 minute because the epoxy painted on a bit thicker than it did for the first two coats and was harder to work with using a brush. Oh yeah, that reminds me, I used a brush this time over the foam applicator.. much nicer. After each coat I used a separate brush to go over the entire tank dry. This really helped feather things out and helped me to catch thinner spots that I would have missed otherwise. When I saw these spots I used the other brush and added a bit of epoxy to that spot.
My first coat completely covered the white, I did not see white through it whatsoever except for thin areas which i painted after the brush out with the dry brush.
The original mix container I used was there and set up. I decided to test how well the epoxy held up to flex because a certain individual was adamant that the tank would flex causing micro fractures that "could" cause the tank to fail. I am happy to report that this stuff really holds up to flexing well. The container is a plastic tub. I pressed on the sides pretty hard and got it to bend and bow a lot. It did crack in a few spots but only after some pretty serious bowing. The pressure on the tank will be a compressing one, bowing the tank outwards causing the epoxy to compress rather than expand. I'm not worried about cracking or leaks due to cracking. The epoxy may fail but I doubt it's going to be this way. Oh and this stuff is really strong.. I accidentally epoxied one of the possible braces to the sawhorse and nearly broke my foot trying to kick it to break it free, it was only connected with a 1"x3" bit of epoxy..
I will be putting the glass in tomorrow.
On to the photos!!
The new color.. camera is crappy but you can tell it's a wet sandish looking color.. I hope
The old container that I flexed, the grimy stuff is steel wool blow off from when I blew the tank out with the air compressor after prepping
The light brown color after re-brushing with a dry brush and of the darker richer color afterw a bit of dry time.
Hope you enjoy
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I think I spend to much time on this site... I just type in my emoticons now 
... faster than going advanced to find them 
