Patent ID: 8840827

Claim:
A method comprising: placing a fiber mat and a curable resin in a first cavity of a first compression molding tool; applying a first heat and a first pressure to the fiber mat and the curable resin to partially cure the resin to a semisolid state to provide a preform; placing the preform in a second cavity of a second compression molding tool; and applying a second heat and a second pressure to the preform to reflow at least a portion of the curable resin and to cure any uncured portion of the curable resin to form a composite panel having a substantially transparent resin layer over the fiber mat, and wherein at least portions of the fiber mat are visible through the resin layer, and wherein the second pressure is higher than the first pressure, and wherein the applying a second heat and a second pressure is conducted so that the composite panel is substantially free of readout, and further comprising placing a first spacer in the first cavity to create a first gap and placing a second spacer in the second cavity to create a second gap, and wherein the first gap is larger than the second gap.