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Composites · Last updated November 2026

ACMA Certified Composites Technician, Open Molding (CCT-OM): free practice test

ACMA's credential for technicians working in hand lay-up and spray-up. The 100-question exam covers basic composites (20%), gel coat (20%), laminating (30%), controlled spraying (10%), quality (10%) and finishing and repair (10%). Candidates have one year from enrollment to test.

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About the ACMA CCT Open Molding exam

ACMA's credential for technicians working in hand lay-up and spray-up. The 100-question exam covers basic composites (20%), gel coat (20%), laminating (30%), controlled spraying (10%), quality (10%) and finishing and repair (10%). Candidates have one year from enrollment to test.

What's on the exam

ACMA CCT Open Molding
Basic Composites and Open Molding Overview
8 key facts
Gel Coat Application Technology
8 key facts
Laminating Application Technology
8 key facts
Controlled Spraying Technology
8 key facts
The Approach to Quality
7 key facts
Open Molding Finishing and Repair
7 key facts

Each branch is a topic in the official outline. Members see every key fact on the full mind map. Read the free study guide →

How to pass the ACMA CCT Open Molding exam

  • 100 questions in 2 hours is 72 seconds each, and the exam cannot be paused. Start only when you have two uninterrupted hours and a stable connection.
  • The 80% pass mark allows only 20 wrong answers. Laminating alone is 30 questions' worth of the blueprint, so make it your strongest module.
  • Basic Composites content is tested across every CCT program, so study the Basic Composites Manual as well as the Open Molding Study Guide.
  • Two attempts come with your enrollment. After a second failure you must pay for a new enrollment at the full price, so use the first result to target weak modules.

Save your results and get your Readiness Score

Create a free account after the test: your score by topic, a mistakes bank, the complete study notes for the first topic, flashcards and the ABYC Numbers & Formulas Sheet.

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What's in the premium ACMA CCT Open Molding prep

Premium ACMA CCT Open Molding prep is studied one topic at a time. Each step starts with that topic's key notes and flashcard deck, then its own question sets of 25, so you master one topic before you move to the next. When every topic is strong, the 6 full mock exams show you're ready.

3,000practice questions, every answer explained
6full-length mock exams, 100 questions each, timed
800flashcards with spaced repetition, sorted by topic
60comprehensive key notes across 6 topics

Your step-by-step study path

  1. 1
    Basic Composites and Open Molding Overview10 key notes, 135 flashcards, then 500 practice questions in 20 sets of 25
    Notes free with an account
  2. 2
    Gel Coat Application Technology10 key notes, 135 flashcards, then 500 practice questions in 20 sets of 25
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  3. 3
    Laminating Application Technology10 key notes, 135 flashcards, then 500 practice questions in 20 sets of 25
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  4. 4
    Controlled Spraying Technology10 key notes, 135 flashcards, then 500 practice questions in 20 sets of 25
    Premium
  5. 5
    The Approach to Quality10 key notes, 130 flashcards, then 500 practice questions in 20 sets of 25
    Premium
  6. 6
    Open Molding Finishing and Repair10 key notes, 130 flashcards, then 500 practice questions in 20 sets of 25
    Premium
  7. Final step: 6 full mock exams100 questions each, timed like test day. Pass them, then book your exam.
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Free with an account

Read the complete ACMA CCT Open Molding study notes for “Basic Composites and Open Molding Overview”

Our first full set of comprehensive notes, about 15 minutes of reading: Materials and the matrix · How polyester cures · Open molding process principles · Tooling · Laminate function and safety overview, a worked exam example, the traps examiners use and a one-minute recap. Create a free account to read it and see how premium notes work before you decide.

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Study tools included

3,000 practice questions

3,000 exam-style questions per exam, organized topic by topic in sets of 25. Every answer explained, with the rule it comes from.

6 full mock exams

6 full-length timed mock exams per exam, with real question counts and time limits, so test day feels like practice day.

Exam Readiness Score

One 0 to 100 number that tells you when you're ready to book. Reach 80 and you're covered by our Pass Guarantee.

800 flashcards + spaced repetition

800 flashcards per exam, in a deck for each topic, that come back right before you'd forget them. Five minutes a day keeps every number fresh.

60 comprehensive key notes

60 key notes per exam, split across its topics and each explained in full: the concepts, worked exam examples, the traps examiners use and a quick recap. Your first set is free with an account.

Mind maps

See the whole exam on one screen: every topic and the facts under it.

Sample questions with answers

These are the questions in the free test above, with answers. Try the test first. You'll learn more by getting some wrong.

1. A technician needs to prepare a small batch from unpromoted polyester resin using a cobalt promoter and MEKP. Which procedure is safe?
Answer: Mix the cobalt fully into the resin, then add the MEKP separately. Promoters and peroxide initiators react violently when they contact each other directly, so they must never be premixed. Blend the promoter completely into the resin first, then add the initiator as a separate step. Most shop resins come pre-promoted, which removes this hazard, but containers and tools must still be kept separate.
2. Parts keep sticking in a new open mold with deep vertical sides, even after the release system has been applied correctly. Which tooling feature is the most likely cause?
Answer: Too little draft angle on the vertical sides of the mold. Draft is the taper that lets a part lift out, and walls close to vertical grip the part as the resin shrinks during cure. Adding more release will not solve a geometry problem. Undercuts create the same difficulty and usually require a split mold.
3. A solid fiberglass panel is redesigned at twice its original thickness, using the same laminate. By approximately what factor does its bending stiffness increase?
Answer: 8 times. Bending stiffness of a panel varies with the cube of thickness, so doubling thickness gives 2 x 2 x 2 = 8 times the stiffness. This is why cores work: spacing the skins apart adds large stiffness for little weight. Answering 2 times treats stiffness as proportional to thickness, which is true of in-plane strength but not bending.
4. A gel coat is specified at 18 mils wet in three passes. After the third pass, the wet-film gauge reads 10 mils across a large area and the film has not gelled. What should the operator do?
Answer: Add a further pass now to reach the specified film thickness. Most gel coats are formulated for a wet film around 18 mils, and a thin film may under-cure, then alligator when styrene from the laminate attacks it. Correct it before gel while the passes can still blend. Check each pass with the gauge, since thickness that looks right by eye is often wrong.
5. A batch uses 20 lb of gel coat, and the supplier's data sheet calls for 1.8% MEKP by weight at shop temperature. How much MEKP is needed? (1 lb = 453.6 g)
Answer: 163 g. 20 lb x 0.018 = 0.36 lb, and 0.36 x 453.6 = 163 g. The figure of 360 g comes from treating 0.36 lb as 0.36 kg, which would more than double the catalyst. Too much initiator can be as damaging as too little, so always weigh or meter it against the data sheet range.
6. Gel coat drawn from a drum that sat untouched for several weeks sprays with color variation and sags on vertical surfaces. What is the best corrective action?
Answer: Agitate the drum as the supplier directs and recheck its viscosity. Pigments and thixotropic agents settle in storage, which causes color drift and loss of sag resistance. Mix as the supplier directs, without over-agitating or drawing in air, then confirm viscosity. Adding styrene changes the formulation and worsens sag, and a higher catalyst level hides the cause while creating cure problems.
7. A chopped laminate is specified at 30% glass by weight. If a part uses 12 lb of glass, how much resin should be applied?
Answer: 28 lb. If glass is 30% of the total, total laminate weight is 12 / 0.30 = 40 lb, so resin is 40 - 12 = 28 lb. Answering 40 lb gives the total, not the resin. Too much resin makes the part heavy and brittle and raises exotherm, while too little leaves dry, weak areas.
8. A technician plans to build a 1/2-inch-thick polyester laminate in one continuous wet lay-up to save a day. What is the main risk?
Answer: Excess exotherm can cause warping, cracking and gel coat pre-release. Polyester cure gives off heat, and thick sections hold it in, so temperature climbs and accelerates the reaction. The results include distortion, cracks, print-through and pre-release from the mold. Build thick laminates in stages, as the resin supplier recommends, letting each exotherm peak pass first.
9. A shop switches a repair job from polyester to epoxy but keeps its usual chopped strand mat. The mat refuses to wet out and stays stiff and white. What is the most likely explanation?
Answer: Epoxy lacks the styrene that dissolves the mat's binder during wet-out. Standard chopped strand mat uses a styrene-soluble binder, so the styrene in polyester and vinyl ester resins releases the strands to conform. Epoxy has no styrene, so the binder stays intact. Use a mat rated for epoxy or a stitched fabric. MEKP is not used with epoxy at all.
10. A crew must join two sections of a large FRP tank in the field. The existing laminate cured three weeks ago and has a waxy surface. What must be done before applying the joint laminate?
Answer: Grind through the surface to clean laminate, then clean off the dust. A cured laminate offers little chemical bonding, and wax or contamination blocks adhesion, so a secondary bond depends on a mechanically prepared surface. Grind to fresh laminate, remove the dust and laminate promptly. Solvent wiping alone leaves the glazed surface in place, and field conditions such as moisture and temperature must also be controlled.
11. An air-driven fluid pump has an 11:1 ratio and is supplied with 60 psi of air. Ignoring losses, what fluid pressure can it produce?
Answer: 660 psi. Pump ratio multiplies air pressure: 60 psi x 11 = 660 psi of fluid pressure. This is why even a modest air setting creates injection-injury risk at the gun. Never point a gun at anyone, and relieve pressure before servicing equipment.
12. During a catch test, a spray system delivers 2,000 g of resin and 30 g of catalyst in the same interval. The target is 1.8%. What is the correct conclusion?
Answer: The system is at 1.5%, so raise the catalyst setting and retest. Catalyst percentage is catalyst weight divided by resin weight: 30 / 2,000 = 1.5%, below the 1.8% target. Adjust and repeat the catch test until the numbers match, and record the result. Under-catalyzing slows cure and can leave the part under-cured, so never assume a setting has held between shifts.
13. Fisheyes appear in the gel coat only on days when a neighboring department uses silicone sealant. What is the most effective corrective action?
Answer: Control the silicone source and clean the molds before spraying. Fisheyes are craters caused by low-surface-energy contaminants such as silicone, oil or water, and the gel coat pulls away from them. A process fix removes the cause by separating silicone work, cleaning molds and checking air lines. Adding film or changing the catalyst does nothing about the contamination, so the defect returns.
14. A gel coat patch applied to a repair stays tacky on the surface after curing overnight, though the catalyst was measured correctly. What should have been done to prevent this?
Answer: Cover the patch with PVA or film, or use a wax additive to exclude air. Oxygen inhibits the cure at the surface of polyester exposed to air, which is why a patch stays tacky even with correct catalyst. In a mold the surface is sealed; in a repair you must seal it yourself with PVA, film or a wax additive. Very thin films are the worst case, since they also lack exotherm.
15. A structural repair calls for a 12:1 scarf through a laminate 0.25 inch thick. How wide must the scarf be, measured from the deepest point of the damage to the feathered edge?
Answer: 3.0 inches. A 12:1 scarf runs 12 units of width per unit of depth, so 0.25 x 12 = 3.0 inches. A shallow bevel spreads the load across a long bond line and avoids a stress concentration at a step. Follow the repair specification for the actual ratio, since it varies with the part and its service.

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ACMA CCT Open Molding exam FAQ

How many questions are on the ACMA CCT Open Molding exam?

100 multiple-choice questions, with a time limit of 2 hours; the exam cannot be paused, and unanswered questions count as incorrect. Format: closed book: no study materials, notes or mobile devices. knowledge exam only; there is no practical part.

What is the passing score for ACMA CCT Open Molding?

80% minimum.

How much does the ACMA CCT Open Molding exam cost?

US$345 ACMA members, US$475 non-members; enrollment includes digital study materials and two exam attempts. Recertification every 3 years is US$70 members, US$125 non-members. ABYC charges members less than nonmembers, so confirm current fees with ABYC before you book.

Which languages is the ACMA CCT Open Molding exam offered in?

English and Spanish.

Where do I take the ACMA CCT Open Molding exam?

Online through the ACMA Education Hub, year-round; ACMA's FAQ states that no proctor, proctor code or scheduling is required.

Is this ACMA CCT Open Molding practice test free?

Yes. The 15-question practice test on this page is free, with an explanation for every answer and no signup. A free account also unlocks the complete study notes for the first topic. The full ACMA CCT Open Molding prep is Premium at $147 a month for this exam.

What's in the premium ACMA CCT Open Molding prep?

3,000 practice questions organized topic by topic (Basic Composites and Open Molding Overview: 500; Gel Coat Application Technology: 500; Laminating Application Technology: 500; Controlled Spraying Technology: 500; The Approach to Quality: 500; Open Molding Finishing and Repair: 500), 6 full-length timed mock exams of 100 questions, 800 flashcards and 60 comprehensive key notes split across all 6 topics, plus a mistakes bank and the Readiness Score.

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Exam details are summarized from the official candidate information available in November 2026. ABYC changes formats and fees, so confirm with American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) before you book. ABYCExamPrep is not affiliated with the American Boat & Yacht Council.

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