Army Goose - First Trip Report

[mezmo]

Hi Aligator944,

Great design and great progress! The profile is quite "fetching"
as the old-timers used to say.

I was wondering how you were attaching the windows and the hatch.

Will the windows be clamp ringed on or screwed on? If exterior located
screws are used as the attaching method, I'd suggest -as some have
mentioned in different builds here- to either drill out the screw-hole
oversize and then fill with epoxy and then drill out the hardened epoxy
the correct size to receive the screws -or- at least back out the screws
and squirt some silicone caulk into the screw holes and then reinstall the
screws This is to prevent wood rot in the perimeter window frames due
to moisture working it's way into the wood via the screws and screw holes
and eventually causing rot there.

And since the hatch will direct a lot of water at the hinge in the open
position, what are your plans for preventing the hinge area from leaking
or overflowing into the cabin? You may need some kind of diverter
where the hinge [hinge overhang] meets the sidewalls. Is that 'living
hinge' one of those continuous plastic types?

'Hope the weather and your 'free time' cooperates for ya!

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[bonnie]

That is really cool. It's exciting to see another foamie project underway. I really like the star gazing windows being added. I haven't planned for one, but maybe ...

Looking forward to more pictures and progress.

[Aligator944]

Norm,

In response to your questions:
"Will the windows be clamp ringed on or screwed on? "
I have the interior trim rings and hope to be able to use them so I don't need to have exterior screws. Thanks for the info on how to install the screws, hopefully I can make the trim rings work.

"And since the hatch will direct a lot of water at the hinge in the open
position, what are your plans for preventing the hinge area from leaking
or overflowing into the cabin? You may need some kind of diverter
where the hinge [hinge overhang] meets the sidewalls. Is that 'living
hinge' one of those continuous plastic types?"
Yes, the hinge is the continuous plastic type. Given the weight of the hatch, I have been thinking about the possibility of backing it up with several door hinges. I need to mock it up to see if it will work with the slightly offset barrels of the door hinges vs the "barrel" of the living hinge. Keeping the area right at where the hinge meets the walls water proof has been a concern. I plan to run the hinge a little long on the sides of the trailer to help direct water so it doesn't fall on the wall. I also have higher "fillets" on the interior raised rail right at this point to hopefully keep water from getting in. The raised rail is intended to direct water to the back end where it will drop to the ground. I actually have more concern about rain getting in while driving at 60mph. I have some "D" shaped weather stripping I will install along the rails. Exactly how it will be installed is still to be determined.

In other news, I did get the new vinyl floor installed last night, and it started raining again today. Got to love the Seattle weather!

Thanks for your input.

[Aligator944]

The last two weeks have not been quite as productive as I had hoped, but there has been progress. The top is fully canvassed and the hatch is installed. With the hatch installed, I was able to install the trim on the inside of the hatch that also hides the wiring to 2 lights in the ceiling. I have begun the interior work with construction of the main storage area and base for the couch/bed. Yes I have changed the interior slightly. Rather than the dinette with two benches on either side I decided a couch/bed would be more functional and comfortable for the few times we may hang out in the trailer. There will still be a table, if needed. I realized that some of the aluminum trim pieces from the old tent trailer worked great over the drip rails along the sides. They also prevent wear on the canvas from the upper wall section that slides on the top of the rail while opening and closing. I realized that I really need to do the final attachment of the canvas at the bottom of the walls and hatch. I would make it look much more finished!

Here are the pictures:




Interior shots




I have flip flopped back and forth between making hinged plywood or fabric side walls. The fabric ones could be removed/not installed or partially opened for additional ventilation while canvas covered plywood would be sturdier. I will likely go the fabric route initially as I could always switch to the plywood later. Any thoughts either way or suggestions on fabric choices....

[KCStudly]

With the canvas, paint and hatch on you can really see the lines of the trailer now. Looks good!

I must confess that up until now I was not so sure, sort of had an ugly duckling effect on me... but I can see the swan now! Very graceful. Nice work and a good choice of color, too.

[GPW]

It does look very Nice huh !!! I think most people are uncertain of the “duckling effect” till they get it done , stand back and say ... “ hey , that doesn’t look bad at all !!! “ Some really Nice looking Foamies being currently built ...

The biggest surprise is yet to come .... when they tow it and find it’s like nothing’s there... They tow so EASY !!!

Looking GOOD Gator !!!

[Aligator944]

Thanks for the complements. Actually the final color has yet to be chosen. If my son gets his way it will be an olive drab and black quasi military theme!

[GPW]

Er, I seem to be stuck on that theme too ... Works great , doesn’t show dirt ...

[eaglesdare]

very nice. i love watching foamies come together.

[pete42]

nice keep up the good work.

pete

[atahoekid]

That's coming along real nicely. I kinda like the color, almost a throw back to 1950's aquamarine blue.

[Aligator944]

The color is a mix of 3 different gallons of opps paint from lowes/home depot. Grey, two greens and a little tan. In person it actually looks more green than aquamarine. Well last night I cleaned up the canvas along the bottom of the trailer. I somewhat glued (I am slightly worried that I should have either saturated the canvas in paint of been better with the glue, I will need to check for deterioration at the end of the summer)and attached it to the 1" thick board along the bottom of the wall. I used more old aluminum trim from the tent trailer and cut off some flat pieces about 5/8" wide and a little thicker than 1/16". I drilled holes every 4" or so and screwed it over the folded canvas into the wood. It looks much better than when the canvas just hung down.



One observation I made is that I had some larger gaps I filled with great stuff spray foam. Since it warmed up it looks like the foam has expanded more as it is showing through quite clearly, especially near the bottom edge, see pic above. I trimmed the floor a bit to far (about 1/4") along the length of the trailer. The 1" thick board then stuck out the 1/4" (it could not move back as it is right along the frame). I lined the walls up with the 1" board figuring I could just fill the gap with spray foam. Should have used more vinyl spackle.

A question for those out there. The weather was very nice last weekend and I have noticed that I have a few spots 4" to 6" in diameter where the canvas did not adhere to the foam. Should I worry about it? I was thinking about cutting a small slot in the canvas and squirting in some TB2. Any other ideas.

[KCStudly]

First, if you used glue to apply your canvas, try GPW's technique of using an iron with cloth pad. If there is glue underneath that has not bonded it might reattach. Not sure if this would work with paint, suspect not. Don't go too hot or you will risk melting the foam.

If that doesn't work then I would try to inject some glue under the canvas, rather than slitting it. Easier to reseal and won't show. I'll send a PM with some additional info.

[mezmo]

Hi aligator944,

Since you asked for comments on the rear side wall infill panels I thought
I'd give you a suggestion for consideration.

I think it's a good idea to go with fabric initially, just to get camping, but
if it was my trailer I'd prefer solid infill panels in the end. Canvas or a
waterproof nylon would probably be OK for now for that.

A complicating factor for solid sidewall infill panels is how the rear plywood
wall is folding. It looks to be quite close in tolerance to the sides and roof,
which is a good thing in general, but it seems to preclude hinging the solid
infill panes from either the roof or the lower sidewall.

Therefore --- what about doing removable rear sidewall panels to secure the
gap between the lower rear sidewalls, the rear/back folding plywood wall and
the roof/hatch? They'd be more secure when set up and lightweight as you could
make them of foam, thin plywood, small dimensioned wood pieces and fabric with
glue/paint as you have used on the rest of the trailer body. Removable panels
would eliminate needing to figure out how to 'engineer' folding ones - considering
how it is now built - and would be a simple solution with more insulation and security
than fabric.

The top of the panel could rest against the roof/hatch side and top junction and could be
weather sealed against both if desired. The bottom has a built-in dado made by gluing
together small dimension wood pieces and the bottom of the 1/4in plywood to make it
as shown in the diagram. Just size the dado to receive the inner lip of the top of the
lower rear sidewalls. The outside perimeter of the panels could also have a frame
of 3/4in wood for extra durability if desired. The weather stripping of it can be tweaked
to fit actuality, I just included a basic approach for the moment. The rear folding plywood
wall and the rear side infill panel's meeting would probably need a different tweak on
that - just depends how you'd want to do it if you do.

Here's a Paint diagram I drew up to illustrate what i was thinking:
[Click on it to get a larger view - much easier to read.]


'Hope this may be useful. Keep up the good work! It's looking really good!

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[Aligator944]

Thanks for the input Mezmo and Studly.
Studly:
We may have an old medicine syringe around somewhere, from giving out cat meds a while back. I am sure I could also get one from our vet.

Mezmo
I pretty much have decided to go with fabric walls for now.
I know just how I can do the solid walls, they would be hinged on the wall fold into the trailer and rest on the cabinets planned for the interior. There in enough clearance in the top once the upper back wall is folded.
I thought about removable walls like you mentioned. One advantage would be that I could make a seal between the upper back and upper sidewalls work better. With the folding walls I was thinking about using a 6" wide strip of fabric and velcro on both walls to seal it.