Guess I’d better introduce myself over here...

[MatBirch]

Hi there,
I had originally started my build planning on a foamie. As time and material and money have begun to work together, plans have changed. It will now be wood framed, sprayed with 2# expanding urethane foam, sheeted with plywood, and skinned with PMF.
Here’s the beginnings of build thread over in Foamies for those interested. It follows me up through the frame and subfloor.
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=71481

Over the last couple weeks, it’s been a little slow going. Planning, sourcing materials, etc. I had gotten my wall profiles partially completed flat on my deck. Stacked both together to ensure they are uniform. I had to build them in pieces. Here’s a test fit-up to see if the profile was acceptable.


Jump ahead to today- had a kick-butt day, and got a pile of progress made!







Still have a bit of framing to do for windows, hatches, and the door. I ran myself out of material though.

Another day, I suppose...

 

[Mr. Lahey]

Looks super!

I will be following your build for sure. If I ever decide to build a 2nd camper, I want to do a canned ham standee. First I have to complete my teardrop.
Then I'll see if I'm up to do another.

Saw the start of your thread in foamie section. I got a real kick out of the lumber wheel wells on the old flatbed donor trailer. Git Er Done technology at it's finest!!

As I look at these photos do I see a crown to your roof spars? Or is it just the photo direction?

 

[MatBirch]

Looks super!


As I look at these photos do I see a crown to your roof spars? Or is it just the photo direction?

Yes you do. At 8’ across, I wanted to fight sagging over time. It will never be a walk on roof or need to carry a load, it’s just all about that old, frumpy sagginess over the long haul.
I already have 4” of drop front to back, so runoff is not a problem.

 

[Mr. Lahey]

Have you thought about the compound bend you will need to make with the roof skin? At some point the roof ply will come off the curved spars and need to attach to a flat spar. Will the curved roof panels hit a flat spar before the panel needs to make one of the tight bends for your profile? Plywood bent in 2 different directions can get real nasty to deal with. Just curious as to what you have in mind.

 

[MatBirch]

Have you thought about the compound bend you will need to make with the roof skin? At some point the roof ply will come off the curved spars and need to attach to a flat spar. Will the curved roof panels hit a flat spar before the panel needs to make one of the tight bends for your profile? Plywood bent in 2 different directions can get real nasty to deal with. Just curious as to what you have in mind.

Yes. I have a transition section with one spar that isn't crowned. It will (should) allow it settle flat before the rollover. I'm banking on the radius of the profiles to put the wood in enough tension to retain that transition section and keep it from sagging. I will need to have a seam at that spar to make the transition with two separate sheets We use this system at my work with aluminum sheets.

 

[pchast]

Why not model it to prove the concept..

 

[Mr. Lahey]

Have you thought about the compound bend you will need to make with the roof skin? At some point the roof ply will come off the curved spars and need to attach to a flat spar. Will the curved roof panels hit a flat spar before the panel needs to make one of the tight bends for your profile? Plywood bent in 2 different directions can get real nasty to deal with. Just curious as to what you have in mind.

Yes. I have a transition section with one spar that isn't crowned. It will (should) allow it settle flat before the rollover. I'm banking on the radius of the profiles to put the wood in enough tension to retain that transition section and keep it from sagging. I will need to have a seam at that spar to make the transition with two separate sheets We use this system at my work with aluminum sheets.

"Git R Done!"

Keep the photo's coming. I've wanted to build a canned ham and am enjoying watching yours go together.

 

[MatBirch]

Had a great weekend getting a ton of work done. I wrapped up all the framing details, including some rework to account for a window change over the dinette on the rear wall. I got started late Saturday with some plywood, and got almost completed today. That roof and the curves were troublesome to say the least. Mostly just because I don’t have a 40x80 shop with 16’ ceilings, scaffolds, hoists, and A/C. My transition sections on the roof, did however work fantastic. I had no trouble at all going from the flat to the crowned sections. I left the easy pieces off, mostly to give me access for tools, cords, hoses, etc.
still need to router out my openings, do a little bodywork, and I can start the canvas.

 

[MatBirch]

OK, plywood is finished. On to adding a few nailers in the interior, a little bodywork, and canvas!

 

[Mr. Lahey]

looks super! Looking forward to see it develop.
If you put that roof on working under your canopy that must have been quite the challenge.

 

[MatBirch]

Thanks Mr Lahey!

Yes indeed, it was really challenging to say the least, getting myself up under that tarp. Lol.

We spent of the long weekend playing with friends, camping, riding and teaching the kids to ride dirtbikes, good food, good friends... I opted out a little early today to try to get some work done. I really need this thing dried-in and painted before the weather turns!

I was able to finish up all of the bodywork and fairing, as well as getting the fenderwells cut out.
I got both sides canvassed, and an additional coat of 50/50 TB2 on one.

 

[Mr. Lahey]

Your killin me with your progress guy. Just amazing. You're working on git r done time. I'm working on retired old guy time. I too am working on canvas covering my camper right now. Blows me away how much you've got done already.

Course my problem is I get a chunk on. Sit in a lawn chair and look at it till lunch time. Then make lunch. Take a nap. Come back at it after a nap. I take it you don't work that way...lol

 

[MatBirch]

Ok, big update tonight. All the canvas is hung and trimmed out!



Some things I learned-
1. It really isn’t that big of a deal. Even with mistakes, it’s pretty easy to recover, regroup, and start again. I was able to get nearly everything done working alone. My 16year old son came over for the weekend, so I had him help me a bit, which did make it faster. Just kept me from walking back and forth from one side to the other.

2. Buy good canvas. I ordered the TuffBoy brand from amazon. They have several 8oz sizes that are seamless. I needed a little extra, so I spliced in a section from a harbor freight 8oz tarp I had picked for my test samples. The weave is a little looser, but since it was only on the roof no one would ever see it, so I went ahead with it. When it cam time to trim out the edges, was where the real difference shows. It does not cut even close to as nicely. Every few cm, there is a little tuft that wouldn’t cut clean, and left a little fray.

3. Cut off your trimmings every few feet. As the strip gets long, it gets heavy enough to start to tear at the end of your “working cut”. This causes small frays to appear in your finished edge.

4. Don’t work in the rain.

5. Don’t attempt to cut any part that matters if there is no glue “sizing” on it.

 

[MatBirch]

Finally received my rolls of twill tape to trim out the rest of the body, and got it installed over the weekend. It’s been raining a TON though, and really screwing up progress. I didn’t get a **** of a lot done. Most of today was spent trying to dry things out and reattempt to weather proof the work area so it doesn’t happen again.

 

[pchast]

Question... Is there much fussing making the tape conform when going around the
curve and onto the perpendicular side. I notice no folds nor slitting.....

Thanks

 

[MatBirch]

Question... Is there much fussing making the tape conform when going around the
curve and onto the perpendicular side. I notice no folds nor slitting.....

Thanks

Nope not really. My curves are a 24” radius, and it went on really smoothly. I attached the top side first and allowed the glue to set up a bit. I then coated both the surface and the back side of the tape. I spritzed the tape with water, and it relaxes it a lot. It also seems to begin to shrink up. I just slowly started working my way around the curve, keeping the puckers evenly spaced. Lots of little ones, not allowing for any large puckers. Keep working them out, and eventually they all laid flat and smooth with no lifting. Took about 1-2 minutes per curve.
I don’t know how tight of a radius one could tackle, but I’d guess maybe 16”?? With a heat gun and more spritzing...?
?
This is 3” wide tape, so narrower would fall somewhere between easier to bend, but more likely to lift. Lol.

 

[MatBirch]

Off to paint!



Tired of fighting the weather, so a buddy offered me to use his shop to get my painting done! What a great guy! First, he loans his rv to another friend for a scouting camp, then “since the shop’s empty, why don’t you bring it over here?”


I sadly had to hack up my fenders. I had the wheels off to get it low enough to get under my roof. Unfortunately, I didn’t leave enough room in the wheelwell to get them back on
I can recover though, and still make them look nice!

 

[MatBirch]

Paint is done!

Lots of work, but I’m incredibly pleased with how it turned out!







Next to finish up the rough electrical, and get the insulation sprayed. ...and build some doors.

 

[OP827]

This is a great looking camper you are building! Thanks for sharing your build and new ideas!