ultra lightweight floating popup camper

[ktm_2000]

I couldn't figure out the macro mode on my camera last night and it ran out of batteries after 3 pics which all came out blurry, so I don't have pics to post of the layups just yet.

Here's a site that has a pic of the glass before layup.

[/url]http://www.fiberglasssite.com/servlet/the-69/Biaxial-Mat-1708-5/Detail I'll get more batteries on the wa...s high density filler to act as a gap filler.

 

[Birddog1148]

I need to read thought this thread completely. I was discussing the teardrop idea with my boss and he sugested foam and composite. Since I work in the fiberglass industry I can get a REAL good deal on the glass (free) so this is an idea. I am most familiar with filter but the boss's experiance is mostly composite so I will have some local support.
Good Thread!!

 

[slyeager]

After seeing the vid of Coal_Burner trying to flip the bottom half of the BUB, I wouldn't be that concerned about the strength, I mean, it sure looked strong enough to me.

But that's just my non technical opinion. .....

 

[Esteban-TNT]

Gaston built his teardrop with a minimal wood wall frame, pink foam filled in between, and fiberglass over the foam/wood frame. His finished trailer is a beautiful work of art. I enjoyed meeting and chatting with him at IRG this last summer. He said while camping in hot weather in Florida his fiberglass skin separated from the underlying foam. Maybe he can add his two cents to this discussion. Hello Gaston!

All the pictures below are from Gaston's album:

It looks like Gaston has a second layer of foam, that he shaped, on top of the first one.

Fiberglassed.

Gaston's beautiful teardrop trailer.



BTW, I've built wood framed sandwich walls with 1/4" plywood outside that is fiberglassed. So this is a very interesting and informative discussion.

 

[Birddog1148]

Do you think the delamination would have ocoured if he had used a light colored paint as opposed to the dark color he chose?

 

[Esteban-TNT]

Do you think the delamination would have ocoured if he had used a light colored paint as opposed to the dark color he chose?

Gaston would need to be the one to answer that. As best as I recall he said there's a crack between the side walls and fenders and that once the weather cooled the bulging fiberglass flattened out again. In the cool weather under the redwoods at IRG I didn't see any bulging.

A little off topic - I plan to use white paint over the outer fiberglass skin atop the plywood walls, roof and hatch of my teardrop to reflect heat better than a darker color would on hot sunny days. On my TD the epoxy/fiberglass is well embedded into the plywood so no bulging or delamination is expected. Perhaps the epoxy saturated divots where the outer plywood skin was stapled to the wood frame will give extra anchoring to the fiberglass skin of my TD.

 

[angib]

One thing i noticed while testing some of the 1" by 6" pieces that i cut off the top of BUB's base is that they were about 5 times as strong as my original test samples.

Or, looking at it another way, what you were really testing was fiberglass channel sections that happened to have some foam inside the channel. It's no surprise that with the fiberglass connecting the two skins, the channel was so much stronger.

KTM, those are some useful tests you've reported. As expected the weak strength of the pink foam means it's not a useful structural core - though it's a decent insulation core.

But like you say, finishing a glass-skinned sandwich is a lot of work - plywood is wonderful that it comes ready-made with a nearly-finished surface on either side! And if you're going to use ply skins, why bother with the glass? One more sandwich that you might try is ply-corecell-ply with thickened epoxy as the glue.

Andrew

 

[coal_burner]

The whole extended family went to my parents blueberry farm to help with this year's planting. I could either sleep on the floor in the 70' housetrailer with a half dozen other people, or bring BUB... The choice was obvious.


I've been too busy to build a door for BUB so a HF tarp gets clamped to the roof. At night, a 3 foot tall piece of plywood gets clamped over the bottom of the doorway to keep curious critters out.

yeah it's a mess but it's a queen sized mess.
if tou look closely at the upper left and right sides of the picture you can see the 3 foot long 2 by 4s wedged in place to hold the cap up.

It got down to a breezy 38 degrees F at night, and even with only a 500 watt heater and a leaky tarp for a door, it was still comfortable sleeping weather inside.

 

[Micro469]

BUMP>>>>BUMP>>>>BUMP>>>> Where ya at now???? Any progress????

 

[Micro469]

BUMP>>>>BUMP>>>>BUMP>>>> Where ya at now???? Any progress????

 

[coal_burner]

BUB is taking a back seat to this summers project. I'm adding 1,100 square feet to my house.

the right side of the picture shows my original roofline, the left half shows my new roofline.

Thats me standing under what is going to be a 17 foot cathedral ceiling.

BTW does anyone know of a football team in the greater Detroit area that i could borrow to help me raise my back wall?

 

[charlesshoults]

What do you think of the rigidity of your foam and fiberglass? I started looking at roof-top tents today and while the Maggiolina Extreme is a nice looking unit and presumably durable, I'm not interesting in paying $2600 for one. From their specifications, the upper and lower shells are constructed of marine-grade fiberglass with a foam core.
My thought is blue or pink foam sheets from Lowes, layered, glued and contoured to the desired shape along with grooves and ridges for strength, then three layers of fiberglass and three layers of gelcoat. All-in-all, it would still be a few hundred dollars to complete, but much cheaper than the real deal.

 

[coal_burner]

The rigidity of BUB's rooftop is fantastic. When bub was collapsed to travel home from my last trip, I stood my 200LB self on the roof right in the center of bub. The family said that there was less than an inch of deflection across the entire five and a half foot wide span.

I've had about 75 pounds of miscellaneous stuff setting on BUB's roof for months on end with no apparent effect. If you wanted more rigidity than that, you could put more than BUB's 2 layers of cloth on each side.

Ridges are pretty hard to do when using cloth as thick as the stuff i used. While wetting out, the cloth tries to convert many sharp ridges into one big bubbly bow. I think that the bow that i put into BUB's roof is the right choice for a roof. The grooves and ridges in the Maggiolina Extreme are only there because it is a straight fiberglass(not composite) structure.

(NOTE) When using the pink or blue foam, you must paint the roof a light reflective surface. otherwise there will be a lot of foam/fiberglass delamination occurring when it heats up under intense sunlight.

 

[darkghost]

bump was woundering whats new with BUB

 

[pete4330]

I just finished reading all the post and am amazed with the build.
great job.
I built an all fiberglass airplane designed by Burt Rutan called VER-EZ.
One of the first pieces you are taught to build is a test piece, made from green foam that comes with the kit. It was about 12 inches long and 1 inch wide with the top edges rounded over. bidirection and unidirection fiberglass was used to cover the foam the fiberglass bottom was about 2 inches wide wetted out laying on wax paper then the foam was applied leaving about 1/2 inch on either side. The top was fiberglassed over the foam and out over the bottom fiberglass it was allowed to dry and then it was subjected to a strength test I and others could not break the piece. with out hitting it with a sledgehammer. the foam core only gives shape and adds no strength to the work. some people built the gas tanks by cutting and sanding to shape fiberglassing the shape then drilled a hole poured in gasoline and melted the foam all that was left was a tank for the gas.
cutting groves into the foam to add strength is not needed.
when I built my front wing it was placed between two milk crates and I in my stocking feet stood on the wing I weight over 200 lbs, it didnot bend.
so a sandwitch of foam covered with fiberglass would be over strong for a trailer. remember scamp trailers are only 1/4 inch thick with no substrate.
again nice build

 

[Vindi_andy]

So glad I found this thread. I am looking at building a traditional shape tear using axactly this method.

Reading your build and subsequent usage and "testing" has given me a lot more confidence.

Kennyray and glass ice have also given their input regarding structural strengths etc but there nothing like reading something where there are some real life tests i.e. you standing on the roof not that I plan on doing that but it gives me a good idea as to how strong things are that I can relate to

 

[kennyrayandersen]

So glad I found this thread. I am looking at building a traditional shape tear using axactly this method.

Reading your build and subsequent usage and "testing" has given me a lot more confidence.

Kennyray and glass ice have also given their input regarding structural strengths etc but there nothing like reading something where there are some real life tests i.e. you standing on the roof not that I plan on doing that but it gives me a good idea as to how strong things are that I can relate to

Actually I just spotted this thread myself and am glad you bumped it up (or I might not have seen it). There was some really good and also practical information about the build. I’m evolving my own thoughts on how to do this as new information comes in. I too was thinking about closing everything out with wood, but now I’m starting to think that maybe a bit overkill (actually I think Andrew suggested that was the case earlier, but the woodworker in me has a hard time letting go!) and so just putting some back-up structure (wood) where the body attaches to the frame (ala Andrew’s Pico frame), just around the door and a 1X1 around the periphery might be plenty.

It is tempting to use a bit of 1/8 inch plywood for the floor – I’m thinking of doing a test by using my knee on the fiberglass sandwich to determine the minimum for compression (local). It probably wouldn’t be that bad anyway since there will be a mattress down, but if it will satisfy that test then it will surely be OK with the mattress down between you knee and the composite and the plywood won’t be necessary. I think for someone wanting light-weight construction without having to do all of the fiberglass work the 1/8 plywood would be an excellent option (1/8â€

 

[Cappy2081]

How is the popup floating camper coming? You left off with the roof addition to your house.

Any more progress or thoughts?

I am in the middle of designing an aluminum frame, 1" thick walls, with a lifting top, and folding sidewalls. My only dilemma is how to lift the roof. How have you dealt with the roof? I see you simply manually lifted it. Do you have plans to make a mechanical or pneumatic lift for the roof?

Thanks for the reply

 

[coal_burner]

BUB still sits in the garage, un-worked on.
the prius i now drive is big enough to sleep 2 comfortably but gets horrible fuel economy (35mpg) towing bub.
if anyone is interested in purchasing BUB to finish, or for parts, i'm hoping to sell him for the $350 i have invested in torsion axle, tongue, LED lights, and plate.
if nobody is interested i'll probable sawzall the body apart and put him on the curb over the course of several weeks.

 

[mezmo]

Hi coal burner,

Since you were on here doing your build, a Foamie section was started for
those trying to build with foam.

I put a link to your build in the main thread there mentioning you were planning to sell BUB,
or break it up if it doesn't sell [God forbid!].

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=39373&start=4320

It'd be a shame to lose one of the initial Foamies. Maybe someone can rescue
it.

Why don't you put it in the 'For Sale/Wanted" section too.

viewforum.php?f=18

It's light weight should draw interest from the community interested in small
lightweight campers, and other incomplete builds have sold before on there.

Good luck with the sale.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmi