Good idea?, Bad idea?.

[GRUMPYBAGDER]

I'm planning a build over the winter and am trying various ideas and designs as I do like to be a little different.
I do have a list of criteria however,
Needs to be very light as it will be towed by a small van
No need for separate rear galley
Will need the provision for an awning on door side
I'm only short (5'6") so it doesn't need to be long.
I thought I'd put Idea no.1 to all of you and hopefully we pick any holes in the idea together.
My idea is not to build a regular teardrop shape but instead using a
6'X4' 6" base and being no higher than 4'6" from the ground I would like to create in miniature one of these

Placing the wheel near the back like so

and utilising the classic 13 panel ends like so

The idea is to build as close to scale as possible.
Using three "hoops (one supporting each end panel join and one in the centre of the middle panel also acting as part of the door frame) the front and rear panels will use the "folds" for strength.
I was thinking of using a "wool" type of insulation with a removable fabric linning.
Am I a genius?, or is this the dumbest Idea a man ever had (if you think the latter I can provide pages and pages of my other ideas as evidence to the contrary).
All comments welcome good and bad.
Thanks, Mark.

[GPW]

Seems doable if you're good at metal working ...

[gregp136]

I like the idea. My first fear though, is keeping it watertight. I liked the idea of having one uncut sheet of aluminum over the top so there would be no seams to leak. But that is just me.

Greg(and Laurie)

[kirkman]

Go for it!

[mezmo]

Hi BRUMPYBAGDER,

You'll be glad to hear a couple/three others have built along the same
lines. Forum member angib had/has a correspondence with one such
builder. Here are a couple threads he did concerning that, plus a link to
the builder's Photobucket page. They should be very informative for you:

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... =tinstream

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... m&start=15

http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o94/ ... 1QQtppZZ16

There's also been a couple examples posted in the 'For Sale by Others'
section here but they were usually CraigsList ads so they are probably
not available anymore.

Good luck on your design and build.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[GRUMPYBAGDER]

Thanks for the replys, I trained as a panel beater many years ago and whilst we did little to no aluminium work I'm confident I can pull off the metal work.
The sealing is a concern however I figure as long as I lap all of the joints in the right order and direction ( and hiding sealant well inside each joint ) It should be water tight. I will also have access to the underside of all of the joints so any leaks could be delt with afterwards.
If anybody can see flaws in this logic please feel free to point it out, I'd rather deal with it now rather than later.
Thats a great link, thank you for posting that.
What I'm thinking is very similar to that, just half the size!.
Thanks for the thoughts and opinions so far, Keep them coming.

[dh]

What type of insulation???

[GPW]

It might be possible to use a sprayed on Foam insulation That would completely seal the inside ... from anything ! Probably add a little structural rigidity too ... ???

[oicu812]

I think it's a good idea, could you describe the "folds" your planning, simple off-set or 90 degree brake?

[Deryk the Pirate]

Here is something similar http://tinyhouseblog.com/tiny-house-concept/protostoga/

[GRUMPYBAGDER]

The insulation will be a soft fibre type not glass wool etc some thing a bit more friendly to people similar to loft insulation.
The spray on foam sounds like a good idea however I'm concerned about the ease of removal should I need to repair a panel or reseal a leak in the future.
I'd be interested to know if any body has done this and what were your findings?.
It's probably a bit misleading to describe them as folds, what I'm refering to are the curved sections from the roof to the end panels.
I've seen photo's of early air streams being repaired and they don't use any frame work at the ends, the joins and curves (or folds as i quite wrongly described them) provide the rigidity making them self supporting.
These attatch to a central frame holding the ends and supporting the roof and side walls.
I'd love to be able to provide some sort of CAD drawings (as quite often appaer on here) but as I only found out this morning that CAD does not mean Computer And Drawing I fear that could take some time.
I'll try and do some drawings that explain my plan and scan them in.
Thanks again for your contributions.