Bowlus Revived

[mezmo]

'Came across this last night and thought it interesting:

http://www.bowlusroadchief.com/

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

021613 P.S. Today I came across a Gizmag posting on it that is
very accessable and has a very good Image Gallery - this
is much easier to view than the website.

021613 Gizmag Bowlus Article:
http://www.gizmag.com/bowlus-road-chief-caravan/26259/
021613 Gizmag Bowlus Article Image Gallery [33pics]:
http://www.gizmag.com/bowlus-road-chief ... 9/pictures

[GuitarPhotog]

Nice! But at $100,000 it's way out of my range.

<Chas>

[RAYVILLIAN]

I've always loved that design but alas I can't afford the price tag either.

Gary

[CliffinGA]

Gary sounds like a new project to me!

Cliff

[RAYVILLIAN]

Actually I've dreamed of building one but in reverse with the door in the back and the point in the front out on the tongue. Alas I don't have the metal working skills. Let's see I could maybe build the front out of luan and cover with bed sheets. Well since I build a trailer every 5 years and the present WW is only 2 years old I have 3 years to work out the details.
GAry

[mezmo]

Hi Gary/Rayvillian,

You could do it in wood like a wooden boat, or in foam,
or maybe use 1/4in marine plywood and stitch-n-glue
construction methods. [ http://www.boatbuilder.org/ ]
[A gorgeous wooden interior is one of the Bowlus's strong
points for me.] You could always then cover that with
foam planks for insulation, if wanted, and do a fabric-n-glue-paint
skin over that, or the fiberglass and epoxy etc. .

Here's a recent link I came across that has some vacation
'huts' shaped somewhat similarly in regular wood:

http://humble-homes.com/glamping-with-nessie/

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[RAYVILLIAN]

Well darn Norm. After devoting about an hour of lay-awake time to thinking about it, and down loading about 30 pics from their site I guess I'm hooked. Like I said last night I have 3 more years to work out the details.

I'll definitely turn the design around. the first WW had a window on the front and I had problem with water when driving in the rain so I don't want to try to tackle that door on the front it's going on the back. It looks like the galley end has no inside skin, your looking at the inside of the outside and that tight curve to the door will cause problems with wood, but I do have 3yrs to think on it.

Gary

[GPW]

Should be fairly easy to replicate this shape in Foam ... We have a similar shaped Foamie/Hybrid trailer in progress... viewtopic.php?f=55&t=45027

[RAYVILLIAN]

GPW is anyone actually building the foamstream yet. I didn't see any pics of the build. Just wonderin.

Gary

[GPW]

Gary , we’re building the FS Parts now ... Assembly will proceed shortly ... June 1 deadline ... It’s coming along !!!

[RAYVILLIAN]

Sorry GPW I'd started at the back of the thread and only had time to work forward a few pages. STarted at the front last night and went through the whole thread and saw that you had the spares done and a trailer. I'm really looking forward to watching this one go togeather.

Gary

[GPW]

...me too !! All those 10’ foam slabs and ribs etc. take up a lot of space in my Studio (garage-man cave) ... The cabin framing (skeleton) part is just big enough to be assembled inside and get through the garage door to fix to the trailer ... barely !!!
The most difficult part of this project was getting the ribs for the Rounded shape ... Exploring all manner of strange ideas for ribs (well, cheap ribs we could make anyway ) , Finally the CNC ribs evolved and they seem to be , for lack of a better word, Perfect ! Just have to stick it together now and get a few more bits for assembly .... Like a FLOOR ... Seems there’s always something I’m tossing Coin at ... bits and sticks ... Have accumulated a lot , but so much more to get ...and still have enough left for a tin of fish for the Cat... ...