Skin options and suppliers?

[boatbldr]

I'm in the early stages, but right now I'm lost as to what skin to use on my modified "Compact" pop up trailer I'm building from the design page.

I know I don't want to use painted plywood, it just won't hold up if stored outside. So I'm looking for aluminum or the kind of material the commercial manufacturers use on new RV's. My big question is, where the heck do I find this stuff? I've looked at a couple random web sites, but they are not very helpful, it's not just like ordering a car part. I'm in Colorado, but I'm expecting to have to have it shipped. Any links to suppliers would be very helpful. Thanks.

[tony.latham]

Check with your local steel suppliers. They should be able to order aluminum sheet for your. The RV stuff? Can't help you with that. You might give River Rim Teardrops a call. They manufacture teardrops somwhere in Colorado and they may sell it to you.

Tony

[desertmoose]

I agree about not painting plywood, but you might consider the canvas/ paint approach.
Several of us have done it on both plywood and on foam.
Glue canvas onto the walls and roof with Titebond 2.
Then saturate the canvas with exterior paint. I used exterior latex house paint.

You end up with a durable completely sealed cover. Mine has sat outside for three years without a bit of problems.

Take a look at this post:

viewtopic.php?f=65&t=60915

Sam

[doris s.]

I was looking at a product called Filon that is used in the RV industry, however it is expensive.

Doris

[boatbldr]

Doris, I found the Filon, or something like it at $23/foot, YOW.

Moose, I like the canvas idea, it's got to be one of the more economical choices especially since I can get first 3 coats of exterior paint free. Where did you get your canvas?

Tony, I'll check locally for sheet aluminum. Thanks for the tips all.

[desertmoose]

Moose, I like the canvas idea, it's got to be one of the more economical choices especially since I can get first 3 coats of exterior paint free. Where did you get your canvas?

I used drop cloths from Harbor Freight. Worked fine, except they had seams so I ended up with seams on the trailer.
Others have ordered rolls of canvas from various suppliers to avoid seams in the middle of the wall/ roof.
Take a look around the skinning secrets forum and you'll find all sorts of info on canvas buried in the various threads.

Sam

[GPW]

" So I'm looking for aluminum or the kind of material the commercial manufacturers use on new RV's "
Boat , you Don't want that!!! ... New RV's are "made to Fail" ... It's True , It's all about the Money now...
The canvas over plywood works Super ... and keeps the ply from delaminating...

[kayakdlk]

These guys ship Filon http://www.factoryrvsurplus.com/products.php?product_id=2122
You can get Alum and alum trim in Denver from these guys http://www.themetalcompany.com/

Dan

[daveesl77]

I'm putting EPDM on the roof of mine, but canvas on the front and rear sections. Floor bottom is also fully covered in canvas. I did the canvas/tb2/paint thing on all of it.

The canvas on the floor bottom is the 9x12 painter cloth from Harbor Freight, about $16. It has a seam, but it is under the trailer so I didn't care. The canvas I just applied to the top skin sections is a really nice, tight weave duck canvas I got from a fabric store for $7 a linear yard. They had it in 60" and 90" widths, no seam, I got the 60", 5 yards, but they only charged me for 4. I wanted some left over as I use them for rags.

Knock down the edges and make corners a curve, using a router or sander. Doesn't have to be a big curve, just decent. On the glue up, I first do a watered down coat of TB2 (50:50) onto the plywood (don't do this if going over foam). Wait a day. Wash the canvas and dry. Roll down a thick coat of full strength TB2 and apply the canvas, I call this the base coat. Stretch the canvas tight and smooth out all wrinkles. Go slow at this point and you'll end up with a beautiful surface. I then immediately roll on another coat of TB2 over the top of the canvas. This acts as a bonding coat and really begins to seal it up. Let the glue fully dry. Now start rolling on the paint, use a good grade of exterior latex, semi-gloss. Now on my floor bottom, I have a bunch of white elastometric roof coating left over from other projects, so that is what I used, but I wouldn't put that on the top side as it chalks really bad.

The canvas on the top side is a much tighter weave and should finish out very, very smooth. I'm applying the paint with foam rollers, going really slowly and blending all roller marks. I'll then sand between coats. I figure I'll do 3 full coats on the top sides. I'll post some photos today after I do the second paint coat.

Painted canvas over wood has been used for centuries on boats. It was used to seal and provide a non-skid surface. Using tight weave can give you a really nice finish, maybe not absolutely flat, but pretty darn close.

dave

[boatbldr]

Thanks for the input all! That gives me several options I hadn't thought about and also some procedural help!