Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Mike mentioned this in the Roswell thread so I'll try to share it.

Carbon fiber it isn't but seems to be a good way to seal the out side of a trailer.

I saw this on a TTT at the LCG gathering so it isn't new to me. A fine gentleman there had used what I'd call a paint and cloth finish on one of the trailers that he had there. Sorry I'm bad with names and can't remember yours so if you read this jump in and share more.

The technique is to apply a thick coat of house paint to the side of the trailer than press some kind of cloth into the paint and add a couple more coats of paint.

The gentleman at LCG said that he had made boats this way so it should work on trailers.

Here is what the finish looks like on a piece of 1/2" foam



I found an added bonus to this. Try this with a piece of 1/2" foam.



Yes that is bent double and it doesn't seem to effect the out side finish except for some gatoring of the paint and there is no apparent damage to the foam.

GAry

What kind of cloth are you using?? Like a bed sheet cloth or fiberglass cloth??

I did the experiment with an old pillow case. A bed sheet would work fine and I think that kings are about 7' by 9'. The one that I saw at LCG was done with mussilan that he got at Wal-mart. I priced denim yesterday at Wal-mart and it was $3 a yard and 58" wide. You can use anything that the paint will soak into.

Gary

If you go to your local fabric store you can get unbleached muslin @ 90" wide fairly cheap.

Are you talking no wood just going with the Pink insulation, Paint and Cloth?
How strong a side does it make against bumps and bangs?

Actually this is still in the thinking stage. I'd shared it with Mike but that's all. The trailer I saw it on used it over plywood which makes it more punchure proof. with the foam you can hit it with a hammer and all it does is dent the foam but it cuts easily with a knife so I'm sure a sharp object would go through it. You might could glue the foam to 1/4" plywood and use the paint and cloth on the outside.

I just thought that I'd throw it out here and see if we can get some creative thought going. We've talked alot about ultra light teardrops this would sure make one.

GAry

I'm just at the wondering stage right now. I wonder if this could be applied over a wooden structure with foam inserts and come out looking good???

Mike...

The correct materials are "8-oz canvas laid in marine glue", according to my 1950 'How to Build 20 Boats' by Mechanix Illustrated - that's what they require to be laid over the cabin roof of a small cruiser, and then painted.

Trabants (the East German economy car) were made with some sort of cotton fabric reinforced with some resin - which was a mistake as mice used to gnaw at the bodies to get the cotton out for bedding! But simple fabric laid on with cheap polyester resin would probably do better than anything short of epoxy and cost less than using glue.

Andrew

The Trabant is a car you had to get on a waiting list to buy... I heard it was something like a 15 year waiting list...

The question is, is this really a Trabant?



Mike...

P.S. Sorry about the detour... now back to the original subject...

angib wrote:
Trabants (the East German economy car)

old kayaks. airplanes motor homes from the 30 s where made that way

The only boat that I've seen done this way was a kayak back in the 60's. Was just a frame work with the canvas streched over it and finished with paint.

GAry

angib wrote:The correct materials are "8-oz canvas laid in marine glue", according to my 1950 'How to Build 20 Boats' by Mechanix Illustrated - that's what they require to be laid over the cabin roof of a small cruiser, and then painted.

Trabants (the East German economy car) were made with some sort of cotton fabric reinforced with some resin - which was a mistake as mice used to gnaw at the bodies to get the cotton out for bedding! But simple fabric laid on with cheap polyester resin would probably do better than anything short of epoxy and cost less than using glue.

Andrew

Andrew,

I had a sailboat a few years ago that had plywood decks, and to simulate painted canvas, I used 10oz fiberglass cloth and as I put the epoxy on it, didn't quite fill the weave, then it was coated linear polyurethane. It looked authentic and stood up quite well.

Steve_Cox
I had a sailboat a few years ago that had plywood decks, and to simulate painted canvas, I used 10oz fiberglass cloth and as I put the epoxy on it, didn't quite fill the weave, then it was coated linear polyurethane. It looked authentic and stood up quite well.

I used some 9 oz cloth on a project a while back....made a mess of it because it didn't wet out well, and I was looking for a clear coat. As painted canvas...I think that would work fine. Wonder if traditional canvas coverings...like a canoe...would work well?

well gee, I tried that and got ridicule..sheesh

Back when I was a kid cave man time the kayaks we made we use hot lien seed oil on it .It will pulled the cloth tight then in a few days paint it