Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Of the many pictures of teardrops that flash under the Hall Of Fame, one of the shots was of a cardboard prototype that someone made. What a great idea!

This weekend found me projecting profiles on to 4- by 8-foot pieces of cardboard then cutting them out. I took my wife away from her work on her Masters to tape them together with a cardboard 'skin' in our living room (with the help of Finnegan and Duncan, our kittens.)

The first profile left a little to be desired in terms of what we wanted. The second attempt was a composite of two designs giving us the front and rear profiles that we wanted. Thanks to my wife's ability to work Photoshop, we built pretty much what we wanted to construct. We used an electronic projector that she uses in her classroom to project the images on to the cardboard to trace cut lines for the edges and doors. We also used it to show where the cabinets would be placed inside.

It was some effort cutting out cardboard, but it gave both of us a working idea of how big the trailer will be, how it will look PLUS I got a cool 'fort' to play in this weekend!!

So.......................Where's the pictures????

Kerry

I just used cardboard the other day as one of the inside skins on my teardrop (just temporary) I was going really good until I ran out of plywood, so I figured just keep going with cardboard - I needed the practice.

Also, the best thing ever for cutting cardboard is an old steak knife - rough edges, but very fast!

bennelson wrote:I just used cardboard the other day as one of the inside skins on my teardrop (just temporary) I was going really good until I ran out of plywood, so I figured just keep going with cardboard - I needed the practice.

Also, the best thing ever for cutting cardboard is an old steak knife - rough edges, but very fast!

Good idea--I was using an old tile knife with the same effect.

I need to register at Photobucket again to post the pictures. Will do soonly and post them here for all to have a chuckle over. Mrs Dog and I were laughing about the concept of living in a cardboard box in the living room. Hey--it's a fort!!!

Dog--you can post them right here, Just lick on "album" above, then click on "personal album," and follow their directions to upload pictures to their gallery. (Just follow their size restrictions.)

It's a little complicated to place the image exactly in your post--not really, but first things first.

Thanks to IraRat for the directions!

Here is the product of our labors--



Now we have a cardboard box sitting on flower boxes in the driveway. Also, you will notice the high-speed spare (donut spare) leaning against the cat litter box. It makes the complete picture when you're trying to visualize how it will look behind the Suzuki!! And, yes, the Vitara is how I'm planning on towing it when it steps out of the cardboard world into wood and metal.

It's really a great thing to do. We have been able to take measurements, look, dream and answer questions about how big things are--or aren't. When the trailer gets here later this month, we plan on putting the prototype on the chassis to get an indea of how it might fit together.

Nice job on the mockup. Now my cardboard visualization belongs in the "Hall Of Shame" and yours in the Hall Of Fame... Dave

You're a crack-up, Dave.

You were the one with the great idea. Thanks for sharing here. For noobies like me and my wife, being able to look at something in 3D makes a bunch of the difference. Your prototype has (had by now?) the galley in relationship to the walls--that's an important view to see. For anyone looking to build a teardrop, having a prototype in cardboard is really, really, really helpful.

Really!

Excellent work! There's nothing like seeing something 'in the flesh' to test the design.

My tip: you might want to improve the ground clearance as I think those underfloor storage lockers represented by the flower tubs are a bit too deep....

Andrew

Great job!!
Wish I had done the cardboard first, instead of practicing on 1/2 inch plywood. Anyway, I wanted to be the first to ask, "don't ya think you should move the cat litter box a bit toward the rear for better weight distribution"? :lol:

Just kidding, the mock-up was a really cool idea.

Steve in St Augustine

Great job, Dog.

But when you get as far into the build as I am, you're going to wish you still had that 3 bucks you spent on that expensive cardboard!!!

I'm so broke now that I'm going to mount my doors using bobby pins and toothpicks.

IraRat wrote:I'm so broke now that I'm going to mount my doors using bobby pins and toothpicks.

Speaking of mounting your doors with bobby pins, I just priced a 6' stainless steel hinge, over $70!

I guess I'll have to keep on looking for a cheaper one. I can get steel for about $20, but don't want to deal with it rusting. Not sure how long aluminum would last, I'm afraid it would wear out to easily with the weight of a entry door on it, probably fine for a baggage door or something that doesn't get as much use.

JunkMan wrote:Speaking of mounting your doors with bobby pins, I just priced a 6' stainless steel hinge, over $70!

Jeff, did you check at McMaster Carr? I just looked and it's a little cheaper depending on what style and size you want.