Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

It's still in a design stage...but the profile is pretty much determined...may be some additional modifications on the curves, but the over all dimensions are set. After some considerable looking around...seems that bread box designs aren't done up this short, most are like 16' min. I'll probably find out why. Things like the dia. of the curves are certainly a consideration...my thing is to make it look appropriate for the size and keep stuff in proportion. Street appearance is most important to me. It's gotta fit in the garage with at a maximum...swapping wheels on it with my utility trailer to get it in and out...I do that on the Nomad now.

Plan is to make the roof in plywood, 1/4", with a glass/epoxy cloth covering, cold molded ply corners, 2 layers of 1/8"...sides to be in aluminum with 1/8" aluminum trim pieces around the roof line and verticals on the sides. Hopefully I can fake the roof so that it appears to be the real deal....I don't have any sophisticated metal working tools to do it up in compounded aluminum corners. A horizontal line of trim above the windows/door for separation on the sides and the roof. The old ones were done with this trim piece.

2 tone paint (acrylic urethane) with an accenting pinstripe, thinking dark blue bottom/gold upper with red stripe...graphics yet to be determined. Marmoleum flooring, gotta be blue...with a nice old look, and have been looking for the correct 1940 Coleman Cabin stove to be restored for the galley. (yup...I'm watching the current one on e-bay).

Interior to be honey stained birch, with hopefully some Deco designs 3D in contrasting colors (red mahogany) to tie it all together on the interior, hopefully radius corners on the cabinetry...we'll see about that. Artillery wheels 15", with wide whites, trim rings and stainless caps. Frame will be a stretched one from the Nomad. gotta find a good vintage single faucet with the china cross handle, and hopefully an enameled sink.

Some front and rear small awnings over the windows as well as a side one is in line to keep with the look of a late 30's early 40's appearance.

Plan is to make up some mock corners to see how to do them with a minimum of brain damage. Working towards this right now...no set date for pulling the trigger....I just gotta think through some of the other stuff. I don't put a lot of high tech stuff into a trailer....it's for camping...it's real basic...mostly for the appearance and fun rather than any high tech stuff. Just how I build. Name to be...."Kamp King" Doug

Doug, Looks like you are going to have a fun building winter. Will all three fit in your garage? Don't tell me the teardrop will have to go! Got to have at least one teardrop don't you? Enjoy your build, we will be watching. Tell me about "cold molded ply" not familiar with the process for your corners.

Doug,

I really like Camp King lines and your low tech retro thinking

Looking forward to yet another great trailer build, you are an inspiration.

Thanks for posting your latest vision, Doug. It gives us something to look forward to. It's got nice lines, too!

Cool design and looks kinda familar as well. breadbox, eh?

Doug,

Once again, you've garnered the attention of the whole membership. I can't wait to see this build unfold.

Tom

Any interior ideas?

planovet wrote:Any interior ideas?

Knowing Doug he has it all planned out on his NAD program. (Napkin Aided Drawing)

Jeremy

I'm thinking I don't particularly care for the radius on the front corner....If I bag the idea of the aluminum siding and went with epoxy over wood, I could make it larger more aerodynamic appearing. I wanted to wrap the sides in alumiunum and bring it around the front corner. The dia of the top curve would dictate how high it could be on the sides.....maybe I'll redraw that. Doug

This looks like another great build Doug. I'm sure seeing it come together will be a real learning experience for us watchers, just like the Sierra Nomad was.

That looks great, Doug. I really like the retro breadbox look!

AL in Asheville

Nice.

Looks a lot like John's awesome build:

Unrelated, but Prem's picture is funny as hell in a sick sort of way. I just can't help it.




Oh, and Doug, the design looks awesome. Looking forward to the show this winter.

Scott

It will be another beauty I'm sure.

That is an awesome build Prem...I really like that! I was wanting to do the full radius corners, but that would certainly cut down on a ton of work with the flat sides and a lot of dollars, and a whole lot easier to paint. I've modified some corners and changed the back angle a bit. Doug