Regal Eagle Done! Video Tour 6/29/15

[Gunguy05]

WHEW!!!

It's a hot one. 99 Right how and I have been outside since 7:30 am this morning, and I just came in. I can't wait for WINTER!! But I hope to be done by then, so I guess (hope) that will be irrealavent at that point.

Did a little "thinking" about the front... then decided to work on the back some more. Cut the pieces to support the AC unit in the back and got that set into place... It's difficult to make cuts where there no going back, but we got it done. Just working through those back cabinets one piece at the time.







More tomorrow afternoon hopefully. Looks like I have a lot of "detail" just ahead of me. Gotta make sure that the cabinets, hatch, galley, spars, roof, and ceiling are all going to meet up where the AC is sitting.

[KCStudly]

Looking good.

[Gunguy05]

Have had a little time over the last few days to do some work. I took Friday off and me and Dad were able to get some stuff finished up on the cabinets.

We are going basic on the face frames of the cabinets. Just doing cutouts and using the pieces we cut out for the doors. This required a 1/8 upcut bit and templates to match the size holes that we wanted to make.

I used some 1/8 luan to make the templates. Looking back on things it might have been better if they had been 1/4 because it would have allowed the router to site more flush and would have made the cutting easier. It took some trial and error (mostly error) but we were able to make the 3 1/2 door cutouts until we broke the bit.



Amazon to the rescue! Will have a bit here by the middle of this week and hopefully we can finish the last door. I looked high and low locally when I bought the first one and had to resort to Amazon. I could find 1/4 at both blue and orange, but no 1/8.


Today I worked on the top rib that will be the main support for the roof across the front. But first, I had to make a trip to the big blue to get a new jig saw. I have been using the cordless one for all of the build, but it just wasn't cutting it! MAN does the new one cut better, easier, faster, and straighter.

The top rib is 2" wide, and I used the front template that I made way back when we first started. ( I knew I was saving it for this special occasion). I cut it out of 3/4 baltic birch (my last sheet, but this is about the last thing that I will need it for other than the seal in the galley).



I notched the side out so that the rib would sit on top of the side wall and lock into it. I haven't glued it in yet, but this is about how it will sit. Going to do something on the other (inside) of it so that it is a little cleaner looking. There will be a piece of red oak trim just beneath it that will serve as a transition and also a support for the bunk. Still a little bit of figuring to do there.



Not much time to work next weekend as football season is here and we have tickets to all the games! HAILSOUTHERN!!!


Oh yeah, a side project that I have been working on here and there for my wife (she's a teacher).

[Ron Dickey]

looks great mine does not have the deep curve in front you do will fit the kids fine.

Ron

[Gunguy05]

looks great mine does not have the deep curve in front you do will fit the kids fine.

Ron

Thanks Ron. I hope so. I did a lot of back and forth on that front curve trying to balance the curved/aerodynamics with practicality so that there is the most elbow and toe room in that from radius.

Not a huge amount of progress the last few weeks, just piddling, but we are making some strides. Football season is here, and we attend home games at the alma mater, so that takes away all day on gameday Saturdays. BUT...

I got the last of the inside cabinets cut out, and most the spar varnish put on the cabinets and doors.



Decided to go with these hinges and latches (called cupboard latches)

Hardwareresource.com was where I ordered them, based off a recommendation from drew and his Heart of Gold build.



Also, we are taking a serious look at the material for the front bow, it's finishing, and the windows. Going to use 1/4 acrylic from Lowes for that and TrimLoc gasket.

I emailed a few weeks ago and got a sample directly from the company. They have different sizes. This one allow for a 1/4 wall, and 1/4 glass. The wall will be inset with a bit of a "sill" where these are.

Here is a piece of the sample they sent me. I have since ordered (ebay since they only sell large quantities direcly) 25 ft of it.



As soon as I have time, I'm gonna mount the hinges, latches and catches on the interior cabinets, then mount those.

THEN It's off to the front. Put some "toe plates" in to attach the interior 1/4 wood panels to, followed by 3/4 foam, and an exterior 1/8 luan. The window on the sides will be bent. Approx 9 x 20-24 inches (haven't worked that out yet). The middle one will be 9x24. All will have radius corners of about 4".

[Gunguy05]

This past weekend, I had a little time. Managed to get the doors mounted and the entire cabinet face hung inside the cabin. Not real happy with the overall finish of the varnish. I think the can is getting alittle "funK' in it. I bought some strainers today. Going to mix it well tonight and do a good strain of all of the dried junk out of it. Then sand and put on a (hopefully) last coat.



Already begun work on the front ribs and wall framing. Will post pics later this week/weekend.

Going to be ordering the starlight window, hatch hinge, and fan probably in the next couple of days.

[Gunguy05]

I had a few minutes tonight so I notched the sides out for the middle bow in the front. Set it in place and

IT FITS LIKE A GLOVE!



Where I notched it to fit



More tomorrow I hope. Going to order the fan, hatch hinge, and skylight in the morning.. woot woot!

[rebapuck]

I am suitably impressed.

[KCStudly]

Nice fit!

[Gunguy05]

A quick update before I really get going for the day. It doesn't look like much, but I have gotten some odds and ends done on the front, including gluing together everything that you see here.

That's 1/4 oak that I bent to fit the front radius.







Going to work on the top some, and the front box. Will see how far I make it by the end of the day. Wish me luck! And oh yeah, thanks Columbus!

[KCStudly]

That is looking very fine! Nice neat work you are doing.

Be sure to update us later in the day, too.

[Gunguy05]

Ok... 12 hours later I'm done for the day. It was productive, and I am HAPPY!

After I glued the bottom 1/4 ply oak into place, I set out to figure out the spar spacing. Above is it laid out with the moon window and the fantastic fan in place.



It doesn't look like much. BUT I was able to.

1. Cut the 1/2 ply for the middle bottom in the front. I haven't yet cut the doors out, but that will be next, and then varnish.

2. Cut the 2 pieces of 3/16 pre-finished birch for the inside ceiling. That is cut at the back to fit inside the cabinets, but is not yet glued at the seam or anywhere else. Otherwise it's ready to go.

3. Cut the spars, they are ready to go.

4. Cut the Oak pieces that will be the trim from where the side walls and the front come together. They will also serve as the end supports for the upper bunk.

5. Also, I didn't get a photo of it, but I made a template, and cut out one side of the tongue box. (we thought about this for a while) But we decided it would only be accessible from the inside. We figure the kids will need room for stuff so as to keep it out of the sleep area. I don't want to end up with 4 people in the camper and a bunch of junk with no place to put it. We will sacrifice outside storage, but can put that stuff in the TV if we need to.



Next priority will be to varnish the front oak bow panels and to insulate those, as well as front cabinet. Also I will continually piddling on the tongue box. Gotta run to big blue tomorrow for some more varnish.

It's coming around!

[S. Heisley]

.
I'm liking your Regal Eagle a lot!

[Java Jack]

Wow, that looks really good. Looks like a bigger version of my 560.

Question, why did you go with the interior cabinet doors opening to the side instead of dropping down?

Also, what prompted you to scale it a little larger? I have thought if I were to build one, I would go slightly larger but the interior, etc would stay the same and the extra space would be used for storage of larger items like a screen tent, camp chairs, etc.

Just curios...it looks great.

[Gunguy05]

Wow, that looks really good. Looks like a bigger version of my 560.

Question, why did you go with the interior cabinet doors opening to the side instead of dropping down?

Also, what prompted you to scale it a little larger? I have thought if I were to build one, I would go slightly larger but the interior, etc would stay the same and the extra space would be used for storage of larger items like a screen tent, camp chairs, etc.

Just curios...it looks great.

Hum... not real sure. Just decided to make them "traditional" doors rather than the way camp inn does them . I had originally planned them the CI way, but Dad (this is a joint venture) said he wanted them on the side, so I figured why not.

As far as why we make it larger.

When I first saw the 560 design, it went to the top of the list for designs that I wanted to model our build after. Everything about it seemed to make sense in terms of space utilization, and how we wanted to use the camper (for sleeping only) not hanging out in (like a standy with a table). We like the outdoors, but really like to sleep without being swamped out in the heat of the summer, our prime camping time, since the other half is a teacher. We made a full size cardboard model, and then it was "well let's stretch it a little here.. and a little there. The 6 wide was to give a little more foot room for the bunks, but also for arm room while sleeping for me and the wife.

Once I was at 10' long, I figured why not make it 6" longer? and then the front bunks will have a little more sleeping width, since the length is not really usable for larger people unless they have more shoulder room.

The height (5ft overall) came from a number of trains of thought.

1. I had seen other 6 wide campers, and I didn't like the proportions of a 4 height, the 5' seemed to fit a little better scale (like the 5 wide does with the 4 high). This was a big deal to me, aesthetics, but still a big deal. We were going to all this effort, why not go ahead and go all out!

2. I'm pretty tall, and wanted to be able to sit on my knees in the camper and not hit my head. Plus, extra room above each bunk.

3. We are using a boat trailer (4 in thick side beams). I wanted to cover these with the walls, and that took 2 more inches than a normal camper. Not a huge deal, but it's the nickel and dime effect. So we decided that we had gone this big, why not go ahead and go 5 tall. The cardboard model help here too.. that made me realize that my headroom wasn't going to be what I wanted it at in a 4 tall

Sorry for the long explanation, but that was the thought process that we followed. I know there are stauch supporters of "If you can't stand up in it, then why go over 4 tall", but this was how we arrived at where we are ...

I sometime feel bad that our design is so much like a CI, but I just REALLY like the design. I kept looking at other ways to build the same structure, but their design seems ingenious to me. I guess that is the great thing about TD's (or TTT's), build what you like, the way you like it.