Lifting roof XPStream - Almost Finished!

[OP827]

OK, I know it looks boring to look at all these glueups I am doing using these border stones, does not really look like much work progress, does it?
I am just documenting my progress here, so bear with me for a while... I've put a few more hours and finished adding roof panels to complete the full roof length. It feels quite big now when it is a full size... , it is made out of 16 x 11-3/4" wide and 6-1/2 long planed 1-1/2" thick foam panels. While waiting for epoxy to set I've faired the panel seams with cabosil/micro-balloons/epoxy mix in preparation for FG cloth laydown.

Cheers !

[noseoil]

Not boring at all to me. I enjoy seeing process pictures as it helps with ideas & gives some information to people you may be pondering the same thing or wondering how it's done. It's also good to sit back & reflect on the next part while looking at the pictures.

To me it looks like you're gluing up the dining room table, only a light-weight version. With a vacuum press & some walnut veneer, presto, a lightweight portable dining room set is in the works!

This is turning out really well. More pictures & keep plugging away at it. It's going to be a great build when it's finished. Truly unique & an interesting shape....

[daveesl77]

I love the pictures and information! And yes it does give me ideas on how to maybe do things in the future.

dave

[KCStudly]

What noseoil said ^^... except for the part about the dinning room table.

[OP827]

Thanks guys! and it is not going to work as a dining room table, Noseoil, although I do like its good size.
The roof will have a decent slope and be made too slippery for food or other, let's say birds stuff to stick to it

[OP827]

OK, back to the build process pictures then. Here is the roof one side finished with FG lamination and tools used pictures. I used drywall taping knife to spread and squeeze the epoxy into the cloth and it worked nicely, just have to be careful and not rush the process. In fact, anything to do with fiberglassing requires certain patience and preparation, it is like a therapy as KC mentioned in his build Anyway, that is all for now. Tomorrow is the day when the panel should be transformed in a curve.

BTW, 3" brush was used to flatten and lay up the cloth evently, like they do on youtube.

[OP827]

Other side of the panel required more than a day work of cleaning the extra epoxy that was proud of the foam surface, but with some elbow grease it was done .

Today I estimated how much the panel would need to curve when installed as a roof and using some inserts and supports along the perimeter recreated the surface in upside down so that the panel shapes into the curve by its own weight.
Then I faired the seams with thickened epoxy. Once it is cured the fiberglass will be started this late afternoon or tomorrow.

I expect for the roof to sag and deform little more during this lamination, which is fine. Right now the calculated height inside the trailer with such curve is close to 6.5 feet at its maximum point.

Cheers

[OP827]

Sanded the roof with 180 grit to knock off very minor popups left from fairing.

Then had to build a little helper, a stand for FG cloth roll so I can unroll the cloth outside the panel. It is also good for FG storage.

Then FG cloth was layed down to relax on the panel for tomorrow's epoxy application.

It is getting dark outside and moskitos are out in a miraculous quantities for some reason, they seem too hungry and pretty damn quick with sucking blood, anoying creatures, but I must give them the credit for trying hard and give it a shot, so not for my taste tonight. Them and other insects also tend to stick pretty good to fresh epoxy at late evenings like today (experience).

Buenas noches, see you mañana and thanks for reading.

[OP827]

Epoxy lamination is a therapy. And the bigger the surface the more dose of such therapy I get.

This one is the largest surface I ever did and I did it alone and probably got close to being over treated with this therapy.
Anyways.., patience, patience and patience that is all I'm gonna say about this.
In the end it came out pretty nice and clean. Good that I waited for the next morning so I did not need to rush, as it took me about 4 hours of various body positions and gracious slow moves to reach over the sides to the middle and finally finish it.
Now another couple hours and I'll do an epoxy second coat to fill the weave and then let it cure more and then finish with a third coat.

[KCStudly]

Neat job of it.

I would be scared to set the curve off of the camper, then expect it to fit well when joined, or do you plan to make the walls fit the roof?

[OP827]

Yes, I know KC, I am scared a little bit too and had my doubts. But the advantage of using the gravity to create the curve has won over such fear and I did some estimations, will see how it works out when I get to fit the roof. The side walls of the lifting roof will be made to match the lines once I assemble the trailer and lower walls. The roof panel also has good margins to cut off for length and width, so I believe it will work and also see how rigid it is once the epoxy is set tomorrow. I think it should be rigid enough, but if not, then I'll add some spars/stiffeners before going further with the build.

Put two more coats of epoxy down. That's all for today.

[OP827]

The below conclusion is still subject to some more checking, but so far the roof panel seems to be plenty strong and rigid. I decided to let epoxy to cure a day more before I start handling it.
I lifted front end with my two fingers about 2-3 inches and then the whole 15ft panel lifts up. There is also very little flex across the roof when I press with all my upper body weight put in the middle of cross span section. It feels quite strong, way stronger and more rigid than the tent trailer roof panel I got to demolish. The foam panels being glued side-by-side did play reinforcing role creating little i-beams every 11-1/2" made of thickened epoxy.
I should be able to continue with the roof as is, no additional stiffeners or spars needed, but we have to wait a little more and see it for sure. Maybe then do a picture me holding the whole roof panel up with one hand..?

[OP827]

Hey there, master builders of wonderful trailers!

Continued to fairing of the interior ceiling using tools and materials that will be used on the roof and trailer exterior for smoother finish. Wanted to try and get some experience on the ceiling first.

But first I decided as a good measure to scuff and wash the panel epoxy coating just in case (although unlikely) there was any potential amine blush on it. It is pretty simple procedure, just sprayed some soapy water and scubbed it with pads and then cleaned and dried out with microfiber towels (other people use paper towels).




Then I went onto sanding with 5" orbital sander of all the ceiling surface to remove high spots on the epoxy coating only, making sure that the fiberglass cloth never touched with the sander.



Then I went to local autobody supplies shop and got the 3M Platimun Filler 01171, long board with 80 and 180 grit sand paper, black flat paint for guide coat.

You can also see in the photo how the sanded epoxy FG surface looks like after 80 grit sanding; it only has some low spots that need filling.



I did many mixing batches and put a thin coat of the filler over the whole roof to fill low spots and then hooked my sander to my mighty/trusty dust collector and started sandind it down... and then ... I think I did some mistakes with the 3M Filler mix... and although I can somewhat sand it, the paper clogs almost right away, so it is going slow and I did not finish it today as I hoped, will continue tomorrow. Hopefully the filler will harden some more and will not clog sand paper that much.



I did try to sand with long board and it was fine, but slow and cloged sandpaper slowed down things a bit, but then I decided to leave the long board excersize for exterior, the orbital sander does a good job of sanding the ceiling surface to a good even finish and it will be painted with white-off eggshell acrylic, so no worries there. I think it also helps that the panels where planed to the same thickness and only minor fairing is needed where the panel seams are not exactly matched or there is a fiberglass cloth overlap. In fact I might use the orbital sander on exterior as well since the cured epoxy serves as a good barrier helping with the surface fairing.

Cheers and thanks for reading

[WoodSmith]

It looks great and a heck of a lot of work. Would stearated sandpaper help reduce the clogging? I have not done any epoxy work to speak of, but it sure helps when sanding polyurethane.

[noseoil]

Just looks like it didn't cure for a long enough time. If the paper's clogging like that, the surface was too soft, or heat from the sander softened it too much. Let it sit longer & see what you get. It might need to cure for a day or two or need more heat for it to kick off better (just bring the panels down here for an hour or two & it will be cured fast). Looks really nice!