Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

LD, that would surely work over a former and stringer frame like the FoamStream ... Good idea !!!
...and that brings up the idea of building an aerodynamic structure , a framework like an old airplane/blimp , covering it with canvas on the outside, and then spraying (or have sprayed professionally for a better job )the inside with professional spray foam (Not great stuff) ...which would give not only the insulation properties , but considerably stiffen and unify the whole structure, while still giving that vintage canvas over rib “look” ...

GPW wrote:just a rough sketch ... Certainly not an Easy build ... but possible ...

Again.... You tease us with the most awesome designs. Very retro, very cool. Reminds me of design exercises that car stylists do.

Use foam cove and beaded planks or strips over
an interior frame like the Foamstream's as well as
prestructured interior fittings/cupboards/cabinets.

But you'd then have to build this tow vehicle:
[Pic file too big to copy pic to here.]

One of Norman Bel Geddes's teardrop cars he designed in the 1930s streamline era.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BelGeddesCar.jpg

From : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Bel_Geddes

One book of his:
https://archive.org/details/horizons00geddrich
pp 44-63

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

Advanced aerodynamics comes with a cost ... more complicated to build ... That shape “could” (possibly) be reduced from a circular cross section to an octagonal cross section, Easier to build and almost as effective... drag wise ...

I found this thread while looking up to see if anyone had actually built what I am planning. The rough sketch by GPW is almost exactly what mine looked like! (Save I have the back stay wide and round down more similar to a typical hatch setup rather than tip into a cone tail...). I think I have discovered a method of manufacturing that is easy and effective. I plan on making my ribs with 1/8" ply arc about 1" wide and have it 'T' to the outside of the rib that has a 1.5" wide strip of ply. I then will make it like a cedar strip canoe, but with 1/8" ply; not even bothering to edge glue it, just stapling it to the ribs. (I have a pneumatic stapler...) Once the exterior is formed I will cut out the doors and windows and make their hatch trims and install them. Then have a company spray CCSPF (closed-cell spray polyurethane foam) on the inside about 1.5" deep. I will also have him spray a few of the plywood panels stand alone for my future countertops and cabinets (Just 1/2 thick foam with 1/8" on either side). The inside will have a few pex pipes run for electrical chases prior to the spraying. Finishing the interior was the hard part to figure out, but I think I solved the problem. I will sand it with my 7" sander/polisher and fair it out smooth with 80grit paper. Should go pretty quick; I have a good steady hand with that sander. Then I will mix 1:3 parts Elmer glue:water and take torn pieces of heavy duty rosin paper and paste it over the walls for the finish. I plan to then take a road atlas and cut it up and do the same for the wall paper and make it a living collage of our adventures with pushpins and little pictures all mod-podged to the walls. I may polyurethane it, but if I am going to add on to it over time I may just leave it with Elmer's glue.

The hard kicker I am trying to solve now is the convex window I want on the front top. I want to do an argon filled polycarbonate/acrylic blend triple pane window (acrylic/polycarbonate/acrylic) about 4 foot in diameter in the top front area so we can see the stars at night. I am contemplating the ability to form them into a convex shape through heat guns and mold forms...I think I have solved all the other issues... (Vertical side hatch seals, hatch seals, constructability, trailer attachment, location of everything, size, etc.) Here is a quick Solidworks picture of my rib system. I will post my graph paper drawings soon. I have done further Solidworks depictions on it, but there is an error in the lofting of the surface and I don't have the time to solve it now, so you will just have to imagine that image yourself.
gallery/image.php?album_id=4460&image_id=145106
gallery/image.php?album_id=4460&image_id=145381

Can’t wait to see what you come up with !!! Good luck !!!

L.D. wrote:what about cuttin the foam into stripes, like lath. then you would be working with a small area and molding a rounded shape should be much easyer.

That is the basicidea of how I build my foam kayak, lots of foam ribs, glued into a stack, then shaped to a smooth curve. It is incredibly strong, and very easy, just messy

How about cutting Foam ‘Ribs’ , stacking/gluing them together and just carving it smooth ... Messy , yes, but effective ( FoamStream Nose )

Just some pics to stimulate the imagination ...

one more ...

It’s almost two years to the day of talking about this but it is about to come to fruition!!! I graduated school and am now ready to embark on my build. I am moving forward with the narrow ribbing forms with a strip built contour being spray foamed for structure and insulation. I have chosen to do bare minimum ribbing using just hot glue racks to get the shape together and then let the foam do its job. I have solved, I believe, most issues of windows and other fenestrations and believe most facets of manufacturing. Just the dirt within the trenches remains to be found so I am excited to turn some soil! I am unemployed so will be working on it full time to crank it out. My goal is to start Nov. 1 and be campable by Thanksgiving!! Build journal to start soon, I will post a link when I do. (And I will hopefully learn to post pictures on here effectively...) Thanks for all the ideas and inspirations I have poured through over the years...

Xan , Cool !!! Good luck !!! 

Now if someone had a HUGE 3D printer that printed with spray foam ...