TERRA6, Van cab and chassis 7*14, 4" Polystyrene

[Terra6]

One of the options that I'm contemplating for a top coat is this
https://www.walmart.com/grocery/ip/Rust ... thena=true

Used this on the roof and it's been holding up well. It's a matte finish so tends to attract and static cling dirt. Not crazy about that but it wasn't that dirty. Gloss finish be better of course.
I'd recommend any roof coat as previously used Henry and did well on a previous roof application over 5+ years burning in the SW sun. Better than paint on a horizontal surface in my experience.
Definitely will use it on the roof but deciding upon use for the walls.

[Terra6]

Let's see if we can post some pics
Problem with varied ply splitting.
With and without side by side sheets.
Ply issue specific to sheet grain I'm guessing.

[Terra6]

Laying up cloth

[Terra6]

Peachy keen. 1 brown top coat + 1 peach topcoat.
Will add another coat or two.
Weave still pronounced.
Top edge cut straight.

[GPW]

[Terra6]

And just like that, Voila! Done!
Well it may seem that way on a forum.
New color scheme. From brown to peach to now light grey with blue stripe. Did the roof in white.
Did the dilute with white trick to lighten the grey since the solar heat effect is so strong in my area. Even this medium grey gets hot in the sun much more than white.
My recommendation to you, always go white for the comfort factor unless you have lots of shade. The difference in comfort is huge.

tmp-cam-5953292632198010093.jpg (69.59 KiB) Viewed 2349 times

[Terra6]

Well not at all quick and easy to accomplish as the following pic will show.
Had to perform emergency surgery.
Used Simply Orange Juice to save the day.

As mentioned previously, here's an example of what worked yesterday may not work today. Cut edges straight with xacto knife, peel excess, and then overlap for nice straight seams. Worked well for the first layer. Not so much on overlaps as it pulls the lower layer of cloth off as well. The paint adhesion level between canvas overlay is greater than the primary layer canvas adhesion to my painted plywood. Damn, F F F.

So straight cut seams on overlap didn't go well at all as you can see from the pic with the bottom layer pulling up, off and curling/distorting. Much cussing ensues.
What to do as the paint is quickly drying on my overlap seams?

Re-adhere the layers flat and straight now that they are pulled and distorted required another learn as you go along and develop a technique.

This was going to require major, double bypass, open heart surgery.
Reglue base layer.
And overlap.
And get a straight seam?

The adhesion of paint as a glue is satisfactory but not super glue bonded. This is where Simply Orange comes in and I'll explain how to do it.

First, sit down and assess the situation with a glass of Simply Orange.
Drink all the oj and use the empty jug to store excess TB for future fortuitous use, like 2 yrs into the future.
Allow current predicament to settle overnight while formulating a plan of attack.

Next, liberally brush TB glue under seams where necessary, staple edges and allow to dry. Sorry conservatives, we're going to have to go liberal on this.

As a result, this fix didn't allow for any seam overlap with reduced risk of water infiltration at the seam joint. But with glue and enough paint to coat the butted, open seam joint, should be fine. Right? Right. This is where positive thinking comes in. Some may call it denial.

Small gap imperfections were filled.

Another crisis overcome.

For now.

Till it rains.

It rarely rains in the desert.

Phew.

Problem solved.

Note to all.
As the warranty states, PMF only recommended in dry environments to avoid waterproofing damage issues.

Any other use will void any and all warranties as guaranteed by the installer.

Paint and TB2 are water resistant, not waterproof.
TB3 has some lower level of waterproof but only to a limited amount of water submersion or constant exposure. Pls refer to ASTM bulletin #....
Or so I was told.

Personally, for utmost waterproofing, I would recommend only the stuff that they use for submarines. Whatever that is. Do your own research. Anything else is substandard.

Going right now to HD to get some submarine stuff.
Wonder what aisle it would be in? Must be next to plumbing...

tmp-cam-5420629636611468907.jpg (71.33 KiB) Viewed 2333 times

[Terra6]

FYI, some crude testing results of solar heat transfer and color.
Was curious with the temperature difference in painting a rig in white vs grey.
So i had a white and grey tarp in the sun with a thermometer.
Taken about 11am in the morning of March 1 in US southwest.
Samples angled approx 45 degrees parallel to the sun.
Grey was +122F and rising vs white 115F and ambient in the shade was 78F. All approx 10 mins exposure. Stopped the Grey before the thermometer exploded.
Effect of white vs colour vs shade.

tmp-cam-5027019327363615068.jpg (111.25 KiB) Viewed 2152 times

tmp-cam-3213447844053418028.jpg (87.34 KiB) Viewed 2152 times

tmp-cam-5555153389668184384.jpg (84.52 KiB) Viewed 2152 times

[Terra6]

And here's a pic of a good day at home depot for mistint paint.
9 buckets!! Am sure that they didn't last long as 2 were bought while I was there. Timing is everything in life.
Being at the right place at the right time.

tmp-cam-739066982203166575.jpg (77.07 KiB) Viewed 2151 times

[Terra6]

And thus the reason for the color temperature effect to sun exposure.
Should I paint Terra6 grey to match the grey trailer?
Have left over grey.
From the temperature experiments, no. Will stay cool as possible with white even though it is hard to keep clean from road grime, dust and dirt. Life is compromises. Best is to stay in the shade but it doesn't help my solar much and there isn't always any shade to be found in the arid desert landscape.

And no more red so I'm singing the blues now.
Really liked the red on white but was too close to coast guard colors.

tmp-cam-6347060325459985292.jpg (102.81 KiB) Viewed 2144 times

[GPW]

just personally , I think it looks Great just like it is !!!

[Terra6]

Thx GPW. Matching colors aren't a concern now as I've sold my trailer to a fellow adventurer.
Another project?
Gotten this far today...

tmp-cam-1070598376926637504.jpg (108.04 KiB) Viewed 2093 times

Took a 4x8 HF and expanded it to 6x10.
Hmmm, another build thread on this?
Anyone interested in how I've bumped it out?
Terra6.5?

[Terra6]

Xps 2" is like just about non existent in my area now so another foamie build is out.

Have a couple ideas that I'm playing around with for this with 2 specific builds on Tnttt that I'm really in love with and would like to build my own version.
Astroliner and Stardust.

[pchast]

Are there any commercial roofing contractors in your area?
They may be another source for foam.

[Terra6]

Great tip Pete. Will look into that and had a suggestion similar from the contractor desk at HD since I didn't want to order in 24 sheet minimum qty.

And if anyone is curious on the ongoing saga.
Head over to Build Journals on a vardo I call Gypsy Sunshine for the next build in progress.