atahoekid wrote:I'm not sure if I agree or not but it will be worth taking the primed and painted sample and put some abuse to it and see how it holds up. Nothing like empirical evidence!!
Well they don't use latex primer and paint on cars, boats, and campers for a reason due to it's lack of ability to take abuse and stay adhered to its surface. It's common sense paintology 101. I put the paint and then cover it with epoxy I can take a high pressure wand and spray the camper all day and not hurt the finish at all. I put canvas and latex paints on it then it peels under high pressure within minutes.
Yeah sure throw the argument its cheap and easy to repair, but about the 2nd or 3rd repair it is looking like something bound for one of these redneck emails floating around on the internet. 200 to 300 dollars extra can make the difference in something lasting and looking the same for 10 to 15 yrs vs flaws and issues arising within 2 to 3 yrs.
I just want to be the voice of reason that says remember that you get what you pay for in life and a LOT of assumptions are being made on things not even a yr old so far and the one used extensively already has issues and we can't say if its straps or not caused it because as of yet I don't believe anyone else has built a foamy and used it extensively outside eagle's foamketeer.
Sure someone has to take the leap of faith and start using different things and trying them out but honestly we have no idea of how hardy or not hardy all these methods slinging around are going to wind up being. Seems to be more people waiting than building these so far.
Maybe we should just build a bunch of mini mock ones and take them to a car wash and hit with high pressure with the different ideas and see what does and doesn't fail and time to fail if they do. That's far more abusive than normal driving and usage would ever subject one to...well except maybe a hurricane or tornado and then hey things don't look good for it surviving either of those anyways.
The good news in all this is because of the internet we all have a lot more exposure to new products and technologies for thinking outside the box than ever before so evolving this old canoe building technology into a foam camper with some farout ideas for exterior coatings is pretty darn cool stuff.
So a quick review of the necessities of a canvas build that would be durable very low maintenance and last bookoo yrs would be:
1. Make sure the canvas adheres to the foam (tb2 or tb3 will not provide this latex paints does better but remember isn't a glue) so best life would be use a glue that would bond foam (canvas is not a problem because it is porous and would absorb the glue). 2 proven glues so far are HWFF foam fusion and 3M 30NF contact cement GG would just foam too much as well as can't get it in bulk big enough to cover a camper.
2. Seal the outside of the canvas with something hard to both add strength and add better protection. (tb2 on prev builds has been doing this step alt solutions now are foamcoat with additives, styroplast, and epoxy coated shell)
3. Final paint/epoxy/sealant coating (depends on how the first layers were done)
I’ve never given up on that idea !!! Waaay easier than anything else for me ... 
Non toxic, safe enough to have the kiddies help with ... 
Primer is inexpensive ... and if you want you can get THICK primer like “latex concrete block fill “ ... which makes even concrete blocks smooth ( I used it on my house)... I have no idea what weight the canvas I used was , it wasn’t that heavy , but it was Linen canvas ... Much stronger than cotton ... and probably too expensive for trailer use , but I had a lot of it just sitting around .... so it got used ... I only used one coat of primer (Kilz -water based) , but several coats and a little block sanding in between would have made it smooth ... 
