Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[Ned B]

not too long ago, I slogged through the entire thread... again...

leave it open, and when folks ask new questions we can refer them back to the beginning...

[ghcoe]

I agree.

Except, there is no set way to make a foamie, as of yet. Traditional builds have years of refinement behind them. Foamies are, well.... a new build concept. That is what I tell everyone that inquires about them. There is just no set way to build one yet. Designs have not been on the road long enough to know what works, or..... what really works.

I think with time we will see a movement towards foamies just because they make so much sense in the modern world. With the price of gas going up and a trend to purchase more fuel efficient vehicles that have barely any towing capacity, these foamies will really start to look practical. Not to mention easy to store in a garage or if no garage outside with no worry about it rotting away.

I told my wife that I really like building these foamies because it is a new concept. It is fun to try and figure out what is going to work and what is not, unlike a traditional build where I just follow someone else lead. Maybe someday, when these foamies become more common, they will look back to see where these foamies ideas came from and find this little thread and see the pioneers here. Well..... it is kind of like making history and here we are at the beginning of it all.

We have a great bunch here and I like the fact that we all have different build ideas. This shows that we all have something in common, we think out of the box!

[GPW]

JMHO.. Foamie trailers are for the Free Thinkers (“ out the box “ ^ ) ... Not happy with the status quo.. Wanting something more Practical, Affordable ,Lighter, more Comfortable (well insulated) and waaay less maintenance than the usual offerings . With a couple Foamie years under our belts , and literally thousands of miles travelled by various Foamlings here , I don’t think we need to prove much of anything anymore , just state the facts of what does work , which is considerable in it’s own right ....and it All seems to work , everybody instinctively knows what looks right for them ... So it’s all Good !!!

One must remember , this all started with the dissatisfaction of what was currently available ... So we had to start from scratch , and basically with scratch ... I still can’t believe how far this has evolved... Thinking in a few years , if we behave, they might even let us post in the general section ...

[Jack B.]

Ah yes, re-reading Homer. Can't help but think though that those Simpsons scripts might not contain near as much useful information.

I think with a couple coats of UV protecting clear varnish over a paper design layer would protect it from drastic fading for a few years at least. By then you might be tired of it enough to add another layer of a different design. Or just pain over it with some other graphic design. I'm told Rembrandt and many others often painted over their older less masterpiece works in just such a manor.

Jack

[GPW]

Jack , we used that clear UV protectant varnish over a Big wooden overhead sign we painted for a big ranch gate ... lasted 15 years before they called for a re-paint ... The UV varnish was a bit Expensive ... but worked for that long ...

[Jack B.]

And how would things hold up if you re-coated with fresh varnish every couple of years? I know UV glass doesn't lose it's effectiveness over time, but photos still fade when hung in direct sunlight. It takes a lot longer, but time wounds all heels as they say.

Jack

[GPW]

Jack , I still thing wood graining would be the way to go for long term durability (paint Not ink ) , and you don’t have to be an Artist to do it either ... if those craft ladies can do it , You can do it ... just takes a little bit of practice is all , if you don’t like it , paint over it ... the Magic of paint ... nothing wrong ever shows .. Can’t tell you how many canvas’s I’ve painted over in the past .... a Lot !!! or painted on the back ... a twofer...

[razzer]

I like the idea of the wallpaper or whatever print put on the foam . Every few years just put that new design over top the old one . All you would be doing is making your foamie stronger . As someone who likes old technology I read all kinds of stuff and find out things that worked and are forgotten . For example did you know that the wheels on Pullman rail cars were paper with steel rims ? " Made the ride smoother . " Or that someone made a guide boat out of craft paper back in the 1890's and paddled it from Maine to Florida ? Paper is very versatile and easy to come by . I believe that foam works better due to strength and light weight though . Oh goodness , now you know I'm a fount of useless information .

[Jack B.]

I know the time I would put into trying (and never succeeding) in making painted wood texture look real could be better spent doing just about anything else. And as good as paint can get, even the big ol' Buick wagons with the painted "woody" panels never looked quite right to me. Wall or shelf paper isn't going to look really real either, but a lot closer than I would ever get things done with paint, brushes, wadded up newspaper and sponges.

Me, I prefer paint that can be touched up after the armadillo meets the trailer incident takes place. Or after I decide that magenta wasn't really the color I saw in my mind for the biker festival campground. Never was a fan of the flames painted on the fenders of hot rods either. And don't get me started on skulls and crossbones, unless it's a pirate ship.

Jack

[Mary C]

Louella, that's Spot and no I don't ride him anymore I will put a youngster (Real Young) on his back every once in a while. For the most part he is retired and very happy! He was a very good horse when I was riding, in his younger days he was quite a ladies man too. you can see his paint brush in my Gallery ah, it is on his side. The Spot!!!!


OK folks, I read the whole thing (this thread) and no one ever ever mentioned not reading it, I have been inspired and learned a lot from reading it, but mostly I learned that everyone here is friendly, trustworthy, kind and loves pets, and informative and will go out on a limb to help you and I think it all is important information, should be required reading. How to free think, outa the box (that is most important) so There My 2 cents.

Mary C.

[wagondude]

Homer=one long winded sonofagun. Reading The Illiad now.

[Bogo]

It may be quite worth while to organize the data into an indexed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) thread. The FAQ index thread would point to other threads that discuss various stuff in detail.

[GPW]

Are you volunteering for that job Bogo ??? .. easy to suggest , difficult to do .... We could use a talented individual such as yourself in the organization process..

[bonnie]

Homer=one long winded sonofagun. Reading The Illiad now.

Loved the Illiad. One of the first books I got on my ereader.

[Jack B.]

You guys need to update your reading materials. You want a long seeming read go grab a copy of "Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man". Or if you want to go really modern there's always S. King's "Under the Dome". Now for a set that goes on forever try the "Clan of the Cave Bear" series. And don't even get me started on the Dune books.

But if you want a series you won't want to put down, it might well be S. King's Dark Tower books. And of course there's the eight or nine book Foundation trilogy by Assimov that should be required reading for all as it paints an exact portrait of what's going on in the world and this country right now, but on an interstellar canvas and spans hundreds of years.

Ain't book larni'n great. We shouldn't be judged by our years, but rather by the words-per-year we've consumed. Like this 364 page (by latest count) electronic tome.

I want to live in the woods on the side of a hill where there are no ticks or skeeters. And bunnies bring me Easter eggs so I can make egg salad. Love egg salad sandwiches I do. which reminds me of one of the (I think) two poems I know:

Love them little mouseys.
Mousey's what I love to eat.
Bit their little heads off,
Nibble on their tiny feet.

Nite all,

Jack