Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[Ratkity]

we did the shell building out in the ponies run-in. we put them out in the back pasture.

so my shell is now right outside my back door. poor thing just sitting there covered in tarp. but on the plus side, "IT IS" sitting there. it has not blown away yet. everything else has blown over to the neighbors. but the tear is still here.

i am having a couple of tearjerker gals come down the 1st weekend of april to finish the doors and canvas it. so far [always subject to chance] the weather is looking ok for that saturday. so we might have to move it back to the run-in.

that weekends plans are doors, canvas, and latches. at that point it should be campable. everything else will happen as time and money and weather allows.

i know i am a bit paranoid, i am thinking of getting some long straps to go over the top of the tear for traveling, holding it onto the frame. i am sure it is not necessary, but i might do it anyway.

It aint going nowhere.. really!!

Hugs,
Ratkity

[vreihen]

well it was easy to do it in photoshop elements, but i am not sure about real life paint!

If you plan to use epoxy on the outer skin of your trailer, there's something that I have been meaning to try on a composites project of my own but never had the time. Print that image on tissue paper using a color laser printer, wet out the finished skin with some epoxy, put the paper in place, and let the epoxy soak through the paper. The tissue paper should turn more or less transparent when the epoxy hits it, just like fiberglass cloth does. I suspect that the ink from an inkjet printer will run when it hits the epoxy, hence the laser printer. I have no idea how vivid the colors will be after embedding it in epoxy and dealing with the color bleed from the background material, so obviously try it on scrap materials to see if the technique will work before using it on your trailer.

If you've never seen color bleed with composites, let me ask you a question about basic colors. If I take a black piece of carbon fiber and cover it with a piece of yellow Kevlar and clear epoxy, what color would you expect the laminate to be? Yellow? Dark yellow? Believe it or not, it comes out mint green! Hence, my recommendation to test on scrap materials first, so that it doesn't cost you $65 in materials to scrap a part that didn't come out yellow as expected.....

[Miriam C.]

You can print on regular fabric by ironing (no steam) it to freezer paper. Perhaps you can do that with thin fiberglass? And yes a lazer printer might work better.

[GPW]

Epoxy on the outside !!! We're going to use Paint ...
Thinking you'd need a BIG laser printer for TD size illustrations ...

I'm guessing we need a short Art course , so we can decorate our Foamie trailers .. Once we get the construction done , we'll do some artwork and post step by step pictures .. That should help any budding Artists ...

My buddy is coming over today to discuss the build ... He's the one who wants to mass-produce these Foamie Trailers ... he already has some paying customers lined up ... A nice light (inexpensive) trailer would be Popular around here... Hurricane season is fast approaching ... Plenty of uses for a TD during evac... as we found out in the past ...

[eaglesdare]

i'm wondering if an exteriour house paint would be like working with oil paints?

i am not real comfortable using acrylics. i prefer oil.

an art lesson or two would be good.

oh btw, it is snowing out here now.

[GPW]

Snow !!! Again !!! It's 80 F here not quite noon yet ...Maybe hit 85 today ... we nave NO spring (well 2 weeks ) then it's summer ...

I find house paint to work quite well , if you can find the colors you want ... still not as buttery as oils though ... I've done several LARGE murals with house paint ... even mural'd the inside of a huge restaurant . Had to scaffold up for that ... 20' high walls .. House paint , water based ... worked fine ...

Art lesson : Start with a good background color ... for a landscape like I did on the model there's 3 basic colors sky, background , foreground... You do know about the basic landscape formula huh ???

[GPW]

Here's the basic value formula , No matter the colors , if you keep the values in relation , it will automatically look like a landscape ... http://tnttt.com/album_ ... c_id=76923

And for the beach , reverse it http://tnttt.com/album_ ... c_id=76924

if you squint at the image , you can see what I mean ...

[eaglesdare]

not sure about any formula. but i have done some paintings the bob ross way.

it finally stopped snowing. temps in the low 30's though. brrrrr...

[GPW]

Once you put in the formula , then you can add the mountains and Happy Trees !!!

[eaglesdare]

what is the formula? happy trees

[GPW]

Formula , 4 posts back ^

[eaglesdare]

wow i completely missed a post. got it now.

[GPW]

Eagle, you're far ahead of me now , I'm just getting my shed cleaned and ready for the assembly ... My mechanic pal came over yesterday , and we talked at length about building a few more of these ... and a wider model too .. We even discussed making plywood patterns and Hot wiring out the parts ... Who knows where this will lead ???

[eaglesdare]

i think anything is possible with this material. wider, taller etc. originally i was going to go wider and taller, but for a first build and no experience or any idea how to pull it off, i opted for kiss.

but i am seriously thinking about another build. one a big bigger, more room. the main reason i am really convinced about this is the wood additions. the spars, the bulk head, even as a half wall attached to both sides. we have wood strips that run front to back on the sides. that is all the wood inside the tear. but that small amount of wood really makes a difference to the strenght without the canvas.

i am thinking eventually [since our tears never seem to be finished, only campable lol} i plan to add a little more wood in the front for more shelving/storage. right now i don't have any storage except under the flip up counter and that will be used for my kitchen supplies.

also in my case i have a fkip up hatch in my car. so if i put the tear and tv rear ends together i will have a nice little set up. but i still think i may need that additional shelf in the front to hold clothes, or whatever.

and now that i have a much better feel of "how to" i understand how to build one off frame. so i could actually work on one and attach later. but the second one will be "as time and money allows".

i know i am just rambling on now.

oh i am also thinking about adding the eagle on the side, but only a cut out silouette image. that would be a lot easier to pull off and still look good. i could always do another painting and hang it up while at camp. but take down for traveling. i seem to like that idea better. then i can take my time and not rush and if i don't like the outcome no one will see the eyesore. LOL

good luck in your new business!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i still have to take a road trip in mine before i am totally confident in it. i still have this fear of it just flying away on me as i cross the bridge.

before we took our cruise, i kept having nightmares about my son or myself falling overboard. but once on the ship it was ok, no need for the fear.

i am sure this flying away issue will be the same. we have a causeway/bridge here locally that i plan to attempt to take the tear over.

well i have rambled on enough for now. if you need more rambling type another post. i am in the mood to ramble this morning. LOL

[GPW]

I think you worry too much ... Just start towing it Slowly at first , see how it handles .... Likely you won't even notice it's there...

Since I know you like pictures ... I did a sketch of the way I plan on skinning mine ... just FYI...
Notice the "reinforcement strips" ... just more insurance against a "fly away " ...