Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Mike , that’s Great News in the Adhesion Dept ... Paint it is !!! ... Funny thing is , if we shop the Sale Paint , it could be cheaper than the T2... and already the right color !!!

Anyone try Minwax Polycrylic protective finish? I use it to "glass" my A/C aircraft. I usually just coat onto the raw foam but have used it with fabric and tissue paper to create a hard shell that protects the foam from damage. It is water based and seems to stick real well to my models which have a glossy surface. What I like about it is that you can sand it once it is dry. I can get a nice smooth surface with sanding if I get any blems, which usually happens when I use cloth or tissue for a covering. It does say it is for interior use only but I thought that once you get a nice surface you could then coat it with a good glossy paint such as rustolum or such. Rustolum is also sandable once cured.

Also I was curious if in your test you were applying the material with a brush or a roller? When I apply the polycrylic I use a roller because one it will squish the coating into the cloth to help saturate through and two, it applies a nice thin coat. In real fiber glassing, you want the cloth to be wetted with no extra resin. The cloth is where the strength is, not in the resin. More resin than needed just adds weight not strength. I believe the same would apply with this technique.

I've used a roller and a brush.

With the roller you have to be careful that the canvas doesn't move around under your roll, or lift up from the foam. You'll have a lot more control with the brush, but of course, it'll take longer.

Mike...

So, Mike , How’s your Foamie coming along ??? We ALL want to know !!! Plus

any bubbles? see if no one else is getting bubbles, then i am doing something really strange here.

Mike, I did a 6 oz. fiberglass cloth/epoxy resin on foam test awhile back (can't find the thread right now). I let it cure for the full 24 hours before I tested it. It was stuck solid. No way was it ever coming off without destroying the foam. It was also very rigid and fairly abrasion/puncture resistant. I punched it pretty good a few times and it barely left an imprint.

Now what about that Glidden Grabber < $25/gal. @ HD .. just for we Fabric folks ?

i was hoping our lowes carried that stuff. but no such luck, i suppose that is a hd item. so i will take a ride one of these days up there. but i need to make the trip worth while, gotta come up with a list of things to check out or buy first. shouldn't be too hard for me to do such a thing, as to make a shopping list. but seriously, i hate to make that trip for just one item.
i checked with our ace and they don't have it either. we do have a paint store, don't know the name, so i will check them first before going up to hd. (hd is an hour away). i would really like to try this stuff out.

me too ... cheaper than T2 and a primer too ...

tb2 is coming down in price now. i just bought some and it was 17. plus change. (plus my 10% dis). when i first started tb2 was in the mid/upper 20's. but still, that plus primer.
i knew it wouldn't be too hard for me to figure out another reason to drive up there. i am going to go to michael's, its right next to hd. want to get some foam pumpkings and try my hand at corpsing.

Got my gallon of Gripper @ HD !!! Looks like they have plenty of stock .... for now .... got the white ... they had gray too .... just figured the white would better match the canvas ...

GPW, I'm sure you as a painter know this but the grey primer makes a better undercoat for rich/darker colors. Used grey gripper on the navy blue trim strips and caps on my Road Foamie and it works great... Good adhesion and good primer coat... Oh, BTW, clean up any stray paint on your skin pretty quickly. They don't call it Gripper for nothing... just about scrubbed my skin off trying to get if off my forearms Glad I had gloves on while using it...

Thanks , I have a box of cheap plastic gloves , and will use them !!!

No dark colors here ... Warmer here mostly , so light colors are the way to go !!! The black paint on my Camo Foamie got up to 145F during the summer ... The lighter colors were MUCH cooler !!!

Here's a link to one of redveloce's recent posts in his
'Foamie Jeep Camper Hardtop' thread that deals with
the adhesion of various combinations:

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?p=986565#p986565

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

Wonder what he did with the Gripper to not get the results others got ?? Anybody read the can ?