Making it smooth

[loaderman]

Has anyone used anything to make the canvas smooth?
Maybe bondo then spot putty like they do with fibreglass?
What about the overlaps on the canvas, how do you get them to look good?
Also the corner going from the curved front to the side.

[Papi]

Bondo is anathema to styrofoam! Do not try it. Even if the resins in teh bondo didn't eat the foam, the heat would. I would imagine regular old silicon caulk would work well.

[GPW]

Lots of Primer and sandpaper will make it smooth ...

[Wobbly Wheels]

If one wanted to use a filler putty, epoxy resin and microballoons would likely be the best bet. The epoxy won't hurt the foam, the microballons are easy to sand and weigh almost nothing. A final coat of epoxy resin will seal the filler and give you a completely waterproof shell. Epoxy resins have no UV inhibitors in them, so it would definitely need to be painted.
A quart of resin and hardener (Epiglass HT9000/9001, West 105/205, etc) should run around 50-60 bucks retail (max). A quart of microballoons is about $7.

[GPW]

W2, if you go to all that trouble , might as well Fiberglass the whole thing ... Probably easier to get it smooth without all that filling/sanding ,especially if you vacuum bag the parts = smooth as “glassâ€

[loaderman]

hmmm, thinking i like the rough look

[GPW]

The rough canvas look is actually quite attractive , Non RV looking ...

[Wobbly Wheels]

W2, if you go to all that trouble , might as well Fiberglass the whole thing

How so ?


Laminating is several orders of magnitude more of a commitment and skill level than slapping on some putty and knocking down the highs with a homemade 80G longboard.
If anything, an epoxy/microballoon mix is the absolute EASIEST thing in the world to do if any sanding is going to be involved. It's only to get a 'yacht finish' that the endless hours of sanding are required...which isn't likely the case here.

If loader doesn't want to go for sanding, he can do what wood builders have been doing for a long time and simply use epoxy to fill the weave of the canvas, except that he'll top it with paint rather than varnish or PU for UV protection. That's how the lion's share of cedar strip boats look so sexy - some guys go nuts with wet sanding but mostly it's just more resin to fill the weave and topping with varnish.

Either way he winds up coating his trailer in a membrane that's 100% watertight and weighs next to nothing - that's a win/win no matter how you slice it.

Vacuum bagging on par with rough fairing ?
We all have different experience I guess...

[GPW]

So many ways to build/finish a Foamie ... hard to pick just one ...

[IASCOTT]

how about suspending some micro balloons in some latex prime/paint. Might just make for a good filler.

Scott

[millstone]

Gotta try that.

M.

[GPW]

You can purchase a very thick latex primer ... “Concrete block fillerâ€

[millstone]

[quote="GPW"]You can purchase a very thick latex primer ... “Concrete block fillerâ€

[pete42]

anathema:
object of loathing;
somebody or something that is greatly disliked or detested and is therefore shunned.

I learned a new word yea
see you are never to old to learn................
Pete

[GPW]

Pete , I’m so OLD , every time I learn a new word , I turn around and forget it ...

Did you know Foamie is Not a word ... we can remember that ...