Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Has anyone ever tried to make a smooth surface out of canvas? Just curious, what does it take to make it smooth? How many coats of glue or paint?

Does anyone have any photos?

Mike...

Mike I found with bed sheet that the higher the thread count the smoother the finish. Since I used used bed sheets on WW2 part of the trailer was rough and part smooth, a camping buddy who use to be a buyer for a department store told me that the rough was 100 thread count the smooth was 300 thread count. I would think that the same thing would go for canvass. the higher the thread count the smoother it would be.

If that doesn't work there is always that red lacquer puddy I showed you. I've used it to smooth out repair seams on our WW.

Gary

All a matter of sanding and priming ... over and over till you get the smoothness you want .... Gloss paint over that ... Lots of work !!! Like finishing your car ... You ever paint a car .... Lots of surface prep ... The substrate MUST be Perfect for the paint to be Perfect ...

If you really MUST have smooth , then it may be better to go back to using a material that starts out smooth ... OR , If anyone would like to invest in a mould to make a Trailer like the way new kayaks are made , then injected with foam ... That would make a nice looking product ... and given the size vs. price in kayaks , we’d think a Camper made like that would retail for under 1K , sans trailer ... It would be very Smooth ...

Red putty might melt the foam as it outguesses ...

Has anyone done this yet? Are there any photos? Or does everyone just leave it rough?

Mike...

Mike, I am planning to get mine smoother than normal but not metal glossy (unless that happens by accident). Should be able to see the results within a couple of weeks, with photos.

Want it so dust, mud & bird droppings just rinse off with less scrubbing (but then, we have gumbo). I don't recall seeing any photos here but there probably are some since there is way too much to see everything posted.

I probably don't need to be metal smooth. But Chell doesn't like the roughness of the canvas, so I am trying to make it a little (ok, a lot) less rough. I was hoping I could see some photos of what to expect.

This evening I'll start with a piece of scrap, and glue some canvas to it, and then see how many coats of paint it takes...

I also have some Elasta Tuff 6000, I might try a sample with that. I'm not sure if that disolves EPS like polyester resin, but I'll find out!

Mike...

Robot attempted to smooth out his foamie with lots of paint coats with his "Slipstream" and it seems to have worked from a distance but he posted no super-closeups. I was planning on priming mine with "cement and block primer" which is supposed to decrease the number of paint coats required.

This shot seems to be the best he gave us - you could ask; he is trying to get er done atm, but might have something better to post.

Doubters are most welcome to read Thrifty Alternatives then decide ... There's a REASON the canvas is not super smooth finished ...

I did something similar to this when I made a wing for my race car. I used fiberglass fabric over EPS foam. But instead of resin, I used Glidden Gripper primer, which adheres very well to EPS foam. I could have used cloth instead of fiberglass, but there is a surf shop near where I live and I decided to try the stuff out. To get the paint up above the weave pattern, I added a thing called microballoons to the paint. They're a neutral (and lightweight) filler that gives the paint more volume. I applied it with a Bondo-type squeegee and it saved me from having to do multiple coats in order to bring up the surface above the weave.

The fabric over the foam wing:



Using a roller to saturate it with the latex primer:



Here it is dry, but with a clear weave pattern:



The microballoons give the paint the consistency of thin pancake batter:



Here's the surface after one coat of the thickened latex paint.



At that point, I sanded and put on a finish coat of latex epoxy.



An additional coat and some more sanding could make the finish even smoother. But this was good enough for my purposes. The wing is not very pretty, but I only bolt it on for trips to the race track:

My foam kayaks come out rather smooth as I use bed sheets over the foam. However every wrinkle and overlap shows as well, and you must sand the foam super smooth.
You won't see a reflection in the paint though without serious prep work.

I got a smooth finish just using exterior oil base on a wood frame canvas covered canoe. I couldn't tell you how many coats of paint I used, what I can tell you is you will get it smooth but the paint will also crack where it flexes. My canvas covered canoe is 42 years old and still floats without leaks despite the fine cracks in the finish where it flexed.

Wow, I'm really impressed. That Glidden Gripper Primer is some really sticky stuff. I tried a couple samples with it tonight. I should have a better idea tomorrow as to how it compares to TBII and TBIII.

Meanwhile just for fun, here's what they look like glued up. Tomorrow I'll start experimenting with making it smooth. And no, I don't have any microballoons!

BTW, I brushed the paint onto the EPS, then laid the fabric on top of that, and finally rolled it out with a roller. The canvas rolled out nice and smooth. The fiberglass pulled away from the EPS in a couple spots. You can see one spot in the lower left corner of the bottom picture.





Mike...

P.S. I wonder if fiberglass is as hard and durable under gripper primer and paint as it is under polyester resin???

GPW wrote:Doubters are most welcome to read Thrifty Alternatives then decide ... There's a REASON the canvas is not super smooth finished ...

Are you going to give us a hint? What post should we be reading? Got a link?

Mike...

P.S. I don't want super smooth!!!

RAYVILLIAN wrote:
If that doesn't work there is always that red lacquer puddy I showed you. I've used it to smooth out repair seams on our WW.

Gary

I'll be trying that on half of each sample. It seems to handle the weather well, as your stuff has been sitting out in the weather for a year, and still looks as good as the day you put it on.

Mike...

Mike , as a professional Artist for 45 years now , we've been making canvas very smooth for fine portraits we do that require an "eggshell finish " ... Try some Acrylic Gesso , it's Thick , it fills and it sands easily ... For extreme filling you can start with Acrylic modeling paste.... even thicker ... Get a small tub to try out at a good local Art store , or try Utrecht.com They have been reliable for materials and have good prices...
You will have to use a block when sanding , cork or rubber is ideal ...