Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

In the process of building a standup foamie. Its moving right along and I thought I would share some pics. First was the design. I wanted to go with something that was a little unusual shaped but still pracitcal. I see alot of square boxes and teardrop shapes and just want to try something else. This is my first foam build or any trailer build for that matter, so bear with me if things don't make sense.
My original plan is to have something I can stand up in and also have room for two sleeping. My wife and I are planning on travelling around in a few short years so I wanted something that was easy on gas (lightweight) but still practical. I decided on a design that was 11' x 5' and about 65" inches inside. It will be 2" foam and am planning on PMF . I find that everyone always wants storage space so that was premier on my mind. I find that the idea of a queen size bed always limits storage space and is tight to walk around with unnessasary space around the bed. For that reason I am putting two cot size twins in the unit. I also wanted something a little out of the norm in terms of shape so I decided to add a bunch of angles to the nosepiece that might aid a bit in aerodynamics. So far I am about two months into the build and will start posting some pics as I go. I have no real timeline but am hoping for a yearish.
Many thanks to this forum for all the great inspiration and for ghcoe who I have bounced a few ideas off of. I am still learning a bunch of things but am finding that the build is going well and I am taking my time to hopefully get it right.
Some of requirements inside are lighting , maybe AC, maybe grey and white tanks and a portable toilet.
I say maybe because I want to see how the whole concept goes before I commit to more items. I can always add as I go. I am building it in my garage so I have started by making the main body as much as I can and then place it on top of a custom trailer when I am complete.
We are still trying to come up with a name for "the beast" so if anything comes to mind let me know.

Below are some pics of the design that I did in sketchup. It is still a work in progress and I add to it as I build. Hopefully you like it.

Here are some more images of the design. I'm not great at this TNTTT posting stuff. So not sure if I'm doing this right or not...or how to create a subsequent post...anyways!!

In terms of cutting foam. I grabbed a meter stick and drilled a few holes in it . I used small nails which I stuck into the holes to keep the straight edge ruler in place. Then I used my skill saw to begin cutting the peices i needed with the proper angles. It was a slow process and I started at the front of the trailer as these peices were the hardest and would take the most time. I wanted to make sure it was something i was capable of so why not try the hardest peices first.

That’s very COOL ….

Nice! Interesting design! Assuming rear entry. I like the interior design as it gives the structural element for the angles and the roof without being overwhelming.

Thanks. It took awhile to get the design just right with the angles and heights etc. I'm hoping it works out. Yes I tried to incorporate the interior framing properly so to add structure from the inside to the build.

GPW wrote:That’s very COOL ….

Thanks for the kind words

Over the past few weeks I have been cutting the foam and putting the nose cone ( as i like to call it) together. It's taken awhile to get all the cuts just right but after some long hours I pretty much have the front pieces cut and glued. I'm using Gorilla Glue (looks like honey to keep the pieces together. If the pieces aren't quite right I fill them with a little more GG. It's been alot of trial and error for the glue up, but I made a few jigs to hold things in place while glueing which seems to work well. Also just ordinary shipping tape helps to keep the seams aligned properly.
My garage is limited in space so I will be building the main cabin first and then placing it all on a custom trailer I plan on building later. It should just fit under the garage door if I use this method.
Once I was done with the nosecone I started adding some inner framing pieces to make the structure more rigid. My plan was to do this so that the foam would be a little more solid during the build process.
My wife says it looks a little like the facets of a diamond...hence the name of the post.
BTW....still looking for a name!!!
Once again thanks to everyone for their ideas

OctoPod, EscapePod
OctoGone, Octogone camping
Prozac, valium, Viagra, paint to match your fav pill of choice
Chill pill
Acutely obtuse, Aculite, ViAcute
Angulite, Angulair
With Portal windows, top fin and periscope, could be the Nautilus which would make you Capt Nemo.
Some thoughts on the spur of the moment.
Maybe help you generate some others.

Those angles are going to be a major challenge but will have enhanced looks and strength.

How much are the foam sheets up there?

Terra6 wrote:OctoPod, EscapePod
OctoGone, Octogone camping
Prozac, valium, Viagra, paint to match your fav pill of choice
Chill pill
Acutely obtuse, Aculite, ViAcute
Angulite, Angulair
With Portal windows, top fin and periscope, could be the Nautilus which would make you Capt Nemo.
Some thoughts on the spur of the moment.
Maybe help you generate some others.

Those angles are going to be a major challenge but will have enhanced looks and strength.

How much are the foam sheets up there?

Thanks for the ideas..got some good ones there.
The foam cutting has been challenging with the angles but the front ones are probably the toughest so I figure the tough part is over.
The foam sheets I got were 4' by 9' and costs around$45 bucks each. Canadian dollars.
My build requires 11'. So I plan on stitching two pieces together using the natural overlapping edge they come with. I've tried some test pieces and it seems it will work. My plan is to build up the sides.. Then put a floor in it and leave the top and back off for lighting and ease of access at this point.

ViAngular. For erector functioning.
And the obvious northern reference, Igloo or Iglued.
Aaand if you would put exterior lower storage boxes all along the bottom painted golden toasty brown. Then painted the upper body, say hot dog red, it could be called the....
Weinermobile.
Love the idea btw and gives me that Space 1999 vibe.
Personally, would go hi tech and paint it silver with the NASA or CASA worm logo on it. Call it something spacey like the CanaPod.
And get a matching tow vehicle like a Tesla Cybertruck which would then need to call it the CyberPod.
Now if you really wanted to get creative, you could expand it to this


Btw, for future reference, recording and numbering the pieces with their corresponding angles would be great for future copycat builders or a million dollar business selling kit plans on the back of Popular Mechanics.
Anyone remember Robert Q Riley kit plans? He got rich doing that.

Terra6 wrote:ViAngular. For erector functioning.
And the obvious northern reference, Igloo or Iglued.
Aaand if you would put exterior lower storage boxes all along the bottom painted golden toasty brown. Then painted the upper body, say hot dog red, it could be called the....
Weinermobile.
Love the idea btw and gives me that Space 1999 vibe.
Personally, would go hi tech and paint it silver with the NASA or CASA snake logo on it. Call it something spacey like the CanaPod.
And get a matching tow vehicle like a Tesla Cybertruck which would then need to call it the CyberPod.
Now if you really wanted to get creative, you could expand it to this

ORB_side_view.jpg

Btw, for future reference, recording and numbering the pieces with their corresponding angles would be great for future copycat builders or a million dollar business selling kit plans on the back of Popular Mechanics.
Anyone remember Robert Q Riley kit plans? He got rich doing that.

Thanks for the ideas. In regards to the recording and numbering...I have full detailed drawings in sketchup so they should be easily followable.
Next up is the walls with window mounts...stay tuned.
Cheers.

Finally getting some time to upload some recent pics. I scabbed some old windows and a door off an existing trailer and made frames the appropriate size to inset into the foam. The wood has been coated with "the mix" to help prevent water infiltration. Also added the side to the build and filled in all cracks bumps etc with spackle. This has taken alot of time, but I'm hoping it is well worth it once the PMF goes on.
I also started putting some canvas pieces on the inside since it is easily accessible at this point. I first painted the inside with zinser 123 as I have found during my tests that this yielded the best results. All wood to foam was done with TBII and foam to foam was done with Gorilla Glue (honey look).
Hope you like it. Enjoy.

Still looking for any good naming suggestions!
Once again thanks to everyone for there suggestions and assistance during the build process. This site is invaluable.

Shire , how is this going ?

The build so far...just working on inside framing and painting


https://youtu.be/cOs81MDyu2Y