Slipstream

[Robot]

So it begins.

After much planning, I have settled on a final design. It is a little unconventional. Following in the path of the duck tear and the foamstream, I plan on building a 2+2 sleeper in the shape of a miniature airstream. The height, width, and length will be nearly identical to my tow vehicle, a 2008 Toyota Sienna.

The base will be a boat trailer. The framing will be 1.5" PVC pipe.
The skin will be foam and canvas.

The camper needs to be campable (not finished) by mid July. I have gathered 90% of the material and am currently stripping the boat trailer of all it's boat hardware.

I have 15 weekends. At least two of them are spoken for...so 13 weekends to get it done.

I have been taking pictures of my progress so far but Tapatalk is not letting me upload. I'll get some pics up here soon.

I work the overnight shift at a factory, so the majority of my posts and updates will be in the middle of the night.

After years of reading and brainstorming, it feels great to be finally starting on my build.

13 weekends left!

[KCStudly]

Go Robot, GO!!!

Welcome to the forum. I wish you well on your journey as a builder.

[Woodbutcher]

Welcome, and enjoy the building process, it's a big part of the fun.

[noseoil]

Looking forward to a successful build & journey! Can't wait to see the finished product, sounds very interesting.

[Robot]

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[Robot]

boat1.jpg

My free boat trailer. Only catch was I had to take the boat.

[Robot]

Here is my PVC bending setup.
I used a garment steamer to heat the pipe. A spray paint cap kept the heat in. A towel kept the steamer from rolling away and soaked up the buckets of condensation that rolled out of the pipe. 8 minutes was enough that the pipe started to just flop over the barrel. Some gentle bending with some heavy gloves was all it took to get them into shape.

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[Robot]

Here we have 24 corners, 110 Tee connectors, and a 64" roll of canvas from big duck.

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[Robot]

The boat was a peach.

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[Robot]

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Losing weight with a cut off wheel.

[Vedette]

Have never really looked a Foamie section.
But, am interested to follow your build to see what it is all about??
Brian

[Robot]

Brian, I am in Awe of your metalworking skills and your creative vision. Kermit and Miss Piggy are beyond visionary.

[Robot]

I've been plugging away at cutting all the boat stuff off of the frame. The down side of the free trailer is the amount of time I need to invest in refurbishing it before I can really start building. As this will be a mini airstream, I am going with the Rustolium Aluminum paint that turned out so nice on the big pink. Next weekend is my deadline for finishing the frame. Next weekend is also Lone Star Roundup, which is a mandatory event for me. So I'll continue to knock out a little section every day during the week.

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[Robot]

Here is a sketch of my concept. Just a sleeper for 4 with A/C and a kitty litter potty.

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[Robot]

And an abstract rendition of the trailer together with my minivan, done in sidewalk chalk to explain the concept to my 3 year old.

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