Tigin Linn - Little House and Us

[noseoil]

Larry, making good progress & looking very nice! If you use the expanding foam, you can use a length of wood (maybe 40mm x 40mm x longer than the overall width) & glue or staple some very coarse sandpaper to the edges. With two people working it back & forth (from side to side like a two-man saw) you can grind down the excess foam fairly quickly and fair the surface to prep for your exterior skin. It's messy, but effective.

[McGuffin]

Hi Tim,

That's a great idea - I'll do that when the time comes to shape the foam top. Sine I last posted, I've just got the Tigin wired. There is a double socket at the head of the bed and the 7 core trailer wire runs from the towbar and along the roof:



I sacrificed one of the presses at the foot of the bed for the wiring. This is where the breakers will be and there where the sockets will radiate from. The 240 V wires come in on the right hand side of the cupboard and the trailer lights come in on the left hand side (the wires from the hatch will eventually be connected to these). The wee bit of conduit on the right is to receive wires from the fan when it is eventually dropped in.



Since the Tigin will be used mostly on serviced campsites, I just went for shore power hook up (240 V) - no battery system.

I have a little more work to do tidying up the wiring and strengthening the roof before I eventually bury the wires in foam.

Larry

[pchast]

Lookin' Good Larry.
Its coming nicely.

[McGuffin]

Hi Pete,

Thank you - it's hard to believe I'm at it about 15 months. There was a real low point last winter but every little bit I do now seems to make more of a contribution.

There won't be a second model that's for sure

Larry

[daveesl77]

You are doing a truly elegant build! I love the shape and the attention to detail is inspiring! wow

dave

[McGuffin]

Hi Dave,

Thank you for your kind comments. I recently discovered your own build and it has inspired me to do a bit more with the Tigin. So here’s where I am now.

My preference for skinning the teardrop was anodised aluminium but I could not get it in Ireland in less that 3mm thick (too heavy) and the sheet sizes did not work out so after a lot of thinking I decided to us FRP sheeting (Fibreglass reinforced plastic).
It’s about 1 mm thick and very light. It has a translucent appearance and is commonly used here for the roofs of horse boxes. Miraculously, the sheet comes in a size that was perfect when it was cut down the middle.

Firstly I used automotive fillers to get the sides as smoth as possibe then I hacked up the FRP with my circular saw to sheets that were of a manageable size. Here is the first one clamped up to one of the sides:




After some more clamping and fooling around I managed to get a rough cut on the profile leaving the sheet about 1/4 too big:



Then came the fun part with contact glue. I did this by again clamping the sheet across the top of the trailer and gluing the bottom half first. This actually worked out well. Because the sheet could not move with the clamps. I let that set for a day. Then I undid the clamps at the top, dropped the sheet back to where it as glued the night before and painted glue to top half. I smoothed this on and let it set for a couple of days. Yesterday I them sanded back the edges to the profile and cut the door panels out with a jig saw and sanded them back. Here is how she looks now.






Here are a couple of detailed profile shots:





The contact glue worked a treat as far as adhesion but because FRP is transulent you can see the swirls of the glue through it which gives a kind of marbled effect - not very appealing. It does however, take car paint, so this is the colur pallet I'll be going for. A flat grey or maybe a metallic grey with black mud guards.



I've decided on how to insulate the roof void. This will be spayed in professionally with closed cell expanding foam. I decided on this option so as to increase the trailers structural stability - there is glue in this stuff, it is waterproof and deadens sound too (worth doing if you live in a country like Ireland where it rains so much !

After that I guess I'll be skinning the roof and making the hatch and doors ......


I'll post some photographs of all that when that happens.


Happy Teardropping to yaw'l






Larry

[daveesl77]

Larry, once again, just beautiful work. That color is going to look really nice. Once finished and when traveling be prepared to spend a fair amount of time in petrol stations and campgrounds discussing your build. We spent a bit of time in Ireland a few years ago and would love to return someday.

dave

[dales133]

Looking great,i love tbe shape

[friz]

Great profile! I maybe rethinking my Grumman.

[McGuffin]

Hi Dales and Fritz,

Thank you. I love the shape too - but I can't take any credit for it!!

It was the one that Dave Mc Camant used for his Travelear.

Dave kindly put this image up on his build report and this became my starting point for the profile:



From memory I think each square measures 2". I can't quite remember because I started 20 months ago

Regards,


Larry

[Atomic77]

Your build is looking great! Nice attention to detail and a good eye for design.

Now if I may... Try not to beat yourself up regarding your time frame. It is what it is and the speed of the build is often dictated by circumstances beyond your control. In my case, sometimes it's time, sometimes it's money... but very often it is because we are the chief designer, engineer, research and development specialist, etc, etc. In a factory it will take months on end just to design, then more months to develop a prototype, (I'm sure you get where I'm going.) I often get caught up in the time frame, wishing it was already done, wondering why it's taken me so long... but the reality is we are building a one-off original that no one else has. It's one of a kind. It's special. Our creation! Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are campers. Just enjoy the build, take your time and do it right... Because the day will come when the build will be long behind you and you will be amazed at how it will seem like it almost didn't even happen.

Keep up the good work and enjoy the ride!

[KCStudly]

Well said.

[OP827]

^^+1, well said Michael!

[dales133]

Yep well said.
Time gets away from us for many reasons but the end game makes it worth the frustrations

[rebapuck]

Don't you wish this was your tow vehicle? Or is it?

[quote="McGuffin"]