Itty Bitty Foamie Teardrop Test Build Thread

[John61CT]

And are there more or less "canonical" howto build threads y'all can link to for the various options, best of, summaries?

I'm happy to read thousands of pages taking notes if need be, but would like to start with the good stuff, and then fill in gaps or consider alternatives from the rest.

I may be biased, but you might read through my #1 build thread

Great, thanks. I guess I'll start a new thread to try and collect more.

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=70097

[amandacreiglow]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I used he Childers as an adhesive to bond the fabric to the foam because that’s one of its stated intended uses, but I guess it isn’t intended for this much stress on the bond. Lesson learned, even though it’s a shame because it’s so easy to work with.

Fwiw I did use gripper as a bonded for my back hatch and doors, since I ran out of the Childers, and that has worked beautifully. I’m planning on doing a rebuild on my doors (they leak and stick) and plan to use gripper for that as well.

Thanks for the tip about the horse needles. I am in ranch country right now (Texas) so I’ll take a look if I can’t find anything at the cvs that will suit my purposes.

My worry with just using gripper or tb2 injected in is that there’s no way for air to really get in so that a water-based glue can dry. Ideally I’d use gorilla glue construction adhesive (LOVE that stuff) but I imagine it would be too thick to be able to actually inject, and there’s no real way to thin it out.

Peeling back and re-sticking isn’t an option with the way I put it on as just one big canvas sheet to avoid nearly all seams, especially not with the places of my delamination areas.

Ghcoe, did you find that your injected bubbles were able to dry all right? If so, I might use your method with gripper.

Don, I don’t know exactly what the Childers is made out of, though it reminded me of latex products in looking at it. Could probably find out, but honestly, on the road getting an iron and would actually be less convenient than syringing it, as I would then be stuck with an iron. So I think I’ll explore other options first and circle back and see if they don’t work.

The different I saw in my tests between gripper and tb2 was that the tb2 made for a harder “shell”, but was also harder to work with, and facilitated burning much quicker, though that would be mitigated by layers of something less flammable on top of it (like the Childers).

In a funny turn of events, I’m about 10 minutes at the moment from a town named glidden...

Here’s a road shot or two of foamie for kicks:






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[John61CT]

Elmer's ProBond Polyurethane is thinner than Gorilla Glue, and just as strong.

Or try this from Google:

> thinning with 50% acetone and add a drop or 2 of water. This slows down the expansion rate resulting in a smaller cellular structure. Have had great success with this. Maybe try some samples and experiment with using it like a paint over thin balsa. You will be amazed at the extra strength for virtually no increase in weight.

[amandacreiglow]

Sooo still haven’t gotten around to addressing the spots with delamination. Or rebuilding the doors — the new foam door blanks have been riding along with me taking space up in the trunk for over s month now.

But hey! Finally got around to giving foamie eyebrows at least! This was in response to some flooding I had as the wings don’t work as well keeping the water off when I’m parked on a tilt, as it turns out. :-( learned that the hard way.

But anyway, here’s my $10, 30 minute, zero measuring solution:



1.5” “drip cap” flashing, cut with tin shears and bent and held on with those screw in drywall anchors and gorilla construction adhesive — two of my favorite things, as it turns out.


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[S. Heisley]

Oh, Goody! An update on your build is like getting an Easter basket! Thanks for the treat!!!

[KCStudly]

Yes, living the life! Glad to hear an update. Where abouts have your adventures taken you now? (no need to be too specific... you know)

[amandacreiglow]

Thanks guys! Hopefully soon I’ll have some new doors to tell you about. Although of course I’m already dreaming/planning pretty intensely for foamie 2...

As for where I’ve been, I started in northern Virginia, and then spent a couple of days in Richmond. Two days in NC on my way to upstate SC, where I stayed for a few weeks. Then I headed to a little campground right by the okefenokee swamp/national wildlife refuge. Then headed down to Florida, to spend a week just north of Panama City. Headed over to spend a week in a state park half an hour from New Orleans, since I’d never been and wanted to see the city, which was a ton of fun. Then I headed to Texas, where I’ve been ever since. First I was about an hour inland from Houston, staying at a campground there for two weeks, and getting ready to boondocking for the first time. Then a week in Davy crocket national forest, and now for the past week I’ve been a bit further north, about 45 minutes from Texarkana. In a week or so I’ll be heading to Tennessee, embracing the campground life again for a few weeks.

Aaaand that all may have been way more info than you were after. :-) when I say it like that it sounds like it’s been ages, though it also kind of feels like I just left. Foamie’s been holding up pretty well, I think, considering!


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[KCStudly]

Nice!

[S. Heisley]

[amandacreiglow]

So, today is the first day it’s actually been cold while I’m off grid and can’t run my little 120v ac heater... unless I run the generator, which I may do, eventually. Seemed like a good opportunity to grab the thermometer I got for the cooler and see what the difference is inside the trailer versus outside, with the only heat source being my mattress warmer, which I doubt contributes much to the inside air temp, if at all. This is almost all just me and the dog’s body heat, plus whatever solar warmth is coming in through the skylight.

That’s a 16 degree difference in temperature, with a 20 degree difference between how it actually feels. Still reeeeeaaaally wishing it were warmer out today, but seems to me that the insulation does make a big difference!

Also had a huge thunderstorm yesterday, so the eyebrows got a chance to be well and truly tested. No water in through the doors! And surprisingly little in through the vent, considering I left it wide open and drove away, not realizing the weather than was headed our way. All in all really happy about that. :-)


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[S. Heisley]

That's good! It may seem cold; but, that's not a bad temperature reading at all. Congratulations on your over-the-door water gutters, too.

[nagnificent]

Hello!

I've been lurking on this forum (and specifically in this section) for a while now, but haven't been ready to post until now. I haven't *quite* gotten through the bit thrify thread... I'm currently at 236/465. I see the end in sight, it's just still pretty far away.

Anyway, when I started reading through all this, I got pretty big dreams pretty quickly of building a 7'x12' foamie to live in for a while. But over the last couple weeks, I've decided that maybe I should pare back and try and go for something smaller first to try and learn the basics and figure out what I'm doing, as well as to give me a little trailer to travel in for a while so that I figure out what I really do want/need in a big trailer. My TV is a 2001 SAAB 9-5, which has a surprising towing capacity of 3,500lbs, but only if the trailer has its own brakes. It's only 1000lbs without them, so I'll be looking to make this thing no heavier than 750lbs to be on the safe side. Looking at the builds and weights that I've seen on here so far, it looks like that may be doable, which is exciting. Also hoping to keep this to under $1500 overall, although if that ends up balooning to closer to $2000, that's survivable. Will do my level best to keep it from going any higher than that, though.

Soooooo here's the plan so far:

4'x8' teardrop, 4' high, built on the standard 1195 capacity HF base
Very similar in shape to the original foamie GPW did in the front, with a plane flat back flat for simplicity's sake
No curves, to avoid having to worry about kerfing and shaping and all that jazz
Basic electrical to charge/run computers and some of the galley, and run a fan or heater as required, maybe with solar panels (have to price that and do some research to see if that's feasible)
Standard waterproofed canvas covering, possibly with a thin epoxy layer over the very outside depending on budget at that point and feasibility
identical self-built doors on each side, with plexiglass panels fixed in them
Standard 14" roof vent for ventilation

I've downloaded sketchup to try and get a detailed 3d model of it, but have yet to learn to use it. Too busy figuring out what colors I'm going to paint it. As soon as I figure that out I should be able to describe more specifically what I've got in mind.

I've called the nearest HF store (~40 minutes away) and they have the trailer in stock. Will be headed out there tomorrow to grab it when I'm able to borrow my dad's truck. When I've got it put together, I should be able to use it to go to the local big box store for the bulk of my materials. If I do this quickly enough, might even be able to take advantage of some of the Father's Day sales. Plus, using the trailer base to help me build the teardrop just feels right.

Heeeeeeere we go. Wish me luck.

You go with your bad self. That is awesome. I started one last year, and then realized I wasn't fully prepared when we got a huge wind storm and my walls and roof got destroyed. A blessing in disguise though, because my chassis and floor were way overbuilt. I will restart again sometime soon, but I love what you did. Like you it will just be my dog and I traveling, but I need it lighter, because my TV is a Harley triglide. Have fun in your awesome camper and be safe out there. You have a fan here you didn't even know about. Lol.

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[Bruue1]

I read through your build about a month ago. I liked your style, how quickly you got that thing together and now that you are actually out using it. From inception to actualization. Thats awesome!

Leaky doors, delaminating canvas: Sounds like problems typical to alpha testing. You'll get it figured out. Over all the camper looks great! Have fun tooling around.

[amandacreiglow]

Hey guys - been a while since I’ve posted in here! Mostly because I’ve been settled in and stationary for a while, and focused on planning a new project that isn’t using foam for structural purposes (although foam there will be!)

Was planning on fixing, upgrading things on foamie from my journey before I sold it, but now I’m thinking I’d like to sell it as is. Just not as fun to fix/improve things for someone else, when I know I won’t be using it again.

Only problem is I have no idea whatsoever what to sell it for. Figured I’d put it on Craigslist and ask for offers, but people keep just asking me. Figured I’d ask here what ballpark people would price it at, since you all have knowledge of the materials, and campers and such. What do you think? And here’s the ad if you want to take a look:
https://asheville.craigslist.org/rvs/d/ ... 47420.html



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[jimbo69ny]

Why don’t you want to fix it and keep it? You put so much work into it?