Foamie Camper (Abbreviated) Build Journal

[greygoos]

Excellent job and a great presentation. Thank you for the inspiration.

[John61CT]

Fantastic!

Love those fins

[tac422]

Great Job !
I like it a lot

[jondbar628]

Wonderfully innovative and great craftsmanship. Another entry into the mythical Foamie Hall Of Fame.......jd

[StanDahl]

Thank you, thank you for your encouraging words! The Mythical Foamie Hall of Fame! (swoon)

It's not finished, I've continued to work on it. The latest is a cowling for the vent.

Day 129b copy.JPG (112.58 KiB) Viewed 2136 times

It turns out that Gorilla Glue does stick to painted canvas. Note the drain in the bottom center.

Day 129c copy.JPG (111.66 KiB) Viewed 2136 times

I haven't glued the center top piece yet, I want to do more to seal the stuff underneath that part first. After that gets glued up, then I'll shape it into something resembling an aerodynamic cowling, then cover it with canvas and paint it. I can only hope that I don't turn this into something that looks really stupid...

I'm hoping for something sort of like this, but not as narrow at the front (and of course, flipped around):

Scoop.gif (21.15 KiB) Viewed 2134 times

[Don L.]

Wow too! Nice camper!
Thanks for posting your build. I enjoyed seeing how you built it, nice pics.

[StanDahl]

I made a couple of drastic cuts with a hand saw, then sculpted the cowling with an orbital sander and the shop vac hose hovering nearby.

Day 130b copy.JPG (124.34 KiB) Viewed 2045 times

I had to glue down some of the now exposed foam because on some pieces the slots were going in two directions, thanks to my cheapness with material (using scrap pieces). I got it to where I thought it was as good as it was going to get, then wrapped it in canvas. I put a piece of plastic tubing sliced in half under the canvas to keep the drain hole open.

Day 130c copy.JPG (110.67 KiB) Viewed 2045 times

I ran out of material and had to use thinner fabric on the inside, and layer the passenger side to fit a couple of scrap pieces in place.

Day 130d copy.JPG (102.1 KiB) Viewed 2045 times

The canvas was much more forgiving of the gaps underneath than I thought it would be. I'll see if I can make the overlaps look better before I paint it. I'll be taking it back out on the road this weekend, I hope to have it painted by then.

[StanDahl]

Just for reference, here's a before of the vent with no cowling:

Day 119c copy 4.JPG (83.38 KiB) Viewed 2041 times

[StanDahl]

The cowling got a paint job, and I took the camper out on a second shakedown cruise, this time to Death Valley.

Day 132i.jpg (159.72 KiB) Viewed 1980 times

It performed as I hoped it would, and I was able to set up the cheapo dropcloth awning.

Day 132d copy.jpg (120.78 KiB) Viewed 1980 times

Eventually there will be another that will come off of the back end and join this one to make an "L" and cover more area.

Day 132f copy.jpg (126.08 KiB) Viewed 1980 times

I threw an Aluminet tarp over the camper and awning to reflect sunlight, and that helped quite a bit to keep the heat at bay. It's not pretty, but it works.

[Tucson_John]

This thing is radical! I love it. I don't quite understand the way you cut the curved part but I am totally new to this.

[StanDahl]

Thanks John! I'm not sure which curved part you're referring to - there are lots in this build! For the top of the frame itself, I used flexible strips of hardboard to trace a curve, then cut them out with a jigsaw.

Day 9a.JPG (131.52 KiB) Viewed 1785 times

I aligned them, clamped them together, and went over them with a sander to smooth them out and get them matched up. Then they were glued together...

Day 9b.JPG (130.25 KiB) Viewed 1785 times

...and then they were ready to tack onto the rest of the frame:

Day 9c.JPG (81.4 KiB) Viewed 1785 times

As for the foam, the hot-wire cutter did the dirty work all over the rest of the project.