The Astroliner

[Atomic77]

You have made a lot of progress on the Astroliner since I last looked and that interior is looking fantastic
You sure do have my admiration.

Hey Frank, thanks so much for the positive words! I checked out the house... I'm telling you right now, that is my dream home!!! I'm not kidding. But for now, the Astroliner will have to fill the Mid-Century hole in my heart...

Thanks again my friend

[Atomic77]

Cool.

[Atomic77]

Beautiful work Michael! You are close to the project finish line now

Thanks Oleg... My To-Do List of a Million went to a few Thousand and now the hundred or so things left will all fit on the same whiteboard. So yeah, getting closer!

We got all of the pressure lines in this past weekend and are moving on to drains in the near future!

[Atomic77]

Wow dude.. superb craftsmanship..

When I built ours I more took the "as long as it functions then whatever" approach, but yours is like a work of art... Bravo!

kent

Thanks Kent! Much appreciated

[OP827]

Michael, I have a question about Astroliner's sharp edges that you laminated with fiberglass and carbon cloth long time ago. I am doing a small radius edge in the back of the roof and wondering if you could share some wisdom how to make glass stay and not separate when it comes to tight radius surface. I was thinking to brush normal epoxy and let it start setting so it is sticky and just stick on the cloth and then wait for cloth to stick well first maybe for about 5-10 hours, depending on epoxy and only then brush on fresh epoxy to impregnate it fully. The cloth strips will be cut 45 degrees of course. How did you do your edges this sharp? I am looking to achieve similar edge to Tony's and Dessan's Goldbrand trailer build pictures below and I am thinking the only way Dessan could do such a great work with glass and stick the glass cloth possibly with bare hands is because the epoxy was partially cured and sticky to touch, i.e. no longer liquid..


What do you think?

[Atomic77]

When we do fusion moulds, we use a very light and I stress the word light mist of Super 77 on each piece of carbon fiber. Spray a super light mist of Super 77 on each side, (surface and backside of glass.) Press it down firmly. Mix epoxy, then cut down the bristles of a chip brush to 3/8". Saturate the surface with epoxy, using the stiff bristled brush to work the epoxy through the glass to the surface. This is critical that the epoxy is worked into the piece thoroughly. Sometimes, depending on the bend you can add a second piece but no more. To add additional layers the epoxy must cure, be cleaned of blush, sanded, then repeat previous steps. It takes very little Super 77 to make it adhere. Too much will only clog the weave preventing saturation of the epoxy. Good luck my friend, hope this helps.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[OP827]

Thanks Michael, I'll try that!

EDIT: It worked like magic, I love it! Thanks again Michael!

[Atomic77]

Thanks Michael, I'll try that!

EDIT: It worked like magic, I love it! Thanks again Michael!

Trade secrets Brotherman...

[Hitec4you]

I am loving this build story. You do some really awesome work. Glad to hear you are doing better from your medical set backs. My wife is battling Leukemia AML right now. I am seeing all those effects that cancer and the treatment takes on your body. But, I digress. Your build and your story is inspiring. I have yet to start on my teardrop. I got the trailer made and was going to start working on it last fall but the wife got diagnosed with cancer so it has been put on hold. I am hoping to be able to at least get a start on it this fall. Here in Texas it gets hot. hehehe So fall is when the temps start to feel good. I will continue to follow your progress and story. You are an inspiration to all of us with not only your building skills but also your ambition and drive. Thank you for sharing your life and build with us.

[Atomic77]

I am loving this build story. You do some really awesome work. Glad to hear you are doing better from your medical set backs. My wife is battling Leukemia AML right now. I am seeing all those effects that cancer and the treatment takes on your body. But, I digress. Your build and your story is inspiring. I have yet to start on my teardrop...

First of all, prayers for you and your wife. I don't know how you feel about that but for me I believe prayer is something that powered me through and gave me victory over the darkest dark I've ever known. Carrie and I understand and empathise with your situation. Our prayer is for her to fight, heal and win this battle and for you to have the strength to carry you both. You won't be far from our minds...

Thank you for the nice comments. It's definitely a labor of love and there were many times, in order to carry on,we had to remember why we started in the first place. There's more to it than the average person can probably imagine and for you to want to begin a build journey such as this requires the heart of a dreamer, the mind of a designer and a little crazy thrown in. We will be looking forward to seeing your progress, so hopefully you can get back to the build very soon. Maybe it will be a nice bit of escape for you. I know Astro was for me.

I want to get back to the build journal. Currently we are at around 95% completion on the Astroliner. We arrived at that point after a massive 3 month push this spring. I pretty much lived in the camper during that time with intermittent trips home, Carrie came down on the weekend to help, my brother stuck with me all the way through and good friends from the area pitched in on this and that to get us on the road for our Maiden Voyage. I apologize for the lapse in the the build journal but we have spent our time camping and enjoying our time this summer in the Astroliner. When we aren't going places and doing things, we park her next to our pond so we can camp literally all the time. Ha. We've even hosted a few campovers beside the pond and I would like to extend an offer to anyone reading this: You are welcome to bring your build to our 3 acres and camp by the pond anytime! Bring a fishing pole!

Thanks for reaching out. Blessings to you guys.
Michael and Carrie

[OP827]

I am very happy for you Michael that you are already camping in your trailer, this must be amazing! I am doing fairing now and getting ready for 2K primer. I am interested to learn how did you manage to spray your two stage coats on her and how did it go? Thinking about your offer to visit your place with my family and of course the camper... We are not too far from each other now.

[Atomic77]

Thank you Oleg! You're welcome anytime. Spraying the base wasn't bad. But spraying the clear was a total nightmare. It's just so wide. But it's there and I'll settle for now. We have had some great times in the camper so far and looking to many more! It's not quite finished but this winter I'll get her finished up. Let me know if I can help somehow my friend.

I am very happy for you Michael that you are already camping in your trailer, this must be amazing! I am doing fairing now and getting ready for 2K primer. I am interested to learn how did you manage to spray your two stage coats on her and how did it go? Thinking about your offer to visit your place with my family and of course the camper... We are not too far from each other now.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[OP827]

Thank you Oleg! You're welcome anytime. Spraying the base wasn't bad. But spraying the clear was a total nightmare. It just so wide. But it's there and I'll settle for now. We have had some great times in the camper so far and looking to many more! It's not quite finished but this winter I'll get her finished up. Let me know if I can help somehow my friend.

I am very happy for you Michael that you are already camping in your trailer, this must be amazing! I am doing fairing now and getting ready for 2K primer. I am interested to learn how did you manage to spray your two stage coats on her and how did it go? Thinking about your offer to visit your place with my family and of course the camper... We are not too far from each other now.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Thank you my friend. i think of going with a guality single stage delfleet factory pack 3k white paint used on big truck rigs as I have no confidence in my abilities of spraying a quality two stage coats, especially clear. My fairing is my first as well, so do not want to waste more expensive materials. If there are runs or dry overspray areas I might wet sand and buff them off. Got two spray guns, for primer and paint, and good size old two cylinder Sears compressor once I found that the electrical spray gun I initially purchased cannot be used with solvent vapor paint due to fire hazard. Still need to do windows and electrical.. all the best to you and your family!

[Atomic77]

Thank you Oleg! You're welcome anytime. Spraying the base wasn't bad. But spraying the clear was a total nightmare. It just so wide. But it's there and I'll settle for now. We have had some great times in the camper so far and looking to many more! It's not quite finished but this winter I'll get her finished up. Let me know if I can help somehow my friend.

I am very happy for you Michael that you are already camping in your trailer, this must be amazing! I am doing fairing now and getting ready for 2K primer. I am interested to learn how did you manage to spray your two stage coats on her and how did it go? Thinking about your offer to visit your place with my family and of course the camper... We are not too far from each other now.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Thank you my friend. i think of going with a guality single stage delfleet factory pack 3k white paint used on big truck rigs as I have no confidence in my abilities of spraying a quality two stage coats, especially clear. My fairing is my first as well, so do not want to waste more expensive materials. If there are runs or dry overspray areas I might wet sand and buff them off. Got two spray guns, for primer and paint, and good size old two cylinder Sears compressor once I found that the electrical spray gun I initially purchased cannot be used with solvent vapor paint due to fire hazard. Still need to do windows and electrical.. all the best to you and your family!

Thank you Oleg. I had a similar conversation with a friend of mine recently. His thinking was go with "less expensive materials" on his golf cart, because his confidence in spraying clear wasn't so good. I tried to explain to him these points:
A. If you get a run in clear, it's easy to sand and buff the next day. Same thing if you get a dry spot, or dirt, you sand it and buff it the next day. With single stage it is nearly impossible to repair a run or dry spot without a respray.
B. To me, it's no more difficult to spray single stage and get it shiny without a run than it is to spray clear.
C. Sanding and buffing single stage isn't impossible, but neither is climbing Mount Everest. Just because it's possible doesn't mean I want to do it.
My friend sprayed the single stage and got some dirt, a couple runs and a dry spot in the middle of the hood. He tried to sand and buff it 3 weeks later but ended up respraying it. He had similar results the second go around and by that time, he needed more material. He went with base/clear on his third and final try. The next day he did a wet sand and buff and it looks nice. His final comments: I should have listened to you in the first place.

Cheaper isn't always less expensive. Only in a perfect world...

Michael

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[OP827]

You have great points there, thanks for sharing this experience! I will return delfleet single stage and shop for two stage with base coat as white. Any Brand recommendations? Delfleet also has base and clear coat Pu 2k paint..