Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[GPW]

After making my curved model is when I decided to go square -ish' ... as you may recall

A RED car ??? ( scene from "Used Cars") ...

TB ... looking Good ... What are you going to use it for , a bike trailer ???

[TBuilder]

TB ... looking Good ... What are you going to use it for , a bike trailer ???

Probably not a bike trailer, most likely will tow it with my daughter's pink barbie electric hot wheels jeep.

[eaglesdare]

finally making progress on the windows. will try to finish them up tomorrow. but its still not looking pretty. need some trim work to finish it off. but i am not going to worry about that yet. oh heck, who am i kidding. i will worry about it til its pretty.

[GPW]

Eagle , I'm thinking of Not putting framing around my windows , and just using the inside frame to draw them up tight ... That and a good seam of Mad Jacks favorite butyl tape ... The windows get no stress , like a door would ...


TB, " pink barbie electric hot wheels jeep." ... and a matching TD .... Lucky Girl !!!

[eaglesdare]

i don't have any framing around my windows. not sure what i left off with for updates. but i have one door [outside] painted. the screen is in.
i did use diluted t3 and covered everything. it is all covered now in primer also. now the next day i get that i feel is warm enough i will be out there painting the whole thing. i think it is pretty watersealed now.

i did cut a hole to fit an outlet in the side, but forgot to cut the cavas, and i have diluted t2's and primed over it. should be an easy fix to cut that hard canvas, at least i hope. but its not going tobed as easy anymore.

i am feeling a little better that it might be campable by the 15th.

[GPW]

Eagle , as you can probably see now , the resulting composite is a lot stronger than just the foam or canvas individually !!!
Glad you're feeling Better and back on schedule !!!


Some more pics wouldn't hurt either .... We'd Love to see your progress!!!

[eaglesdare]

i will take some pics today, the after primer one, and then the after paint one. it is looking like i should beable to paint in a little while, and in a couple hours i can put another coat of paint on.

hubby is thinking about taking tomorrow off to help complete this tear drop. lots of detail stuff to do. still gotta get the plates on, light on, trim work around and underneath.
..now i have been thinking about that reinforcement strip. i have a hatch, and if i run that strip front to back i won't beable to open the hatch. so i think i am getting a couple of straps to use and run front to back which will work just fine.

the canvas is real strong and firm now, and that texture, well lets just say its like sandpaper. but i 100% love the look of it. love that roughness.

oh and one more thing for this morning, once the primer was put on, it started looking pretty. can't wait to see it painted with color though.

now about that feeling better. that only applied to making my deadline. but i think everything in my body hurts. i did not do anything for 3 weeks but sit [after surgery]. and now i am gettin busy [no lifting though], but my back, my knees, and my hands are killing me. even my feet hurt from wearing a junk pair of sneakers yesterday.

well next time i post, it should be with more pics.

have you made anymore progress on yours?

[eaglesdare]

haven't loaded the pics yet but will have a couple for you this evening. the weather is nice today. 2 days in a row, yippee! got the first coat of paint on. will take another pic after the second coat. i think it matches my car pretty good. so i have to wait about 2 hours for the first coat to dry. in the meantime i think i will work some more on my doors, maybe not, i just might take a break.

[GPW]

Just so Anxious to see the pics !!!
About those R strips ... just run em' up to the hatch ...They're there just for some extra seam insurance towing > 125mph ... Probably don't need them at all below warp speed ... I'm going to do them anyway ...Just cautious , that and we teardroppers tend to overbuild everything anyway ... something that could be learned by the RV industry ...
Eagle , great to see yours is so Wide too... that's going to be Very comfortable ...

[eaglesdare]

ok a couple of pics. nothing exciting though

primer on



paint on



pic of my car


still keeping my doors hidden til complete. i am pretty happy with those doors.

still lots of things to do. gotta put the hatches and locks on, trim up excess canvas, add wood strip across the front under part, hang those doors. eventually i will add a better looking strip that runs down to the hatch, gotta do something to hide that seam.

going to start looking for my camping gear and start to bring it altogether here shortly.

[GPW]

It really Does match the truck ... Really coming along nicely now !!!!

[Ratkity]

Wow Louella!! What a great paint match!!!

I know you have been busting your tailend. I hope you can get some rest soon.

You've gotten much more done than I thought you would. You are rockin'!

Hugs,
Ratkity

[GPW]

Eagle , studying the pics , I'd like to comment on a couple things .... Those seams ... You can see now how the covering has to be carefully done to avoid prominent seams... Now the best way to hide those seams is with your reinforcement strips ... (not too late) But using much thicker material to hide all the old seams ... and once again I'd suggest the aircraft pinked edges ... for a more "intentional" look ...
Did you iron down the seams ??? ... as we talked about ... No huh ?


Now being an Artist , what I can't fix, I disguise Some of that stick on automotive trim would really dress things up and hide many "sins" ... Just an idea from the old Van days ...

[TBuilder]

Eagle, have you weighed it yet? I'm curious to see how much it weighs without the galley/furnishings.

[GPW]

I'm guessing from the materials used , Eagle's shell is way under 200 lbs ...that and the trailer weight ... ??? Should be real EASY to tow , cause' it's so Light and Streamline ...