High school shop project is back! Almost finished pics!

[kansasman13]

So some of you may remember the post about building a camper for a high school shop project a couple years ago. Well I think I bit off more than I could chew for a shop class then, but now I am in my senior year of college and I almost have it done. I am a cadet at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs so I don't get a lot of free time to work on it but I've tried to get done what I can when I can. It has been a heck of a learning project as I knew very little about construction and didn't really have much for plans. The galley was a big pain because I built the cabinets to far out and didn't really have a plan for a hatch, but I made it work. That is kind of the whole story with this camper, I build something and then realized I just made what I was going to do next impossible so I had to think of another way to go about it.

What I need to do now is figure out what I want to do on the outside. Any suggestions? Originally I had thought about painting it with like a boat hull paint but then looked into that and saw that most people fiberglassed the walls before it was built and I don't know if I could really do that. I've thought about sheeting it to but that seems expensive and would take a lot of fancy trim pieces. I am also worried about water getting under the sheeting if I did that. Is there a way I could paint it and make it waterproof?

Also, I need an idea for fenders, and then someway to support the galley hatch. I've seen lots of people with pistons but I feel like they might wear out so I thought about some wooden struts that fold up and attach to support the room.

Feel free to add any other suggestions about where I should go next because a lot of times when I go to work on it I just sit there and stare at it trying to figure out what to do next .So some of you may remember the post a couple years ago about building a teardrop as a high school shop project. Well, I think I bit off more

[kansasman13]

More pictures!

[kansasman13]

More pictures again!

[DezPrado]

From those pictures it seems to me you're 'chewing' just fine. Nice work!

[LWW]

Looks good. I also built the same thing, Weekender, and fiberglassed it. It's not too late to glass it. I'd take the doors and the hatch off and sand it down some to get the wood smooth then put a lay of epoxy, I used West System because thats what I know. The first coat should be a batch mixed and thinned with Denatured alchol, the thinned stuff will soak in better. After it dries sand it lightly and put another coat of expoxy on it. Let it dry the ruff it up with some coarse sand paper to give your next coat a bite. Next coat is 6 oz fiberglass cloth with epoxy coating. Do the sides first stopping at the top of wall. Do the top and lap it over a couple inches. Seal all plywood edjes especially the bottom as water will wick up the plywood causing rot. The verticle surfaces will be harder to do than the top so read up on how epoxy works and have fun. Fiberglassing it will be a little expensive but it will seal the wood and make for a solid and fine looking trailer that you'll be proud of. Have fun. Larry

[kansasman13]

Does anyone know a good thread or link for step by step instructions of fiber-glassing? I don't really understand the process or what fiberglass and epoxy resins are.

[Forrest747]

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=49498&hilit=+fiberglass+tape

this is about tape but you get a good starting point. also there is oldragbagger she did alot with fiberglass and it looks amazing.

you have a good build there and thank you for your service. Safe travels and whatever farewell the airfoce gives to each other.

[rowerwet]

save yourself some money, look into covering it with fabric and titebond2, or go the cheap route like me I used cheap canvas drop cloth from Home depot and porch and floor exterior paint. I layed on a super heavy coat of paint on the td, lay another realy heavy coat of paint into the canvas, lay the canvas onto the side of the td, then rolled it smooth with a roller saturated with paint (look for lighter colored mis-tint gallons at the hardware store) then after it dried I rolled on a coat or two of the high quality porch and floor (behr) paint.
I'm amazed at how tough the paint is, my camping trip to PA http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/album.php?album_id=2672&sk=t&sd=d&st=0 involved over 1,400 miles towing with a boat on the td roof on canoe blocks, there is no wear from the blocks or the ropes. I imagine I will have to put another coat on every year or two.
In modifying my td to its current configuration I had to strip off sections of the fabric, just like good epoxy would do the wood came away with the fabric and paint. painted canvas was what boaters used to seal wood before epoxy...

[Wolffarmer]

Good to see your are back. I wondered what happened to you.

Laster year I sanded the varnish off the side of my ugly plywood sides and used the floor paint on it. Seems to be working. Does take a long time to get really hard but it was usable after a couple of days.

Randy