Painting?

[Jerry Bleeg]

I agree with the Poor Man's Fiberglass advocates. I have seen Sam's trailer in person and up close and really like the job he did and the overall finish and texture. I think this will be by far the least expensive and most durable way of sealing a teardrop left outside (short of aluminum, and it has it's challenges, and is expensive). Personally, I did Aluminum, but if I were to do it over again, I would seriously consider the Canvas and glue sealing method.

I have a question for the PMF advocates. Does it matter what kind of Fabric you use? I mean, I have heard bed sheets, Muslin, Canvas. But there are "All Cotton" sheets and there are "Blends". Does the Tite-Bond care if you use a Cotton, Blend, or a Polyester material?

And for that matter, has anyone tried something like a Sunbrella fabric, which is polyester. My thoughts are, if one were to use a outdoor fabric like sunbrella with a nice print, and simply glue / bond it to the plywood without painting on a topcoat. You would have a weatherproof surface that is fade resistant and might look fabulous. And if it got to dirty, or sun bleached after some many years, you could always prime and paint it. I have a sunbrella umbrella I bought from Costco that stays outside year round, and it still looks good after 5 or 6 years. I realize Sunbrella is expensive and it may be defeating the purpose of doing a PMF sealing, but there are generic "sunbrella-like" fabrics out there on ebay that can be affordable. And a tasteful two tone teardrop would look the business, especially behind a Classic two tone Car.

Any opinions.

[KCStudly]

IIRC there were problems with adhesion to polyester and other "plastics" (such as Tyvek and those camo blind tent materials). Make sure to wash any "sizing" out.

[TwoFeetShorter]

Oh, you guys just keep giving me more and more to consider! The front knockoff edges are already nice and rounded, but where the sidewall meets the roof is not.
Do I just need to knock the edge off, or do I need to really round it out?
I have only at my disposal a palm sander, and the work is a bit slow going with a small sander.
I called the manufacturer of the rubberized coating yesterday to make sure of surface prep procedures and the way the guy talked I wouldn't have to worry about cracks with this product, as it is flexible while still being very tough.
I will be using Durabak Smooth for my final finish, and this stuff is used in everything from truck beds to US Navy carrier decks because it is made to handle flex.
Decisions, decisions. I thought figuring out the design and getting the thing put together would be the hard part. Nope, the hard part is deciding how to slap some color on this thing!

Thanks all for the advice. I will see about doing a test spot with sheet material on a junk piece of scrap and see how it does.
Neil