Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Time to get started on the Foamie’ boat !!! ... I have the mouse boat plan and would like to make it -12’ long and < 48" “ wide ... Guess the easiest thing is, to draw the plans out on kraft paper full size on the floor , and use a scale factor (150%) for the larger size needed ... Since foam’s homogeneous (and will be covered with a skin) , it should be no trouble to just butt together foam material for sides and bottom > 8’ long... laminations will stagger the splices.
Thinking we’ll likely use 1” foam and then double that with a lamination of another piece of 1” foam ... Properly skinned in and out it should be “strong enough” even for my “large frame” ... ..

Working out a simple ratio , a 12’ Mouseboat would end up 45" wide... Just perfect for putting in the back of the pickup truck . Big enough to include an electric trolling motor and a battery or two , and perhaps a rudimentary sail outfit ... something tiny just to take advantage of a good breeze in the right direction ... (golf umbrella might just work too ) Got my roll of Kraft paper out ... Going to draw all the parts out on the Kraft paper , then carefully glue the Kraft paper patterns to the foam (TB2) Then it will be easy to cut out all the parts with the patterns fixed to the parts... then (and get this ) we leave the paper glued to the foam , because #1 , it’s already there , and #2 , it adds a little more strength and possibly even makes the next layer easier to glue on , and as it dries , it shrinks slightly so may serve to cover over all those tiny dents and dings we normally get in the foam ... sort of a paper “primer” for the foam ...

Every little bit of Strength built into a foam boat counts towards making it “seaworthy” ... sorta’ ... AARGH !!!

since my planned tear (FOAMIE!) project is marooned by feet of melting snow and inches of mud, I'm on a boat building kick
my latest foamie is a layer cake style foam kayak, the build album is here https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 212&type=3
I know there is a rather long thread about stretching plywood on this site, I don't remember seeing one about stretching foam, here is my simple Butterfly scarph joint (or maybe butt joint, whatever, I like to call it a scarph joint) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 212&type=3

GPW wrote:Working out a simple ratio , a 12’ Mouseboat would end up 45" wide... Just perfect for putting in the back of the pickup truck . Big enough to include an electric trolling motor and a battery or two , and perhaps a rudimentary sail outfit ... something tiny just to take advantage of a good breeze in the right direction ... (golf umbrella might just work too ) Got my roll of Kraft paper out ... Going to draw all the parts out on the Kraft paper , then carefully glue the Kraft paper patterns to the foam (TB2) Then it will be easy to cut out all the parts with the patterns fixed to the parts... then (and get this ) we leave the paper glued to the foam , because #1 , it’s already there , and #2 , it adds a little more strength and possibly even makes the next layer easier to glue on , and as it dries , it shrinks slightly so may serve to cover over all those tiny dents and dings we normally get in the foam ... sort of a paper “primer” for the foam ...

Every little bit of Strength built into a foam boat counts towards making it “seaworthy” ... sorta’ ... AARGH !!!

we need pitchers!!!

SAWFISH ... NICE !!!

Well get some pics as it evolves... Still in the advanced planning stage . Wondering if the 150% size will be enough ...? I believe I can still get those large blocks of EPS down on the bayou ... or we can use the Blu ... I’d rather use the Blu for the sheet sided Schmousie’ ... easier to cut out thin parts ...
Going to lay out all the paper patterns first ... That will give me a better idea of the overall finished size ...

Here’s the calculations ...

Hi Doc,
How many 4x8 sheets of foam does that equate to ?
I was trying to figure out the layout from your drawing

TAC, should be 1.5 times what it took to make the normal size one .... plus a little “fudge factor” ... I'm guessing about 3 sheets , plus 2 more to double everything ... Just a WAG though ... once it’s all drawn out on paper on the floor , we’ll have a better idea ... My goal is to keep the whole project under $200 USD... Not unreasonable ...


The longest measurement is 144 in. ... (not shown for some reason)

We’re going to try and get these measurements transferred to Kraft paper today ... and we’ll only have to do the one side and half the bottom...Than should give a better idea of how Big this is going to be , and give us some patterns too ...

Ps. We got tired of crawling all over trying to trace patterns to foam or wood , so once patterns are cut out , just tape them down to the material in a few spots and give the edges a light FOG with a can of contrasting spray paint (foam safe) . Makes an EXACT reproduction of the pattern , so if there’s a flaw in the pattern it will also be on the goods . You might want to do this Outside if possible , or in a Well ventilated area... lots quicker and more accurate than tracing with a Sharpie, or pencil .

Well then .... that Kraft paper layout thingie’ never happened , with Spring officially here now , the wife had a Laundry list of things to do starting with washing the house... Got that done , now on to the “others” ... we’ll get this done asap , so we can get back to the Boat ... ...

Should have started this boat project a little earlier .... It’s been raining for days now , and shall continue to do so for many more ...

So here is my latest experiment, a 12 foot foam kayak, it's still not done, I still need to skin it with PMF. Right now it weighs 13 pounds.
Build album https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 212&type=3

Hey now !!! That’s really COOL !!!

Yes it is. And for an old kayaker like me, the weight is very attractive. Keep up the good work.

Just to show how light it is, 13.6 lbs.