Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

The company Rosco that makes the Foamcoat has many interesting products that would apply for builds. They have flame retardants that could be applied with the gripper and also another product to add to gripper and make it even stickier as well. Quite interesting array of products. https://www.norcostco.com/scenic-coatings.aspx and the flame retardant https://www.norcostco.com/flame-proofing.aspx Have versions of retardant for all types of fabrics as well as wood too. Look at all the different coatings as well.

Here's another interesting tidbit. The sculpture coat claims after spraying on it can be painted with oil based paints. With that said a thin coat probably would free up anyone to use standard resin for fiberglass over the surface of the thin plastic and that is much cheaper than epoxy I'm sure. A $63 gallon of the sculpt coat thinned would cover several teardrops to do this. For the regular fiberglass guys that makes their life much easier since it probably wouldn't eat through that plastic coating.

Maybe I'm wrong, but isn't the topic here cheap, easy, flexible **alternatives** to traditional fiberglass?

If you want to build a fiberglass shell, that's a completely different topic domain, foam becomes almost irrelevant.

Might as well then just use spray foam, it's just insulation at that point.

Some use epoxy and this would be cheaper I believe. Foam covered with something is lighter and cheaper than wood covered with something. Cheaper than traditional teardrop building and most want the light for towing with less expensive vehicles. Cheaper vs regular RV takes many forms.

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Where I live, one gallon of generic epoxy is 100$, a gallon of titebond is 50$. Titebond is 50% solids, epoxy is 100% solids. So as far as glue is concerned, it is the same material cost per volume. Epoxy is stronger. Glass cloth cost and canvas I did not look, but it is not like many times difference, could be about 50% for e-glass to be more cost. PMF will be cheaper when it comes to clearance priced latex primer and paint finish you can get as a mistint in big box stores. It is individual choice.

And I mean no disrespect in any way , but a good Fiberglass job takes a LOT of work to get right. Whereas, Grandma can cut fabric and use Tightbond 2 … And then there’s that “self healing “ business , which I know is unbelieveable … untill you see it for yourself … It’s Real , and Fiberglass don’t do that … just sayin’ ... Lots to think about …
This all used to be very simple in the beginning , but now there have been so many ways discovered of building a Foamie camper , we really can’t say which is wrong and which is right anymore … Like OP said "It’s an individual choice" …

Good points GPW, and also epoxy is toxic, so you cannot really do that in your living room, while PMF you certainly can. I did not do PMF, only epoxy glass and glued panels with titebond, so I do not know how much easier it is with canvas comparing to glass.

These developed first just as a really simple camper idea ( a "hard tent” ) , and then using that idea as a base camper , everybody could add what they wanted … or not … so we have a continuous evolution of the basic design , which is really kind of Cool , and we’re constantly finding/testing a better way to build it …. Although the original foam and canvas works fine too …
After these 8 + years , we’ve seen all kinds of Foamies …and from what we’ve read here , really all of them were a success … and some have had real Adventures (thousands of miles ) so the system is well tested.
How you build it is How you WANT to build it … Pretty much anything works as long as you stay reasonably close to familiar designs with a long proven history …

Personally I only have a few suggestions gleened over the years of “Foaming” …
1. Use "the Mix" to waterproof any and all wood that you’ll use… It’s Cheap and it works …
2. Use some kind of "drip edge" to not only keep the rains off , but also the ever present morning dew from permeating your floor ( even thought it’s “treated” . ) We all love to wrap that outer canvas around and under the floor , but if we use Titebond 2 to secure it , the daily moisture is enough to eventually soften the glue and allow water intrusion , and then Rot ( we’ve seen it , done it ) A simple drip edge keeps all the water going past the floor to the ground … keeping your under canvas and floor Dry as toast…
3. Take your time , think it out ( Planning ) , and most important , HAVE FUN building it … It’s Really EASY , and a very enjoyable experience . And if you build it right , you end up with a really practical camper trailer that is pretty much maintenance free and Thrifty to maintain .. You can park it outside and not even have to cover it … and they still last a long time …


( WARNING : a personal Opinion ) I’ve worked with Fiberglas , both polyester and epoxy resins for many years now … and in all projects /jobs, the call was always for a Smooth finish , which required MUCH filling, leveling , Sanding and priming … And that was done on HARD substrates with edlectric/air tools and lots of elbow grease … On Foam , that’s going to be tricky unless the glass is of sufficient thickness to be self supporting ( like a boat hull) … Glass is really great for some things , a bit “overkill” on a Foamie Camper trailer … the sandpaper , the masks ,the glass dust .. I’m just too old to deal with that mess … If you’re set up in a shop equipped for that , then Cool !!!

… and just an idea for discussion … Speaking of most any type of woven cloth , wouldn’t it be Better to use the cloth on the diagonal so the weave is an X , more than a +… that way fibers both ways are sharing the load , whereas in the usual orientation only half the threads are working in any one plane … Any thoughts about that ?

Around a corner, yes. Bias weave allows all fibers to wrap around a corner.

On a panel I don't think it matters. Flat panels tend to distribute the forces acting on them. Stresses concentrate at corners.

The fact that foamies aren't exploding on the highway tells me that there's a wide margin of safety with current methods and materials.

“ The fact that foamies aren't exploding on the highway tells me that there's a wide margin of safety with current methods and materials”

I believe that “exploding on the highway "MYTH ^ has done more damage to Foamie development than anything else … We had a Lot of that in the beginning from self appointed “experts” … seldom mentioned anymore … Everybody Knows better now !!!

There’s nothing more damaging than Fake news as some people (who don’t know ) will believe most Anything !!!

By requiring testing of all aspects of Foamie trailer building , Pretty much all the guessing has been eliminated … No doubt it works now …

Gpw, it seems to me there are only a couple 'donts' when making a foamie. Dont make it over twice as tall as it is wide and then drive through a hurricane and dont build open boxes. Anything pmf should be a closed box, i know i havent taken photos of what happened to mine yet but its not too pretty. In hindsite for how terrible of an idea making an open box trailer out of pmf is it held up suprisingly well over 30k of some of the roughest roads in the country

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Dan , we enjoyed your build and vacation very much !!! Super Job !!! Thanks !!!

I’m sure your second Foamie trailer will be all sorted … Ready for your next vacation …

Just another reminder , this thread’s summary is here … viewtopic.php?f=55&t=56186

Merry Christmas … and a Happy Whatever !!!

Merry Christmas!