Category: Camper Build

The Roof and More Color!

The exterior of the camper got a lot more fun once we were able to start the painting and epoxy stages. We are using polymer boat paint for the roof and lower third of the sides. The part where you can see the wood grain got three coats of epoxy. The roof only has the primer so far. It will get a sand-tone for its final coat. The sides will eventually get a layer of varnish to give it a little more of an “antique” look, and to provide UV protection.

But first we needed to trim the sides with the flush cut router.

  • Primer on the bottom.
  • Wet towels and a heat gun helped get the Okoume to bend to shape.
  • Meanwhile dad did some electrical work in the galley.
  • Roof is glued on, with ratchet straps to hold it in place.
  • The roof and fan opening were flush routed.
  • The first coat of sea-foam green!
  • The epoxy on the wood really made the grain details pop.
  • The current state of affairs.

Side Skins On!

  • The sides of the camper have looked like this for a month.
  • Getting the styrofoam on the curved roof was challenging.
  • Then we added a layer of bubble wrap insulation.
  • The first side panel installed and clamped.
  • Dyeing the top-side panels.
  • And up they go!
  • This step took a lot of glue.
  • The center roof panel is dry-fit. We will show you how we got the curve in the next post.
  • This is what the trailer looked like last night at quitting time.

Interior Roof Liner Done!

  • The interior skin is installed. There’s a lot of bracing in the front because two end pieces butt on a tight curve. They really don’t like that.
  • Before I put on the skin, I had to take one last picture of the front, looking into the storage area. Look how many different elements all come together in this one place.
  • The front with the ribs installed. Those odd blocks of wood will be removed once the glue dries.
  • Dad custom made aluminum trim to cover where the three strips of roof liner join. The screws go into the ribs on the outside.
  • The aluminum trim looks great, and I think it adds to the structural integrity.

Multitasking Time!

This has been a week of keeping multiple plates spinning as we near the end of the build. Electrical, roof liner, and cabinetry are all coming together.

  • These wheel extensions move the tires a bit further away from the exterior wall of the trailer.
  • Here I’ve made neoprene gaskets for some of the wires that go through the walls to power the running lights.
  • Wiring routed under the bed platform and well guarded from getting knocked about by storage.
  • Galley light switch and usb ports.
  • I built a fantastic jig for holding the cabinet doors for sanding.
  • These ribs help form the roof, along with the map to tell me where they go.
  • Getting the first two strips of the roof liner glued down.
  • The beginning of the wiring that will power all the running lights and turn signals.

Rush Week

There was a hopeful plan where we wrapped up the major elements of the build in 11 days. Just a few days into this full-on build we realized it to be too ambitious. More than the physical challenges, it was the mental wear and tear that brought me down. Each step at this stage generally requires learning a new building technique, then applying it to some critical component of the build where there is no going back. It just about broke my brain.

So, we are taking a methodological approach, and hope to get the Betty Mobile road-ready by the first week in October.

  • We did a dry fit of the inner roof skin and bed platform.
  • Getting an idea of what the inside will be like once all the pieces are in place.
  • Something didn’t quite work with the CNC routing for the galley hatch ribs, so I had to make them from scratch.
  • The typical view of the shop table.
  • The weather has been great, so we took the Betty Mobile on her first trip out of the garage – about 20 feet!
  • Dry fitting the galley hatch. Turns out the struts we bought to lift and hold the hatch won’t work. I guess that’s what dry-fitting is for.

All the Pieces Fit

We took some big steps in the past five days! All the cabinets are built and installed, and the sides are now permanently attached. We are on a bit of a time crunch to get the outside road-ready (more on that in an upcoming blog post) so we are saving some of the interior finishing, cabinetry, and painting for later.

The next big steps are: getting the interior roof liner put into place, wiring, and then the exterior skins and paint! We are up for some big challenges figuring out how to bend the roof skins to the teardrop shape. Going to be a big learning curve.

The photos below are grouped by camper component, so some of the pictures are out of sequence from the actual build order, but it is easier to get the idea of what has happened so far.

  • Routing out where the countertop and cabinets will fit.
  • Glued in place.
  • Marking where the galley fits in the camper.
  • Gluing the base.
  • Sliding it in.
  • Perfect fit!
  • Dad working out the locking slide drawers.
  • This took a lot of figuring.
  • Water and cooler lock in under the counter top.
  • Drawers also lock when out.
  • Building the cabinets that make the headboard, and help form the forward curve of the camper.
  • Once the shelves were done, we built a face board. There were lots of holes to drill.
  • So many holes.
  • Then making the cut outs.
  • So much sanding.
  • Attaching the face board with glue and…
  • pocket screws!
  • Oh yes, we love the pocket screws.
  • The headboard cabinet dry-fit in the camper.
  • And from the pretty side. Notice all the clamps.
  • There is also a cabinet at our feet.
  • More holes and cutouts.
  • More pocket screws.
  • Eventually, we will build sliding panels for this cabinet, and some of the storage in the headboard cabinet.
  • Gluing where the side walls meet the camper floor.
  • Wood glue for the forward cabinet.
  • We use plastic playing cards to spread the glue.
  • Some clamps.
  • All the clamps.
  • Walls and cabinets locked in!

Postcards from the Camper Build

  • Building the floor. A plywood and styrofoam sandwich.
  • Coating the underside of the floor where it will be exposed to the elements.
  • Floor flipped and in place. There were some very specific measurements here. The wall edge will sit on this little plywood ledge.
  • Once the floor was in place we could dry-fit the walls. They won’t be permanent until we build the cabinets.
  • Inside view.
  • Here’s a side view of how all the wall and floor layers fit together.

The Build Is Going To Move a Bit Faster Now…

Some exciting things happened last week, on the same day! We got our trailer, and I got covid*!

*Well, I didn’t get tested. What I got was a five-day illness with flu-like symptoms consistent with the symptoms of the covid pandemic.

So, as agonizing as the wait has been for getting the metal part of the camper manufactured so that the rest can be built on it, I still had to wait until this week to be able-bodied enough to do anything about it. 

We took the trailer to a friend’s shop to get it painted, welded, and tired. I don’t think we could have knocked out the trailer to-do’s without him. So, please raise a glass to Ed Hammond at your next social gathering.

  • Putting the trailer on a trailer at Atlantic Metal Products. One nice surprise is that they primed it. That saved a lot of labor.
  • That’s Ed Hammond welding the torsion bar to the axle-less suspension.
  • Trailer in repose.
  • Ready to put some wood on that thing!

There were a few goofy things that happened during the trailer build. I’ll have another chapter of “Lessons Learned” regarding those pretty soon, but for now, I need to get out there and start building that camper!