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With
the electric and the insulation installed, the
outside skin of the camper can be installed. I
used 4'x8' sheets of marine-grade plywood. For
the outside skin I used 1/4", which actually
measures just over 5mm in thickness. In
retrospect I could have saved some weight and
money by using 1/8" plywood, like I used for
the inside.
I glued the sheets to the framing, used a
staple gun to hold them in place and then
screwed them to the framing with sheet rock
screws. Then I filled in any gaps and covered
the screws with Plastic Wood.
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After
sanding the whole camper the next step is to
paint it. After a lot of research and
reading many, many different opinions, I
decided to use Rust-Oleum Topside
boat paint. Wooden boats need to
be waterproof, so it should work for a
camping trailer too. I applied three coats
on the entire box, including the underside.
It took a while, as paint doesn't dry well
in a garage in winter, even though I used
space heaters to bring the temperature up
above the minimum recommended. |
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Then
I painted the inside with regular acrylic wall
paint, after a coat of primer. I liked the
wood look of the plywood, but white walls make
it look bigger and brighter.
I installed vinyl flooring and caulked it
around the walls to prevent water from wet
shoes or a spilled drink to get to the wood. |
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On
the outside I used one-sided butyl tape to
further seal every corner and seam. It's
easier to work with the tape when it's cold,
as it is a little less sticky then.
For installing the windows and door I also used butyl tape, but without
the foil, so that it would stick both to the
window and the camper and seal tightly. If
installed in cold temperature it may squish
out a little once it gets warm. |
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I
built a tongue-box, which has a lockable access door
from the outside and a door from the inside of
the camper. I use this for storage of our camping
chairs, small table and some
other stuff, like tools.
The box has a mount on the front for a spare
wheel. |
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Now
it's time to build and install the shelving
for the galley and the interior of the camping
trailer.
For the galley shelving I measured storage
boxes, our camping stove and water canister to
determine the spacing.
The interior shelving I designed around our
dog, who has her dog bed on the left side in
the front, at the foot of our bed. On the
right side in the front we can hang jackets
and other small items. The shelving is mostly
for games and immediate need items like meds
and head lamps. The shelving is small, but
holds a lot more than it looks like.
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I
had decided to go with a 12V Maxx Fan because of
its features. The top lifts (manually) which
reduces the height when not in operation. The
most important feature is that this fan can be
used when it's raining, which most fans can
not. The fan is near noiseless on low setting.
It gets a bit loud on the highest setting, but
then it moves a lot more air than you would
ever need in such a small space.
I used the foil backed butyl tape
on the corners of the cutout and then used
regular butyl
tape around the mounting bracket of the
fan.
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