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Dodge Van - Camper Trailer - Minor Progress 3-8-15


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The starting point. See the messed up van body? It was left over from building the little purple pickup. I used the front and the rear of it to create the cab so all that was left was this center section. It did duty as a paint stand for a while. I held it up one night, squinted a little and started cutting plastic.

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Very rough start here but got it up on wheels. The mags are only temporary. The trailer tongue was made from a car chassis from the parts box.

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Sheet plastic was used to create the wall at either end and the little dog house roof extension.

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Rear view includes the little back porch made from plastic diamond plate and the rail is actually Evergreen scale ladder. I want to put a small motorcycle back here. Just a place to stack stuff.

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The front gets a scratch built window a/c unit. It was made from the side of a Model A hood and an auto radiator from my parts box. There will also be a big tool box, an electric cord reel and some other details up front.

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Interior is nearly done. Cabinets were made from basswood, Knobs are brass ship nails. Bed is two layers of basswood wrapped in a white glue soaked tissue. Pillow is a small piece of folded over paper towel covered with tissue. Blankets are just painted paper towel. Floor was from Jim's Printable Mini website as is the Welcome mat. The sink was half a gas tank or something, from the parts box. We're using the inside of it.

This is where the project sits right now. There's a ton more detailing to go and then paint and weathering. It will be quite a hobbled together trailer. And the project was nothing more than a whim to use that old van body for some good!

Edited by Tom Geiger
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I didn't work on the camper yesterday, I watched election returns instead. So today I scratched out an air conditioner face for inside the camper. It's just taped to a temporary wall right now to see how it fits into the scene. Remember, you'll be viewing this through the windows.

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And here it is close up. Main part is a car grill half from my parts box. I believe the logo says "DODGE" but I colored it red to represent some obscure brand of ancient a/c. The rest of it is just some Evergreen strip and rod, some scrap mesh, two different sizes of pin heads and a slice of Evergreen rod for the big dial which I imagine is the temperature dial. I hit it with The Detailer wash to give it depth and detail. Some of the chrome was missing off the grill so I left it that way to look like the plastic chrome is coming off the cover.

The funny thing is that I originally was going to black out the windows on this unit and not do an interior. Then I figured I might as well go all out and now the interior has been my favorite part of the project!

Back to the workbench, I hear "Dancing With The Stars" on in the den, which is my license to hide in the hobby room! My next thing to solve is that this a/c unit is just blowing warm air!

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I took a few days off from the project to live life. Actually I raked a ton of leaves! I find that I can go like gangbusters a while on a project, then a need some time away. So today was the day I got back...

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I was kinda stuck on what to do with the front of the trailer. It was a blank wall except for the air conditioner and I sat down to do the storage box a few times, shook my head and walked away. Today was the day I got over that hurdle. One scratch built storage box. (Note that everything is just pieced there with masking tape for photos)

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I added some rigid plates to the roof to support the rack. I spent about an hour searching for the envelope I had all the tiny bolts in.. only to find that I replaced the envelope with a box some time ago and, as Steve Martin would say, "I FORGOT!" The brackets are supposed to be random as if our fictional traveler made them from scrap metal.

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I'm still in love with my air conditioner! I added a vent which I imagine would be an exhaust for water heater etc in the closet. It was made from a early Ford hood side from my parts box. Hey, I only had one of them. And I know the lid will only open so far before he hits the a/c unit. I will be adding two gas cans to the lower right and a electric wire reel to the lower left. That should finish it off.

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The box is nothing more than a shape made from Evergreen sheet. The hinge across the top is a piece of metal rod, and I made the clasp for a lock which I'll add.

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This was a day of little final details before primer. So I sanded off the lower chrome strips on both sides and decided a missing one would work into my plan on the right side. Still have to get rid of those mags!

So I got in maybe two hours and got a lot done today. It really clears my mind, so I feel good!

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That is coming along nicely and some great details and scratchbuilding!

Have you considered a propane tank for the stove? That is about the only thing I see missing and you did mention gas tanks in an earlier post, maybe that is what you were referring to?

Should be a great conversation piece when done!

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Have you considered a propane tank for the stove? That is about the only thing I see missing and you did mention gas tanks in an earlier post, maybe that is what you were referring to?

Thanks for commenting Mike. There won't be a propane tank because there is no stove or refrig to run. It's just a sleeping camper. The only cooking will be a microwave on the counter. There will be an electrical reel on the front to plug it in. There will be two gas cans on the front just for gasoline or kerosene.

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Any updates?

I've been crazy busy the past few weeks. I've been out of work and my job search has progressed. I went on two interviews last week so I'm hoping to get some positive news soon. And of course that comes before hobbies!

I am going to get some quality time at the bench tomorrow. Maybe I'll have something to post.

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I asked for suggestions on colors last evening and Dan and Jacky came to my aid on the Spotlight board. Using their ideas, here we are in beige and green. Everything is just mocked up, you can even see the blue tape in some of the shots. And I haven't started weathering and final detailing, but I now am in the home stretch.

I am especially stoked about the 'dog house'. These projects take a life of their own. TJ is my dog and the roof shingles are sand paper cut into individual shingles and glued on just like you'd do a 1:1 house roof. TJ is my dog.

I did glue everything in the interior today, no pictures because it looks just like the mockup only you can dump it upside down and nothing falls. I still am having fun creating a lot of little details. A far cry from my original scope of a curbside with blacked out windows.

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I decided to leave the roof rack white. It will get a bit of rust. Originally I was going to do the area below the windows in green, but went for the wider lower section instead. It's not exactly straight around the wheel well, it's supposed to be brush paint.

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Front view shows the completed air conditioner taped in place. The tool box was also scratchbuilt as was the gas can holder. I modified the cans a bit to make the two of them different.

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Rear view includes the little back porch. I will leave the diamond plate white, but it will get dirtied up.

I painted the bike today and just placed it there for the photo. It is larger than I imagined. It's the one that came in the old Dodge van kit. Is it to scale?

So that's today's progress. It's coming along and once I added color it came alive for me. There is still a lot of work to do, but it's fun again!

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