Painting Sheets onto our AstroVan | PMF Camper | Foamie 

Haha thanks. I imagine the neighbors were pretty confused back then.

Hello Jeffrey, it's our pleasure!

Sounds like a great tip for foamie builders in the future! I want to use epoxy resin and fiberglass matting next time and see how that method goes. If I do try PMF again, I'll definitely consider your recommendation!

Thank you for the tip, Bobby! Another friend had recommended a bow after assembly. It would have been nice to have but was unfortunately too late in the build process. With our roof finally sealed up completely, the water flows towards whichever end is lower (usually the rear). We haven't had an issue with standing water yet over the past year of living in it.

​@@AstroLanderRV If you're living in your van it's probably going to be parked on the street. They usually have an angel to get water off the street. This angle will be with your van too. Just don't park in level ground when rain is predicted.

@@GEAUXFRUGAL We appreciate the advice and have done something similar most of the time while it rains. If we're lucky, we've found spots to park with an upwards slant so the bed is still relatively even laterally. Designing a convex roof would have been really nice for similar reasons. Oh well! Now I know for next time haha.

It's a lot of fun seeing it all come together! Thank you, Pete!

It really does add up in price and has its limitations!

The upside to it is that there is no chemical reaction heat to melt the xps foamboard though.

@@joshnabours9102 You could use epoxy but that raises the cost. Then you still need to paint the fiberglass because sunlight will break it down. I am doing a small pmf camper right now. I hate fiberglass.

I was doing the math for this and thinking... yeah it's basically the same cost as fiberglass... but MUCH easier to work with. I've done enough fiberglass and marine epoxy to know that I hate it... but I love the results. I think it would be worth it for a build like this. However, one thing to account for is the fact that this foam build is going to flex a lot. You'd need to reinforce the joints with extra fiberglass, but I'm not sure what else would be necessary to prevent cracking.

epoxy and fiberglass costs the same as pva glue and canvas drop cloths? either you have some crazy cheap epoxy and fiberglass supplier or you are getting ripped off on glue and canvas

It sure does!

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-th7jtb6NR5w.html

Hey Joe, I appreciate your encouraging words! We used rolls of cotton fabric from a craft store. It was not rugged at all, unfortunately. The fabric was punctured by tree branches and hail. Using fiberglass fabric and epoxy resin would have yielded a much stronger shell. The overall box held up incredibly well, anyway.

I think the method I used was from the bottom up. Started with the underside, then coated the walls, and finally coated the roof, so the water flows over the top of the seems and not into them.

@@AstroLanderRV Yes Sir i was watching and replied to my mistake, when the blanket went to the bottom

Hello Josh! The original idea was to re-use the original RV structure, but it was too rusty and moldy to salvage. I decided to cut the old RV off the van and build from scratch because I knew I could fully seal it as well as use the materials I was wanting to use. A uhaul truck would be a decent alternative, for sure. It would have been a lot simpler. I met a person who converted a uhaul truck with a similar outcome to ours.

@@AstroLanderRV I kinda wondered if that was the case. On a totally different topic though, I want you to know that I love watching the process of you building it out! Thank you for your videos! Oh also, If you are not already a too far into the cabinet build out process there is a channel named NOMAD [except the O has a slash in it] that goes through his process for building out custom foam cabinets in detail over multiple videos. Even if you end up deciding to go with standard cabinets for any number of personal reasons it is still an interesting and useful idea in my opinion.

@@joshnabours9102 I'm happy to know you enjoy our videos! I learned yesterday from someone who said Uhaul uses custom engine parts as a result of people trying to swap parts off the vehicles. I don't know of the accuracy of the information, but it seems relevant if a person were considering a Uhaul build. I am familiar with the NOMAD channel, actually! Those foam cabinets are super smart and perfect for weight savings.

@@AstroLanderRV I don't doubt people try to swap parts off vehicles, but I am not sure they can buy any vans with custom parts in them. Unless Chevy or ford sells a police version of their cutaway vans to non governmental entities. It was my understanding that police cruisers use mostly or fully the same parts as a stock vehicle, but have different part numbers for all of them specific to the police version. It was my understanding that uhaul and rv manufacturers just buy fleets of the standard cutaway vans and fabricate the box on the back themselves. I do believe dealers will happily install add ons for any business purcasing a new fleet of vehicles though. Uhaul may modify some of the parts themselves too. I do know they would add a vacuum gauge to the dash for monitoring fuel economy on the older moving vans with v8 engines.

It's great to hear from you! and thank you! I believe I had used around 3 gallons of Titebond II diluted with water. Having not diluted the glue would have probably yielded a better result.

@@AstroLanderRV I am working on a DIY camper trailer 16 x 7 feet. Considering foam walls like you. Trying to decide on whether to use PMF or other options for exterior. Based on your experience with PMF, any suggestions? Thank you so much.

@knightdetroja very nice on building your camp trailer! I found the PMF was much too soft for my liking. Using fiberglass and epoxy resin would have been a good improvement over PMF for strength. A concern I would have with fiberglass is the different expansion rate between foam and the epoxy resin fiberglass. The foam expands and contracts quite a bit, so any exterior coating that is ridged could be of concern (such as aluminum, plastic, etc.).

We used poor-man's fiberglass with Titebond II and cotton fabric. It was not the best wrap. I would recommend using real fiberglass!

@@AstroLanderRV what do you think about combination of Titebond ii and fiberglass fabric? It is mutch easy to work with and faster.

@@babavaga Titebond II and fiberglass fabric is a very interesting idea! Have you used such a combination before? I'm curious as to how it would turn out. I imagine the fiberglass fabric would be much more compliant than shrunken cotton fabric, which likes to "loosen" as it becomes saturated (causing wrinkles).

Hey there Bobby, we don't have any footage of it on the road, but will record some soon. It holds up well on the road but wind is an issue. We usually travel between 60-65 mph. 70mph is doable traveling downhill. If it is especially windy, we drive slower to avoid the turbulence.

@@AstroLanderRV I know you guys are on a budget, but there are systems that stabilize loads like that, you might be able to make your own if you look into it

Hey there, we used cotton fabric rolls applied with Titebond II as the base and exterior paint for outermost layers. Later on, we discovered we needed to add a different roof coating, so we added a layer of FlexSeal up there. Using epoxy resin would have been a really nice option, but I was in a rush putting this thing together!

Amazing how you can stand on it, without any framing and just the styrofoam walls for support. What type of styrofoam did you use?

@@marmanmarman5681 it really is incredible! We used laminated layers of 2 inch XPS foam. The foam itself is not too strong, but the method we used to laminate the panels together provided us the strength. We used a little under 50 two-inch thick XPS foam panels in our build. Thanks for your interest!

@@AstroLanderRV thank you for sharing this with us. I am really curious about how you laminated to give it that type of strength. Seems almost beyond physics that you can actually stand on the roof, without any type of framing. Great build, you are a genius.

We used cotton sheet fabric on the roll, which ended up being a little too thin, I think. The roof initially leaked (the outdoor paint wasn't actually enough to waterproof the roof). We coated the roof in a thick coat of FlexSeal and it holds up well against the sun and rain. We've spent a lot of time in the desert with it as well as on the coast. For paint and glue, we used Titebond II and outdoor house paint. I would recommend using actual fiberglass instead of the PMF route after having experienced it all haha.

It's held its shape quite well over the past year so far. We do park at a slope during rain, though. Making the rooftop convex or domed would have been a great solution. Notes for the next version, I suppose 😅

Hey there, I think we used around 3 gallons of paint and glue, total.

We used cotton sheet fabric on a massive roll from the fabric store. It stretched a lot once wet, which caused some difficulty. Saturating the sheet in the glue and water mixture would have helped a lot, I think. I would probably go the fiberglass and epoxy resin route in the future, though.

I imagine bed liner would have added some protection to the foam. The intention with PMF (sheets/glue/paint) is to laminate/wrap and hold everything tight, which is something the bed liner wouldn't do.

Yeah getting the whole thing rhino lined instead of poor mans fiberglass inside and out would have made that thing last forever

Hey there, it has held up going 80mph down the freeway. It's also survived a lot of storms, though hail is quite noisy!

@@AstroLanderRV when u were walking on the top. Were there frame supports underneath?

@shawnfaulkner7889 The roof supports walking around really well. The laminated and staggered layers provide the strength, so no "framing" was needed. I was standing on the roof alone.

@@AstroLanderRV 😳 dang I thought u would have fell through 🤣...oh well maybe next time 😅 awesome! I want to do something like this if I ever get the opportunity?🙏 as me Irish friend would say. Tanks.😌