Guppy Trailer, Part 6: towards completion

130715_2017_HatchLid

When we returned from our 1K test, I wanted to finish out the trailer as quickly as possible so that I could do some research and writing (That has not happened yet). I immediately set to building the galley-hatch. I continue to learn how to apply greater pressure for field-bending sheets of plywood. Here I am bending a 4′ wide sheet of 1/4″ birch veneer as the back face of the hatch.

130717_1936_HatchInsulation

Next, I inserted insulation, just as in the roof and sidewalls.

130715_2019_HatchHingeJoin

Here is a detail-shot of the hatch where it meets the roof and sidewall. In my effort at waterproofing, I have glued a slit-open bicycle inntertube to the piano-hinge. The end-detail is messy and inelegant; hopefully it will work.

130715_2019_HaunchClosure

To lock the lid closed, our neighbor Keith gave me a garage-door type closer, with horizontal sliding bars. Here I am fashioning the jamb-socket for the closer.

130717_1144_HatchFitting_TailFinish

Here you begin to see the distinctive Guppy shape of this design.

130715_2018_WindowTrim

I also began fitting trim for the door and the windows.? 130720_1102_LRearView

The last exterior addition was the rear “haunches,” situated over each wheel well. These side-lockers open out to provide work-surfaces for me and the children.

130720_1101_HaunchFirstLook

Here you can see the left haunch taking shape. Also note how the curve of the galley-hatch lid matches the curve of the roof; both are 10′-radius arcs, and the inflection-point is right at the hatch-hinge (see the design drawings in earlier posts). I like to say, sarcastically. ‘Oh yeah! I meant to do that!’ But sometimes, design-features are just fortuitous.

Also note that when properly varnished, the birch ply is utterly gorgeous. See how the sun refracts against the wood grain?130725_LRearWithHaunch_4797Here, the left haunch is nearing completion. Sadly, I got a bad piece of birch ply from Ashby Lumber. Delamination was so extensive that I stripped off the entire birch veneer and exposed the knotty-pine interlayer. It does not look pretty.

130727_LRearComplete_4814

With both haunches installed, the Guppy has taken on its final shape.

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