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Building the Greenleaf Travel Trailer


WBrownIV

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7 hours ago, Mineejv said:

Love those tanks....

Thanks Joanne!

    It's amazing what is now available through 3D printing. The new resin style printers can print even finer detail than the filament ones. Truly the Star Trek "Replicators" have become a reality!

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2 hours ago, WBrownIV said:

Thanks Joanne!

    It's amazing what is now available through 3D printing. The new resin style printers can print even finer detail than the filament ones. Truly the Star Trek "Replicators" have become a reality!

But the food isn't edible and I shudder to think what the clothes would feel like...

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2 hours ago, havanaholly said:

But the food isn't edible and I shudder to think what the clothes would feel like...

Star Trek was fiction, dear. Realism didn't matter; imagination drove the narrative. Just like with our doll houses. :) 

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5 hours ago, KathieB said:

Star Trek was fiction, dear. Realism didn't matter; imagination drove the narrative. Just like with our doll houses. :) 

Oh, I'm well aware of that; just playing.

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12 hours ago, havanaholly said:

But the food isn't edible and I shudder to think what the clothes would feel like...

Well......there is that! I'm sure that someday it will be a reality. Until then I will have to make do with my microwave! Edible food comes out ready to eat (just pretend you didn't put it in there to begin with!) :)

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There are a few areas of the trailer kit that could be improved. One of those was the front tongue. Not exactly liking it out of the box I decided to make a new one. Well the tongue is attached to the frame......let's build a frame! Using the same photos that gave me the tank platform I made one out of square styrene tubing.large.5ce498518a739_TrailerFrame.jpg.94f

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Unfortunately when I test fitted it under the body, it seems either my frame or the body (or both) were a bit out of square. I could get one end lined up but the other looked way out. It dawned on me that the only visible parts of the frame are the front tongue and rear bumper area. Nobody is going to see what's in between. So, after a little work with a razor saw and ta-da! I now have a properly aligning frame(s) :)

large.5ce4a145183ea_Trailerframefront.jplarge.5ce4aa0e0d19f_trailerrearbumper.jp

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13 hours ago, havanaholly said:

Sitting here wondering when you're going to replace the kit trailer with one of your more exacting design...

Holly you have no idea the struggle I've had with my OCD on this project:) One part of me wants to build this trailer as exact to an original as possible. Another part argues that if the feature (like the frame) will have limited visibility at the end of the project do you really need it? A third part tries to balance the two. When I discovered the issues with the frame being out of square, I actually thought about making another one! I did talk myself out of that however and have gotten a bit more control of myself. I am coming up on year one of this project. I still feel I have a long way to go.

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Fortunately over the years I have learned that my OCD isn't going to show a lot in 1:12 and I don't have to wonder how I'm going to subdivide a tiny drawer and line it in a scale fabric to hold mini flatware; heck, the drawer doesn't really have to "work" (although most of the drawers do, even in the 1:24 pieces I built).

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11 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

Fortunately over the years I have learned that my OCD isn't going to show a lot in 1:12 and I don't have to wonder how I'm going to subdivide a tiny drawer and line it in a scale fabric to hold mini flatware; heck, the drawer doesn't really have to "work" (although most of the drawers do, even in the 1:24 pieces I built).

Holly I am finally starting to understand that. Being both OCD and ADHD really slows down getting anything done. If I build something following an explicit set of instructions I had no problems. With building the trailer the kit is so much more basic with decisions having to be made on almost every aspect of the build I basically froze up! I could not make a decision and if I did I was worried it was the wrong one. This was affecting other areas in my life beyond the Miniature world. 

   I'm not ashamed to admit I had to seek professional help.  Seeing my counselor along with drug therapy I am learning to make decisions and not obsess over the "little things":)

I'm seeing positive change not only on this project but in other areas as well. Being creative has become FUN! I really think that finding this hobby has given me benefits I would never have imagined!     

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OK, I have to share a story.  Back when I worked at a state mental hospital part of my promotion to a supervisory position had me taking a class with an  area clinical psychologist; there were about two dozen of us in the class.  About halfway through he invited any of us who wanted to avail ourselves of his services to feel free to do so (I think almost all of us did, I know I did!), and that he never hired anyone to go into practice with him who had not already received some kind of psychological assistance.  His theory was that you cannot really understand a client's situation if you haven't been there yourself.  The following year I was in Nursing School, and the standing joke amongst all of our professors was that you had to be OCD to become a nurse.  That was also about the time I got started building dollhouses...

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7 hours ago, havanaholly said:

 

 

  

6 hours ago, havanaholly said:

OK, I have to share a story.  Back when I worked at a state mental hospital part of my promotion to a supervisory position had me taking a class with an  area clinical psychologist; there were about two dozen of us in the class.  About halfway through he invited any of us who wanted to avail ourselves of his services to feel free to do so (I think almost all of us did, I know I did!), and that he never hired anyone to go into practice with him who had not already received some kind of psychological assistance.  His theory was that you cannot really understand a client's situation if you haven't been there yourself.  The following year I was in Nursing School, and the standing joke amongst all of our professors was that you had to be OCD to become a nurse.  That was also about the time I got started building dollhouses...

What an insightful Doctor! I can see how beneficial that would be to a patient! There are professions out there where having OCD could be useful such as nursing. I'm now in a position at work where having the "gift" can be used more effectively! (I work for Metro, St. Louis's public transportation system rebuilding bus transmissions) :)

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When I started looking at how I was going to light the trailer, I began in the rear with the taillights. I searched the net and hobby shop but nothing really jumped out at me. One day at work I happened to walk by a monitoring panel for a piece of equipment and noticed the red status lights. Upon further inspection I noticed they were about the right size and even had a chrome trim ring! A quick check of Amazon led me neon status indicator lights. They were cheap so I took a chance. 

   When they arrived I opened them up and gutted housings. I shortened the tubular body and made a new "back wall" for the tube. I then glued a SMD LED to the back "wall" and glued the wall to the lens. large.taillight.jpg.fedc7c7a64aa5e2385b7large.5ce71fa3d8716_taillightside.jpg.e3

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If you are not familiar with SMD LED's they are also called "chip" led's. They are LED's that are soldered onto the surface of a circuit board. What's nice is they are very small and produce a lot of light. This is a picture of one.large.5ce7225677ff1_smdchipled.jpg.e856b

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11 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

(scratching head) Can you get the lights in amber for the front upper running lights?

Yes you can! I have been working on what to do for the clearance/running lights. I have seen different combos being used. I've seen three across center, one at either corner and one on each side for a total of 7. Three middle and one each end and three middle and one each side high up. I've been trying to figure out which way to go. Holly do you happen to remember how your camper was set up? I think I'm not going to worry about reflectors and just try to model actual lights.

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So one thing I decided I wanted early on was a custom license plate. I searched online and came across someone selling custom plates on Etsy! Wow it that a cool site! I noticed that the plates were not available at this time. Bummer because they looked so good! So off I went. Finding nothing else that compared I took a chance and contacted the seller asking it they would be available again. What I didn't realize at the time was I had happened upon the Etsy store of Brae Oktober (Otterine here on the forum). She explained that due to her printer acting up she wasn't making them at the time. I explained what I was trying to do and she offered to design one and have it printed locally! Awesome:cucumber:

   Since I'm planning "Easter Eggs" into this project specific to my father and his life, I wanted a Texas House Trailer plate (born in Texas), the year 1966 (Parents wedding year) and DEC 642 (his birthday). I had looked on a website dedicated to Texas plate history and saw an example of what I wanted and sent it to Brae. Luckily for me she caught an error I made (wrong color for year) and corrected it. 

   A few days later she sent me a proof to verify everything. WOW she had totally nailed the look I was wanting! I ok'd it and she did her magic. To see the end result was truly amazing! The process she goes through to make it look as real as possible just blew me away! She not only prints the image but she then puts a type of foil on the backside and then embosses the letters! To hold it in your hand you would swear it's a real plate! It arrived in a really nice envelope safe and sound. 

   I wanted something on the exterior that would elicit reactions from not only dad but those who know him. This plate is perfect and I can not thank Brae enough! large.5ce7393bdd9c0_TrailerPlate.jpg.4e1

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That license plate rocks, and so does Brae!

10 hours ago, WBrownIV said:

...Holly do you happen to remember how your camper was set up? I think I'm not going to worry about reflectors and just try to model actual lights.

Amber running lights are one on each side near the top of the front, each RV we've had (30' is the largest we ever owned).

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