LOL that's a first. I'm not sure what you're up to, but both foam and fiberglass are transparent to RF - it's common in Cozy MKIV and other aircraft to "bury" antennae under the "skin" for streamlining purposes. I would think that applies to radar as well but a pile of foam is going nowhere without an engine, and that's going to be like a spotlight. I'd be more concerned about metal components in the long run.

@chadrobinson3504 Just curious. Wondering how the Ukrainians do their drones to defeat air defenses.

@@carlericvonkleistiii2188 It's a fair question. I don't know for sure, but drone hardware is such a commodity these days that I imagine it's easier for them to buy and customize off the shelf items. Fiberglass composites would probably be good choices if you wanted to make one but again I think the secret sauce would be in how you hide the engine, payload, avionics, and other components. Those seem much harder to me. When it comes to things like RF and radar the most useful thing IMO is that transparency to RF means you can do streamlining very effectively. Most aircraft are covered with antennae and sensors because aluminum bodies require that. With fiberglass (NOT carbon fiber, though) you can put them "inside".

@@chadrobinson3504 I realize the signature of metals would be high, but thought some rubberized paint incorporating metal flakes (not powder) magnetically aligned during the rubber (or resin) curing process might absorb/misdirect the metal around the engine and control areas. Then use fiberglass pushrods for the control rods. Have y'all any experience with wire guided drones?

@@carlericvonkleistiii2188 I would say I have some book knowledge more than field experience. Those concepts have a lot of carry-over in other domains and I did some research here for a startup doing drone-based monitoring of construction sites, but I would never pass myself off as an expert.

It definitely will - I'll be sheathing the gable-end wall soon and that will help a lot. Once the building is "closed in" everything gets easier...

Sure! To avoid the bots I'll give you my throwaway email here, then we can switch to a better one once we connect. [email protected]

Yes, permits are required. The Costilla County Web site has a link called "Residential Development Procedures" that covers this: costillacounty.colorado.gov/departments/planning-zoning

@@chadrobinson3504 Thanks for the info, I will definitely check it out.

no reversing. when you reach the top, you just run them off the top end and reinstall them on the bottom.

@@stevenchase1 yeah, I know. I needed mine to reverse because I was supporting/lifting a beam with them, but needed to reposition it after some work. Needless to say was a real treat trying to figure that one out.

Great question. "Badly". With closed-cell foams like XPS (Owens-Corning pink) it has nothing to grab onto. Coarse sandpaper can be your friend here although it'll never be as strong as other forms. With open-cell foams it grips very well, BUT you get a lot of extra epoxy in the pores as a result, which adds a lot of weight. The usual answer here is to apply a layer of "micro" (epoxy mixed with microballoons) first, then do the layup over that.

@@seelafever I definitely am, and already have both the materials and hardware, but I've been lazy about installing it. It's one of those drudge tasks that has to get done but isn't super rewarding. I plan to take care of it this year though to add additional wind resistance to the foundation before winter.

@@chadrobinson3504 Sounds like a plan. Is there a way to private message? My wife and I have been looking at land in the area and wanted to talk a bit more but not necessarily on youtube comments. I guess I can put my email on here then delete it. If you are interested in emailing let me know. If not for privacy reason's I totally understand. Thanks!

@@danei9013 thanks for the kind words! I'll be back on site this Friday so expect another update this weekend!

We considered it and might, still. But bear in mind you have utility-supplied power. We're going to be on solar. Heat pumps are efficient enough to do that now but you need a much bigger solar install, and it would take a lot longer to hit an ROI. We'll most likely do that a few years from now.

Those are your fresh-water tank overflow drains. You have your tank filled too full. This is very common even if you are "nearly full" and parked not totally level. Note that tank level meters are notoriously inaccurate. While filling at a constant rate, ours will show empty for 5 mins, skip 1/3, show 2/3 for a minute and then show full for a long while until it really is. You can't assume that just because it's not showing full that it isn't, and vice versa.

@@derekschwab7129 I mean, you can fiberglass over sand if you don't disturb it too much. But the whole purpose of foam is a. to be shapeable, and b. to add crush resistance if there's a pressure point on the skin of the fiberglass. I don't think a soft foam like neoprene provides either of these. So you probably COULD but why would you want to?

It's an interesting question but in the end, lots of things on a job site can kill you if you handle them wrong. Don't forget your physics - a crane that can "lift" an 800lb wall from the ground would have to be quite large and well braced because you'd be talking about a 20-30ft lever. The proper answer to do the same task from that direction is called a "telehandler" and they're used quite often for this. But they also cost $450 per DAY to rent. Compared to $200 to buy a pair of wall-jacks outright, the wall jacks definitely have a lot going for them. Cheap lifting options like chain hosts or winches are out because they need to be attached to something, and that "something" doesn't exist yet - that's what building these walls is doing in the first place. But they're great for other tasks. Stay tuned and in an upcoming episode you'll see me raise the ridge beam using one!

If it was easy, how would repair shops make their money? :D

Point taken.

Thanks! I expect to make plenty more mistakes but the learning is half the reason I'm doing this in the first place - it's always been my dream to know how to do this, so this is my excuse. We're lucky to be building an area with minimal requirements. They're not zero - our septic was professionally installed and is permitted, for example, and we need inspections for electrical and plumbing. But it's definitely more relaxed than in other areas...

No, the airbags are at the front and side pillars.

We do! Despite its (many) flaws it still fit our family's needs and budget better than anything else. I have a number of repairs to do - the bathroom sink just fell out - but we'll post a follow up once I sort all that out.

The back nuts of the rear seat can easily be removed by adjusting the rear seat forward so u can hv enough space to remove the 16 nuts no hustle with that .

We have the same rule here, but this floor plan is somewhat rare (especially when we bought it). We had to drive 2,000 miles to pick it up so there was no way to go back once we had it. Actually, a lot more has gone wrong since that video - the rear bunk room sliding door fell off, the back bathroom sink bowl detached from its mount, etc. I agree that the quality of this particular product is very low but we're still glad we have it because the layout is a perfect fit for us. YMMV!

@@chadrobinson3504 Thank you for the feedback. So we have 2 left on our shortlist and they both have very nice layouts. We have 3 children, 5, 4 & 3 years old, so the bunks and play area space in their room is critical for us. We literally looked at every single brand/model/layout fifth wheels in the USA and although there were 9 options that could work, the top 2 that are left are: Forest River Salem Hemisphere/Wildwood Heritage 356QB and the Coachmen Chaparral 367BH We will be living in this permanently, so the double room and double full bathroom was critical.

Same.

I put a stove jack in it a few years ago and that worked great for cold weather but you need a big stove because it's a very large air space. For durability I'd say it should be good at least 5 years of typical use but can't confirm. I moved on last year when my needs changed.

Thank you! These are a lot of fun.

Yes! It worked "ok" with a small stove. I hung some fiberglass cloth behind the stove as a heat insulator to prevent the tent from melting. It helps if you have a stove with an angled chimney or a very long one. This Tipi is very tall and I was worried about sparks getting onto the top of it, even with a spark arrestor on the stove. An angled chimney would help a lot.

The resin type is a personal choice but they are not compatible so once you pick a system, stay with it. I prefer epoxy because there are many options available with different price points and features, and they are (mostly) all compatible with one another. (Also I have a lot left over from previous projects.) I would suggest blue styrofoam as is used for dock floats. It's closed-cell so it won't get waterlogged if there's a pinhole leak and is designed for buoyancy. It's often available cheap if you live near a lake and watch Craigslist or talk to your boat launch operators because it often gets thrown out/replaced as docks are maintained. It's also easy to cut with a hot wire.

@@chadrobinson3504 Thank you for the info, what foam do you recommend ,was thinking of XPS? then sheathing it with boat cloth and Epoxy, then painting with a flexible painted epoxy system that reflects the sun ,what do you think?

It's a fair point. We mainly used ours during cooler weather so heating was a bigger deal than cooling. Other than opening every vent I'm not sure what you can do, but shade is key. Even partial shade from a thin tree can make a big difference.

It worked out fairly well. My one regret is I should have gotten some black strapping to use as the new pull. You can get it from Amazon, local fabric stores, or salvage it from an old backpack or similar. I think it would have looked a bit nicer in the end. But it worked fine.

it takes a lot more heat than that to melt foam. So typically it's not a problem. You never want your epoxy "cooking off" (overheating) and once it's spread out it never builds up enough heat to be an issue. Latex paint would not protect from this anyway, and would drastically reduce the adhesion.

I still have the pack but haven't used it much lately because I've been focused on big game rather than turkey. It's held up well but I do have a new complaint, I've discovered that the soft felt lining you see in several spots on the pack picks up burrs and other "field debris" and really holds onto that stuff, it can be hard to clean. The inside compartment is about 12x20x5 depending on how you measure it - it's flexible. I don't know the dimensions on the Foxpro but the compartment is pretty big... Overall it's still a very flexible pack and I still like the removeable rear pouch that becomes a mini-pack on its own.

Thanks much!

yes only epoxy resin, not polyester it will melt them

I would probably be using that for at least a part of it, especially compound curves. You'll probably find that some type of rigid styrofoam is better for large structural pieces like the sides and roof. You can absolutely combine foam types, using contact adhesive, epoxy, or any other similar glue between different types. Just be careful to remember that most urethanes should not be cut with heat. With styrofoam it's common to use hot wires to cut a long templates to make shapes. But you would never want to do that with a urethane, because most release toxic gases when cut that way. Urethane's need to be sanded, cut with a knife, or other means to shape them.

I've been distracted this winter restoring an old Ford pickup. The camper is in storage right now, and it's a little tricky to work on because they don't always clear the snow very well. But I'll definitely get back to it as the weather warms up. Stay tuned!