Step 11: A teardrop camper?

When fitting the panels for the front overhang I stumbled on these great shapes.  Next time I build one of these (haha) I might consider this, it's really very pretty.

I dry fit the door panels I had glued up - for me this was the first time it really felt like it might actually work!

Step 10: Some cabinetry and carpentry!

A lot of cleanup happened at this point, and lots of mockup stuff, but I settled on how the cabinets and benchs were going to end up.
The areas behind and on top of the benches are sealed so they can be used as storage/shelves.
The bench surfaces were made of out two 'spare' staircase risers I had floating around, as they are nice and thick and already rounded on one edge.

The electrical panels in the right-hand cabinet are overkill but since I had em from the boat project I decided to use em.

Lastly I laid out the floorboards.

Step 9: Wood Panelling?

This was a late-in-the-game design change because I spotted these engineered plywood 1/4" panels and really liked working with them.  They bend really well, and look great and add some much needed structure to wall areas that may be leaned on. 

These pics show 2' wide panels installed over the stringers on sensitive areas.  This plywood is only $15 for each 4x8 sheet (I used most of 3) so didn't break the budget (much).

You can also see in these pics I've fleshed out the cabinets at the entrance as well as added surfaces ot the benches.  These were all temporary mock ups, but made it much easier to work in there.

Step 8: Stringers

The stringers are the curved bits of wood that encircle the caravan.  They are made of 1.5" x 1/4" poplar, each 8' long, meeting in the middle at the top.

Originally I made these by ripping 2x4s into many 1/4" strips but these were too often flawed and knotted, and also didn't cope too well with the bending.  If I heated and soaked them they may have worked, but in the end I gave up and tossed 'em, switching to poplar 1x2s ripped in half.  These work much better and are much stronger.  That mistake cost me almost $100

Step 7: runners

The runners were 2x2s that are 12' long.  These were a challenge to find, coming from very straight and unknotty 12' 2x4s.

A notch was cut into each face to allow the runner to pass through.  These are then glued and screwed into place.

Step 6: benches at last!

The benches took a while because I wanted to make them from scraps of the 2x4s was splitting for the runners.  This went poorly as most 2x4s had, at some point on their length, knots up to 2" in diameter, effectively compromising the strength of the runner.  I started keeping an eye out for 'perfect' straight grained 2x4s from then on.

The benches tie the bed-frame and the front face together.  Everything got very stiff after this, and this is before the runners and stringers are installed!  It's not exactly weight bearing yet though.

Step 5: internal framework

The front and back faces can stand on their own, but they are designed to be tied into the internal framework, to stiffen everything up.

So the next step was to build the bed frame and the bench frames, these are all connected and link the front and back faces stiffly together.