Post by Sammy on Apr 1, 2005 10:55:05 GMT
I don't know how you guys are furnishing your vehicles, but here's how I did mine. First, I stripped out everything. I quickly discarded the idea of using any premade furniture, since if you move the average MFI unit from one room to another it falls apart, never mind driving across continents!
So, I designed it all first in Autocad LT, in 3d. This allowed me to lay it out over and over til I was happy with what I had. Over the thirty foot length of the bus I had:
Drivers seat, and opposite, by the door, two passenger seats.
Two sofas, opposite one another, with storage beneath. Also made boards up that lived under the mattress of the main bed which converted the sofas into a second double bed.
Then then kitchen - a full size sink and small worksurface one side (those little camping sinks just won't do), with again cupboards underneath. Opposite was a cupboard, on top of which was a gas stove with oven and grill, and a solid fuel stove (don't do this. Put the stove on the floor. Maybe more on this in another thread). Then a shower cubicle, and opposite that, a really big double door cupboard. Then a high level childs bed with a play area beneath, and storage for toys, with opposite that a big double wardrobe, and a cupboard for clothing. Next to that, an old plan chest, very well made out of 3/4 inch ply, for clothing, and then at the back, a double bed. This was high up, and there was a TON of storage under it. Also, the mattress was not as long as the bus was wide, so at the end of the bed we put a compartment for dirty washing
More important, though, is the construction. What I did was to make up steel frames from something like 15mm steel box, welded, and then to clad that. Doors were all made of blockboard, for cheapness and stiffness, and sides were ply. All of these were secured either with rivets or self tapping screws. The result was a suite of furniture that could, and did, survive whatever Asia could throw at it.
So, I designed it all first in Autocad LT, in 3d. This allowed me to lay it out over and over til I was happy with what I had. Over the thirty foot length of the bus I had:
Drivers seat, and opposite, by the door, two passenger seats.
Two sofas, opposite one another, with storage beneath. Also made boards up that lived under the mattress of the main bed which converted the sofas into a second double bed.
Then then kitchen - a full size sink and small worksurface one side (those little camping sinks just won't do), with again cupboards underneath. Opposite was a cupboard, on top of which was a gas stove with oven and grill, and a solid fuel stove (don't do this. Put the stove on the floor. Maybe more on this in another thread). Then a shower cubicle, and opposite that, a really big double door cupboard. Then a high level childs bed with a play area beneath, and storage for toys, with opposite that a big double wardrobe, and a cupboard for clothing. Next to that, an old plan chest, very well made out of 3/4 inch ply, for clothing, and then at the back, a double bed. This was high up, and there was a TON of storage under it. Also, the mattress was not as long as the bus was wide, so at the end of the bed we put a compartment for dirty washing
More important, though, is the construction. What I did was to make up steel frames from something like 15mm steel box, welded, and then to clad that. Doors were all made of blockboard, for cheapness and stiffness, and sides were ply. All of these were secured either with rivets or self tapping screws. The result was a suite of furniture that could, and did, survive whatever Asia could throw at it.
