Deconstruction

Today I deconstructed one of my earlier epoxy plaster tables that I thought was of substandard construction methods and I needed the frame to complete the truck structure I am currently working on. I was surprised to see that one layer of the plaster or Duracal was adhered successfully to a clear coat of the epoxy and with the exception of some bending it had good adhesive qualities and did not break when I took the panel out of the frame. I expected that I was going to have to break and chip away at the piece to get it out, but it came out smoothly. I'd estimate this piece to be no more than two years old and it has been kept in a combination of outdoors and under a walkway exposed to a medium amount of weathering.

The interesting concept here is that I must have poured the plaster in two sessions and the separation between the two layers was very smooth and the two layers of plaster, one may be Tufstone and one may be Duracal, did not connect. the layer of the Tufstone was anchored into the frame and is a lot thinner than I would like, however it seems to be staying in the frame. I am going to leave this in the frame and see how much abuse it can handle now that it is being put into an unstable truck bed that will be bouncing down the road.

I keep moving forward with this concept even though there isn't an obvious immediate benefit besides providing me with a covered wagon of sorts. I have thought about this being a mobile gallery, or a hang out on the side of the road, like a mobile cafe just for me. I can drive for a while then climb in the back and relax. Except that I already have a trailer that I could just load up on the back of the truck. The difference is that I can't put very much in the trailer with all of the accomodations that are in it, so when the trailer is on the back of the truck it is heavy and not very useful as a truck. This new setup can be used to haul stuff. I was thinking that it should also have a lifting point so that it can be lifted off, like a pod, and then I can choose between the different units for the back of the truck depending on my task at hand.

The shape of the frame built structure on the back of the truck is taking the shape of an octagon, although it may not end up being symmetric. The height is currently about 4 feet in the center if I flatten it out there, but I am tempted to go one more angle to make it 5-6 feet, which then seems like an accomplishment and it will make a more interesting shape. Four feet might be more sensible for testing purposes and may allow the truck to blend in better than if I go higher, not to mention the added windage if I keep going up. I don't mind hunching over when I go into the back if it will keep the structure from blowing off when I try to drive it on the highway.