Troopy Interior 3D scan, Cabinet layout and Product design

Its getting close to 20 years which I’m in the field of design for fabrication and after lots of product designs for different companies and clients both in Iran and now in New Zealand, I’m fortunate to be able to do some cool stuff for my own Troopy overlander vehicle,

Thankfully Vitor my manager landed me two proper 3D scanners very useful for my project, Special thanks to him for this great help,

The first scanner is using Lidar technology implemented in the iPad Pro devices, with a free software you will be able to quickly scan whole area very roughly and good enough for overall layout design, second scanner was from NextEngine company and more accurate, with a tripod and little more time I was able to 3D scan complete rear tail gates with more details, capturing all mounting holes and necessary edges and surfaces to start my design, by help of some extra colour point tags with this scanner you can cover entire bigger surfaces and overlap each shot one by one, then align the shots on each other and generate whole bigger areas as your 3D scan in one could point data and ready for starting your designs,

In this section I only explain the main interior Aluminum cabinet design done by the first Lidar scanner and in the other post related to the rear tail gate tables you will find what I have designed and fabricated on top of the NextEngine scanned data as foldable gate tables.

Here in these images and also a video on top of this post, you can see the result of 3D scanning entire interior of the Troopy, the result is absolutely great for 3D detail modeling your needs and play with your available space,

Its crucial to be able to use as much as space for your cabinet design and not waste any single corner at all, which the 3D scan will help you to find best possible scenarios and change as much as you need to finalize your space and living space, place your components and change the size of each compartment before cutting any material, specially for me which I will design Aluminum cabinet with lots of accurate laser cut edges and fold corners, I have to be sure all detail are final before sending the design for laser cut and folds and fabricating any component.

On top of everything the living space in troopies should be utilized for some key products which you have to buy from the market and to be able to fit them perfectly in your designed spaces,

Here are some of the main products we decided to use in our build and my final cabinets could be able to fit all of this in the interior:

1. Dometic 95 Ltr fridge
2. Coleman dual fuel burner
3. Coleman foldable camp Oven
4. Hot shower 12V from AusJ, (Duetto 12V/10Ltr)
5. x2 foldable camping chairs from frontrunner
6. The Zempire bamboo foldable table (Round model)
7. A tap/sink and 10Ltr grey water tank
8. Webasto 2000TC Diesel heater/duct
9. x2 200A Lithium batteries
10. RedArc Redvision,Manager 30 kit / TVMSKIT05
11. Personal belongings and clothing storage
12. kitchen/cooking equipment drawers
13. Thedford 335 camp toilet
14. Water filtration and pumps

Now you can imagine playing with all of these crucial needs in your layout and fitting all in one perfect cabinet design is not an easy task and how a 3D scan could help you to best fit all of these and at the same time do not make any cutting mistake and wasting heaps of money during your build, Thanks to advance CAD/CAM system which is the key point in all modern fabrication industries.

Also a good news for all, at the end of this post I will share a link to my 3D scanned files related to the interior wagon space of the Landcruiser 78 Troopy, is for all enthusiastic designers who are willing to design their own layouts by using my 3D scans, lots of people asked me for the files and shared with them and also in this page by a link to download you can a have permanent access to the 3D scanned .STL files.

Now we get to the main stage of the design, we draw some initials, we placed all above components in 3D space and played with the locations to come up with a best possible scenarios for each component location, below was my initial layout but there was some practical issues for future and finally we changed the location of some components, changed the layout couple of times till satisfaction then I started to detail the design of my Aluminum folds for the cabinet modules.

Easy access, maintenance and replaceability of each product also ventilation for the electrical parts and how to mount whole setup beside each other conveniently, finalized my design to this below render,

On the left hand side of the wagon, you can place Thetford 335 Tiolet and Zempire bamboo round table, x2 front runner foldable chairs will be placed in the leftside wheel arc box under pull out first floor bed, (there are missive two individual storages under it too not visible on this render), Behind the seats the 95Ltr Dometic fridge will be mounted and on the right from front of the setup to the end of it, driver seats, first you can see the space for Sink/Grey water tank and hot shower 12V system from AusJ, then x4 kitchen drawers amd a massive drawer under the benchtop, behind the deriver seat will be x2 massive storage boxes on top of the cabinet, under there just behind the driver seat from the floor upward will be installation area for the Red Arc manager 30 and Solar controllers/x2 Lithium batteries would be mounted there in the cabinet on the floor and batteries and controls are accessible from the front door by folding the driver seat forward, also the system implemented with a pull out wooden bed which in any case of emergency which the top popup AluCab tent might not be usable for our sleeping, another sleeping bed will be ready to set up quick even from the first floor shown here.

Now slowly we are getting to the fabrications stages, but before anything we decided to make a mock up model of this layout by some cheap 4mm ply testing panels, it will help us to eliminate any possible errors or surprises and also at the same time we could feel the real space and the walk trough area plus seating comfort of this design,

Here are some photos of the mock up model which we absolutely loved the comfort of the space and with a 450mm walk through width you can feel how easy you can get into your inside layout and move around and step up to the second floor AluCab bed etc… and also manageable to even jump from the wagon space over the fridge and seat behind the driver seats and drive away in an emergency situation, instead of absolute need to go outside for closing the doors and jump on the drive seat from outside of the camper.

Here you can download my final 3D scans related to the Landcruiser 78 Troopy interior wagon in .STL format and Scale 1:1

Zip file contains three .STL files,

Left hand and Right hand divided meshes to ease up the design process, also another whole area in one .STL mesh.

DOWNLOAD

After lots of measurements, double checks and fine tuning the 3D design finally all components sent for Laser cut and CNC fold and here we go, finally all the parts arrived and I started to assemble the whole setup for an initial cabinet fit, how exciting is that when your design could take a breath and be alive! below I will explain all details related to the final assembly of the cabinet but before everything lets little talk about the side wall panels and floor,

The ideal setup is to be able to bolt the cabinet to the floor and side walls, then even for future you easy unbolt the components and remove one by one if needed,

The choice here is again Aluminum panels and floor, the floor is 3mm 5 diamond checker plate because is very stable, I started to cut the floor by profiling the main OEM Vinyl floor then tune the edges by 4mm Ply wood and finally I cut the Aluminum floor as one piece and is fitted perfectly seamless, Im so happy this floor is in one piece as it will make whole job so stable and hassle free, the walls cut by CNC water jet and all 3mm Aluminum, then Rivetnuts on the original panel sholes and then bolt them on the body, below are some image before and after fixing the floor and side walls in place, for fixing the floor again I will use original Troopy holes available to be used and I will fix them by M8 bolts on the main floor body,

Now we get to the main cabinet, the design is based on 4 separate modules made by all single pieces and predrilled parts for rivet fixings, we will have one module for left hand side of the wagon to fit portable toilet, a camping table and x2 chairs with more extra free area for personal storage and even one handy drawer under the toilet, the right hand side will have three modules, one is its main bigger setup and it will have two big boxes to fit a grey water under sink and 12V hotwater system too, it will have one big drawer and 4 more separated drawers under it, then even two lower hatches to fit a Coleman burner and extra storage, the other module of the right hand side is to fit x2 batteries electrical system and more storage which will seat behind the driver seat and just by the fridge and third module of the right hand side which will seat on top of the two other lower modules is a very big storage box with two doors separated at middle and even a cavity clever design area on top of it existed for even more storage on its very top head which I’m sure will be very handy,

As you see all the required parts for these 4 modules comes in such flat pieces then you easy can find proper related part for a right module to rivet fixing them together by aligning their predrilled 2mm rivet locations and they will seat nicely beside each other to complete your working module by overdrill the locations on each other then riveting the parts tight and pressed in place. the rivets I used to mount the parts together is as below 5mm structural rivet with bigger head and groove on the pulling nail, this type is very strong and durable and will not loose at all and also is made by stainless steel which is much more stronger than aluminum rivets.

Above are all the parts came from CNC and is bout 53 single pieces to finish the four modules, in below I have the modules photos also some videos to see how the design came together neatly beside each other, also by an image you can see which market’s main products I considered to be fitted in the design without any hassle by perfect access,

This cabinet will need 6 sets of proper size removable drawer slides and it will use a hidden hinge design on each of its compartments, also the famous sleek Southco latches will seat nice and tidy on the opening parts as you will see in below images.

Now lets see how all below market components will fit in the cabinet,

Still x2 Lithium batteries and electrical system/Dometic diesel heater not photographed but you can imagine their position in the images, also these equipments was only my personal choice from the market as some people could get their own preferred equipments obviously, but by below images they can imagine the available spaces much easier.

Below videos are showing the cabinet initial fit in the wagon and how they will make the living space in the Troopy, still I have to design the lower bed system which will slide in and out on the left hand side of the design, also a tap water sink on the right hand top bench will be fitted above a grey water tank too, plus electrical system and x2 lithium batteries will take place on the module just behind the driver seat and front of the fridge freezer.

The Dometic 95 Ltr Fridge/Freezer is one the biggest fridges in the market and all the cabinet modules designed to be able to fit the biggest possible fridge in the wagon, this is important as if the fridge wanted to be replaced with any other brands in the market it will not affect the arrangement of the main cabinet at all, also the corridor and interior resting area is very relax for 2 person passing each other side by side or seating or even sleeping downstairs without using the roof top conversion in bad weathers, we are very happy that the interior living space came so spacious and full of big size storages without jamming us together to not make us so tired for spending time inside the Troopy, also at the same time we will have access to the windows for fresh air and light as well as the top roof conversion very easy, the cabinet could be fitted with and without the roof conversion also the rear tables will have proper design clearances to both left and right hand cabinet modules with an easy access even to the left hand pull out drawer even when the smaller rear barn door table still opened to use, as you see in below images.

Still this cabinet after all the final mountings and locating all other devices and our camp stuff for it have to go to be fully powder coated which still my wify is going to decide which color she wants for it and I tell you her decision on finalizing the color of this cabinet and cushions and pattern of the curtain etc.. is going to be long long long fussy selection, but will be exciting to see final touches on the cabinet and how she will make it much more beautiful for us.

How to mount the Floor and this cabinet set on the wagon:

Here I share my tips and tricks for the best possible way of mounting the Aluminum floor on the wagon and then final cabinet setup on the wall panels/Aluminum floor,

(To be continued…)

If you have read this post till this paragraph then Im sure you are serious about your Troopy cabinet build or you are researching to see available options for your Troopy to choose, I have a good news for you then: this cabinet is one of the kinds in the market and I’m sure still in the market there is no any such Aluminum kitset as this fully integrated by elegant usage of the space for overlanders to order, as I’ve been in this path before and searched heaps from the European to Australian to the Middle Eastern market I know there is no any option to buy, There are some German companies which they equip Troopies and sell whole vehicle and I liked their layout but still I don’t believe they have reached to this level of easiness to be able to sell such a flat pack kit set to the customers plus their current setups are hugely expensive and not even at this level at all, mainly their designs are based on Aluminum framing and PVC paneling, This design is fully Aluminum with accurate matching edges and predrilled Rivet holes to ease up installation at your own garage and comparing ply wood setups it will be much much more durable and noise free in different climates, from cold to hot countries to wet or damp whether, it will be easy to fit and remove from the wagon plus a light weight setup which is a key in the purpose of overlanding, the total weight of the Aluminum modules with rivets and all the drawer slides without the wooden boards will be just about 120 Kg, which comparing the ply wood cabinets is amazingly light for your rig.

The measured weights for the Aluminum modules follows as below:

If you think you need such setup for your Troopy feel free to contact us and very easy we can send you all the panels in a flat pack to your home address world wide by sea freight or air freight from New Zealand and it will be ready for your installation elegantly clever in your own garage just by some proper prepping the parts and final riveting them together with a proper instruction,(Pls see my Time-lapse video installing the rear driver seat module posted above, in just a day or two you can mount and rivet all the four modules of this cabinet together and get to their final shape and make it ready for your dream build overlander Landcruiser Troopy! this system is the first ever Troopy full aluminum flat pack kitset by only 120 Kg total weight of aluminum parts designed by an enthusiast overander for his own usage and living off grid and now ready for other overlanders. If you have basic knowledge of working with the tools and drilling and tapping holes as a DIY person then this setup is just for you.

Also have to add our two rear barn door tables fully designed to be matched to this cabinet arrangement, pls for more detail about my foldable rear door tables refer to our other post by this link below:

https://amirandazadeh.com/rear-tail-gates-tables-3d-scan-product-design/

Thank you all for visiting our website feel free to ask any question if you have and see you out there one day …

/Amir

Exciting update :

We are so honored to see lots of interest on our products and so far below map is showing were we have exported our products from New Zealand and very pleased to announce you that now we have specifically designed another version of our full aluminum cabinet set to be exported to Canada, also this design is available for any pre order and now we have two versions of our Cabinets ready for your worldwide orders,

Pls follow below link to see more details related to the second interior version which we named it, Naab Troopy cabinet, The Full View Overlander.

https://amirandazadeh.com/our-overlander-troopy/naab-troopy-overland-products-for-order/

Here is final setup after powder coating and how by moving up the wooden walkway you will convert the space to a sleeping platform for when you cannot open Alucab roof conversion for parking security or windy conditions.