podmod: Rear Shelf

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I had gotten very tired of fishing out my duffel bag of clothes from under the bed on our 2009 RP-171, so I decided to build a shelf over the curbside window of our bed.  I wanted it to be:sturdy: I chose a place where the shelf is supported by three walls (the bathroom wall, the curbside wall and the rear curved wall;
open: I didn't want to make the R-POD feel any more closed in/cramped than it already is;
integrated and professional: I wanted it to look like it was installed at the factory.
I sketched a shelf of simple design which mimicked the existing open shelves of our R-POD (the one over the microwave and the other over the sink).  To start, I pencilled the walls where I wanted the shelf.  I then traced the back onto a piece of paper in order to capture the curve of the wall.  The shelf is 16" deep and runs just over the valence on the curb side window.  I ripped-down some pine I had in my garage and built a frame:

Note: the shelf is level on the wall - my photos, however, are slightly skewed

The angled piece which meets up with the curved wall was interesting... I had to create a little jig for my table saw in order to get the angle right.  Using molly bolts, I fastened the frame to the walls.

After that, it was a simple matter of ripping down some 3/16" leftover plywood I had in my garage from another project for a top and bottom.  I angled the right side of the plywood on the table saw to (roughly) match the curve of the wall.  The trim for the front was made from a piece of select pine - I copied the curve on the left from my traced template and I used a roundover bit on the bottom.

Then it was a coat of sealer, a couple coats of stain (light walnut) followed by a couple coats of satin varnish.  After a light sanding of the varnish, it was done.  I screwed everything in place.

I still haven't found what I want for a netting or plastic hooks matching the rest of the trailer.  I knotted the temporary netting you see in the picture using light-weight bungee cord and held it in place with some 3M Command Hooks.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with the results!