Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:09 pm
No reason you can't polish a casting. They tend to be more porous so sometimes they don't look as good. You also may want or need to do a little surface smoothing in advance to reduce the surface roughness if that is your goal.
I did a lot of filing, sanding and smoothing on the cast aluminum entry steps on my T-6 project.
I did a lot of filing, sanding and smoothing on the cast aluminum entry steps on my T-6 project.
Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:39 pm
Wow, all that work and nobody wearing ear plugs. My ears are ringing from not wear them enough. It does polish out really nice....
Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:40 pm
SPANNERmkV wrote:All's she needs is a big honkin set of CAF Wings!!!
But seriously...
Great job Maguiers!!!
I'd still pay to ride on her if I was in the neighborhood!
And invasion stripes, can't forget those stripes....
Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:41 pm
And still a lot cheaper than a new paint job.
Re: 5 Grand
Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:10 am
Second Air Force wrote:hang the expense wrote:I agree.She also had been belly landed and that didnt help.From what I have heard they never fly the same after the bird has been on her belly.Second Air Force wrote:I can't give figures on a B-17, but when the 315th Wing painted the black bellies on their B-29s they documented 6-8 knots loss of airspeed with identical power settings.
Five Grand was noticeably slower than other NMF ships due to all the signatures painted on her, so roughness made a difference, even on a Fort.
I actually first heard about 5 Grand being draggy from a civilian Sub-Depot mechanic that worked at Kearney AAF when she processed through on her way to Great Britain. He worked in the Weight and Balance Section and overheard a member of her assigned crew tell someone that all the signatures affected performance.
Scott
314th BW/330th BG B-29's were regularly polished up with AV gas to improve performance!!!!!
Some of the photos of 330th birds you could read a newsprint in their reflection..,(albeit.., mirrored ;-0)
Dirt=Drag!
Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:27 am
I'm ashamed it took me this long to remember the classic mirror-polish pic: Crew Chief William Accoo giving a 99th FS Mustang the ol' spit shine.
Makes one wonder what Sgt. Accoo would personally remove from any fellow who called his girl "hideous".
Makes one wonder what Sgt. Accoo would personally remove from any fellow who called his girl "hideous".
Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:36 am
Nice Pic! Looks like the access panel has been "borrowed" from another AC. The star does not quite match up! Something for modelers to keep in mind. I have seen mismatched cowlings as well. Gives em that well worn look!
Mon Apr 20, 2009 9:19 am
Bud Anderson said that his P-51D Old Crow when polished, was always neat and clean looking.
Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:11 am
Lynn Allen wrote:SPANNERmkV wrote:All's she needs is a big honkin set of CAF Wings!!!
But seriously...
Great job Maguiers!!!
I'd still pay to ride on her if I was in the neighborhood!
And invasion stripes, can't forget those stripes....
I think some Sharks teeth would finish the deal!
Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:15 am
Taigh Ramey wrote:My guess is that the chin turret, pumpkin tail turret and the cheek gun positions are fiberglass replicas thus they can't be polished and will have to remain painted.
I bet if you told the Mythbusters that you can't polish fiberglass then they just might prove you wrong!
Actually, you can use Mirra Chrome paint and make it look like polished metal.
http://www.kustomrides.com/chromepaint.htm
Polish it!
Mon Apr 20, 2009 6:55 pm
I'm a big fan of polished airplanes but I would not want to own one unless I could keep it that way. My hat's off to these guys, I think it looks great!
The images of fresh WWII factory bare metal airplanes always seems to show them with quite a "shine". When you look at images of modern a/c, before they are painted, they do not seem to have that same "shine". I wonder if the Alclad process is different these days? I'm sure that B-17 is a long way from having the "clad" polished off but I have seen planes that have been over polished. Once the pure Aluminum surface coating is gone, you can polish all you want, they never shine the same again.
The images of fresh WWII factory bare metal airplanes always seems to show them with quite a "shine". When you look at images of modern a/c, before they are painted, they do not seem to have that same "shine". I wonder if the Alclad process is different these days? I'm sure that B-17 is a long way from having the "clad" polished off but I have seen planes that have been over polished. Once the pure Aluminum surface coating is gone, you can polish all you want, they never shine the same again.
Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:25 am
Maybe the Mighty 8th Air Force Museum can have this crew come over and do up their B-17...with enough donations...
Tue Apr 21, 2009 11:07 am
My Dad mentioned to me that as they flew deeper into Europe they went with mostly lack of paint except for unit markings because of the added weight. Heck, if they were at altitude and leaving contrails they knew they were coming anyway.
Tue Apr 21, 2009 11:11 am
A thousand B-17's, four thousand roaring engines....kind of hard to miss! By late in the war there were few strikes against their airfields as well, so no sense in ground camo either.