Warbird Information Exchange

Some of you may be interested that Consolidated Aircraft Coatings (PolyFiber) has an exact match for the elusive Dark Olive Drab # 41. Below are some photos of their Aerothane 208 Olive Drab in full flat pictured alongside an actual WW II fabric sample (done with Dark Olive Drab # 41) graciously provided by Jim Gray, Historian of the Stinson L-5 Association.

First photo is outdoors, 2nd is indoors and the third photo is of an original WW II Piper L-4 stabilizer.

The Aerothane achieves full flat with the use of a powdered flattening agent (ground silica) provided by Poly-Fiber and not the liquid chemical agent. The liquid chemical agents will not achieve a full flat finish in a single stage Polyurethane.

We are in the process of painting our Aeronca O-58A with this Aerothane.

As a footnote, production of all Aeronca L-3 and Stinson L-5 aircraft were completed with the early Dark Olive Drab #41 before the roll out of the ANA 613 Olive Drab in 1944. Some early Piper L-4 aircraft built prior to 1944 were finished with # 41 while some built in 1944 and 1945 were finished with the later ANA 613.

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L-4 Pilot-

Thanks for the Heads-up! I like the Ployfiber paints and being able to match OD 41… and possibly other flat paints is very good info (I worked with a Sherwin Williams paint distributor to develop a flat OD41 that was very good…. but very expensive)! Thanks and good luck with your project!

gunny

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Scott 'Gunny' Perdue
http://www.eagleflyingmuseum.org

Thanks Gunny,

Greg (from Poly Fiber) referred me to Cory of Fighter Rebuilders in Chino Calif. who has been using this Aerothane 208 Olive Drab on aircraft they restore. I was skeptical at first about being able to take the urethane to full flat but after talking with him I gave it a try and am very glad that we did. With this full flat urethane we are able to paint everything fabric and metal and have an exact match with the durability of a urethane top coat. Since it is a stock color the price is not bad at all and I can order it from Aircraft Spruce and have it in two days by ground from Atlanta. Any of their Distributors can mix the color, however right now you have to go to Greg at Consolidated to get the powder flattener but I think he may be working on the distribution of the ground silica.

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When I redid my Stearman 10 years ago I used Aerothane for exactly that reason…. it took lots of effort and coasts to get the flat I needed… this is a great development and I can't wait to try it on my next project! Good stuff!

gunny

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Scott 'Gunny' Perdue
http://www.eagleflyingmuseum.org

After reading these posts I talked with Greg at Poly-Fiber today, and he does not generally recommend the powder, so you won't find it available at Spruce. He says it's really difficult to work with since it's so light and bulky, a slight gust of wind and you'll have a big mess. Apparently the Poly-Fiber liquid flattener has the same silica, and will achieve full-flat, you just have to use more of it. He suggested starting with 4:1, then try 2:1, and even 1:1 if you need with aerothane, so we're going to try this in the next few months hopefully and see if we can get similar results.