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Ann wants her 44' Ford Jeep Air Force Blue, has any one got a paint code for stratos blue and I need some pics of air force vehicles, painted and marked for sample. Was the blue applied in gloss as most of the pics I have found are or was it lusterless or satin finish?
Thanks!!
One more thing, we need a good cowling seal, anyone got one they wish to sell or should I just contact one of the "local" US parts dealers?

Regards - MM

Hi MM,
I am using Gillespie Coatings Strata Blue. It is a satin sheen and very easy to work with. I got it from Rapco, in Texas. Lots of folks complain about the high shipping because it is considered a haz-mat, but the price per gallon is pretty low, when you factor in the shipping its still lower than buying urethane paint locally. Granted the Gillespie is an enamel and not as tough as a urethane, but you get my drift. I get lots of comments on the blue, from all sorts of folks about how nice it looks. And I tend to agree!
Tim

Strata Blue 24045 was the standard semi-gloss. 14045 gloss would have been specialty and VIP vehicles. The yellow was called Registration Yellow for the lettering.

Markings depend on the period you are representing with the jeep.
1945 thru 1950 would have been OD with just an "F: added to the Army hood registration number and USAF unit numbers per the Army Air Corps guidance.
1950 thru about 1952 was the transition to the Strata Blue and initially saw white lettering. The switch to the early USAF registration numbers also occured about this time (one letter followed by 4 or 5 numeral).
1952 thru 55 saw the swing to Yellow lettering and the newer USAF registration numbering that used the last two digits of the year followed by a vehicle use ID letter followed by the a series of numerals.

Take a look at some of the period USAF jeep photos I have on my photo site:
http://usafjeeps.mypicgallery.com/

The word paint covers a broad range; it depends on the quality of finish you want. If you can furnish some info about what you desire in the end product, I can send you some codes. Gillespie is the bare minimum type of product, it is however the best product going in it's class in my opinion. Another consideration is this; if you want a fade resistant product; you will need to strongly consider a base coat/clear type finish.

Thanks for all the replies so far, Cuz, excellent pics and info plus I had a cruise about your site, the Holden Ambulance has me curious, tell me more.....
Charles, I understand a bit about paints as I have been taught by a real expert, My Dad is a mechanic, spraypainter, fitter & Turner, Welder, scratch fabricator etc. and he has sprayed many a vehicle so we tend to use PPG or similar quality paints, better off to spend more money on the paint as it will last longer, wear well and not fade if kept clean and garaged for the most part. I run Auscam Green on my truck, it has faded (powdered up) a little but you just wash it and the oxide disappears and you have a clean paint job again, it is manufactured like this, nice to use but extremely nasty to breathe so respirator is a MUST when applying it. It is unfortunately unavailable in the correct colour for an M37 so I run the lighter shade and have gotten used to it.
Tim, Thanks for the codes, I'll chase that up here, the info is greatly appreciated...

Best Regards - MM

i have more pics available similar to ones i posted here http://www.g741.org/PHPBB/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3618

Thanks Carl, I do appreciate the pics and they are good ones, I try to collect as many pics of members vehicles, historical pics and anthing M37 or MV vehicle related in general.
Another question for you all though, obviously the vehicle and main fittings are blue, the canvas, squibbs etc. stay green. What about the steering wheel, pioneer tools,gerry can etc, are all items like this still green when the vehicle is issued or does this occur later when things get swapped out?

Best Regards - MM

I would think you could go either way with the steering wheel. If you want to tape it nice you could do the spokes blue and leave the actual wheel part black. (which might be best for actual driving) Or you could just paint it blue. As for tools and gas can, first off in all those pics I didn't see one jeep with those things on it. Secondly I remember another thread on here or in the tech section where Lifer said those items were issued when needed to the vehicle and not kept on them and as best he could remember they were kept OD. Which makes sense.... you might paint the vehicle, but leave the tools alone.

That's my $.02 worth anyway.

Yes, tools, can and canvas make sense, the wheel is already green on the outer so we will just spray the whole thing blue, we want this thing to look good, not necassarily 100% correct but neat and tidy and it will be something other than green (Ann is so over olive drab and wanted something different).
I have even toyed with the idea of another colour for my M37 being that it is so modded no-one would know what it actually had to be, toying with the idea only though......

Best Regards - MM

Tony, Maybe Ann would consider an alternate Airforce paint scheme (actually Army Air Corps.). It is very distinctive, and the fifty cal would make the road trains think twice about crowding her.







http://imageevent.com/brigand/miscmilit ... =4&s=0&z=2

Ann didn't go much on the airfield Hivis paintwork Bob but the 50 cal is something she said would make it look considerably more interesting, This is what it looks like so far (bear in mind there is a bit of detail work to be done).
Hopefully the AF guys on here approve
I also took my new "military Vehicle", well, it's not a military vehicle but it certainly has the look of one, a Polaris 850XP X2 LE, it got a LOT of looks and with 70Hp I can tell you it's a bitchin ride....

Best Regards - MM

Looking good Tony, nice job. I'm sure Ann is happy with your work.

The color is just right. Same with the registration yellow. Nice work. You took a little liberty with the USA instead of USAF but I can understand that since you are targeting 1941 thru 1948 but wanted the 1948 thru now color. Very good looking jeep.

Nice job! It looks great! Looks like Gen Curtis LeMay would get out of it at any moment...

Just wondering what vehicle is next to it? It looks like an M37 with a HMMWV maintence top put on it.

Thanks Carter, Thanks Wes.....
I can't take the credit, Ann did a lot of work and Dad did the bulk of the painting, I did a bit of painting, a bit of mig work and a lot of gopher work but it's a team effort for sure. I need to do little things like paint the tops of the shockies black, fit all sorts of bits & pieces up as I find them and I will fit a centre rear vision mirror up on the windscreen when I find one plus I may do the wrong thing and fit another side mirror to it, not correct I know but safety over authenticity is something I prefer. We managed to get a 122 set for it a few weeks ago, a definate write off functionally but with a bit of cosmetic work it'll look good sitting up in the back of the Jeep. The transfer case rebuild has worked out VERY well, you can't hear it at all now, just as it should be

Best Regards - MM