Spectre623 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) Well today we started to paint Ghost Rider in the colors she wore toward the end of her tour in Viet Nam, solid black with red FT and serial number on the vert fin. We are lucky to have a pic of her in these colors while in VN. All other numbers etc. will be in red We at the Marietta Museum of Aviation pressure washed the old gray chalking paint off for these past several weeks and sanded her quite a bit. We had 2 sprayers going and covered a great deal in only 4 hours today. We had a great team working on the old Herk and it shows. Included are a few pics. Will keep the site updated as we gett'er done and put all the lipstick on. Bill Edited June 9, 2015 by Spectre623 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 9, 2015 Author Share Posted June 9, 2015 (edited) Another day at the museum. Made good progress today. A few more pics. Old 54-1623 is gonna get painted yet! Bill Edited June 11, 2015 by Spectre623 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Today,Saturday, we finished up painting Ghost Rider in her all black Viet Nam era paint job. Had great help from the museum crew with the addition of one "New Guy". The lipstick, i.e. the trim is next and this old vet will look great. A couple more pics. from today. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonny Posted June 14, 2015 Share Posted June 14, 2015 I sure am enjoying your pictures. Thanks for sharing. Sonny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 (edited) Glad you like'em Sonny. This old warhorse deserves to be kept out of the scrap heap. It is great to work on her like this. I waited 20 years to do what we are doing at the museum lately. This is what we were going to do when we were planning to put it at the front gate at Dobbins ARB next to our B-29 when she flew in to Dobbins in Sep. 1995. 911 changed all that. Now it is outside the back gate in the museum which is a much better deal. Here is a scan of her last flight order bringing her to Dobbins. Call sign...Spectre23. Bill Edited June 14, 2015 by Spectre623 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalbasher Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Looks great! Just curious what kind of paint was used? I assume latex since no one is wearing a respirator, coveralls etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 (edited) It is water based dry fall paint. (not dry wall paint, ha ha) We did a few test with some samples some time ago and it looks to be very durable. Clean up is a snap since it is water based. Bill Edited June 16, 2015 by Spectre623 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 (edited) Monday we painted the props and some touch up. Hopefully this is the last time we have to drag out the sprayer for anything big. Decided this morn to go with black on the props with yellow tips as seen in photos from Nam. Trying to stay true to the layout and colors while she was in Nam towards the end of the war. If ANYBODY has any photos or was connected to this aircraft during the Viet Nam war please get in touch with me with a PM. Thanks . Bill Edited June 15, 2015 by Spectre623 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olcatmech2 Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Great job! And thanks to all of you guys for preserving a fine old ship! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonny Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Spectre623, How do you plan to set the props when you are done? Please tell me you are not going to set them in the "Y" or inverted "Y" position. I'm old school. They should be positioned like the attached. Thanks, Sonny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 (edited) Well Sonny anybody who actually worked on A models when they had 3 bladed props (me) know that #1 blade is set at 3 o'clock to check the prop fluid. But the 3 bladed props are larger in diameter than the 4 bladed props so that is the problem. Already had people bang their heads on the props when a blade is pointing straight down and they aren't paying attention. So, for safety's sake we will put a blade straight up. I like them set like they just shut down myself but that won't happen. Bill Edited June 25, 2015 by Spectre623 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casey Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 They made the Marietta Daily Journal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Installed the tailpipes and boy did that bring back some memories. A couple of pics. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jconner2 Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Love the photos and the work you guys are doing. Wish they could all be saved but glad at least a few are.John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 (edited) Thanks JC2. We all at the museum are having a great time with the old Herk. Pretty special that we have the name sake of the next 37 AC-130 gun ships i.e., Ghost Rider series, setting 1/2 mile from the Herk factory where they will be built. Bet their theme song will be "Ghost Riders in the sky" by Jonny Cash when they gettem, ha ha. It was in Nam!!! Bill Edited July 30, 2015 by Spectre623 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 23, 2015 Author Share Posted June 23, 2015 More trim work today 6/23/15. A few pics and the nose art templet taped on for fit and function. Hope to get the nose art painted on by this weekend. Looking good. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonny Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 She sure is pretty! Great job. Sonny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 27, 2015 Author Share Posted June 27, 2015 Thanks Sonny. Started on the nose art today. The new guy painting it is good but he likes to watch the paint dry...gotta work on that, ha ha .Couple of pics. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casey Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Snapped one last photo before we called it a day. If the weather is good we will be back at it tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 27, 2015 Author Share Posted June 27, 2015 Nice job new guy. Need to work on your dedication though... you only spent 10 hours on the stand yesterday... need to step it up a notch! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casey Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Recoated the moon, worked on the gun blast and added the face this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casey Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 I paint so slow that my brush dried to the plane at least a dozen times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted June 27, 2015 Author Share Posted June 27, 2015 Glad you got it unstuck so you could finish. Looks GREAT! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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