1955 M38A1

[jnissen]

Sanded down and will respray with a fresh coat of paint this weekend. The hood and tub had different sheens due to.my inability to follow Gillespie’s paint instructions! It should all match this weekend.

That leads to a question when painting the stars and other markings. Are most of you using a stencil and spray or a stencil brush?

Also I’m assuming white flat enamel will be the best paint. Last thing I need is for the stencil paint to react and craze the base coat! Suggestions are appreciated
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Jim Nissen
1955 M38A1
Patent Plate MD74784
Engine Plate MD85578
Contrived Hood Number 20974784

[jnissen]

Repainted so at least now all the panels have the same sheen. Added the stars and graphics. Drove it 25 miles to work today for a test and lots of thumbs up! It's not 100% original but it's a driver.







_________________
Jim Nissen
1955 M38A1
Patent Plate MD74784
Engine Plate MD85578
Contrived Hood Number 20974784

[mdainsd]

A real beauty! Good work.

The sheen with Gillespie can be puzzling at first. What I worked out is always reduce with a ratio cup, so it is always the same. Paint in the shade, never in direct sunlight. And finally try to paint on days with the same temp (roughly).
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'52 Dodge M37, '42 GPW, '48 FrankenJeep CJ2A/M38, '50 CJV-35(U), '51 M38, '42 WC-57 Command Car, '44 WC-51 Weapons , (2) M1941 Sperry 60" Anti-Aircraft Searchlights, John Deere M-gator, '44 White M3A1 Scout Car

[jnissen]

All good advice. Yeah I learned the hard way to use a consistent mix of paint to reducer. Settled on 5:1 ratio (paint to Xylene) that was good for spraying and reduced the chances for runs.

[mdainsd]

I use 5:4 paint to xylene, but I also use HVLP guns.
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'52 Dodge M37, '42 GPW, '48 FrankenJeep CJ2A/M38, '50 CJV-35(U), '51 M38, '42 WC-57 Command Car, '44 WC-51 Weapons , (2) M1941 Sperry 60" Anti-Aircraft Searchlights, John Deere M-gator, '44 White M3A1 Scout Car

[jnissen]

The guy who sold me the paint recommended the 5:1 ratio. I was using a 2:1 ratio at one time and while it worked it also was fairly thin and I got more runs. Had one batch that was almost gloss like and stopped at that point to determine where I went wrong. Went the the 5:1 and I get a good semi gloss sheen and more important the spray through my 3M Accuspray (orange 1.4mm nozzle) was working well.

BTW - The PPS cup system that 3M has is hard to beat. I have small and large cups and this is so easy to clean up. I'll never go back to the old spray guns.

[jnissen]

Latest pics with the new WeeBee Webbing on top. Still need to wet the canvas to shrink it a bit but it's on. Side curtains still TBD waiting on parts.

BTW - At 6'2" I was afraid my head would rub on the top. I still have about 1.5" of room. I guess the Army left a bit of room for helmets!