White M38A1

[notfrommt]

Well I went to work sanding on the old pig over the holidays to find I am more confused than before.

Scuffed out the hood numbers, confirming the match to the data plate.



Also found the star in the center of the hood. One layer of paint that made the star is not white, but metallic silver. Clear contrast visible.

I also found what looks like Strata Blue.



Ok, so the inside of the glovebox is green, the original paint is green, then it breaks into white/blue/orange combination.

Any ideas?

[wesk]

I think the layers you uncovered could be interpreted several ways:



That bluish gray looks more like a primer layer. The USAF would have used a primer under Srata Blue.

It is very hard to sand carefully enough to show the first two layers of factory paint which would be the flattened 2430 followed by a single unflattened coat.

That small silver area looks like a primer but where it fits in layer wise is not clear.

[notfrommt]

The silver area is actually bare metal. There was a small dent from under the hood that caused bare metal to show when I sanded it.

I only scuffed up a small patch before my fingers froze, and I wanted to preserve areas untouched.

I will take more pics that give better perspective and post them.

Thanks Wes!

(I still owe you my survey BTW. I was bad at doing homework 20 years ago, and evidently am no better now!)