Warbird Information Exchange

I know this has been answered before but can't find it now.

35 gallons of paint for about 300 lbs. That matches what I’ve read elsewhere and came from this source. The whole article is interesting.

https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/sto ... -of-paint/

2E8591DD-FAEB-498B-AF6B-F94BA076D3E2 by tanker622001, on Flickr

Thank You Comes to about 300 pounds

Is that 300 pounds of paint sprayed, or 300 pounds of aircraft weight difference? Much of it might end up as overspray. And does that include the interior paint that was eliminated in many cases? I wonder...

And I can't believe that 300 gallons of dry paint (after solvent evaporation) weighs as much as 300 gallons of paint in the cans.

Read the article in the link. It says that there was about 50 lbs lost in evaporation and the wet weight of the paint would be 350 lbs. it also lists considerably lower weights than 300 lbs from contemporary sources.

https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/sto ... -of-paint/

I just ran across a probably accurate answer to the question of how much weight was saved by not painting B-17s. In this highly detailed and interesting new book on page 160 there is a reference

15408A13-947C-48BC-8E7A-63FFD4F43BAB by tanker622001, on Flickr

“Some combat aircraft were delivered without camouflage paint early in 1943, but others were still being painted as late as January 1944. In general, the final phaseout of factory camouflaged B-17Gs came during the deliveries of Boeing and Douglas Block 35 aircraft and Vega’s Block 20”

“Boeing Field Service News noted on January 31, 1944 that this change effects a weight savings of approximately 98 pounds, but performance is not appreciably changed. Olive drab anti-glare panels are painted forward of the cockpit on the top inboard quarter of the nacelle surfaces and the top portion of the tail gun enclosure to eliminate sun glare.”

The 98-lbs. difference sounds a lot more accurate/correct. By comparison, North American Aviation documented in January 1944 that deleting the OD/grey paint reduced the weight of the P-51 by only 16-lbs., and it took 42-lbs. off of the B-25, when switching to bare metal finish. Of course with the Mustang, they still painted the wings (silver instead), and of course the OD glare shields still had to be applied on these aircraft as well.

In addition to some weight savings, how much time money and manpower was saved not painting planes?

In the experimental world, the typical paint job on a small airplane (say an RV) is 20-40 pounds. Of course, that is supposed to be a pretty paint scheme over primer, but I struggle to believe you could paint a B-17 with 98 pounds of (dry) paint, unless it was applied thin and with no primer.

Straight from the E&M manual, one coat of paint with no primer coat