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Thanks guys!
It was a great experience and not without challenges! Thanks to Chris and Rob for everything they did to help make this happen and I'm honored to have been a part of it.
After a slow start with the scaffolding and then the template issue, things were not looking good the first few hours upon arrival. I was a little freaked out that I was going to have to draw it freehand. Since I was lucky enough to speak to Hal Olsen last year, I was familiar with the grid system that he used. My only concern was that I needed it to start and end in two particular spots, so just started sketching and used 4 tickmarks in the vertical to gauge where everything needed to be. It was getting late in the day, and I needed to make some kind of progress so I jumped in with both feet so to speak. Looking at the finished product, the fact that I drew it all by hand makes me the most proud. By sunset of Day 1, I was pretty happy with how far I got. Chris was great and ready to jump if I needed the slightest thing. He was the perfect host.
Day 2 was rough! It was supposed to be the nicer of the 2 days. Ha! Full clouds and nasty wind. The paint requires 50° and above, so in the morning, Chris took us around the B-17 and inside the C-47. My Dad and Uncle Bob drove up. My Uncle was a Crew Chief in the Kyushu Gypsies in Korea. He made 21 trips above the 38th parallel. He had lots of stories to share with us. My Dad and Uncle Bob are the reason I'm am into WWII aircraft, so I'm glad they were able to spend the day. I don't think my uncle knew what he was in for though over the course of the day. It was a pretty long day for him.
The wind: It was awful! Cold too. We were trying to figure out how to create some kind of windbreak up on the scaffolding. Not an easy prospect. Once we got the blankets up and secured to the ladder and C-47, my Dad stood there, almost all day to make sure the windbreak stayed together, as you can only expect so much with blankets and duct tape in 20-30mph winds. I told him he didn't have to do that, but he assured me that he did. So thanks Dad! He wanted to do some of the black painting while I attended to some of the detail work, so that helped too. At one point when I was doing the lettering, the paint was blowing off of my paint brush. Sometimes, the plane would be moving, the scaffolding would be moving, and I would be moving, all 3 in different directions! But hey, at least no one was shooting at me, right? We worked right up to sundown again, and managed to get it done.
I'm looking forward to meeting Jim Haus and shaking his hand. I hope he likes it.
As for the clear coat, I don't think it's really necessary as the sign paint is pretty hearty, but it would not hurt either. Hopefully it will be in a building sooner rather than later.
_________________ . . Sure, Charles Lindbergh flew the plane... but Tom Rutledge built the engine!Visit Django Studios online or Facebook!
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