F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Sun May 01, 2011 7:27 pm
Having a full time job makes this project a very slow go. I am only able to work on it two to three days out of the week and then only a few hours a day. Usually Ed Bird and I can be found there on Wednesday and Thursday. This last week we had a new volunteer. (Note: ALL museums are in need of volunteers). Old Chuck helps when time permits, but as paid staff his other duties take priority.
Most days are spent either attacking the old paint with sandpaper, or a power washer. Here is a shot I took Thursday before coming home:
The old national insignia looked so bad from years of exposure that I sprayed some primer on it to hide the bad looks:
We also have sanded the underwing emblem so that there will not be a noticable outline when painted. Did not want that Aurora model look!
The canopy had been sand blasted in the past to remove the names and obscenities carved into it. Unfortunately that left it looking almost as bad. I have experimented with using finer and finer grits of sandpaper. Gee, just like a model. It will still be milky and not clear, but will be better than before.:
When we opened up the access panels in the belly we found that quite a bit of sand and dust had built up over the years. That needed to be cleaned out. So in addition to the hinged portion that is often seen opened on aircraft being serviced, I also had to remove the "Engine Starter Tank Access Panel". When I did I found that the small drain holes were clogged and in the wrong place to completely drain anyway. I also found surface corrosion on the inside of the panel, so I took it home to clean it up and paint. I also drilled a drain hole in the center of the panel to allow moisture to vent and water to drain. Finding actual zinc chromate is not easy, so I sprayed the cleaned surface with primer and covered that with Model Master Green Zinc Chromate.
This is an older photo of the open engine access panel in the belly
And a before photo of the starter tank panel:
And an after:
This has been an interesting project so far and we have learned a good deal about F-84F aircraft and differences between the various block numbers. One thing about this airplane that has always bugged me is that the speed brakes look funky. Well... it turns out that the F-84F-1-RE through the F-84F-20-RE (and F-84F-1-GK through the F-84F-10-GK) have a smaller brake. Somewhere early in the F-84F history a scab plate was added to the speed brake to increase the area. Our's is an F-84F-20-RE. From the F-84F-25-RE (and F-84F-15-GK) a larger brake was fitted.
Small brake with scab plate:
Small with scab plate removed:
Scab plate (We will use this to trap a screen when we put it back on. That will keep the birds from building nests inside.):
The larger brake on Pima's F-84F-40-RE:
The external electrical connection location:
Hopefully we can start painting before June.
While we are working on this project there is real work going on as well:
Most days are spent either attacking the old paint with sandpaper, or a power washer. Here is a shot I took Thursday before coming home:
The old national insignia looked so bad from years of exposure that I sprayed some primer on it to hide the bad looks:
We also have sanded the underwing emblem so that there will not be a noticable outline when painted. Did not want that Aurora model look!
The canopy had been sand blasted in the past to remove the names and obscenities carved into it. Unfortunately that left it looking almost as bad. I have experimented with using finer and finer grits of sandpaper. Gee, just like a model. It will still be milky and not clear, but will be better than before.:
When we opened up the access panels in the belly we found that quite a bit of sand and dust had built up over the years. That needed to be cleaned out. So in addition to the hinged portion that is often seen opened on aircraft being serviced, I also had to remove the "Engine Starter Tank Access Panel". When I did I found that the small drain holes were clogged and in the wrong place to completely drain anyway. I also found surface corrosion on the inside of the panel, so I took it home to clean it up and paint. I also drilled a drain hole in the center of the panel to allow moisture to vent and water to drain. Finding actual zinc chromate is not easy, so I sprayed the cleaned surface with primer and covered that with Model Master Green Zinc Chromate.
This is an older photo of the open engine access panel in the belly
And a before photo of the starter tank panel:
And an after:
This has been an interesting project so far and we have learned a good deal about F-84F aircraft and differences between the various block numbers. One thing about this airplane that has always bugged me is that the speed brakes look funky. Well... it turns out that the F-84F-1-RE through the F-84F-20-RE (and F-84F-1-GK through the F-84F-10-GK) have a smaller brake. Somewhere early in the F-84F history a scab plate was added to the speed brake to increase the area. Our's is an F-84F-20-RE. From the F-84F-25-RE (and F-84F-15-GK) a larger brake was fitted.
Small brake with scab plate:
Small with scab plate removed:
Scab plate (We will use this to trap a screen when we put it back on. That will keep the birds from building nests inside.):
The larger brake on Pima's F-84F-40-RE:
The external electrical connection location:
Hopefully we can start painting before June.
While we are working on this project there is real work going on as well:
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Sun May 01, 2011 7:51 pm
Looking good Clifford. I sure would like to get my hands on one of those to make it airworthy. It is one fine classic jet.
David
WHF Maint
David
WHF Maint
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Sun May 01, 2011 8:07 pm
Neat photos Cliff! Thanks for posting them and keeping us up to date with your progress on the F-84F.
I think it's great that you drive out there 2 or 3 days a week after work. Good thing it's not too far away from EP with the price of gas these days...
-Derek
I think it's great that you drive out there 2 or 3 days a week after work. Good thing it's not too far away from EP with the price of gas these days...
-Derek
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Sun May 01, 2011 9:13 pm
A MICRO-MESH kit might help with your plexiglas issues, it's a grundle of work (you'll wind up with one heck of a set of biceps) and many grades of paper down to 24000 but it does bring back windows on airliners. You can get water based primer tinted to your requirements @ just about any well equipped auto body and paint store (and @ $4.00 a bottle for MODELMASTER it's probably gonna be cheaper too.)
Looks like you're making steady progress and it's begining to show!
Looks like you're making steady progress and it's begining to show!
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Sun May 01, 2011 9:51 pm
looks great, i've worked on two of those, hell of a bird to work on.
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Fri May 13, 2011 12:30 am
Just more scrapped knuckles and worn out muscles from working this week. We are trying to clean out all of the sand and dust that we can and also trying to remove all of the critter nests that pop up in the desert:
One of the many little questions I have come up with during the F-84 restoration is "How were the wing guns serviced?". Not having a maintenance or erection manual the only way to find out is by trial and error. Yesterday I managed to get the left bay open and now I know. The handle inside the small access door disengages three latches on the outboard side of the door. Then the door can be pulled up and the four prongs on the inboard side will disengage from the fuselage. So, if anyone needs wing gun bay details:
Forward is to the left. The ammo would feed chute comes down through the black "bag" to line up with the receiver..
Looking forward where the M3 .50 cal would mount.
The underside (inside) of the door.
One of the three latches per side.
(Note: A can of PB Breaker was a good investment!)
N51TF (P-51D 44-84658) has been in MX and an engine run was performed too, so as a bonus:
One of the many little questions I have come up with during the F-84 restoration is "How were the wing guns serviced?". Not having a maintenance or erection manual the only way to find out is by trial and error. Yesterday I managed to get the left bay open and now I know. The handle inside the small access door disengages three latches on the outboard side of the door. Then the door can be pulled up and the four prongs on the inboard side will disengage from the fuselage. So, if anyone needs wing gun bay details:
Forward is to the left. The ammo would feed chute comes down through the black "bag" to line up with the receiver..
Looking forward where the M3 .50 cal would mount.
The underside (inside) of the door.
One of the three latches per side.
(Note: A can of PB Breaker was a good investment!)
N51TF (P-51D 44-84658) has been in MX and an engine run was performed too, so as a bonus:
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Fri May 13, 2011 4:51 am
Nice! I love F-84's 
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:29 pm
I have not sent an update on our progress in some time. For very good reason. We are still prepping the airframe for painting by use of a pressure washer. The intent is to remove as much of the old paint as possible without the use of chemicals. That is three fold: 1 The cost. (The paint alone is a little over $600.00). 2 Cleanup and 3 to avoid any entanglements with government agencies. I would have preferred soda blasting, but that is not an option I can afford. (Gee, it would be great to have sponsors!)
Anyway, the green on the airframe is not zinc chromate. It is a two part epoxy primer. And it is a great primer! It will remain and we will apply the acrylic over that. Hopefully that will start in the next few weeks.
Long term Ed and I hope to build the instrument panels and side consoles for the cockpit. The seat is a good seat, though it was used in later block aircraft. There is no stick or rudder pedals. Hopefully we will be able to locate parts as time goes by. Anybody know of any stocks of parts?
The photos below show the F-84 being moved to our work area in March. The second is work in progress early in the effort and the third was taken this afternoon.
While we were working yesterday morning a local based OH-6A was skittering about the airport. Kind of an interesting warbird! The evening before it had been part of a "heritage" type flight for a group of veterans. That flight also included a friends Staggerwing! When the Loach was flying Tuesday it even carried a mini-gun.
Anyway, the green on the airframe is not zinc chromate. It is a two part epoxy primer. And it is a great primer! It will remain and we will apply the acrylic over that. Hopefully that will start in the next few weeks.
Long term Ed and I hope to build the instrument panels and side consoles for the cockpit. The seat is a good seat, though it was used in later block aircraft. There is no stick or rudder pedals. Hopefully we will be able to locate parts as time goes by. Anybody know of any stocks of parts?
The photos below show the F-84 being moved to our work area in March. The second is work in progress early in the effort and the third was taken this afternoon.
While we were working yesterday morning a local based OH-6A was skittering about the airport. Kind of an interesting warbird! The evening before it had been part of a "heritage" type flight for a group of veterans. That flight also included a friends Staggerwing! When the Loach was flying Tuesday it even carried a mini-gun.
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:39 pm
What!?! no grenades strung through the rings on safety wire from the edge of the panel to the door hinge point?
You really are making significant progress on the '84, it's a daunting task-congratulations on your progress
You really are making significant progress on the '84, it's a daunting task-congratulations on your progress
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:47 pm
The Inspector wrote:What!?! no grenades strung through the rings on safety wire from the edge of the panel to the door hinge point?
You really are making significant progress on the '84, it's a daunting task-congratulations on your progress
The grenades went into the one on display inside War Eagles. The mini-gun temporarily came off of the flying one yesterday due to density altitude.
Grenades in the display Loach, though not strung as seemed to be the norm.
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Thu Jul 21, 2011 8:56 pm
Clifford, any new news on the Mustangs flying soon??
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:01 pm
Sorry for intruding all but Clifford where you located? I'd like to take a look at that 84.
Scott
Scott
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:07 pm
steve dickey wrote:Clifford, any new news on the Mustangs flying soon??
Nothing yet Steve. Both P-51s are in great shape, but any plans are outside of my knowledge.
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:09 pm
cco23i wrote:Sorry for intruding all but Clifford where you located? I'd like to take a look at that 84.
Scott
Scott, I live in El Paso, but the Sled is located at the Santa Teresa, NM airport (5T6).
Re: F-84F Work. We will paint someday!
Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:37 pm
OUTSTANDING! That is one sweet airplane!
Scott
Scott