From: Ron (rojoha@comcast.net)
Date: Wed Mar 03 2004 - 09:45:19 PST
DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!! DANGER!!!
For those of you STILL not using version 7.03.001.553A, build 6 of
'Ronzo the Jerk' blocker software, hit 'DELETE' now.
You have been warned....
Everyone has an opinion here, and like reality, no two are alike, or
for that matter, correct.
Jim is claiming that his research and what he has found after years of
searching for the Holy Grail of the OD Paint color/tint/shade is such and
such due to regs, specs., standards, etc. and are therefore uniform and
unbending. As long as you are talking factory fresh, controlled, peacetime,
we got all the time in the world, new manufacture conditions with end of the
line government acceptance inspectors, he might be correct.
Doc and others claim from experience that they have seen, experienced,
done otherwise, causing such and such. I personnally work for a defense
contractor who makes radars and Surface to Air missile sysems and components
that has great big paint shops and booths at our plant that shoot a final,
uniform color over all those components sent to us by other government
certified contractors who use the same MILSPEC coatings we supposedly do,
but don't quite seem to match when they all get bolted together. Ever seen a
60' x 100' x 35' high 'touch up' booth? We got one. Go figure... (In the
good old days {pre surveillance cameras and VTRs}, in the old plant, the
paint shop crews would paint your car on 2nd and 3rd shift for a case of
beer, start to finish, in an hour and half, including taping, prime shot
and a quick pass through the environmental chamber/drying oven set on 1400
hrs, July, Saudi . Several late '50s and early '60s era Chevrolets and Ford
sedans were present in the plant parking lots into the mid 70's in either
spiffy USMC semi-gloss green or Army OD, dependent on what the contartct was
at the time. Of course, if you brought in your own paint, they would use
that also. But that took two cases of beer due to clean up time. That green
had a certain panache, though....)
This started out rather benignly with an innocent question regarding the
proper color for painting of a list members truck. But like so many things
on the list of late, it turns into MAD as we stake out our turf and start
marking trees.
I learned a long time ago the road to hell is paved with good
intentions. But what the heck, it's not that I like, payed all that much to
attention in school anyways .... So, for your edification and savage
amusement, I present the following link to "Finger Painting 101 and How IT
was done during the 1st Invitational Persian Gulf Games". Remember, this
was a modern, jet transport, Fed Ex, no holds barred, no expense spared
operation with instantaneous sattelite communications and emails zipping
back and forth at just under the speed of light, unlike the former games
held in Viet Nam, Korea or War II where queries sent to the head shed took
weeks to be answered via telegram or couriers on flying boats.
It is quite entertaining, vis a vis this subject. Read the sections
about how the paint was applied, first going to the Sand Tan (which varied
in shade due to formulation changes during the build up) and the professionl
civilian OSHA regulated application crews and techniques used first,
followed by the 1st Army unit tasked to set up a paint operation and then
watch things really go down that slippery slope as the regs and standards
are thrown to the wind and they just have to make the 3 color Woodland
vehicles showing up at the door DT as fast as they can. From sand blasted,
primed prep per spec at 1st, to the reality of war and the "squirt it with
water and maybe some soap and shoot the puppy, we got 60 more trucks to
shoot this afternoon!!" desperation so they can "get some" per Storming
Norman's game plan. A chart in the report shows that as of Feb '91, 8,629
vehicles got painted "over there" ( by type and unit, with typical
government efficency, no less). BTW...did I say there are lots of pictures
and charts and things in the report?
Keep reading the report, and you find in the post game cleanup section,
the specs and standards in the ARs and TMs are first being upheld by the
'desk jockeys' and then ignored as they approched the shipping dates of
the units back state side or Europe. The repaint to standard 3 color
Woodland per the manuals gets chucked to 'Forget the prep steps, just shoot
it '383' and get it on the boat' mentality. Think it might be easier to
shoot 8,000+ vehicles green in the desert than it is to do it in Stuttgart
or Ft. Drum, with all those pesky OSHA inspectors, Haz Mat and Haz Waste
regs, disposal costs and well meaning busy bodies, whistle blowers, EPA and
Green Peace'ers floating around? Not that that would have had anything to
with the decision....Right?
Note the references to the paint shades differing due to evening
humidity, the blowing sand dust, hovering clouds of dried paint mist during
atmospheric inversions and/or due to geographic features, locally purchased
paint thinner due to insufficent availability of quantities of 'proper,
approved' thinner, mixing of different formulations and shades due
availabilty and delivery of paint stocked in wharehouses world wide vs " I
don't care if its Tan 686A or Tan 686 or version II or IV, just pour it in
the bucket so I can finnish the truck! Whatta ya think this is? Maaco? It'll
cover the freakin woodland for crisse sakes....!!!" and approval to use
brushes and ROLLERS!!!!(I wonder if there is AR MILSPEC'd nap length
specified some where? If rollers were OK, could stucco sprayers have been
winked at? Sponges? Definition of when a brush becomes a broom?). And the
383 for the returning trucks got shot right over the peeling, chipping
improperly applied Sand Tan without a qualm. Can you say 'Excingincies of
the Service'? (Heck, I can't even spell it...)
The report is an investigation into CARC paints and is very informative
regarding both to it's perceived and actual hazards. Basically an
"Everything you ever wanted to know about CARC and we weren't afraid to ask"
Government 'we're gonna burn somebody and bore ya to tears' type of report.
Hope you find it interesting.
So, who is to say when and where reality lies when it comes to how and
what your vehicle was really painted over it's life ? Or what is an
offical, sanctioned method? Or, for that matter, what YOU have chosen to
paint it today, as it supposedly looked then, is wrong.....
Not me.
And guys, when ya come right down to it, we're all supposed to be
friends here. C'mon guys. Play nice. Remember, it's supposed to be US
against THEM!!!! Not Us against US...
TTFN, Ron
PS THEM will be defined in another rambling post at a latter date....
Oh Yeah... the link is:
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/carc_paint_ii/index.html
And now, without further delay, go there and click on the
following:
IV. USE OF CARC DURING OPERATIONS DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM
for the application follies.
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