Military-Vehicles: Re: [MV] Radioactive

Re: [MV] Radioactive

Gordon.W.I. McMillan (gwim2@student.open.ac.uk)
Wed, 29 Oct 1997 07:37:00 +0100

Hi Chaz, I just wouldn't sleep with your head on the speedo ! All
the U.S. instruments that were 'luminous' were painted with Radium for
the markings. Typically this would just be the convoy speeds and not
every single number. Amount of emitted radiation is quite low
(considering) as the mass of Radium is too. I remember a BBC / WGBH TV
programme not too long ago about the 'Radium Dial Co' where women were
working with the stuff all day every day, with predictably tragic
results, remember this was pre-Hiroshima, and public knowledge of the
stuff was quite low.

When I restore U.S. instruments I use Humbrol phosphorescent paint
paint to touch-in the markings that should be luminous. This paint
stores light energy when in daylight and releases it again when in
dark. Unlike the original paint it 'runs down' several hours after
dark, but at least it isn't radioactive. Gordon 8-)

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