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We had a very unique opportunity last week to work with a group of highly skilled and highly regarded detailers on a project headed up by Joe Fernandez of Superior Shine. Meguiar's supplied all the material to correct the badly faded paint on this wonderful old bird, along with some extra manpower in the form of Jason Rose and myself. It truly was an honor to work on this beautiful piece of history.
Witchcraft, a WWII B-24J Liberator, is the last plane of its type still flying (many more are obviously in various museums). A veteran of 130 combat missions during WWII, Witchcraft has a lot of history. Amazingly, through all those combat missions, Witchcraft never once turned back during a mission and never had any crewman injured or killed. Upon restoration in the 1980's the nose art you see below was recreated by the same man who originally painted it back in the 1940s!
Twin 50 cal machine guns in the nose, in the tail, in the belly, and two more mid fuselage.
In all her glory, ready for us to bring back some luster to the paint.
From just aft of the bomb bay, looking up the catwalk toward the flight deck.
The flight deck itself.
From the flight deck looking back through the bomb bay. The small roundish looking object almost dead center in this image is the belly turret. A crewman would just about curl himself into a ball in order to get inside, then the lid was closed and the turret lowered below the bottom of the fuselage.
A pair of 50 cal machine guns mid fuselage.
Scaffolding up and we're getting to work.
G110v2 buffers, M66 Quick Detailer for correction and D156 to seal the finish.
In this shot you can see the area around the star has been corrected. Remember, this is olive drab (aka military matte green) paint so it's not supposed to be really glossy. But it's also not supposed to be chalky and yellow like you see the rest of plane is.
This is pretty typical of the finish we started with.
And this is what we ended up with.
Working the process.
A big thank you to Joe, Superior Shine, all the detailers who donated their time, as well as Kevin Brown for feeding us, the Collings Foundation for having the foresight to keep this plane flying, and the Lyon Air Museum for allowing us to work on their site.
Witchcraft, a WWII B-24J Liberator, is the last plane of its type still flying (many more are obviously in various museums). A veteran of 130 combat missions during WWII, Witchcraft has a lot of history. Amazingly, through all those combat missions, Witchcraft never once turned back during a mission and never had any crewman injured or killed. Upon restoration in the 1980's the nose art you see below was recreated by the same man who originally painted it back in the 1940s!
Twin 50 cal machine guns in the nose, in the tail, in the belly, and two more mid fuselage.
In all her glory, ready for us to bring back some luster to the paint.
From just aft of the bomb bay, looking up the catwalk toward the flight deck.
The flight deck itself.
From the flight deck looking back through the bomb bay. The small roundish looking object almost dead center in this image is the belly turret. A crewman would just about curl himself into a ball in order to get inside, then the lid was closed and the turret lowered below the bottom of the fuselage.
A pair of 50 cal machine guns mid fuselage.
Scaffolding up and we're getting to work.
G110v2 buffers, M66 Quick Detailer for correction and D156 to seal the finish.
In this shot you can see the area around the star has been corrected. Remember, this is olive drab (aka military matte green) paint so it's not supposed to be really glossy. But it's also not supposed to be chalky and yellow like you see the rest of plane is.
This is pretty typical of the finish we started with.
And this is what we ended up with.
Working the process.
A big thank you to Joe, Superior Shine, all the detailers who donated their time, as well as Kevin Brown for feeding us, the Collings Foundation for having the foresight to keep this plane flying, and the Lyon Air Museum for allowing us to work on their site.
It must have been incredible to work on that plane. Props to everyone who participated, the plane looks amazing. Thanks for the share.
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