FINALLY Shot the cabin area with Aerothane

[Jim Herpst]

Jim, do you have this 1941 Deluxe brouchure that shows these colors? Unfortunally it doesn't define what they are but shows the 5 color combos. (of course they don't name them).
Mark

Mark,

No I do not have that chart nor know the matched colors in today's realm. Great find you have though! 1941 was definitely the zenith for Taylorcraft followed by 1945 where the left over major parts were continued being used as they were already produced. Mine is an early 1946 and the colors I am using are more from the emotion of days past. All fun stuff!

[Hank Jarrett]

I have a list of the colors and which ones were paired up. I was most interested in the Taylorcraft Ivory, the Dark Newport Metallic Blue and the Taylorcraft Maroon and have researched those to try to find the exact colors. FIRST! Randolph claims Taylorcraft Ivory was the same as their current Diana Cream. IT IS NOT!!!! Not even close. I have found several pieces of original cotton fabric from multiple planes in different parts of the county, each stored in different ways that ALL are still the same match to each other.

Taylorcraft Ivory is an amazingly stable color and I have samples of it that I gave to Stewart's Systems for them to hopefully make available again.

I have several different samples of old fabric and parts with the Newport Metallic Blue, which should be understood that "Metallic" in the 1940s was NOT the same as Metallic now. Metallic then was very high gloss. It DID NOT have metal flake in it or pearlescence. Unfortunately the blue color did age and slightly changed colors over time, especially if exposed to a lot of sun light. I am not sure exactly what the color looked like when new but the samples are very close to each other and have to be laid right next to each other to tell there is a difference.

The Maroon was the worst color to work with. Even with no sun exposure it tended to dull from a vibrant maroon to a dull Ox Blood reddish brown. This is where I may have gotten very lucky. Taylor got the color from Studebaker since it was a very popular color on their cars. It was matched to the Maroon Leatherette used on their interiors. The Studebaker restorers are even crazier than we are and they found that when Leatherette manufacture was stopped it was overtaken by Naugahyde and that color was matched to the Leatherette which matched the paint. That Naugahyde color is still made and the Studebaker restorers say that it is the correct color for the 1940s cars. I have had Maroon paint computer mixed to match the Naugahyde and it is indeed a BEAUTIFUL color, which I made spray out cards with and also passed to Stewart's.

I haven't done any research on the white or black (yes, white and black are actually made up of MANY different colors!) "White" and "Black" are NOT just white and black, but those colors were just used as accent stripes.

Other Taylorcraft colors at the time were Silver (aluminum dope), Yellow (I have no samples of which yellow was used but there area LOT of yellows!) and Vermilion (which is normally a bright orange red which I have never seen on a Taylorcraft. I "suspect" that it was actually a bright dark red and the name Vermilion sounded better than "red")

Standard color layouts were "Duotone" style with the light color on top and the darker on the bottom. Combinations advertised for Deluxe planes were Ivory and Metallic Blue, Ivory and Metallic Maroon, Vermilion and Black, Yellow and Black, and Yellow and Metallic Blue. A contrasting black or white stripe separated the colors on the fuselage.

They also sold planes in Metallic Blue for the fuselage and Aluminum/silver or yellow wings.

There were several different ways the divide line between the top fuselage and bottom colors were masked and back in the 70s I had an opportunity to talk to a painter who worked at Taylorcraft after WW-II and asked him why old photos looked different. He said as long as the paint layout was the same on both sides the company didn't care. It was all about how the painter laid out the tape. It could end at the bottom of the fin post, pass across the fin post around where the rudder arms were and then either go straight across the rudder or curve down. No one seemed to care as long as it was the same on both sides. Same for the wing leading edges. Some went straight out to the tip, some curved back at the tip to the wing tip light and some curved all the way back to the end of the tip rib. No one cared as long as both sides were the same! The guy was a real hoot! He was amazed that anyone even noticed. Lots of differences in how the lines were laid out on the boot cowl too!

Anyone have any old pieces of cotton fabric to try and determine what those other colors actually were? If you do, it is important to know how and where the fabric was stored. There is a huge difference in how a piece that spent 80 years in a hot barn or in sunlight will fade out and a chunk your grandmother had in her jewelry chest for 80 years. Except for the reds. I don't know if there IS a way to store reds that they won't fade out!

[Jim Herpst]

H bar about to go back in after rebuild and paint. Rudder bars back in as well as fuel shutoff. . Door frame and top frame are next to install

[Scott]

Not too late to put some anti-slip granules on the rudder pedals. Mask off a 1/2" tall strip accross each pedal brush or spray one coat of urathane, add the granules and spray two more coats at the regular interval.

The paint on the pedals will last longer and more importantly you'll feel sure-footed. Not a bad feeling to have in a Talorcraft.
S

[Jim Herpst]

Thank you for the thought Scott!

[Hank Jarrett]

There are actually two different types of coatings. One is Anti-Slip and the other is Anti-Skid. I can't remember which is which but one is a paint like material with grit in it that we used on deck surfaces in the Navy and the other is a tape material that can be pulled from a roll, pealed off and stuck down to a surface. The tape one is very easy to use and comes in all different sizes including strips about one inch wide that work well on rudder pedals. The advantage is if you can get your head and hands into the foot well the tape ones can be put on without the mess or masking. Your plane is still wide open so either one would work well for yours. If someone wants to put it on a flying plane the tape works much better unless you are "size challenged" but in that case neither method is easy. We operated jets and tow vehicles on the paint product and used the tape on lots of ladders (stairs) on the ships. Both were very durable.

Hank

[Jim Herpst]

Good info on the anti slip stuff!

All said doubtful that for now I will be using anything. If ..should I say when the paint comes off and begins to look seedy then it will be the grip tape that is applied.

I do not recall foot slippage being an issue in the 200 hours in Taylorcrafts. Our pedals also were thoughtfully designed (as was the whole plane!) with the sides to them as well

Again I always APPRECIATE comments that are wanting to help. For that I am eternally grateful. Doing this all alone would be a nightmare!