By Senior Airman Dillon White, 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs Office
/ Published April 16, 2009
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --
The 341st Logistic Readiness Squadron allied trades shop staff towed a freshly-painted 1963 Dodge Power-Wagon response ambulance onto the Malmstrom Museum's Air Park April 10.
The ambulance, which has been on display at the air park since 1985, was returned after more than 160 man hours of disassembly, sanding, masking and painting.
"When they brought it back, I thought, 'Wow!'" said Curt Shannon, Malmstrom museum director. "They did an awesome job on it."
Estimates to have the ambulance's paint job redone downtown were between $4,000 and $6,000, but the allied trades shop staff provided their labor and skills for free. The Air Force "Strato Blue" paint, clear coat, primer, sand paper and other supplies cost slightly more than $1,400.
The team also re-covered the seats, added new vinyl lettering, buffed the chrome, repainted the rims and floor boards, and cleaned the tires.
"We picked it up from the museum in September, and worked on it off-and-on when we had the chance," said Master Sgt. Michael Langley, 341st LRS NCO in charge of the allied trades shop. "About 80 percent of that time was spent sanding. The prep work is the key to a good paint job. It was time consuming, but enjoyable and everyone did a good job."
The four-stretcher ambulance's faded paint job was peeling in spots, exposing bare metal to the elements. The automotive doctors also had to re-repair several dents that had been "bandaged," but not "treated" properly.
"When we started sanding it, we saw different areas that had been fixed before," said Tech. Sgt. Shane Jackson, 341st LRS assistant NCO in charge of allied trades.
"[Body filler] had been used just to fill dents and they were not pulled out. So we pulled the dents out and fixed them right."
Dave Marzolf, 341st LRS mobile equipment metal mechanic, and dent "surgeon," smoothed out the dents with a body hammer, and the crew laid a thinner layer of body-filler compound to fill minor imperfections, Sergeant Jackson said.
Whether the allied trade's staff is restoring a classic, or repairing a HUMVEE, the jobs all have one thing in common, "You still have to sand and get dirty," he said.
What the vehicles did not have in common, was the amount of attention-to-detail the ambulance required, including the removal of the white backgrounds and red crosses, that had to be completely remapped and re-applied, said Duane Bolender, 341st LRS mobile equipment metal mechanic.
The four-man crew also had to completely remove paint from around every rivet on the ambulance with wire wheels. This was necessary to avoid blemishes in the paint near the rivets, Sergeant Langley said.
In all, the team "administered" two gallons of "Strato Blue" base coat, and two gallons of clear coat, to their "patient." The clear coat was not used on the ambulances when they were in service, but it was added to protect the base coat from ultra-violet rays that make colors fade.
"It looks better now than it did when it was new," Sergeant Jackson said. "It feels good to know that when people look at the ambulance, they see something that I did, and put a lot of effort into. I hope they like what they see."
The 219th RED HORSE Squadron also pitched in by loaning the restoration crew a scaffolding to stand on while sanding the roof. To help them paint the vehicle's roof, the 341st Civil Engineer Squadron supplied them with a scissor jack.
To see the ambulance up close, the Malmstrom Museum is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The museum is open to the public, and non-military visitors are asked to inquire at the base visitor control center at the 2nd Ave. North gate.
The museum is also in need of volunteers, preferably retirees, who can spend three hours at a time sharing their love and knowledge of the Air Force with museum patrons. To volunteer, contact Curt Shannon at 731-2705.