Re: On Topic: Choice of paint used inside S-I stage
- From: Bob the Tomato <bob@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:23:34 GMT
On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:22:18 -0500, Damon Hill
<damon1SIX1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
OM <om@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:7k9d145u2fvlk2e8rjbtmcr41fbudd80u3@xxxxxxx:
On Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:20:52 -0500, Damon Hill
<damon1SIX1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Yellow chromate primer to prevent corrosion of the aluminum?
...This makes sense, as the primer used on a lot of nautical items is
the same type. It does beg the next question as to whether or not the
red/white painting most gantry structures in the early days used was
also of a similar composition to provide the same service.
Might have started out as red and white lead paint, the idea being to
stand out to aircraft.
Well, from what I've seen of the salt haze down there, some daze it's
so thick that everything more than a few miles away turns the same
greyscale and blends together. Besides, I'm pretty sure lead paint
got banned decades ago; seems like even nitrocelluose aircraft paint
won't stand up to that and heavy UV for more than a decade. So, I
dunno what they'd be using now but it seems like you neglect that
stuff for too many years and it all starts to corrode dangerously,
hot-dipped zinc galvanizing or not... Maybe they're using some sort
of thick coat polyurethane or suchlike? There are conversion
coatings that are supposed to bond to corrosion and neutralize it.
Don't get me started on the buzzard droppings. Nasty stuff.
We need a local who actually works onsite; too bad Kim Keller's
moved on. I saw the 'milkstool' up close back in the 70's, but all
I remember it was a thickish grey paint.
The gantry structures are definitely not painted the same as regular
broadcast towers. They are pretty picky about the color and the
stripes. Anything over 200' tall is supposed to be registered,
lighted with beacons/strobes, and painted in seven equal bands of
Aviation Orange / Aviation White (starting and ending in Orange).
It's definitely not the "rust" color that you see in the old Apollo
pad shots. Aviation Orange is quite striking when it's fresh... and
they are picky about how faded it can get before it needs to be
repainted. Since this is a government project, within restricted
airspace, I suspect that they didn't have to comply with the same
rules that everyone else does.
I suspect they picked the right paint for the job. It would need to
be durable, fireproof, corrosion resistant due to the marine
environment, and relatively low maintenance. Probably had lead in it,
at the time.
The yellow paint inside the Saturn stages (oddly enough, I've noticed
that myself) was probably picked for corrosion resistance, no flame
spread, and relatively low mass. They may not have been fussy about
that last one, though. And no cost was too high... just make it
perfect and make it fast. My guess is one of the earlier named zinc
chromates or something similar.
--
Bob the Tomato
.
- References:
- On Topic: Choice of paint used inside S-I stage
- From: OM
- Re: On Topic: Choice of paint used inside S-I stage
- From: Damon Hill
- Re: On Topic: Choice of paint used inside S-I stage
- From: Rand Simberg
- Re: On Topic: Choice of paint used inside S-I stage
- From: Damon Hill
- Re: On Topic: Choice of paint used inside S-I stage
- From: OM
- Re: On Topic: Choice of paint used inside S-I stage
- From: Damon Hill
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