Well done, Michael! I love the look. What I think Bernie meant by the skin removal comment was that extremely rough military paint finishes CAN be so rough they can actually be a little painful if you scraped it with your hand/arm. The new finish that came on our M1 tanks is/was like that. It actually feels about as rough as Crocus cloth, which is an extremeley fine type of sandpaper. It can be uncomfortable. I have actually scraped body parts (on the NEW paint on a vehicle) and drawn a little blood! It is TOUGH! I have seen our tanks after having been hit by machine gun bullets that didn't even take off the paint! It just left a little mark. Of course, sometimes it would chip the top layer of "CARC" paint, but generally not the undercoat paint down to bare metal.
Here's an exerpt of the description of CARC paint(s) from the "e-reg coatings" website:
"These products are used extensively on military vehicles, communications systems, weaponry and all ancillary equipment. The coating produces a non-porous surface that impedes chemical, radioactive and biological contaminants from penetrating the paint and base materials. The CARC finish resists chemical attack from the aggressive cleaning detergents used for decontamination of the equipment." By the way, CARC stands for "chemical agent resistant coating."
Now here's probably more than anyone ever wanted to know about rough finish paint! LoL! Again, Great Job on a VERY interesting & famous aircraft.
