Tank
I had the tank sand blasted to remove all the old paint and filler. Surprisingly it wasn't in that bad a condition, but it did need quite a few dents knocked out. Luckily it was quite rust free, just a few pin holes at the back
Even though there was very little rust in the tank I still decided to give it a Por15 tank sealing. After doing a lot of web searching about tank sealers it was evident that most people considered this the best product
Prior to adding the Por15, the preparation must be quite meticulous. Especially the fact that the tank must be bone dry before adding the resin coating. It's a good idea to make sure the wife is not around when you are using her hair dryer!!!
After quite a lot of preparation I added to the tank the Por15 resin. The preparation takes some time and it's important to stick exactly to the guide lines so that the coating will not fail.
This is the Por15 coating after it has dried. The speckle pieces are aluminum dust that is in the resin. This dust helps to block any pinholes that may be in the tank. It also helps to fill any deeper depressions from the rusted areas inside the tank.
Doesn't look so good !!!
Even though I beat out most of the dents it still needed a skim of filler to fill any depression. The metal is quite black because I coated the outside surface with a solution of phosphoric acid to kill any rust on the outside and provide a protective coating under the paint.
Prior to all this preparation I fabricated a new hinge and welded that into position. When I got the tank the hinge was missing, you can see that on the first picture of this page
Starting to look a little better, with a couple of coats of Polyurethane primer.
The final sanding of the primer before the color coat is added.
The finished painted tank, I think it looks good. The beauty about 2 PAC polyurethane paint is that it doesn't need any finishing after the paint has dried. The only problem is that it contains carciogenics so one must use a good mask when applying the paint
Just another shot of the finished tank
When I was at Veterama in 2004 I met a guy from Berlin that did professional tank striping. He was kind enough to let me have a go and show me the technique involved. It looks easy but it isn't. I still wouldn't trust myself to stripe my own tank, I don't know what I'll do……maybe offer him a holiday on Santorini if he brings his brush and paint along ;-)