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Painting Perferated Steel Plates (PSP) Question

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Iam@the.computer - 14 Nov 2007 02:04 GMT
I picked up a display base that is a runway made of Perforated Steel Plates
(PSP). Anyone have any info on how they were painted? I did the usual google
search and came up empty (lots of pictures of it). Any info on this would be
greatly appreciated.
willshak - 14 Nov 2007 02:51 GMT
on 11/13/2007 9:04 PM Iam@the.computer said the following:
> I picked up a display base that is a runway made of Perforated Steel Plates
> (PSP). Anyone have any info on how they were painted? I did the usual google
> search and came up empty (lots of pictures of it). Any info on this would be
> greatly appreciated.
>  
Do you mean Marston mats? I don't know that they were painted at all.
They just looked like a dull steel grey and probably blackened by
oxidation.

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Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
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someone@some.domain - 14 Nov 2007 04:33 GMT
>on 11/13/2007 9:04 PM Iam@the.computer said the following:
>> I picked up a display base that is a runway made of Perforated Steel Plates
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>They just looked like a dull steel grey and probably blackened by
>oxidation.

they must have had something on them. otherwise they would have gotten rust
colored in a hurry. perhaps a good coat of cosmoline.
thelaws - 14 Nov 2007 15:52 GMT
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>>on 11/13/2007 9:04 PM Iam@the.computer said the following:
>>> I picked up a display base that is a runway made of Perforated Steel
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> rust
> colored in a hurry. perhaps a good coat of cosmoline.

It would be pretty exciting landing a P-47 or the like if  the PSP were
coated eith cosmoline. Skidddddddddddd. Pete
someone@some.domain - 14 Nov 2007 16:08 GMT
there were thinner forms than the grease. it could even be sprayed, sez my
uncle who mothblled stuff after ww2.
Pat Flannery - 14 Nov 2007 20:34 GMT
> It would be pretty exciting landing a P-47 or the like if  the PSP were
> coated eith cosmoline. Skidddddddddddd. Pete
>  

What was really supposed to suck is if it got hit by bombs, mortars, or
artillery fire... then it rose up in razor-sharp shards that could shred
tires or people that came in contact with it.
There's photos of doing repair work on it after a attack here:
http://www.daveswarbirds.com/cactus/photo9.htm
I don't know what year this is from, but here aluminum mat is being put
in place:
http://www.combatreform2.com/layingAM2matting1.jpg
If nothing else, that would solve any corrosion problems.

Pat
Pat Flannery - 14 Nov 2007 10:07 GMT
> Do you mean Marston mats? I don't know that they were painted at all.
> They just looked like a dull steel grey and probably blackened by
> oxidation.

If they are oxidizing they seem to be doing it toward a yellow shade
rather than blackish or orange rust.
Were they anodized or coated somehow to prevent rust?

Pat
willshak - 14 Nov 2007 15:11 GMT
on 11/14/2007 5:07 AM Pat Flannery said the following:

>> Do you mean Marston mats? I don't know that they were painted at all.
>> They just looked like a dull steel grey and probably blackened by
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Pat

I don't know, but any coating would be worn off pretty quickly by
aircraft tires. These were just for temporary runways, and weren't
expected to last more than a few years, so I don't think that they would
go to any extra expense for long term use.

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Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

Pat Flannery - 14 Nov 2007 20:19 GMT
> I don't know, but any coating would be worn off pretty quickly by
> aircraft tires. These were just for temporary runways, and weren't
> expected to last more than a few years, so I don't think that they
> would go to any extra expense for long term use.

Like most government contracted stuff, they seem to have been way
overbuilt, considering there still appears to be huge numbers of the
plates being used for odds and ends across the Pacific.
I could see simply dipping them in zinc chromate paint for corrioson
protection, or zinc anodizing them in the later version like shown in
the surplus items sale that only has a few of the holes going through
the plate (that's apparently later Vietnam-era PSP)
Some more goodies on it here:
http://www.g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=38645&highlight=
Including this:
"Mats, airplane, landing...geez we bought a lot of this stuff in three forms
Aluminum alloy, pierced plank 17,819,000 square feet.
Steel, pierced plank 702,398,000 square feet
Welded wire fabric type 123,131,000 square feet."
and this:
"Quite a bit of the matting we pulled up from Gurney was in as new
condition with little or no rust. The metal was actually still shiny.
Unfortunately both my camera and video recorder buggered up form the
humidity and moisture there and I never got any pics of it. I have never
seen rain as heavy as it rained in Alotau."
That makes it sound unpainted, though possibly anodized against rust.

Pat
Bruce Burden - 14 Nov 2007 03:50 GMT
: I picked up a display base that is a runway made of Perforated Steel Plates
: (PSP). Anyone have any info on how they were painted? I did the usual google
: search and came up empty (lots of pictures of it). Any info on this would be
: greatly appreciated.

    From the photos I have seen, I am not certain that they were
   painted. I expect the pilots didn't really care one way of the
   other - bare steel or painted, they were likely as slick as a
   greased pig when wet, and I can't see a fricton cloating lasting.

    At any rate, I expect that they quickly became the color of
   the ground they rested on, so I'd finish them that color (mud,
   coral, etc).

    Make a few areas where the PSP is fairly new (lightly oxidized)
   when repairs were made (bombs, ground settling, etc) and you should
   be good.

                            Bruce
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Pat Flannery - 14 Nov 2007 10:04 GMT
> I picked up a display base that is a runway made of Perforated Steel Plates
> (PSP). Anyone have any info on how they were painted? I did the usual google
> search and came up empty (lots of pictures of it). Any info on this would be
> greatly appreciated.
>  

The other name for it is Marsden (or Marston) Matting.
This Wikipedia article's photo makes it look like it's a yellowish zinc
chromate color:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marston_mats
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Marsden_matting_Alexai_Point_Attu_Island_Alas
ka.jpg

This set looks more like raw steel, after a lot of years aging:
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/png/tadji/2003/tadji-marston-runway.jpg
...as do these Vietnam photos:
http://www.usmcpress.com/heritage/1960svietnam/past51.htm
http://www.usmcpress.com/heritage/1960svietnam/past11.htm
Here's a good close-up of some aged WWII era stuff:
http://www.guadalcanal.homestead.com/files/s_Airfield_marston_matting__Pagoda_HI
ll_area.JPG

Here's a pig pen made from surplus WW II era stuff:
http://marshall.csu.edu.au/Marshalls/html/atolls/Atoll_Images/Mejatto/Mejatto_PS
P_Fence.jpg

That looks sort of like faded zinc chromate again.

Pat
Iam@the.computer - 14 Nov 2007 12:55 GMT
Wow, your search talents are much better then mine. I did not know they were
also called Marston Matting. Looks like I will just weather like a tank
tread. Thanks a bunch for the assist/info.
Pat Flannery - 14 Nov 2007 19:59 GMT
> Wow, your search talents are much better then mine. I did not know they were
> also called Marston Matting. Looks like I will just weather like a tank
> tread. Thanks a bunch for the assist/info.
>  

Go down to item 3 on this page: http://whiteowl.com/miscellaneous.html  :-)
In that version, only a few holes completely pierce the plate.

Pat
 
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