1944 C-15A-Wire-5 Restoration

[Robert Bergeron]

Jordan , i think that you are spot on ! Thanks.

Satchel, Signals, Canadian X 2.

The shelf is small and thin and my bet is it can't support anything heavier than the Satchel Signals..including the headsets and microphone it should contain.

Today, ladies and gentlemen , boys and girls ( i am a Canadian Snowbirds fan ) i went for it and applied the first coat of white paint.

I am pretty happy with the results. Even with just a first coat , it hides the imperfections quite well and it lightens up the interior of the box !

I dismantled the blackout curtains holders and tomorrow i am bringing the curtains themselves to a friend who makes house curtains as a profession. They are 18' wide and that is not standard nowadays so i need someone who knows his business and Michel is my man.

I left the small shelves discussed higher with Jordan in grey for now . I will further my research to inquire if they were painted white.

How about the Cypher clerk's document holder / file shelf under his desk ? How about the smell shelf on the left side of the generator cabinet ? The fire extinguiser brackets ? Were they all painted white ?

Enjoy the pictures.

Tomorrow, a second and final coat of white on the interior.

So stay tuned , same time same channel.

[Robert Bergeron]

Friends,

I applied a second and final coat of white paint inside the box. I painted the floor battleship gray. It is a poetic liberty on my part and not original to my knowledge .

I have lived with battleship gray on warships , aircraft and helicopter decks most of my active life . Also in offices and barracks. So i painted my Wire 5 floor a comforting , easy to maintain colour .

I ordered 5 blackout curtains to be made up as the originals, black on both sides.

When i come back from my latest stint , i will sandblast , prime and paint the curtain holders while the curtains are being made . They should be delivered after the holidays .

So, a little break from the restoration for a few days. Your comments and remarks are always welcome but i will but cut out from civy Internet for a few days and i will be reading your posts over the week -end.

I will also inventory my wireless 19 kit over the week end to see what's missing before installation of a working setup in the box . I look forward driving the rig with full operational gear in the spring.

[David Dunlop]

It might have been a guess on your part, Robert, but grey paint on the floor is correct for colour. The original was actually a textured paint to provide a grip on the steel floor. The paint covered the full floor, up to but not including the sill plate underneath the rear door. The sill plate was green like the rear door and the four sets of window fittings. The only other colour inside was the seat assemblies and all the khaki straps on the shelving.

As for the shelving inside the 2K1 and 2K2 bodies, I am not aware of any of it ever being stencilled/designated for specific items. These are soft skin vehicles. For lack of a better description, they are much more 'casual' than AFV's. They are not part of the front line fighting. In an AFV, spare parts and ammunition must be consistently located in familiar positions when needed. The combat capability of the vehicle and the lives of the crew depend on this consistency.

In these wireless boxes, apart from a handful of items that actually do have specific storage points, they were designed to be flexible and each crew probably set the storage up with a fair degree of personal preference for what worked for them best.

David

[chris vickery]

A little fine sand thrown into the paint would get you the gritty texture as per original.

[super dave]

I thought I would share some pictures of a friends wire truck as I believe it is quite complete and original and might help you out with your restoration

[super dave]

a few more

[super dave]

And some more