15 detailers and 2 gallons of wax later.... B-24 Liberator "Witchcraft"

[Joe@Superior Shine]

This whole thing started last year when I was out detailing one day and heard the distinctive roar of radial engines over head. I looked up and to my amazement I saw a WWII B24 Liberator!!!!!!!!! My understanding was that there were none in the world that were airworthy.

After a little research I found out that over 18,000 of these aircraft were made during WWII and that the the Collings Foundation flies the worlds last airworthy B24J Liberator.

Recently while on their Facebook page I found out that the Collings Foundation "Wings of Freedom" tour was making it's way to Southern California. Soon after that they posted this photo of their two WWII vintage bombers while in Arizona. You can clearly see that the B-24 is severely oxidized.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/Faded_b-24.jpg

I posted on their page that when it gets here we need to wash and wax it.

About a week later I was onsite at Brackett airport in La Verne, Ca. to welcome the bombers. I made contact with the crew chief Whitney. He allowed me to examine the aircraft closer. The finish needed some love to say the least. I took these pictures on that day.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/faded_d.JPG

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/faded_c.JPG

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/faded_b.JPG

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/faded_e.JPG

I told the crew chief that I could save the finish on the B-24. And asked permission to do so. I told him I thought I could assemble a crew and support to finance the project. He gave me the go-ahead.

I made a few calls and secured the backing of a great long time client of mine Gary Johnson of ACE Clearwater Enterprises in Torrance, Ca. Meguiars offered to donate the materials.

One of the stops during the tour was going to be at the Lyon Museum. We polished two WWII Bombers for them in 2009 so I knew working on the B-24 there should not be a problem. A quick call to my buddy Mark Foster and the location for the project was set.

A few calls later I had secured a team of friends/detailers to perform the work.


The Witchcraft paint restoration project was born!!


http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/medium/witch_logo_small.jpg

[Joe@Superior Shine]

8:00 AM, Thursdays May 9th couldn't have arrived quick enough!! I was very excited to work on "Witchcraft."

Once on site the B-24 people told us that a couple of flights had been booked that morning. They regretfully informed us that we had to wait a few hours before we got started. That news bummed us out but what could we do. We soon where cheered up when we were told that as a thank you for the work we were about to do that we could take a seat on some of the flights that were not full! WHAT!?!?! WHERE THEY KIDDING!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!

Here are a few picks of when I went up.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/fly2.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/photo16.JPG

[Joe@Superior Shine]

Once the we were back on the ground it was time to get to work. The first thing we had to do was to unload the trailer and assemble the scaffolding. We also filled bottles and distributed polishers.

I determined we were goong to use Meguiars #66 Cleaner Wax to clean up the finish on the bomber. Jason Rose recommended we follow #66 with Meguiars D156 Synthetic X-press Wax.



http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/m33.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/Wax_66.JPG

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/d156_a.jpg


I needed a couple of expert bottle fillers and who better than Meguiars Mike Stoops and Jason Rose.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/d156_b.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/d156_c.jpg

After all the equipment and materials were distributed it was time for a quick briefing about safety and our plan of attack to restore the finish.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/m51.jpg

[Joe@Superior Shine]

Our polisher of choice was either a Meguiars G110V2 or an old school Meguiars G100/Porter Cable dual action polishers paired with Meguiars W8006 6 inch yellow polishing pad.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/178913_10151597351379917_1260192253_n.jpg


This poor girl was badly faded so we had our work cut out for us. Some of the crew started on the right wing.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/fade2.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/634.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/3113.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/4j.JPG

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/3311.jpg


Others worked on the fuselage.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/731.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/275.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/2610.jpg

Here Alex is taking extreme care to wax around the names honored on the fuselage.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/303.jpg

This one guy in particular was really happy with his work!

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/3j.JPG

[Joe@Superior Shine]

As the day progressed we worked our way around the aircraft working every square inch with Meguiars M66 Cleaner wax until it was restored to it's deep green color and sealed with a protective barrier of Meguiars D156 Synthetic X-press wax.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/2212.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/269.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/5j.JPG

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/1026.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/1518.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/6j.JPG

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/7j.JPG

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/1226.jpg

[Joe@Superior Shine]

By noon we had one side completed and almost the entire crew was on the left side of the airplane.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/1324.jpg

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/medium/1714.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/1813.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/206.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/1911.jpg

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/1616.jpg

[Joe@Superior Shine]

After a long day and shortly before the sun set we had completed her!! She now wears her Army Air Corps green with pride.

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/WITCHCRAFT_done.JPG

She went from this -

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2121/faded_c.JPG

To this -

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2119/Witchcraft_0285.JPG

The project crew was amazing. All were friends. I had worked with most of them in the past. There is no finer bunch!!

http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/forums/photopost/data/2119/Witchcraft_0293.jpg

My heart felt gratitude goes out to -

Chris Jankowski, Detail2U, Rancho Cucamonga, Ca.
James and Diane Suarse, Comand Detail, Las Vegas, Nv.
Tommy Salazar, Oneway Detailing, Hesperia, Ca.
Luis Rodriguez, Classic Shine, Fullerton, Ca.
Jose Rios, Wax Werkz Detailing, Whittier, Ca.
Mario Asencio, Please Wash Me Detailing, Rancho Santa Margarita, Ca.
Chris Castillo, Castle Tree Photography

And special thanks to -

Gary Johnson, ACE Clearwater Enterprises
Mike Stoops and Jason Rose, Meguiars
Mark Foster, Lyon Air Museum, John Wayne Airport, Santa Ana
Tim Parsons, Mike Price, Listo, of Professional Detailers Inc., Lake Forrest, Ca.
Kevin Brown for providing lunch for the crew.

[gofast908z]

Excellent Joe! What an honor to do that job and the satisfaction at seeing it completed in addition to working on a piece of history!

Thanks for the invite and sorry I couldn't make it, I know everything was planned out very quickly. It would have been fun to work on that and see you and the Megs NXTi crew again.

[hoyt66]

Very cool! Nice work guys

[silverfox]

Fantastic. What an honor to be part of history by restoring that legendary aircraft.

And if anybody still has any reservations about D156, I guess this thread should put that to rest.

Thanks Meguiars and everybody involved in preserving a machine that helped the greatest generation preserve our freedom.

[sproketser]

Gee , it must have been lots of work ! 1st time I see a thread like this one !

Great work to your team !

[Evan.J]

Wow Joe what a project! Very cool and a great crew you had there. Amazing work as always!

[dooyaunastan]

Easily one of the coolest projects I've seen on the site so far, and incredible work to show with it too, great job and two thumbs up to everybody involved, seriously cool stuff right there.

[Edse30]

Just WOW! what an awesome project you guys had and great results! Hit me up next tike and I'd be happy to make the trip!

[Sizzle Chest]

Incredible! Awesome job and way to go!