FNV15 - Viking In Its Prime(r)!
The title says it all! The pictures below form a short visual summary of the work we did with filler and primer to prepare FNV15 for re-painting.
1. The
first picture in this short tour shows a front view, with the minor damage to
the front near-side corner filled, sanded and primed. Patch priming of repairs
was all that was necessary for most of the Viking, as the black paint on the
body was mainly intact, with only a buffing of the surface and some sanding of
wrinkles, lumps and bumps needed to get it ready for the undercoating stage.
2. A
wobbly shot of the off-side, with more priming visible. The relief band round
the middle of the bus had already been tackled and has actually reached the
undercoat stage, as we were keen (perhaps desperate) to break the monotony of
all-over black! A sidelight was still to be replaced at this point.
3. Unlike
many enthusiasts, I don't restrict myself to filming or photographing just the
front of buses (which can is a problem when you are trying to restore one and
you don't know all the livery and insignia details!). This picture however shows
why people prefer the front, as this isn't a pretty sight! Surely the back will
look a bit better in Ayres Red?
4. Round
to the near-side, showing more patches of gray primer, and also the brown
special metals primer on the lower bodyside door, which is shown more closely in
the next vsnap.
5. The last vsnap in this set shows a
closer view of the lower near-side bodyside door. The original door was in such
a poor condition when we got the Viking that we ended up replacing it entirely,
and thus needed to prime the new bare aluminium with an appropriate primer. FNV15
was now ready to be undercoated...
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