Tank Restoration Facility Update

Our M48A2 AVLB chassis is nearly done with repairs and sand blasting. Next it’s moving to the paint booth for a special paint scheme. The two halves of the bridge (stored outside) will occupy the blast boot next. The paint color will be Gray Desert, which incorporates a mix of colors like Sand and Field Drab taking up 90% of the canvas, and Earth Yellow with Black covering the last 10%. It will be in the paint booth next with the tedious task of taping what will not be painted as well as chalking the patterns for colors.

In May, the shop supported the Veterans Fair sponsored by NMMV with two Leopard I Tanks, two Half-tracks, two Dodge Command Cars, and one M135 6x6 truck for display and rides for the public.

This 4th of July we drove 24 tracked and wheeled military vehicles through the crowd lined streets of Dubois. We entered 25 vehicles but one decided at the last minute it wasn’t ready for prime time and had to be pulled. It was a very successful show of the team’s hard work over the winter/spring months.

We’ve made significant progress on the M4A2 Sherman project with the installation of various components inside the hull and turret. Great work was done on the driver’s instrument panel install as well as the wet storage ammo racks. And in the turret, we have the radios and most electrical components mocked in for identification of wires and cabling that will need repaired or rebuilt.