Painterchick asked what color the hull is.......

[Mike Thurman]

Back in those days most guys did not paint the boats. They were mostly just steelflex finish. Most were white steelflex. They make a neutural steelflex that you can add a variety of pigment colors Bud's boat looks to me to just have a steelflex finish that has the green pigment added. My dad Gary tells me storys of the first time he painted one of his airboats. He was like everybody else that was hunting at the time...just steelflex. When he got a little more serious about Airboat building for a living he built a ride boat and painted and chromed it up to advertise himself and stand out in the crowd. He said all his hunting buddies kind of laughed at him and said where do you think you are taking that shiny thing???? each boat from there got nicer and nicer and the rest is history. Now if you don't have a shiny chromed out ride they laugh at you. Funny how you see times change.

 

[painterchic]

Thanks Mike! I kind of took a stab at the color myself on the painting, and that was kind of the color I guessed it was, but a confirmation always helps! I've got the boat itself almost done with the exception of the engine, all the pictures I have are from the other side, and knowing that engines aren't the same on both sides, I'm having to guess at that as well.... but I'll fudge something in there that might look like an engine of some sort...lol I'll just have to make the prop a little bigger to hide it!

painterchic