The vehicle is the liquid portion in a paint. It wetsthe surface being painted, penetrates into the pores, andensures adhesion. Until recently, the base of most paintswas oil, such as linseed oil, but few paints today containoils. Some have vehicles of processed oils incombination with synthetic resins; others have vinylchlorinated bases that are quick drying.To add to the drying properties of paint, certainmetallic compounds, called driers, are added to thepaint. When mixed with oil, they act as conveyers ofoxygen, which they take from the air and add to the oil,speeding up the drying process.Thinners are used for thinning the paint to theproper degree for spraying, brushing, or rolling. Theyalso increase the penetration of the paint into the surfaceand cut down the gloss. Too much thinner affects thedurability of the paint. The most common type ofthinner is made of mineral spirits, but the proper type touse depends on the paint base. Never use diesel oil orkerosene to thin paint.Types of PaintPaints are of many different kinds, and the Navyconstantly works and experiments to improve them.As a result, you are provided the best paints availablefor the type of surface to be covered. Most Navypaints are named according to color and/or use, suchas exterior gray deck and pretreatment coating(primers).PRIMERS.—Primers are base coats of paint thatstick firmly to bare woods and metals, providing asmooth surface for finishing coats. They also serve toseal the pores, and those applied on steel are rustinhibitors as well.A minimum of two coats of primer should alwaysbe used after the surface is cleaned down to the baremetal. A third coat should be added at all outsidecorners and edges. At least 8 hours of drying timeshould be allowed between primer coats.SYNTHETIC PAINTS.—Synthetic resincoatings, such as epoxies, urethanes, and inorganiczinc, are used for areas subject to severe service orexposure, such as bilges, tanks, and decks. The basecoating is mixed with a converter (hardener) to cure orharden the paint film.EXTERIOR PAINTS.—Vertical surfaces abovethe upper limit of the boot topping (waterline area,painted black) are given two coats of haze gray.Horizontal surfaces are painted with exterior deck gray(darker than haze gray) except the underside of deckoverhangs, which are painted white.A nonskid deck paint is used on main walkways,flight decks, and hangar decks. It contains a smallamount of pumice, which helps to give a better footing.Top-hamper areas subject to discoloration from smokeand stack gases and the tops of stacks are painted black.INTERIOR PAINTS.—Depending on the use ofindividual compartments, several colors are authorizedor prescribed for interior bulkheads, decks, andoverheads.The choice of colors for berthing, messing, andrecreation spaces usually is left to the individual ship.All other shipboard spaces are painted the colorprescribed by the Naval Sea Systems Command. Deckpaint colors, for example, are dark green in the ward-room and officers’ quarters, dark red in machineryspaces, and light gray in enlisted personnel livingspaces.Some common bulkhead colors are green foroffices, radio rooms, the pilothouse, and medicalspaces; gray for the flag plot, the combat informationcenter, and the sonar control room; and white for store-rooms and sanitary and commissary spaces. Overheadcolors are either the same as the bulkhead or white.18-13Student Notes:
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