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NEWS | Aug. 5, 2024

Shop 71 turns unique painting project into fun training opportunity

By Max Maxfield, PSNS & IMF Public Affairs

A team of painters at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility recently stripped and repainted a Tiger mini-truck for Code 710, Special Projects, in order to save the command time and money.

The four-person team from Shop 71, Painters, Blasters and Tile Setters, repainted the mini-truck for Code 710, instead of PSNS & IMF paying a commercial auto refinishing company to do the work.

According to Aaron Sewell, supervisor, Shop 71, the project not only saved the command money, it also provided a training opportunity for the painters.

“This is the first time we have had the opportunity to paint something that isn’t meant to go in the water,” said Sewell. “It was a chance to teach a few painters to work with coatings that we do not commonly use in the shipyard, and it helped prepare them for any fine finishing jobs they will come across in the future.”

Sewell said the most challenging part of the two-week project was disassembly and rust removal.

“We removed all the lights and trim from the vehicle,” he said. “We then completely stripped all the paint and removed rust from the entire truck.

Sewell said the team is proud of the work they did on the truck.

“We changed the color from silver to yellow, to match the Lifting and Handling group’s color scheme,” he said. “The project provided the painters with a unique training opportunity. It is also a bit of a morale booster when you get to see your work driving down Farragut.”