[Milsurplus] [ARC5] SCR-183 and -283 junction boxes

[Mike Hanz]

On 8/24/2011 9:02 PM, David Stinson wrote:
> I'm betting it was a "time and materials" thing. Lots of aluminum 
> going to patch-up damage in a hurry means none to spare when something 
> else would do. Plywood was cheap, available and did the job. Good for 
> us, too, since now a nicely varnished plywood junction box is as 
> authentic as an "unobtainium" TM-AE-172. Either way, it leaves open a 
> lot of possibilities as does the plywood decking. One other 
> possibility is they could be subcontracted out to about anyone since 
> it doesn't take that much of a shop to make them.

It's a fair question.  There is an awful lot of aluminum in a B-29, and 
in fact the front flight deck has an aluminum floor while the 
radar/countermeasures deck has a plywood floor - go figure....  Beyond 
the question of design intent, the fact that there are such junction 
boxes in not only the B-29, but a few other aircraft I've crawled 
through, makes them perfectly reasonable for the "completist" journeys 
in our group, at least in my view.  A few strategically placed decals 
from your laser printer and a few truss head screws and it will look 
very retro.  The cover on most of these boxes is 1/4", while the bottom 
and sides are usually made from 1/2" plywood.  BTW, old fashioned 
varnish is getting a little hard to find...everything is polyurethane 
these days.  I had to do quite a bit of searching to find a couple of 
quarts for the plywood floor in the "flight deck".  I have clear 
urethane to put on top of it, but I was looking for the color to be 
right.  On the other hand, there are a lot of junction boxes available 
at the electrical stores, or even Lowes or HD, that would look good with 
a coat of aluminum paint.  Explore the possibilities! :-)

73,
Mike  KC4TOS