Rehab: a day in the life of a seasonal interpretive Ranger

We've quite a collection of replica projectiles that we use in our school and public programming. Over the years these projectiles - shot, shell, ball, elongated, and cannister, have become pretty beat up through regular use and handling by school kids, rangers, and other visitors.

I thought I'd take some time to inventory what we have on hand and spend a little time and elbow grease to bring this rather dog-eared collection back to its former glory.

Its pretty evident that these old soldiers need some TLC. In addition to the projectiles, the park also has some pretty neat replica ammo crates that these have been stored in. The problem is that they've been banging into each other over the years and all the paint's been chipped off of them.

I brought my tool bag to the park two weeks ago to start the process of rehabilitating our projectile collection. Ranger Hoptak was kind enough to capture the moment with my camera.

The old paint comes off way too easily, seems the manufacturer of these replicas didn't prime them prior to painting (tsk, tsk).



On goes the primer. Ranger Hoptak jocularly commented:
"Pizza box turned red" (apologies to Stephen W. Sears).


Now, all dolled up with two coats of black paint, some of these will have powder bags reattached to the sabots. The bags will be filled with crushed walnut shell for the weight and feel of the real thing. The rehab'd ammo boxes will be lined with high-density foam to keep the projectiles from knocking into one another.



And here's the finished product all ready for the next artillery program at Antietam National Battlefield.

Do join me...

just north of Sharpsburg.

(I'll bring the ammo)

Ranger Mannie