GPitts

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Ron,

My step-grandfather's name is Noland Granzow. He piloted a P-38 in camo version againt the Germans in ww2. It would be great if his name would be displayed with that awesome plane of yours.

Btw, when and where are you going to fly the P-38? I assume you will also be filming and taking pictures of the maiden flight. Probably you can ask someone to post the videos and pics on rcwarbirds.com for everyone to see.

-Paul

DPKII

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Metalmorphus,

Truly awesome.

In an earlier post you asked about the bump on top of the canopy. I assumed someone had answered you but in your pictures I see you left it unplated. The bump was a rearview mirror with an aluminum housing. It should be plated and the mirror section should be reflective.

I have a couple P-38 models but I have had to go with a painted aluminum finish. When you get ready to fly her just get a qualified pilot to help. The P-38 is a really great flying aircraft. They are not that difficult to fly as long as you fly them for what they are - A plane with a high wing loading and tapered wings.
I have over 50 flight on one of my 38s without so much as breaking a prop. Of course if, or should I say when an engine quits, treat it like a single engine dead stick. It is possible to bring the good engine back up to stretch the glide but it could bite you.

Keep up the great work,
David

Metalmorphous

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Paul It our honor to add "Noland Granzow" to our list. I want to thank you and Mr Granzow. Building the model was easy compared to how difficult is it to get the names of the 38 pilots, other than the high scoring aces, I have to search out the other pilots. I'm going to try the archives in Washington I think that might be a good place to start but the list is growing. As for when it will be ready to fly , thats a good question, I still have alot of the small things to complete and then I have to run in the engines. Two other obstacles to deal with here are the weather (its be good so far) and time, the shop has filled up with other work[] and I will be on other projects for the next few weeks. I will keep everyone posted and I will get some more pictures up soon.

Thanks again

David actually no one answered so I didn't do anything with it but now that you have cleared this up for me I will remove the glass and plate the bubble. David how was it attached to the frame, I would think that there had to be a support from the frame to the bubble, if so I can add this before I plate it.

Thanks

DPKII

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Metalmorphous,

I am not sure on the attachment method.
There may have been more than one type used. I think some may have attached to the front canopy frame. Some Lightnings didn't have the mirror at all. I will check all my books on the 38 this weekend and see if I can find a good picture.
David

GPitts

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Hey Ron,

My step dad found the old year book of his step dad in the garage somewhere. It has some P-38 pictures and tons of P-38 pilot's names. It has all the names of all the pilots who graduated from Williams Field Arizona Class 43-J on 1943. These are pilots who graduated in the Army Air Forces Pilot School(Advanced Two Engine Classes). It has a date on it that says Nov. 3, 1943. I dont think that these ww2 vets would mind if you display their names with your plane. I'll scan some pictures of the names if you want. There's just too many to type. Also some of the names from an Honor Roll from different classes.

-Paul

Metalmorphous

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Paul that is excellent, please send over the names and we will add them to our growing list, you can use my E-mail address if you like.

Ron

Metalmorphous

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I am looking forward to posting some of the last pictures of the 38 in completed form but for now here is a picture of some of the details

Metalmorphous

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Paul you have mail.

Metalmorphous

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Paul I got your scan and again I thank you

Metalmorphous

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Paul I got your scan and again I thank you

powertoys

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I know your talking models by my uncle James Paige flew P-38's and was in a low to the ground turn when one of his motors sized, and the torque of that seizure caused his plane to crash. He was a little scared from the burns he received, and he told me he owed his life to a supply mess-up. They had inadvertently ordered 50 50gal drums of hydrogen peroxide. They doused his entire body with a few hundred gallons of it to wash out the dirt and help sterilize the wounds. I do remember the story was amazing but the details are foggy as it was told to me a little over 20 years ago.

ramcfarland

My Feedback: (44)

Continues to look fantastic.It is Top Gun material,time again of essence do you have any thought's/offer --->FRANK TIANO where are you<-- to bring it to 'Top Gun 05, providing you get it in the air;if you have not already. If the flying proves reiable you could up set the cart so as to speak at Top Gun I do believe- I have one real concern: what is the running time on your engines,are they reliable??have you "run" them with your beautiful cowls installed;taken any cylinder head temerature readings so far, with the cowls INSTALLED;do you have a back up that you could:break in your twin ZDZ40's,check reliability and "dial in" the to gas burners prior to installing them in your Gem. One more..It will ba at Toledo (yes--)

ramcfarland

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RickVB

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Fast Richard - while Metalmorphous' model may well be a Top Gun-level effort (it may not; while craftsmanship and finish are important components of what makes a world class scale model, accuracy is probably more important, and I'm not P-38-expert enough to tell if this plane is accurate at that level), it's far too late for an invitation to the 2005 meet. I believe the decisions are made in the summer, in order to give the participants the chance to properly prepare. (Check out Dick Pettit's series on his preparations for Top Gun in his columns in R/C Report, starting in the November issue I believe, for an example of the timeline.) In any case, in addition to the remaining preparation of the model for something like that, Metal would need to recruit a Top Gun level pilot to enter with, and I believe that would leave way to little time left for anyone to do it justice in terms of flight acclimation and routine preparation. Maybe next year, though...

Metalmorphous

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Fast Richard, The lightning has already been on display for our customer here at Metal-Morphous, Inc. even though its not finished. I have been working on a check list to get it in the air and most of the items you have mentioned are on the list and after reading your post I have added a few more As for the Top Gun topic I must admit that I had no intentions of entering the lightning in any competitions but after the incredible response I have been getting from seasoned modelers I think that is going to change. One of the local modelers in our area who has been a river of information and has been a competitor at Top Gun told us that we have to get this lightning to Top-Gun not just to compete but to show its finish to some of the other modelers and get there feedback. Thats were I'd like to go with this project but like RickVB has posted we will have to improve on its REPLICATION of the full size version. Thats what I specialize in so thats not an issue, I just have to find out the rules of the game. I have been doing something like Top-Gun for autos for years and have found that once you know how to play the game and you have a product worthy of the competition, you start to build the respect of others in that competition, thats the true winner in my book. I would'nt even think of putting the lightning up against someone that takes a sheet of balsa, hand cuts everything, builds it from scratch and ends up with a beautiful aircraft, thats the true modeler and I wish I had that kind of talent and patience. But I am on a mission to show what I can do with our metal product and I'm on track as far as getting into some RC shows and competitions.

PS
Fast Richard this is a picture of my Cobra REPLICA, I worked on this project for 5 years, lots of small details and very hard to tell its a replica, now I'm going to turn all my efforts in getting the lightning to the same degree. Hope it doesn't take as long

Metalmorphous

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Powertoys--Great story and if you and your uncle dont mind I'd like to place his name with the other pilots names I have. The list is MUCH larger than I expected it to be and some of the pilots experiences are fantastic.

Ron

ramcfarland

My Feedback: (44)

Hi Ron,
I enjoyed the distraction:Thats a real nice Cobra that you have there!---> since I was 20 I have driven a Mustang.. being 'tall' the large body was my ticket to ride- Pictured is my current one a 1973,which I completly re-did to replicate my favorite Stang:a 72 that I lost one rainy evening------biased ply tires of that era! So here is a picture of my Mustang as it appeared in "Mustang Monthly,"January 2001 readers' Album :I was Da WINNA thanks to Jeff Ford,then editor. I had simply wanted him him to see a picture of it after I completed it. I have owned this one since 1989 I think.

powertoys

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My Uncle would not mind at all. He loved that bird. His full name was James William Paige. Unfortunately the only family member that is still alive is my Uncle Robin, and he couldn't remember what squadron Uncle Jimmy was in. Thanks for including his name, it is quite an honor.

Mike

Metalmorphous

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Mike I have add "James William Paige" to my list and his name will be displayed with the lightning


Thanks

Richard VERY VERY nice mustang[8D], I had a feeling you might also be a car guy too. I'm told by my Chevy friends that Ford owners have to have patience to put up with there Fords, I just haven't figured out what they mean I have been over to your post on your P-47 and that looks sweet, now I know were you get your patience from, I'm looking forward to see it completed.

Ron

mbuck515

Ron from what i can see of your P-38 it is definetly up to Top Gun quality, the only thing i can see that you would half to add would be a pilot, myself and my father are going down to Top Gun again this year. Your friend is right about exposer, i can almost promise you that you would get some more customers from going down there.

Mitch

Metalmorphous

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Mitch you have mail

mbuck515

Ron now you have mail

Metalmorphous

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Here are some pictures of the detailed parts that I'm working on, this is the counter balance that will be installed on the elevator. Its shapes like this that show the versatility of our plating process, if you look close you will see that there are no seams, wrinkles, orange peel texture or air pockets, all that is left is to etch in the details and polish them up.

Ron

Metalmorphous

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We did some modifications to our web site, take a look and let me know what you think



WWW.Metal-morphous.com

grumpE

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The pics look great on your website! Your end product looks incredible on the surfaces you show.

I did find the homepage a little hard to read. The background grid made it hard for me to read the white lettering. Can you put a solid background behind the lettering on the navigation buttons? Might help those of us with less than perfct vision.

Was still impressed!

Eric