Worldraft

Wow I’m impressed you guys are not model builder, your artist making airplane.
The talents I see are overwhelming.
Now I better get back to designing my own P40 war bird, you got me all exited.

ramcfarland

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Ron no worries just get a tri pod if your project gets you that excited you can not point an shoot a current digital camera[8D]

Metalmorphous

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Worldraft-- All the guys here especially me thank you for the complements. Its been awhile since this thread has been active and its funny that it has started up again, just last week we made a decision to put the P-38 on the market to be sold [] This is going to be a tough one to let go, we all loved working on the lightning and no matter where we take the plane, its is a real attention getter. In the last year or so we have displayed the P-38 and even entered it in a few competitions, the average crowd just loves it, but the younger generations seems to lean more toward things that are really fast and more modern looking so we have decided to change with the times and use a Jet for our up and coming shows, so that mean we will be doing this all over again.


Ron

bridog

My Feedback: (7)

Ron Just wanted to say Awesome Work!!!! I too work in a plating myself but unfortunately my baths for plating Plastics and what nots of this magnitude are not big enough... maybe someday soon I can have my own shop to do this!
I have yet to try the Flite-metal products for my warbirds and after this thread doubt I ever will...

thanks for giving me something to shoot for
Brian

Metalmorphous

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Hi Brian, good to here from another metal plater and thank you for the complement especially coming from another metal plater. My family started plating small parts and we worked our way up to the large projects, much larger than any of the planes. I am still amazed when I see an object being plated and even more when its something as nice as the planes I have had the opportunity to work on. As you probable know, everyday is a learning experience. Look forward to seeing some of your work. E-mail some pictures if you get a chance.

Ron Randall

warbird_1

My Feedback: (61)

i beleive the worst thing you can do is nurse a twin with a dead engine. unlike the full scale counterparts, these aren't designed with that problem in mind. 9 times out of ten a pilot with choke when he loses an engine anyways. my thoughts are, kill the good engine that's left and glide her till she lands. you'll have a much more repairable plane vs. the death spin straight in . to many heros go home with distroyed birds sadly.

Metalmorphous

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Well we finally got the ZDZ'z fired up [X(], alittle late than never but wow they sound sweet, worth the wait] When the number 1 engine kicked over a cloud of dust blew in my face I guess I shouldn't have waited so long. One step closer to getting her airborne.

Ron

Tony Gag Jr.

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Ron,
Do you have a pilot for the P-38's maiden yet? Shoot me an email when you test fly it, I would like to be there to watch.

Later,
Tony Gagliardi Jr.

FliteMetal

How did it do in competition?

Metalmorphous

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Tony-- You meet the person that has been helping set-up the lightning and he is going to be our test pilot when the time comes. Joe is not only a great pilot but he is also an instructor, he has flown many twins and when it comes to flying he is a firm believer in " IN GOD WE TRUST, EVERYTHING ELSE IS CHECKED" One of many things Joe has us changing is the receiver, he would like me to go with a duel receiver with multi antennas. We saw the unit a WOD, a customer of ours imports them from Germany and if looks like it will fit the bill, but this means some wiring has to been redone. Another device he wants me to get is one that will keep both engines at the same RPM Hey if you get a chance you have to stop in and see the Jug [8D] Looks alittle different from the last time you saw it in person.

Ed-- The P-38 and the Gamma both have been in many static displays and judged competitions and we are VERY PLEASED with the out come on both planes, you can see some of those results at our local sites like WRAM and RC Modeler, but I think you might be talking about flying competitions like a Top Gun. As you might have read I'm am a poor RC pilot and I dont think I can ever fly like those pilots that are serious competitors, but keep your eyes open next year for a very special F-100. The owner is well informed of the rules of engagement and I have learned alot from talking to him, like because the wings of his F-100 are built by BVM and not constructed by the owner-pilot, points are taken off to bring it back to a competitive level, he also informed me that it will be entered into a category that will allow options like being built and flown by other and our plating process. We still have the plane at our shop and are waiting for the custom mask to arrive. once we have the paint work finished I will ask him if I can post some picture for you, I think you'll be impressed with this outstanding plane.

Ron

rich10

Ron I just came across this thread and I have seen pictures of the other planes you have worked on and would like to know if I can stop by Metalmorphous and see the P-38. I have a scaled out Z P-51 that is ready for finishing. My Mustage is air worthy but will spend alot of its time in my office at eye level being scrutinized by my colleagues and clients so I want a real aluminum finish that has no defects and from what I have seen this looks to be a pefect metal finish.


Rich

Metalmorphous

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Rich the P-38 is in Nevada [] but the Jug and very large B-24 are at the shop. I am away this week but will be back on Monday, give me a call a day or so before you would like to stop by so I can make sure I there that day.

Ron

ramcfarland

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"and very very large B-24 are at my shop." WOW

fockewulf37

My Feedback: (102)

I may have missd it what is the cost involved in a project like this??? the p-38 finish.

rich10

FW- I took my Z-P51 to Metalmorphous last week and talk to Jose about getting it dipped in aluminum, Ron is away on business untill the end of the month. I was quoted 30 dollors a sq.ft. for the plating process. I am also letting them do all the finial preperation, rivets, fasteners, panel lines and paint work, those prices not included. My total was 3200

Rich

Glacier Girl

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Rich, I sent you a PM. $3200.00 for alum, paint, and detailing?

side oiler

My Feedback: (24)

I just stubled upon this thread. Very neat process. I would have to guess this is the Alsa system. A local guy does it here in Michigan. The outfit cost over 15K to get into this process. His results are indentical to the P-38. And there is no orange peal etc.. smooth looking baby bare-assed alumin look. Very wasteful process that really can't be done at home though. We use this process over non-metal surfaces to mimic chrome, such as custom motorcycles that have tons of bondo in them.

Metalmorphous

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Hello Sideoiler,

I just want to let you know that our process is NOT the Alsa product. The alsa product is a PAINT not metal and the system that you mentioned is called Mirror chrome. It is a water base paint with a silver intermediate.
Our process takes REAL ALUMINUM and heats it into a liquid state, then it is atomized, applied to the subsurface and flashcooled. The paint products cannot be grained or aged without adding more paint. Our can be etched with acids or polished to a high shine. If you go to my P-47 thread you can see how we grained a few panel with steelwool, the polished them back to a shine. If you need more information you can call me.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this looong thread, I hope it was at least good entertainment

Ron