Metalmorphous

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Gear door hinges are installed and work great. I thought the outer gear door would need some trimming once the hinges were glue in but to my surprise the factory cuts look darn nice as you can see in the picture that shows the doors closed. The doors open very easy and there in more than enough room for the gear. The nose gear is the same,, opens easy and with good clearance. Now I need to remove the nut and bolt at the hinge joint so I can take the doors off and send them over to be aluminum plated. As it looks now the plating equipment is down for some maintenance work but should be back up next week.

rich10

I was just wondering why you didnt apply your aluminum to the complete door, in and out one time when your plating the inner gear door?

Metalmorphous

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Well it official,,, The Ziroli/Morphed lightning now stands on her on legs this is always a milestone of me,,,, its been over a year and the progress has been slow only due to the fact that I'm my worst enemy. I finally stood back and liked what I saw. The stance is just what I was looking for and hope that the weight of the motor doesn’t chance it. The gear doors fit real nice and I should have them aluminum plated by the end of the week. The next big hurtle is going to be the rivet and fastener details, I have to admit that this is not my favorite part of the build process but it is one of the most creative. I find the best way to approach it is to start off with a pot of coffee and end up with a six pack of beer

I know the pictures are starting to look the same but I just had to post these [8D] it took a little more work that I fist expected to get it this far



Rich I thought after I installed the doors that they would have need some trimming, so I figured I would get the plating and zinc color applied the inner door so I wouldn’t have to work around the hinge. As it turned out the doors needed no trimming and I could have plated them one time front and back, oh well live and learn.

lgarber

Wow!! Oh, let's go backwards, WOW!! Stunning Ron. Absolutly stunning!! I think once you start the detailing, your going to see just how beautiful she's going to look, and before you know it, you'll be done. I'm sure I speak for all of us, we can't wait!!
Good job!
Linn

G-Pete

Before and after the engine and components (about 20 pounds) install the stance do not change, the struts stay fully uncompressed. The only thing what change is the tire diameter a little...

Metalmorphous

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Thanks Linn, I'm now starting to appreciate Nick Ziroli's designing skills. His profile on the 38 is better than any I have seen of worked on and with the gear mods like Glenn and fuselage mods like Pete have done on there Lightings it just keeps getting better. Hey you have any pictures of that G model you have been working on? I sure would like to see your engine cowls.


Pete that’s good to here,,,, so you say 20lbs. more weight that will put me just over 50lbs. I was hoping to keep it under 50 but I guess its the trade off for some of the extras and scale parts. After seeing how nice your DAs and prop combo lifted and propelled your lightning, I'm leaning that why myself.

Metalmorphous

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I'm setting up the panel lines for the booms, center pod, cowls, radiators, elevator and rudders. I like to use 3-M PVC tape, it very flexible and has good adhesion. Once I have the panels taped off I use a marker to mark the correct side of the 1/4 tape so I don’t make a mistake and use the wrong side for the panel line. I also will be adding the inspection panels and found a great way to get a very realistic raised panel. I simple mask off the panel with our thermal masking product as you would if you where going to use plastic filler, then apply another layer of aluminum but instead of using the micro plating setting I will set the plating equipment to the standard setting that will apply 4 mils of metal. This will leave a perfect raised panel. I will post pictures of that process.
Now where did I put that soldering iron

rich10

Ron I have two questions, first how do you know where to put the panel lines and second have you ever made a mistake with the soldering iron and if so how do you repair it now that you have the finished aluminum.

Metalmorphous

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Rich I have a ton of pictures, blue prints and diagrams that I have collected over the years. I also have your Morphed Yellow Aircraft P-38 at the shop that has come in handy for some of the layouts. Yes I have had my fair share of mistakes with the hot soldering iron, sometimes it will jump off the straight edge I have set up and go where it shouldn’t[:@] I just mark the panel "redo" and move on. I then will go back and with the thermal tape, mask off the panel and re-plate it. I know it sounds like allot of extra work but it actually works out for the better. When I re-plate a panel the height of the panel changes by 2-3 mils. this makes the panel look like it over laps the adjacent panels. I also like to save all the repairs to last, this way it’s a one time set up for the equipment. I plan it out so that I can do the repair at the sametime as the raised panels and inspection plates. I have attached a picture of just one of the diagrams I use for the layouts.

Metalmorphous

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Rich heres a few picture that might help you understand how I apply the panel lines.

1. After locating and masking the panel line I then use a metal straight edge to help keep the hot soldering iron on a straight line
2. A quick polish with the wheel removes the burr, pen marks, glue from the tape and figer prints
3. I got good advise when working on Gregs A's F86, he said the details on model aircraft should not overwhelm the project but enhance it.

Metalmorphous

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SLOWWWWWW BUT STEADY Attached picture is a sample of the fastener detail. All the fasteners have been applied ,,, now its time to start the rivet details.

Greg Wright

My Feedback: (6)

Hey ron those look like rivets, are you going to put the slots in there to look like screw heads. Just wondering.

Metalmorphous

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Yup,,, I made a tip for the soldering iron that is nothing more that a flat piece of stainless steel that will leave that slot. When start the 3000 rivets, I will set aside some time to insert the slots on the fasteners,,, It breaks up the boredom of the riveting application. [sm=spinnyeyes.gif]


Just like to inform everyone that another Metal-Morphed model aircraft has taken to the skies,,,,,, Joe C. finished his BVM F-100 and did his maiden flight last week. It looks and flew spectacular and it looks like he took home a few trophies,,, well earned Joe.

This is a picture of Joe's F-100 , we not only aluminum plated it but we aslo did the paint work for Joe . Bob K. was the builder. I must say the photographer did a great job capturing this picture.

rich10

Ron NO WAY THAT F-100 IS A MODEL!!!! Come on tell us the truth, you took a picture of the full scale didnt you.!! That is off the charts,,, drop dead gorgous!! Now if it only had props

You must have nuts of steel to go at that nice finished alumium on your lightning with a solding iron I guess it takes a steady hand, something I dont have.

Looks great

Metalmorphous

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No fooling Rich, that is a picture of Joe's BVM F-100 model [8D] It looks even better in person!!

Hey Check out BVM's web site, Joes Morhed Hun now adorns there front page . Congratulations again Joe!!

heres the link to BVM http://www.bvmjets.com/

mirce

Hello to all,

Last few days I was reading this grate post, and make decision, when finish my Ziroli's Hellcat, than I will made this P 38...

I was calling my friend and he tell me that P 38 will fly nice just if engines rotate in opposite directions.
I have two Zenoahs 45...

Can I somehow get on Zenoah motor to rotate in oposite direction, and is it realy need for this model?

Thank's in advance

Mirce

mirce

Metalmorphous

My Feedback: (2)

Mirce- From the research that I have done the counter rotating props are not necessary for our scale models, but they do look very realistic and I personal think that there would be a small benefit. If your like me its just something your going to want and if so you there are several engine manufactures that will do it for you., I will try to get a list put together.

Ron

resjets

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i have been experimenting with a hydraulic landing gear using a turbine fuel pump i think the system will work great with all sized aircraft it is extremely strong only using a 1.5v battery to operate. here is a link to the video http://www.rcuvideos.com/video/hydraulic-landing-gear

Greg Wright

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resjets, Thats pretty awsome what are you using for a oil tank & what are you going to do to power it in the plane and also change the polarity of the motor. Just wondering if you could come up with a way to run it thru your reciever so you could still just operate it as if you were using a servo and air valve.Does the motor have a servo lead on it that would normally go to the ECU of a turbine? I'd think about changing the system in my p-38 to that if it would work. Check this video out. http://www.rcuvideos.com/video/Greg-...w-aircraft-p-3

Metalmorphous

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That looks very scale and seems to have more than enough power. Do you have any specs on it?

Greg Wright

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Hey Ron, The specs are as follows, Powered by DA 50's, weight 36 pounds, props used mezjlik 20 x 10 three blade, mufflers are custom made by
a friend of mine, rpm's in air , when they unload in the air are around 6800 rpm. Speed is unknow but guessing by friends that have seen it fly 150 to 160 MPH.

G-Pete

Well, the easy part is to hook up a pump and push oil in a cylinder.

Then comes the hard part - travel limiters, reverse circuit board, sequencer for gear doors, oil tank...

Metalmorphous

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Greg nice power to weight ratio!!! That’s a good combo for the Yellow P-38 I sure would like to see more videos of it in flight when you get them.

Resjet you could be onto something there, just need to get a complete working model going to see how things would add up like weight and the points that Pete brought up.



I am at the halfway mark on the rivet detail on my 38 [sm=spinnyeyes.gif] Just to give myself a break I have started setting up the inspection panels and covers. This is done by masking off the areas with the thermal tape and then appling another layer of aluminum. This raises the panel just enough to give it a scale look. I will add some pictures of that process soon. Now back to rivets rivets rivets rivets rivets rivets rivets rivets and more rivets

Greg Wright

My Feedback: (6)

Ron, Iwill try to get some more video's next season for you to see, I just got finished putting all the rivet & screw head details on my plane also. It took me about a 100 hours and i could still add a few more to the wings but i just want to get the opinion from some scale guy's a toledo to see if i need to do any more, i don't want it to look over done if you catch my drift.