Good Bye Ol' Iron Ass

[rc-eflyer]

Okay, now here's what I find interesting. Lon has a 85A mantis and the stock 580kv motor (Correct me if I'm wrong here Lon). So, I ordered an 85A Mantis but the bullet connectors were the wrong size, FW being larger than the ones on the ESC. But Lon says his were fine, so I'm wondering if there are two different ESCs that you can get or what?
I do have an 85A Mantis on Big Beautiful Doll which I currently run on 4s, but it should be fine on 5s as well. The FMS 580kv has the correct size bullet connectors to fit the ESC. The one thing I've heard is that if you run 5s, don't do the zip tie prop mod.
Again, this is third hand info as I don't run 5s, so chime in if I'm wrong on any of this.

Grossman56

You're right about the bullet connectors not matching. I bought the 85A Mantis to use on 4S but with the zip-tie prop mod and still haven't got to use it because of this.

Steve

[Mizer67]

What size are the bullet connectors?

4mm?

The Mantis ESC comes with 3.5mm installed.

If it's 4mm, then Hobbyking sells a pre-soldered adapter that'll keep you from having cut and re-solder one end.

[Grossman56]

Hey guys. got started on the Flite Metal on 'That's My Gal II'. Got about a third of the fuse done but after awhile all you see is chrome. Tried to get the best pics I could and remember this is just raw flite metal, I haven't polished it yet! Made the mistake of trying to sand out the high spots on the horizontal stab, don't do that....
So I have some hours of polishing to get the sanded dull spots out, they're coming, but its slow. As you can see, I just went right over the decals and you can barely see the outline if you look hard enough. If nothing else they may help on placement of the new ones. Its not too difficult to work with once you've done a few panels, the worse part was the wing fairing which I had to do in several parts. You can still see the foam beads, but that's the nature of the beast. She'll look beautiful when she's done.

Just like my little gal, the real one

Grossman56

[benjack71]

Hey team Gross, I have looked at that flite metal a few times. The directions seem to make it complicated or confusing as hell. Is it that hard to do or is it as straight forward as it seems. It looks to me, at least on the FMS planes, you just lay it down then smooth it out as you go. What more is there to it than that in simpler terms. I get there is some cutting involved but do you have to cut out each panes individually?

[Dewey H Lee]

Dang that's pretty......... Gman. Can't wait to see it finished.

[Grossman56]

Hey guys, I've cut out each panel for the larger ones and some of the smaller ones I've doubled up on, in the wing fillet, I had to do a few pieces to get it to lay down properly, Its good stuff though, I started in on her this morning as you can see and I've got one side done.
I lay tape around the panel, cut the Flite metal bigger than the panel and lay it on, I establish one solid line by rubbing along it with my finger, then I hold the opposite end up and work the rest down, slowly lowering the opposite end. Then I hit it with the blending stump. I found that using the blending stump flat on its side afterwards really helps as well. Once its down, I cut the very end of the flite metal where it crosses over the tape and then pull the tape back over itself, the Flite Metal will pull straight with the tape which eliminates a lot of cutting. All in all, its not hard to work with, I was kind of hesitant after the presentation, but hey, just think of it as laying down a decal. The results are great, I'll resize a pic of where I left off today, hang on....
There, see what you think!

Grossman56

[boomer108]

That looks nice Gman! Your becoming a real detail artist.

Roy B.

[Shirty]

That looks awesome gman. Can't wait to see it finished sitting in the sun. :)

[TSHobbies]

Got some more time on IA today...until one of the mains came out on touch down..the whole gear a support came out...grrrrr...had fun anyway..and an easy fix too

[Grossman56]

out with the Gorilla Glue! Had that a few times with Old Crow as well!
I'm hoping to have My Little Gal II finished to take to NEFI, but we'll see.
That pic is just bare Flite Metal as she comes off the spool. I plan on polishing her as well. Got one aileron and part of the flap done last night. The nose will stay red and I'm going to put Invasion stripes on her because it'll make her more visible. I'm leaning toward authenticity so I'll leave the wings silver and coat them mightily with Varathane as the real ones came that way from the factory (sans Varathane of course!)
As she's a fantasy bird, I came up with the Squadron letters A,M and the individual aircraft letter of C, after my three daughters , Ashley , Missy and Cindy. Visually, I always like an "A" as the first letter. Now I have to dream up a tail number and send it off to Callie as well as yet another set on nomenclature decals.
By the time I'm finished, I'll be afraid to fly her!:(
May get Ryan to maiden her at NEFI?!:D

Grossman56

[TSHobbies]

Great idea with the letters...as for tail number..get some brownie points with the Mrs and do your wedding date or her birthday ;)

[Grossman56]

EWWWWW!!!! Good thought, thanks

Grossman56

[Dewey H Lee]

She looks great Mr Grossman. She really shines😎.

[Grossman56]

Making progress. Left upper wing and fillet are done, she's bright!!
Note, the wings were always painted from the factory as they were filled to maintain the laminar flow
Haven't done the vertical stab and only the opposite side of the horizontal stab.

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Hey guys, managed to wrestle my way around the other fillet this evening, worked on the horizontal stab last night. Had a bit of an 'oops' but managed to make it look reasonable, the Stars and Bars are going over thankfully. Also got the radiator air intake done as well before calling it a night. Will hopefully have everything covered this weekend, then out with the polish and decals.
This one, unlike the rest of my warbirds is going to be more alike the present day, well maintained Mustangs we see at the airshows. I thought it was time for a tip of the hat to those who put their time, effort and their hard earned money into these pieces of history.

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

[Grossman56]

And the Fuselage is done!!
Some painting to be done, but the Flite Metal is complete. Thanks to Jim wvrailfan for the generous piece of Oracal film he sent me!!
The canopy is done with Oracal, as well as the underside speaker covers and the ram air rear scoop, just beautiful! Its a great product to work with and I can't wait to read his article on it. Thanks so much Jim, I couldn't believe to size of the pieces you sent me, very generous of you my friend.

[Grossman56]

Okay, here she is out in the first sun we've had in a few weeks now. went to the field but the wind was up and got worse while we were there. Got home and put the ****e stripes of the invasion stripes on her, now they're sitting out in the sun to dry. She's sure pretty but WOW what a glare! So, I'm still not sure about the gear sequencer box, no response on the thread I posted regarding it, so I'm not taking any chances and she'll sit on the ground until Motion gets new ones in stock. Anyone got a spare they want to sell?

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

I just couldn't resist!
Now, she still has a long way to go. The speaker panels aren't screwed in so they look a little saggy, but you get the general drift now. Had to use the servo tester to drop the gear as I don't have a gear sequencer that I trust. Some more Flite Metal to go and some paint touch ups as well. Decals are on there way. She's sure pretty, even now!!

Grossman56

[Capt. Crunch]

Looks great Gman!

Jeff