Silver Bee cleanup

Just another thing of beauty. I didn't expect any less.

I wonder how the back plate paint will hold up to fuel. (especially the gray on the inside)

With a small gear puller and an old socket head screw you can probably get that thrust plate off the crankshaft.

I think the 1/4 crankcase etching sets yours apart as a rarity.

Looks good Bob, you gonna restore the Firebaby?

When did production of Firebabies cease and Baby Bee thick snout crankcases begin?

That's not original, the straight non-taper case came out appx. '71-'72 and i'm not sure of the Firebaby, when it went from balsa to plastic fuselages.

Has anyone considered powder coat for the backplates? Not sure if it would work because of the porosity, but it would make for a real nice fuel proof finish.

I wonder if re-plating of the backplates would be possible

I remember at school, 7th or 8th grade I think, we copper-plated a nail or some other metal object. Copper sulfide (or something), electricity and probably something else was involved in the process... Copper would look nice as itself, but the more golden colour could be done with a really thin layer of gold. An old ring would be enough for a few dozen backplates.

Anyone have any idea what the original plating was?

The paint does look good, definitely better than chipped/corroded original. The only minus is that it probably won't tolerate nitro, but for a display piece that is not critical. I like the way your Silver Bee turned out, very original look. I tend to "over-polish" mine, I guess it is the magpie within...

I am pretty sure that the backplates on those NIB engines would polish easily to the bright factory finish. The plating is very thin, so hand polish only with some very fine compound.

I was just thinking out loud about the plating, it would be a neat touch to a custom engine. Someone here polished a corroded backplate to bare zamak, it was like bright aluminum. That would be an ideal base for copper plating I think. Maybe even gold Definitely not original look but very "bling".

I have also noticed that pretty much all the plastic backplates are referred to as "delrin". I think only the red postage stamp backplates are delrin (possibly white ones too) and the horseshoes are of some other plastic. Even the red horseshoe backplates "feel" like they are made of harder and more brittle material, similar to the plastic used for the Cox airplanes. Not sure, but having "modified" both types of backplates, I felt a difference. Postage stamp material is easier to cut, file, sand and polish compared to red horseshoe material.