Unity Spit fire domes (reproduction)

[ryan]

Doug Kelly (diggerdoug) asked me about my reproduction work here in the lab. He asked if I had painted any domes before and I told him I did work on mars skybolt lenses and some other interesting items that shall be named later...


He contracted me to recreate the Unity Spit Fire dome that was made famous by the MSP. He sent me 3 domes, 1 appeared used and 2 that looked close to nos. I had to recreate the stripping method used by Unity for the bands and also the measurements of the height. After some thought and logistics, here before your eyes, I transform a nos clear dome to a red Spit Fire.


Let me know what you think.


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My recreation and an original unity spitfire lens.


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Eric EL1998P71 asked me to re-create a Green unity spit fire dome. I found out that this paint from PPG which is specifically designed for my glass bulbs has a bit different chemical makeup and is trickier to use on the plastic dome. This is prolly the only green spitfire that will be in existence.


























Here are the amber spit fires, I am learning alot about this dome painting thing.


This dome I sprayed lightly several coats. Nothing heavy and I found the 3M tape held it's edges great! Why it is fuzzy, I don't know.




















This dome I sprayed several heavier coats on and as you can see the 3M tape didnt hold it's edge and I had a run in the rear. But it is crystal clear.

 

[TritonBoulder47]

Very nice Ryan!!! :thumbsup:

 

[ERIC6913]

nice work mister! Doesn't someone else have the named "LAB" already?

 

[Retired1]

Excellent!

 

[ryan]

From dave's last post he has shut his lab down. I simply moved it to Ohio

 

[Wigwam700]

Jesus Christ and General Jackson, that's the best thing since sliced bread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[solid_snake]

Very GOOD job Ryan!

 

[plybeep68]

Them are sweeeet !!!!

 

[motorolamaniac]

pretty damn good job!

 

[dmathieu]

You're a talented man!!!


Dan

 

[Respondcode3]

I believe the reason Unity stopped producing the spitfire was the cost for the paint and labor involved in painting the domes. The only real customer was the MSP and the decline of use of rotating lights. That is what our local Unity rep told us.

 

[JohnMarcson]

THe technical abilities of the members of this board never cease to amaze me. Awesome job.

 

[Hoser]

Looks Great, nice job Ryan. Looks like the Great Lakes Fire Store will have some reproductions for sale.........

 

[EL1998P71]

Now the real question is cost and options.


Will you do Blue, Amber, Green?

 

[BackYardSales]

Jesus Christ and General Jackson, that's the best thing since sliced bread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THe technical abilities of the members of this board never cease to amaze me. Awesome job.

And yet they can't figure out how to quote without including all the images.

 

[stansdds]

Once again, Ryan, nice job! :thumbsup:

 

[LRGJr72]

AWEsome job! So many questions. What kind of paint did you use? Is it rated for hot and cold extremes? Is that product available in blue? How did you keep it from running/dripping? How did you keep it from separating when pulling the tape out? They look beautiful.

 

[50theman]

Good Job, It looks really nice.


5-0


opo:

 

[ryan]

I had PPG develope a paint for me to use on glass and plastic. It cost a few bucks but is well worth it. There is a total of 4 coats on the dome, I can make it pink to cherry red depending on amount of coats. I have red, amber, blue, green made up currently but seeing my demand in green, I wont have any more of that made but what I have currently.


The tape I tried 5 different manufacturers till I found one that wouldn't mess with the plastic and also had good adhesion and would have runs or bleed thru.

 

[thefiredogg]

wow!

 

[Wigwam700]

And yet they can't figure out how to quote without including all the images.

Yeah I noticed this, sorry, I am not a technical WIZ. I figure things out after awhile though. Thank you for the insight!

 

[EL1998P71]

PM Sent

 

[Tristar]

Ryan - what's next...doing the same to a pair of Twinsonic lenses? That would be a first (I think).

 

[CFD125]

Great job...as usual.

 

[CrownVic97]

You should try painting a pair of clear lenses like the rare split red/blue TwinSonic lenses that european collector has on his TwinSonic. Cannot find the dang picture at all now.

 

[kadetklapp]

If you are still able to get the clear domes from unity you would have quite the market for these! Excellent work.

 

[ryan]

You should try painting a pair of clear lenses like the rare split red/blue TwinSonic lenses that european collector has on his TwinSonic. Cannot find the dang picture at all now.

That was a photoshop project. I checked the myth and that is all it was.

 

[50theman]

If you are still able to get the clear domes from unity you would have quite the market for these! Excellent work.

Are these the correct domes???


1282-C Clear Dome RV26, 45, 46


5-0


opo:

 

[CrownVic97]

That was a photoshop project. I checked the myth and that is all it was.

Oh....huh. Well, dang, fooled me pretty good when I first saw it!

 

[ryan]

Are these the correct domes???
1282-C Clear Dome RV26, 45, 46


5-0


opo:

Yes, I have a few ordered already.

 

[CFD125]

I'll take one with blue on the top, then the top clear spitfire band, then amber in the middle, then the bottom spitfire band, and then red on the bottom...please.

 

[ryan]

dick lol

 

[dustymedic]

There was a bicentennial model offered in 1975-1976 that had red bands at the top & bottom and a blue band in the middle..

 

[LRGJr72]

There was a bicentennial model offered in 1975-1976 that had red bands at the top & bottom and a blue band in the middle..

Are you SERIOUS!?

 

[Maxim2Eng]

Is it live? Or is it Memorex? Great Job!!

 

[ryan]

New project listed above.

 

[dmathieu]

Excellent, as usual!!


Dan

 

[motorolamaniac]

Very Christmas-y, that paint is really nice!

 

[dustymedic]

Are you SERIOUS!?

I can remember seeing in the catalog of a police supply that at least used to be in Franklin, Ohio. I can't remember their name, but I used to drive by them when I went to family reunions in Middletown and would stop and pick up a catalog. The uniform pants that my employer back them really sucked, so I would buy my own. Walter Stephens Company maybe??

 

[ryan]

added green and amber pics.