Talk to Bruce more about his warranty as he can talk about it better than I can.
Warehouse Hobbies does anodizing, their parts or anyone else's. Purple isn't a hard color to do so he should be able to. The more parts the cheaper it should be. Look around locally also as there may be someone nearby that can do it. My wife knows of a guy maybe a mile from my house that does it, I have to hook up with him one of these days.
There are Cat lovers and those that don't like them. I got into gas initially because nitro Cat's get badly smoked as you have to run against outriggers. With gas, you race against your own kind.
My Blast Cat 40 is made for really rough water but it's a dog in the calm.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShgxO2Owrig&list=UUM330hRk6fSeSJsoQbWrb2w&feature=player_embedded"]AC Blast Cat 40 - YouTube[/ame]