Marcus,
The aluminum back plate of Thunder Tiger GP-42 has just 0.2 mm more in diameter than the back plate of the OS LA 46 and it fits perfectly in the LA 46 if you take out this aluminum excess in a lathe. Some years ago I bought two of them in Tower Hobbies ( 6.00 USD each) and sent together an original in nylon, as model, to our friend Daniel of CB Motores at 1501 Interlagos Ave in SP and he did the work in the lathe, which is very easy for him. They fitted perfectly in the 46 LA, but particularly I didn’t see much difference in performance using a metal back plate or the original in nylon. The back plate of the .40 FP fits perfectly, too, but we don’t find them in the market.
Luiz