Gee Bee R2

Don't give up Don. With patience, it can be done. Why build for a contest any way? That makes it a job, not a relaxing past time.

I did end up doing the cockpit from knowing how it was built, and figuring out what in the Benjemin build would not have been in original.  However, I have shelved the project for now.

I was building it for a challenge- build a model  you built as a kid, but with all your present skills. In addition to the cockpit I bought a resin Wasp engine, and intended to do rigging wires.  But the kit is so out of scale, and misshapen that I am losing interest in it.  I have had to whack off virtually all of cylinder heads to get the engine to fit in cowl, and the canopy is so misshapen that I will have to make a scratch canopy.  No way I can finish it in time for the challenge contest, so it is going up on my shelf of doom.

We hit our LHS over the weekend, looking for something else, but while I was perusing their plastic kit row (yes, row, they are a small shop and make their $$ off the R/C crowd), and spied a Williams Bros. GeeBeeR2.  I was thinking about this post, and then noticed the price - $10 Close-out.  So it followed me home.  It's a very simple kit, probably 20 parts total, but I now have at least 1 of these in my stash.  

Gene Beaird,

Pearland, Texas

Okay, model is going on my bench tomorrow, so will do some wip shots.

Don

Check out goldenageofaviation.org/geebeer2.html there is a description of the cockpit from an article in a 1933 Aero Digest. Might be of some help.

I have this kit moving up the build list so WIP pics would be cool.

Here's a little inspiration for you, a paper 1/24 R-1.......Rich

Well, please post up WIP pictures.  The last one of these I did was one of the Lindberg (Hawk?) kits back in the '60's.  I'm itching to do a large-scale version.

Gene Beaird,

Pearland, Texas

Thanks, guys.  The Gee Bee in the Rocketeer was the wrong model Gee Bee. I guess I'll go with what I have.  A friend pointed out the judges would have a hard time disputing my build, since there is so little info :-)

I've never seen a photo of a Z, R-1 or R-2 cockpit and I've done a lot of archival work with photos from the National Air Races held in Cleveland in the 1930s

Well, you might watch the opening scenes of "The Rocketeer", where actor, Billy Campbell flies a GeeBee.

Ken

Don,

There are some youtube videos of Delmar Benjamin and his GeeBee R2 replica which show some of the cockpit.  The panel is certainly modern but there may be some other details in the videos that you could use.  

The following link (one of the Wikipedia references for the GeeBee Model R) has a description of some of the cockpit.

web.archive.org/.../geebeer2.html

Peter