Air Racer GB Round 2

 Haven't been able to get to the work bench a whole lot lately so my projects , while not stalled , have slowed pace. Will pick it up again soon and post more WIP pics. 

In the meantime , my daughter and I went for a Fathers Day date to Kermit Weeks , Fantasy of Flight museum last Saturday. Dads got in free.  

I remember ,earlier in this thread ,  a mention of  the GeeBee R-2 replica being at this location. Well here's pics. I've also thrown in some other Golden Age racer appropriate pics from my daughter and my day there. This is going to be a large post , hope ya'll don't mind . It'll be worth it. Enjoy the pics.

 I'm working up a group of pics of the rest of our day at Fantasy of Flight to post in the misc. section later this week.  The man has one heck of a beautiful collection of aircraft .

Howard

I've put the Bulldog of a semi holding pattern for the moment . Got a Hellcat in the paint /decal/weathering phase and having to put some focus there . 

Been smoothing out some of the sanding already done. Luckily, I only have a couple wing ribs lost at the root during the blending in of the wings. I'll probably  use narrow strips of thin sheet plastic to replace them, or mask off where the ribs go and hand brush  a coat or two of primer. Remove the mask and voile, new ribs.  

Will be back on the Bulldog with more gusto as soon as I've got the hellcat past the finishing stage.

Howard

got you down for both.

Stageleft,

Both the Z and the R2 were there in 2007.  According to Wiki they are both still there, but the Flight of Fantasy website lists only the Z.

Don't know if I put the Red Baron RB-51 as my build, but I'm adding this one.  1/48 Tamiya P-51 with Jay-Dee markings from the 1949 Cleveland Air Races.

Looking great Howard!! I know all the sanding and almost grinding lol will be all worth it in the end!!! I have seen what you can do with it all and it's simply amazing!! Looking forward to the primer coat!!

vetteman42

 

Stage_Left:

 

Yes.....strut attachments and wheelpants. What's more fun about a vintage race plane?

 

 

Rigging them ?

Looking good Daddy1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Thanks vetteman. Fortunately the Bulldog doesn't have any external rigging . Probably didn't need it with those big struts under the wings. 

 So far I'm just rough sanding all the different seams and fairings. I'll start smoothing every thing out after a second skim coat of green stuff.

 The engine will require some careful cleanup on the cylinders not to damage the nice cooling fin detail. There also must have been a mismatch beyween the mold halves as the pushrods are way uneven from front to back . The intake manifold as well, but that will be in back of the motor , mostly hidden by the cowl, so not much of an issue there. The pushrods on the other hand . when cleaned up and viewed from the ends , they look like an oblong, crooked oval.

 The rest of the front cover is OK, so I clipped the rods off , to be replaced with stretched sprue , wire or something. Maybe even straight pins or needles left in the natural chrome look. I know the original push rods were gloss black, but chrome silver would make for a cool contrast to the darker black and aluminum finish on the cylinders. 

Howard

BTW- Also glad there's not much in the way of panel lines to re scribe . Having to do so much coarse filling and sanding to get everything to look right, many panel lines would be wiped out. 

Stage_Left

Yes.....strut attachments and wheelpants. What's more fun about a vintage race plane?

Rigging them ?

Looking good Daddy1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes.....strut attachments and wheelpants. What's more fun about a vintage race plane?

Got some fresh pics to share. 

I've gotten on a roll with the main airframe and figure to get that all built then move on to the engine as a final assembly kind'a thing.

 First of all, when I built the Williams Bro.s Gee Bee (R-1 and Z) years ago they ,I don't recall as many fit issues as with this one . But then their kits always seemed to build more like a limited edition and in some ways ,they were. Not a whole lot  more than a little cottage company.

I do applaud Brett Industries for reissuing these old kits. While challenging , they do build up into beautiful , one off from the norm , models.

First pic. No kidding. Pretty much every seam has required trimming, filling, sanding. 

It's suggested to paint and decal the model before permanently attaching the struts. But with the amount of work to get the base of the strut faired smoothly. I decided to do the opposite . I'll have to section the decals for the underside of the wing to fit around the struts.

 But it is going to be one really cool little airplane. 

To get an idea how small the racers of the day were.  The Bulldog is 1/32, the Hellcat is 1/48 and they're roughly the same size model.

On to more filling , sanding , etc.

Howard

Scorpiomikey

Also remember the bulldog was a custom built aircraft for one pilot, it could be a personal preference to have it on the opposite side, ive seen some pilots do this.

Ahhhh ok!! Didn't know that some have actually put it on that side. Just seems all wrong to me like driving on the left side of the road even tho I've been in Oz over 7 years now LOL

Also remember the bulldog was a custom built aircraft for one pilot, it could be a personal preference to have it on the opposite side, ive seen some pilots do this.

simpilot34

 One question though, was the throttle quadrant really on the right??

 Thanks Richie! 

 I hadn't really noticed, but dang it! Thats where the quadrant was molded and seeing how interior pics of this bird seem non existent , ......  The only pics I found were of the replica being built and they were only the frame bulkhead assembly.  These are basically straight reissues of the original kits  so ???

 Not really sure where it went on the Bulldog, but seeing how these old racers were all custom built from the ground up , who knows? Too late to do anything about it now anyway . 

The canopy does have some bad gaps around the edges I have to fill. I want to build this where I can use Microscales Liquitape so I can remove the canopy for showing the interior. I'll have to be creative about filling around the edges to have it look right. 

Howard

Thanks Stage!!

Howard you never cease to amaze!! Great work so far on the office!! One question though, was the throttle quadrant really on the right??

Stage_Left

daddy- talk about being in the right place at the right time.....pictures of the R-2 cockpit? Excellent. I like your take on the Bulldog seat; I may just borrow that idea for mine. Between your input and vetteman's it looks like I may yet get a respectably authentic interior.

 

 

 I"ll have to dig up those pics, scan them, and share. If I can find which box they're in. It was a great day at the EAA SunNFun fly in with my dad back in the 80's . We pick a spot on the grass in the vintage area,right next to where the Gee Bee was parked. Got to see him start up ,taxi out ,the whole tamale, from maybe 10 feet away. Very cool. 

The Bulldog seat? I got to thinking and it made sense, back in the day on aircraft such as the Bulldog or a Gee Bee , pilot comfort was not a consideration . Even the pilots probably only wanted someplace to sit , without much regard to comfort. They just wanted to fly. Fast! 

These early racers really weren't much more than an engine with wings attached so even the designers/engineers most likly only thought " we have to give the pilot something to sit on." . 

So the piece of plywood (I figure) was very likely the norm. Or wicker, or ?   Anything quick ,cheap and light weight. I did make a " leather " covered cushion ot of a small slab of plastic painted with Model Master leather .

 As far as where the Delmars R-2 being at Fantasy of Flight? I'll have to check that out. Kermit Weeks place is only about an hours drive away.

Howard 

vetteman- thanks very much as always for the kind words man. Glad you're liking what's going on. So....you got to see the full-size WIP of Gee Bee replicas in person, huh? Wow....now I'm impressed. Very cool. I've got the book that Steve and Delmar wrote chronicling the whole project. Unfortunately, there's precious little focus on the cockpit. Delmar basically has the second half of the book devoted to flying the aircraft, and says that he was officially it's 'test pilot.' I think the implication was that Steve owned it, but after either the '92 or '93 airshow season (Delmar spent this time flying the R-2 on the circuit), they donated or sold it to the Fantasy of Flight museum in Florida. I've run across some old blogs that suggest that it was sold and not at Fantasy of Flight anymore, but I have no idea for sure.

daddy- talk about being in the right place at the right time.....pictures of the R-2 cockpit? Excellent. I like your take on the Bulldog seat; I may just borrow that idea for mine. Between your input and vetteman's it looks like I may yet get a respectably authentic interior.

That little cockpit is coming along very nicely indeed. Your second go at the stringers came out quite well.

Welcome back simpilot......

Making progress , here's pics.

Started by gluing stringer made from strips of sheet plastic. Here , one half is already primed flat white.

Printed a copy of the IP decal and punched out instrument faces. Will overlay the decal to add some relief to the IP. 

Here's the 'pit in progress. Note the IP with overlay in place. added small switch panel in center of IP.

Painted the inside "fabric" covered areas with Testors flat white with a couple drops of Model Master light tan for an off white "linen" appearance . To this gave a wash of water based acrylic to simulate bleed through of exterior red.

Rest of interior painted ModelMaster aluminum.

Then painted stringers MM wood.

Completed cockpit. Lap belts from strips of pinter paper with buckles of fine wire.

Finally , pics with fuselage halves together, then with gull wing center installed.

The R-1340 tree. This parts tree is used in several Williams Bro.s kits ,which explains two different size crankcases. I like the detail of the cylynder heads.  

 The molds of this reissued kit show signs of age resulting in a fair amount of flash and such. Still a fun kit of an interesting subject.

Howard

Hey guys!!! Trying to make my way back into this great pastime after an abscence that couldn't be helped. Anyways glad to see this GB has a second chapter and looking forward to seeing it unfold!!

Found a couple pics of Delmars R-2 and some where in my old 35mm film pic stash I got some pics of the inside of his plane at the Sun-N-Fun fly in a number of years back. 

What I found confirms what you said about the seating . Although I have some course texture fabric that would mimic the texture of wicker perfectly. May still go that way to busy up the place a little. I also should jazz  up the back of the IP as it looks like it will be seen  through the windscreen even with the canopy in place. 

 Got a bunch of strips cut to replicate the stringers in the fuselage. I did a first attempt at a woodgrain look on the bulkheads ,but I'm not happy with how it turned out. Will give it another go.

Howard

Stage Left wow the eye strain just looking at your IP pictures man !!!!!!!!!!! Very very nice work

Daddy1 that looks to be some eye squinting work even in 1/32 scale. Can NOT wait to see what you both do next with your builds.

I had the good fortune to have seen both the Gee Bee Z and R2 replicas being built, and if memory serves me correctly they both had spartan cockpits. Both pilots sat on for lack of a better word plywood bench seats and leaned back against a bulkhead. The fuselage box was so tight at that point that they couldn't have moved from side to side very much at all. Lets suffice it to say a larger than average sized man would not fit in them, and I don't think they would have been very comfortable for much more than an hour long flight. The Gee Bee Z was being built for the movie the Rocketeer, but I am not sure if the R-2 was Delmar's or for someone else. Wish I had gotten some pictures of them.

Stage_Left

I've found precious little information on the interior at that period, but you can clearly see Bayles in the cockpit before takeoff and I see no evidence of shoulder harnesses. When Steve Wolf and Delmar Benjamin built the replica R-2 in 1990-91, there were shoulder belts as well as lap belts but I'm sure this was due to federal regulations.

 There really is little in the way of interior photos of the originals. I've been trying to find what the seat looked like in the Bulldog.The kit has just a flat piece of plastic against a bulkhead to represent the seat. Like they sat on a board( some probably did) . I'll use some artistic license and make a semi-educated guess.  I think I'll come up with some sort of wicker seat with a leather cushion with just a lap belt.

 I looked at the clip of the GeeBee Z and the only straps over Bayles shoulders are the parachute harness. Not that he really helped him. The hazards of venturing into the unknown. 

  Also , the instructions call for silver(aluminum) on the bulkheads. I found on the web where there is a replica of the Bulldog under construction since the late 90s . The project has been through several owners which explains why it's still under construction. Anyway, the repro has plywood bulkheads. That seems a more logical choice for a racer of the period at least an early version of plywood laminate. So, I'll paint the bulkheads ModelMaster Wood with some grain pattern to them.

 I'm only going to jazz up the 'pit only a little  as sport aircraft of the day were probably  sparse inside the office .  

Howard 

Mikey- I hope you can find your way out of your funk. I can relate a bit....I'm getting ansy to be done with this cockpit. Too far in to stop now, and I'm having to give my psyche a little push to get through it. Last night I trimmed up the wheels and wheelpants just for something diffrent.

daddy- thank you sir. Yes, those P&W powerplants do have quite a reputation and well-deserved too. We've got a P&W manufacturing plant about 25 minutes from my house.

That's a nice looking interior, and the airframe has an interesting shape to it. I have no doubt that it'll turn into a very nice finished build, especially after I checked out your F-82 'Tantrum' from the first Air Racer GB. Exceptional work on that aircraft!

It's quite possible that the Gee Bees as well as other racers of that era did not have shoulder harnesses. On Youtube there's a video of Lowell Bayles' speed record attempt and subsequent crash in December 1931 in a Gee Bee Z.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KTyYVnSyq4  I've found precious little information on the interior at that period, but you can clearly see Bayles in the cockpit before takeoff and I see no evidence of shoulder harnesses. When Steve Wolf and Delmar Benjamin built the replica R-2 in 1990-91, there were shoulder belts as well as lap belts but I'm sure this was due to federal regulations.

Stage Left- I took a look back at powerplant of your GeeBee . Looks great!, and you are correct , the P&W Wasps of 1932 only had one plug for each cylinder. Same as on Halls Bulldog. I noticed in reference that some have the igmition wires going to the backside of the engine. But on ours they went to a collector on the front.

The Pratt & Whitney R-1340 is an aviation icon on its own . Many types of aircraft are powered by the Wasp and production didn't end till the late 50s/early 60s. I think it even powered the early Sherman M-4s. Like the logo says " Dependable Aircraft Engines".  

Started assembling the 'pit.  on the Bulldog. The reissue of the Williams Bro.s kits shows the molds with some age. A bit of flash here and there, some surface details are a touch soft. Nothing to really get in a bind about. Their kits always needed a little tweaking and build up into beautiful models.

 I may dress up the inside a little, some seatbelts( Not sure if the pilots of the day used shoulder harnesses). My main focus is the shape and overall look of the racer. 

Howard

Theres some awesome work coming along. Wish i could get out of my modeling funk and finish up my bearcat. Ive got the font i want and everything.

Many thanks daddy. The engine was the first thing I tackled.....see page 7.

I've heard good things about the Williams Bros. kits, although I don't own any. I remember that they produced a 1/72 Gee Bee at one point and it was my intention to buy it, but that never happened. I did, however, land the 1/72 A-Model kit several months ago and have actually been using it as one of my references for interior detail. Yes, this plane is small, no matter what scale. I grew up a 1/72 aircraft guy, so I'm actually looking forward to piecing the A-Model Gee Bee together one day.

Looking forward to seeing pics of your Bulldog.

Awesome work Stage Left. That is a ton of detail in a very small airframe . Even the 1/32 Williams Bro.s Gee Bee kits are about the size of a 1/48 WWII fighter kit. Can't wait to see what you do with the engine.

I'm starting on the Williams Bro.s Halls Bulldog in the next day or so. Will be an OOB build except for seatbelts and ignition wiring. Will post pics soon. 

Howard

Thanks bsyamato.....much appreciated. No, this isn't the A-Model 1/72 kit. It's the Testors re-box of the 1960 Hawk kit in 1/48. I'm using the A-Model kit as a guide for some of the interior detail.....it's come in very handy!

this is a great racer Stage Left!!! 

but not the amodel kit you speak

First off, a happy Mother's Day to all. I'm not aware of any mothers (in the biological sense) that hang around here (I could be corrected), but nonetheless a wish out to all those who raised such a fine group of spruewranglers. I know I'm going to thank mine in a bit.

Vetteman- as always, thanks so much sir for the kind words. Glad you're enjoying the progress.

Mikey- ummm......I don't think you can quit.....I thought this was your GB? Lol....but thank you for the encouragement.

On to the next bit. I scratched an instrument panel. I thinned a piece of sheet, cut it to shape and punched holes with the Waldron punch & die set. Wow, what a handy little tool that is!

Gave the IP a coat of black paint, and when that dried a thinned coat of clear flat. Next I photoshopped a picture of the decal sheet of the A-Model 1/72 Gee Bee....it had an instrument panel. I know it's generic, but it was readily available. When I got it to the size I wanted, I printed it and cut the IP out.

I cut each instrument face out, then put a bit of white glue on the end of a toothpick and dipped it in water to dilute. I inserted the toothpick into an instrument hole from behind which filled the hole with the diluted white glue, then picked up an instrument face with the tip of a knife blade and stuck it into the IP hole from behind. I did these one at a time, and it worked like a charm.

When this all dried I colored a section of notecard with black permanent marker, cut out the IP shape, and white glued it to the back of the IP. I dropped some clear gloss on the instrument faces, fashioned what I think is a fuel selector switch and it's faceplate from a piece of tin foil (Waldron again.....this is in the lower left) and four stretched sprue switches. My toothpick friend and I very carefully put red and green on the faceplate, and here's what I got:

fantastic

I quit lol. I dont have the patience to get into that kinda detail.

Looks awesome though.

WOW Stage_Left I am duely impressed man, all that great detail in such a small area Your eyes and hands are much better than mine are. I am truly looking forward to what you come up with next for this tiny racer