Air Racer GB Round 2

Vetteman- thanks for the kind words my friend. It is a small place to work, for sure. Gonna probably add one more rib on each side, as some of it's likely to be seen forward of the instrument panel, and then some ribs on the bottom.

It's an interesting process, essentially building a skeleton from the outside in. As you saw I cut the door out of the fuselage....I need as many openings as I can get!

Why not do a clear vacform of one half of the fuselage? make it like the clear sided B-17

Scorpiomikey

Why not do a clear vacform of one half of the fuselage? make it like the clear sided B-17

That's a cool idea, but I want to finish this by your build deadline

Maybe for another build....I do think that the clear fuselages/hulls/bodies and cutaways are cool. But then you've got to put the work in on the inside!

Thats very true. If you did want to go down that route i dont mind if you go over. Im sure to, my bearcat has fallen by the wayside for now.

Thanks Mikey.....I appreciate the flexibility. Glad you haven't written off the Bearcat.

BTW, in light of all NZ has gone through the last several months, I wish you and everyone there the best.

Got some ribs installed, and the door framed

Very nice so far. shes gonna look swish when shes done.

Thanks again Mike.....I've managed some more progress; finally got all the ribs in place with lightning holes drilled:

And looking through a hole I drilled in the front:

Yet more. Never thought I'd be building this fast, but then I didn't think the tube frame would come together this fast either. I wanted to use streched sprue, but I couldn't quite get the diameter I wanted so I went with some household wire.

I cut a length and took the kinks out with a pair of needlenose pliers (these don't have grooves in the jaws).

Here it is temporarily tacked into the left half of the fuselage:

And from the front

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

fantastic

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

Looks awesome though.

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:

this is a great racer Stage Left!!! 

but not the amodel kit you speak

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!

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

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.

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.

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

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'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 

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.

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

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!!

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

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......

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 

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??

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

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.

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