Silver Wings Gauntlet II

[mozart]

 

Spent a happy couple of hours on the Silhouette machine designing, measuring, scaling and cutting masks for K5296.  What fun!! 

[quang]

Great tracing, Max.
Contrary to what one might think, lettering is not easy to do correctly, especially the spacing. Yours is spotless! 
Cheers,

Quang

[mozart]

Thank you my friend, yes it is important to get the spacing right not least because often it won't all fit properly if you don't!  The underwing serials were unexpectedly large and had to be "reconciled" with the roundel size and positions:

 

 

Great photo this: there's an "interesting" panel aft of the wing/fuselage join and what possibly appears to be a light centre fuselage?  Also reinforcing panels outside of the lifting positions just forward of the tailplanes.  Not sure what those long thin rectangles (access panels?) might be just inboard of both roundels though?  All grist to the mill!!

 

Edited September 4, 2022 by mozart

[mozart]

Amazing what you can find if you're prepared to do a bit of digging:

 

 

[Alain Gadbois]

Aircraft in unusual positions are great to reveal details otherwise hidden!

It does look as if there’s a light under the fuselage.

The rectangular panels on the wings are quite intriguing. They cover partially the wing roundels as if they were added as a modification, or a temporary ad on for some purpose?

Hope more info turns up!

 

Alain

[europapete]

Hi Max, yes, that is a light under the fuselage and a small access panel. Almost identical to the Gladiator setup. The panels under the wingtips are retracted holt landing flares. 

[mozart]

7 hours ago, europapete said:

Hi Max, yes, that is a light under the fuselage and a small access panel. Almost identical to the Gladiator setup. The panels under the wingtips are retracted holt landing flares. 

Thanks for that info Pete, must admit to being totally ignorant of the existence of Holt landing flares…..another nugget of interest squirrelled away!  

[mozart]

Been having a bit of a chat with a chap over on Britmodeller who is doing a smaller scale Gauntlet, he has checked his references which state those patches are for the emergency flare housings, confirming your post Pete. 

[mozart]

I recently joined iModeler, largely on the strength of one member mentioned previously who is knowledgeable about 1930s aircraft. So we have been discussing the same issues recently to those here on LSP, these are Christopher’s thoughts: 
 

 “Generally Holt flare brackets were just stuck on the underside of the wing and weren't retractable. There was a reason for this - Holt flares when lit were very dangerous and were known to ignite spontaneously. Aircraft which landed using them frequently had to taxi around the airfield until the flare extinguished otherwise there was a high risk of the flame from the flare catching the wing and setting it alight. RAF practice was to fix the brackets down when they were needed and at no point have the flare in contact with the wing. I am sceptical about the emergency flare housing explanation. Emergency flares would be housed in the cockpit where it was easy for the pilot to reach them not under the outer struts. Your point about the inner struts is a very good one and a more detailed look at the panels suggests access panels for the Frise aileron control mechanism. These were controlled via the lower wing and the location of the panels would be appropriate for this.”

 

I wonder if we’ll ever get a cast iron explanation for the panels but I am content that we have had the debate and aired some opinions, and to acknowledge that the panels are there and will be added to the model. 

[mozart]

Hmmm, the plot thickens!

 

 

 

[thierry laurent]

Hi Max,

 

I'm fully agreeing with his explanation. I do not see any sensible engineer putting flares in such a location. All pictures I've seen of flares mounted under biplane wings showed quite long poles intended to avoid fire risks for the wings. So, I would take the drawing legend with a huge grain of salt!

 

Thierry 

[mozart]

Thanks Thierry, yes you’re right of course…..nothing is accepted until it’s proven! 

[mozart]

So we move on!  Literally 5 minutes with some 5 thou plasticard and the Silhouette cutter and we have the strengthening areas around "those" wingtip panels (I'm wondering if they are not just solid areas for tie-downs) and the rear fuselage hand lifts:

 

 

.....and fitted along with some panels just for'd of the hand-lifts:

 

 

They are a bit too prominent at the moment so will be gently sanded back tomorrow.  Two more pics for the library:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by mozart

[quang]

Another option would be to cut the panel strengthening areas from 3M MagicTape instead of plasticard. The MagicTape has the advantage of being self-adhesive and of the right thickness. I use it regularly for the reinforcement panels on aircraft skin.

[mozart]

20 minutes ago, quang said:

Another option would be to cut the panel strengthening areas from 3M MagicTape instead of plasticard. The MagicTape has the advantage of being self-adhesive and of the right thickness. I use it regularly for the reinforcement panels on aircraft skin.

I had thought of simply using the Oramask, which is of course also self adhesive, but cutting the card was very simple.