Granville Miller & Delackner R6H “Quod Erat Demonstratum” – 1:72 scratch
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Hi! This is my next Macrobertson plane, this time the ill-fated last "true" GeeBee the R6H QED. For whose not familiar with the type (I thinkis not a suprise) the story in short:
"The Gee Bee Q.E.D. ("Quod Erat Demonstrandum"), aka Gee Bee R-6H, aka the "Conquistador del Cielo" (Sky Conqueror) was the last in a series of racing and touring aircraft from the Granville Brothers. Unlike the other famous Gee Bee aircraft, the Q.E.D had the distinction of never finishing a race it was entered in. The Gee Bee Q.E.D. was started by the Granville Brothers in 1933 prior to their October bankruptcy. On 11 February 1934, "Grannie Granville" died in Spartanburg, South Carolina delivering a Sportster E used to finance a new company based in New York and called Granville, Miller & De Lackner. The R-6H (Q.E.D.) was completed later in 1934 for customer Floyd B. Odlum, with Jacqueline Cochran chosen as the pilot.[2] The touring aircraft was designed with large fuel tanks to compete in the MacRobertson Air Race from RAF Mildenhall in East Anglia to Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne. A Curtiss Conqueror was the specified engine, but a Pratt & Whitney Hornet was substituted to make the race delivery date. The Gee Bee Q.E.D. shares the same general shape as the Gee Bee R1 racer, but is nearly 10 ft (3.0 m) larger in span and length. The aircraft was powered by a 675 hp (503 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet. The fuselage is steel tube with fabric covering. The wings used wooden spars and ribs with mahogany plywood covering. The aircraft was painted bright green with orange markings to match the sponsor "Lucky Strike" cigarettes."
Well curretly isn' a kit out there about the R6H (and good plans neither) so I drawed my plans based on photos and started to squared off the parts - fuselage from balsa wood wings are from plastic sheets. I smoothed the surfaces and replicated the "rough" parts from resin and made further adjustments on them. At this stage I began to think about a small serie because at least I wanted to build two QEDs - Sarabia's "Conquistador Del Cielo" it's pure art deco painting is a must 🙂 . Finally all little parts and bits finished and I could begin the building - prior to it I assembled a prototype wthout any filler or paint just to be sure my "kit" is buildable at least. If anyone doesn't try scratchbuilding an entire subject may won't know how many small and fiddly bits have to produce for a completed project. This wasn't a short project either. Finally I made assembly instructions and painting guides for my homemade decals, some "box art" and voila 🙂
Hope You like it!
Just exquisite! What type of monofilament do you use for the rigging?
Hi! This time it was a normal 0,10mm black fishing line (Predator 🙂 bought at the local store).
Extraordinary undertaking...something I'd dare not try to do for sure. Evokes memories, however, of a group build making balsa airplanes at Cub Scout meetings more years ago than I thought I COULD remember.
Thank You. The finished plane doesn't contain balsa yet 😉
Gabor: how does one go about getting one of your kits? Planes of Fame would love having it in the racers section of the model displays.
Very interesting!
Regards, Vlad.
Great draughtsmanship and a great result. One thing- with the small size of parts is there a problem with the resin shrinking and affecting fit? I'm sure air bubbles etc can be sorted on a prototyoe, just wondering how the quality control works on a boxed kit.
Fantastic model.
Thanks! Shrinking is not a too big problem with modern materials (I use Biresin G26) but I havent got a pressure camber so bubble could be a problem. The outcome is about 70% but I make these kits for fun not for real money 🙂 and my series rarely goes further than 20-30 examples. It's just for I can say "hey, I produced a full kit" :D. The quality control is quite simple: which part seems unusable goes to the trashbin 🙂
A practical solution! Again, a very interesting project.
Gabor,
Utterly fascinating. You are a true craftsman. You have stepped back in time to create a little masterpiece
Thank You 🙂
Pardon my confusion...did you create an original and then use it to serve as molds for additional resin models that you plan to sell?
In any event, your little airplane is remarkably done. Wonderful work.
Hi! Yes i was made from "0". I received so many request back then from fellow modelers that I made a small serie from it. To tell the truth casting at home (too many pieces and too little time) quite uncomfortable so I stopped producing the kit after 25-30 examples.
This is really impressive! Fantastic work, and the look of your finished model is beautiful!
Regards
Magnus
Gabor, I would totally get one if it were 1/32 to go with my Gee Bee Z and R racers. Would like to see a photo with both your Comets though! I did get to see the late Jim Moss's QED quasi-replica (with an engine out of a T-28!) at EAA last year so it's cool to see a model of it. (There was also a replica of the Grosvenor House Comet that used to come pretty regularly.) I've never seen pictures of the green version, just the one as it sits in Mexico.
Hi! 1:32 is huuge. I alsp have the William's bros racer serie but You cannot imagine how much RTV silicon an resin would need for a 1:32 QED 🙂 There are a short film too on the net with the green - in flight on the Nationals in 1936:)
Yeah. I was surprised how big it actually is (it is a two place after all.) Bigger than the R and way bigger than the Z! My compliments on the cockpit and engine. Scratchbuilding parts that small (not to mention an entire plane) is pretty impressive!
Hello. I'm very interested in the Q E D. A little plastic modeling but RC models most. I have long wanted to build a rc model but never had the luck finding any plans. Yours look great, do you know where to find plans of any kind. Yes the Jim Moss QED is gorgeous although not quite scale.
B r Flemming. / Denmark
Hi! I didn't use RC plans however there are some on the net as i recall. Please try RC Group community or similar american site I'm sure that You will find someone who built GeeBee or QED.
splendid
Hi!
Do you still have the kit for sale?
Hi! Please contact me in my private mail: [email protected].
Witnessing the birth of a plastic model plane in the one true scale... Very nice!
Thank You 🙂
This is fascinating, Gabor! You are a true craftsman. Your projects make me want to go spit on my meager works!
Actually, you do inspire me (or many of us) to do better. Thanks for sharing!
Old school! Wonderful!
Thank You Mates! In this time of 3D printing I feel like a dinosaur 🙂 😉 😀
Gabor, just amazing work! Real modeling, from scratch, as in the preplastic age. Good to see the skills still being used.
Thank You! Yest this is a very very old school build - I suppose we won't see very much this kind in the future :)Times change...