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Chas Bunch
47 articles

Gee Bee Racer

June 7, 2023 · in Aviation · · 14 · 362

Here's my R2 from . A nice, simple little kit, but I had some issues with it. I am not happy with the windscreen, it just looks too clunky, I tried and failed to make a better one. Also, the real Gee Bee had a very thin black demarcation line between the red scallops and the white, I tried several ways to replicate that thin black line, but just couldn't get it right, so after the third paint job I decided that "perfect" is the enemy of "good enough for who it's for" and left it alone with just the red scallops. I rigged it with some leftover flat wire I had. Looking at the real thing from a distance, it's hard to see the black anyhow. The photo of the real thing in flight is something I pulled off the web for reference. The one heading for the pylon is my model.

Reader reactions:
14  Awesome 4  2 

6 additional images. Click to enlarge.


14 responses

  1. Bravo, Chas @chasbunch! Excellent result, and very realistic! ๐Ÿ‘ I've had the old Hawk/Testors GeeBee for many years but that paintjob always intimidated me too much to start. Like you, I struggled with ideas about how to get that black line between the colors. You've shown that it looks great without it as well! ๐Ÿ‘

  2. I once read a pilot's account that said flying the Gee Bee was like balancing a pencil on the end of your finger.

  3. That looks great, Chas, especially the picture of your model heading for the pylon. I can imagine getting that thin black line right must be nigh on impossible, but the canopy looks OK in the pictures.

  4. Very well done, Chas, and the photography is quite good as well. I was reading Jimmy Doolittle's autobiography a while back, and he flew the R-1 for a while. Very tricky to fly.

  5. Excellent work done on this GeeBee, Chas @chasbunch
    Some amazing pictures as well.

  6. Fantastic result, Chas! The pics are excellent, as well!

  7. Very nice! That is such an awkward bird, but a lovely model of it!

  8. Well done along with the photos, Chas. You nailed it more than โ€œgood enoughโ€.

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