Hawker/Grumman GT-X24 Hellstorm

[Arc3371]

Amazing!

[John Howling Mouse]

Let me add my own "Wow!" to the crowd's.  Those yellow-bordered letters/serials look fantastic.  What kit did you pull those from?

[sotoolslinger]

Those were Super Scale International for a Mosquito, the same sheet I got the Aussie markings for the Skyrocket

[Howard of Effingham]

  very nice! i'll get me knitting...... 

[GTX]

All righty then I got the call today , BY Monday I have to be in Californication, to start a J.C. Pennys'
That includes having to go to yet another ,further doctor about the famous trashed knee tomorrow .
So the rest of the week I will be trying to finish stuff in between packing
But you can't stop me
Today I did this

Scary monster face

AHHHH!!!! More scary monster face

Since I of course scavenged the decals I had to hand paint the bottom of the teeth decals

From above, looking at you

Some decals

Detail painting and weathering is of course not done yet.
She will also get British style big head ,rail type rockets and a centerline drop tank.

Wow!!!

Regards,

Greg

[Mossie]

I've missed this one!  That's one scary looking MF!  The double exhausts make it look like it's packing a RR Vulture, which would have been a grunty beast had the bugs been ironed out.

[sotoolslinger]

Thanks Mossie

Actually the engine is based on both the Napier Saber and the Rolls.  It is the Napier Cutlass a 24 cylinder X block with an initial 2500 horsepower

I'm still gonna have to gig you for not looking at this thread
The model shown is the MARK II with improved supercharger , and water methanol injection developing 2950 hp

She is pretty much finished , I tried to stay a bit subtle on the weathering on this one



I armed her with 6 rockets

Plus of course , the machine guns and cannons



Now please some advice ; does this one rate an article or should I just do the entire backstory on the completed builds thread in the Profile Tribute GB

[Rafael]

Marvelous!!!

That's all I'm gonna say, now I'm going back to watch more of this model.

Rafa

[Brian da Basher]

Simply stunning, Toolslinger! I really like the awesome twin exhausts and the little additions like the guns on the engine decking and the rockets.

Personally, I think this one is hot enough to be both the cover and centerfold for SAMI. Since you built it for the Profiles GB, the best of your shots and backstory should go there in my opinion.

Yet another incredible model that is the epitome of What-If!

Brian da Basher

[sotoolslinger]

Thanks Rafa, and thanks for the advice BdaB . Photobucket got hacked and there seems to be something wrong with my internet  I don't know whether they have anything to do with each other. After I downloaded my pics this afternoon I have  not been able to see any images on this site and there is a big notice on the Photobucket homepage  Hopefully this will clear up quickly as I freakin live on this site and I can't see anyone's pics or download my own .

[Weaver]

That looks fantastic, Toolslinger: the very definition of "aggressive"!  The mouth and eyes are just perfect....

When you're writing a background story it's more realistic to include a few downsides to the plane as well, since it's a rare bird indeed that truly doesn't have any. For instance, Spitfires are often written up as God's gift to fighter aviation, yet you can make a long list of their demerits (narrow-track u/c, lazy role-rate, small caliber guns, lousy radios, etc, etc...)

Couple of things about the Hellstorm might be:

1. View over the nose for landing/take-off: it looks to be not far off that of a Corsair.

2. Torque reaction: with nearly 3000bhp on a relatively stumpy fuselage with a smallish fin, it's going to swing like a bitch: the WWII equivalent of a Sopwith Camel. Just as with the Camel, experienced pilots will find ways of using this to their advantage, whilst it will bite novices hard.....

[sotoolslinger]

Good ideas Weaver I would like to post the backstory and picks on the GB thread but for some reason I still can't get to my Photobucket 

[ysi_maniac]

the very definition of "aggressive"!

Absolutely

2. Torque reaction: with nearly 3000bhp on a relatively stumpy fuselage with a smallish fin, it's going to swing like a bitch: the WWII equivalent of a Sopwith Camel. Just as with the Camel, experienced pilots will find ways of using this to their advantage, whilst it will bite novices hard.....

Did Bearcat have torque reaction problems?

[sotoolslinger]

Good question ysi-man , It's my understanding that all powerful prop planes had some problems with torque reaction.They used to say you could tell a P-40 pilot by the different sizes of his legs, as you had to fly them like you were going around the world to the right. But I think this also had a lot to do with how the control surfaces were configured and operated.
Weaver does have a point about the long nose though.

[Weaver]

Whether torque was a problem or merely a nuisance depended on how good the trimming system was: with a good system you could trim it out as soon as it hit, but you still had to be quick when conditions changed, such as the wheels just lifting off *. The size of the trimming job would be proportionate to how badly the prop torque (and prop-wash) affected the airframe though, and longer fuselages and/or bigger fins helped with this.

So short fuselage + small fin + big engine = big trim changes = more need for a good trim system.

Since the Hellstorm is an adapted Hellcat with a MUCH bigger engine, you might wonder if, under wartime conditions, they'd spend much time refining/improving the trimming system, or just say that it was good enough and regard the inevitable accidents as the acceptable price of an earlier in-service date. There are certainly examples of just that kind of shi**y trade-off being made in real life.....

* I have a cracking memoir by a guy who flew for the FAA during the war. He trained on Martlets (Wildcats) in Scotland. The Martlet had a manually retracted undercarriage, which the pilot had to wind up with 30-odd turns of a little handwheel low down in the cockpit, while simultaneously trimming out the torque reaction of the big radial. On one occasion, a short novice pilot had his head down in the cockpit winding the gear up, totally forgot about the trim, and didn't notice his increasing bank angle because his head was below the coming. The author and the Squadron Leader were in the NAAFI canteen, and had just turned around with cups of tea in their hands when a Martlet cartwheeled past the window....  :blink:  The pilot was perfectly okay, by the way, which was more than could be said for the field of prize cabbages that broke his crash.....