WIP: Fouga CM.170 Magister

[Supah]

Its looking VERY good Ga?tan! truely your best work yet! Will you be doing german and belgian machines to?

[gamary]

Glad you like it, Supah. Yes, I will be doing Belgian and German models, as well as any other type I can get my hands on. Anyone with good pictures is invited to show them to me.

[anadc4]

Wondered if the Magisters might have been painted silver. Flicked through a couple of my books and the first one I came across was a Luftwaffe one in a shiny bare metal finish. It looked like a USAF finish of the 1950s, with different panels giving different reflective values. Such a difficult effect to reproduce.

Here's what I was told was the cause of this patchwork effect on bare metal planes. When aluminium sheet is manufactured it forms a "grain" in the direction of the rollers. The sheet reflects light differently depending on whether the light is falling along the "grain" or across it. The direction of the grain makes little difference to the manufacturer, so adjoining panels will have sheets rolled in different directions, creating the patchy effect. Add to this different alloys/metals in areas such as leading edges, exhausts and inspection panels and the plane looks patchy. Oxidation reduces the effect by dulling the surface, which is why is isn't so apparent on older planes. Heavy polishing polishing also removes much of the grain.

[gamary]

Thanks for that bit of information, anadc4: I wasn't aware of it but it does confirm what I thought. The Magister is far from finished yet but since most of them were natural metal, I want to do the best job I can on the metallic finish. My previous attempts were done in a hurry and without much care: I'll try to do better here.

[gamary]

I've done more work on it & I'm nearly finished now:



I've added the periscope, pitot-like tube in front of the canopy, rudder rail, trim tab actuator, tailwheel, tail light, and a few other things. What's nice with modern birds is that it's so much easier to get detailed pics.

I've yet to add the cockpit contents (seats, instruments, etc.) and then I'll start painting them. My first one will be either French or German.

BTW, I have a question: some Magisters have "handlebars" on the nose. Does anyone know what their function is? (Maybe just handlebars).

[Supah]

I've done more work on it & I'm nearly finished now:



I've added the periscope, pitot-like tube in front of the canopy, rudder rail, trim tab actuator, tailwheel, tail light, and a few other things. What's nice with modern birds is that it's so much easier to get detailed pics.

I've yet to add the cockpit contents (seats, instruments, etc.) and then I'll start painting them. My first one will be either French or German.

BTW, I have a question: some Magisters have "handlebars" on the nose. Does anyone know what their function is? (Maybe just handlebars).

A quick phone call to my flight instructor who flew this type in his training to become a F-104 pilot tells me they are antennea. He told me a story how those two small tubes in front of the windscreen saved his life. During his training on a belgian fouga his brakes failed and he over ran the runway. After bumping through some fields he suddenly saw this large barbwire fence rushing up towards him. For a moment he though he would be decapitated but the two small tubes cut the wire and it cleared his head. Made a mess of the rest of the plane, nearly cut one of the wings off! Imagine that striking your neck!

[gamary]

Thanks a lot for that bit of information, Supah. That must be the weirdest shape I've ever encountered for an antenna! Does your instructor want a profile of his Magister? It would make a nice choice!

Edit: Do you know what those tubes are for? I suppose they weren't designed as cable-cutters. lol

[anadc4]

I'm sure the tubes are pitot tubes, for the airspeed indicator. Looked at some Magister photos and can't see anything else that looks like a pitot. The location in front of the cockpit ensures a nice clean airflow unaffected by the firing of weapons or air being drawn into the engines.

[gamary]

That's what I thought too, but I wasn't sure. Your instructor, Supah, could write a short story called "A Pitot Tube Saved My Life"! What I dont understand is how he would have been decapitated? Had he jettisoned the canopy? Otherwise, the cable would probably have slid over the canopy, no?

While I'm at it, I'll add this view of the forward fuselage. I've added some of the stenciling, but it's not even close to being finished. This one is from Belgian AF MT-35, the last operational BAF Magister IIRC:



That's 100% size. (Total size is 30 cm/300 dpi as usual).

[gamary]

I've had confirmation that the two tubes in front of the cockpit were Pitots, one per pilot.

As for the the "handlebars", it would seem that they can be both, as I've seen some pictures of a Magister being manually repositioned by pulling on them. But I've also seen stenciling that said "Do not pull on antennaes". So maybe the aircraft I was mentioning had a more recent radio installation in which the antennaes were replaced by handlebars. ?