Bronze? radial ac nose ring question.

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

I was wondering why on some planes the forward most part of the cowl was left in an unfinished bronze?

For example the Lysander, Blenhiem, sm 79 etc…

Was this just a wear&tear issue, with a lot of flaked paint? or a heat dissapation byproduct? or just looked cool?

None of our (US) planes did this, and I cant think of any Jap or Ruskie ones?..

ANyway just up late (early) with a screaming baby and wondering…

2

As far as I know the bronze is a collector ring for the exhaust gasses. Its is very typical for several (british) radial engines.

3

Thanks for the info.

4

They were made from steel not bronze. Eventually they became oxidized by heat turning a colour somewhat like a tarnished copper coin. Alclad2 Brunt Iron or Exhaust Manifold will approximate the colour.

5

Thanks for the clarification, I couldnt see them making a peice out of bronze and definatly not copper which made me wonder about it being caused by heat. Certainly makes for a contrast on the camo!

6

What I find interesting is how they managed to seperate the engine’s vibration and movement from the rest of the cowlig. The engine is usually mounted on rubber mountings and can move independently from the rest of the airframe (to witch the cowl usually is attached securely)

In this case I assume that the whole cowling must be attached to the rest of the engine and the whole thing can move a little.

Theuns