Time continues to fly by. Remarkably, it is coming up on the end of August, and its been almost a month since the last blog entry. Marie and I have been on official vacation the last couple of weeks so there has been zero progress on any models. Rather than report progress, this blog will look ahead at what is/maybe coming.
Marie and I took advantage of our in-house dog sitters to make a quick trip south. We had no firm plans after visiting parents in Calgary. I thought we were going to Vancouver. Instead, we headed thru the Crowsnest to Bayne's Lake, just west of Fernie, to spend a couple days visiting Marie's university friends Dave and Ellen. After a couple really hot days, we continued west to spend a few hours with Connie, a long ago friend from Fort McMurray. Then it was on to Kelowna, where we spent four fabulous nights at the Eldorada hotel. We had plans to visit a number of wineries, but quickly found they all needed reservations, and there were long line ups everywhere. As an alternative, I looked up cideries, discovered there were 5 in Kelowna, and off we went. The lines were much smaller, and the cider tasted really good, so we just kept visiting more. On our last day in the Okanagan we headed over to Summerland to ride the Kettle Valley Railway, and then hit a few more cideries. Nicholas put together the video below to capture the highlights of our trip.
The kids are all soon heading back to school for their fall term. Daniel will be returning to the UofA, moving from his co-op bachelor pad in downtown Calgary to a basement suite in Edmonton. Nicholas and I will be heading south next weekend to help him relocate. Nicholas will then head to Ottawa to continue his studies at Carleton. Christine will also be heading back to Ottawa, after being online for almost two years, to finish her final year at Algonquin. We have had at least two, and sometimes all three of the kids home over the last 18 months, so it will feel strangely quiet to suddenly be empty nesters again.
Enterprise
Decals are now complete. Remaining steps include cleaning the sub assemblies before applying a flat clear coat, and then assembling the pieces together. Hopefully it will be done for the next blog in a couple weeks time.
F-35
Decals are slowly getting added. The kit markings will be supplemented/replaced using old CF-18 decal sets that are donating various markings and stencils. It too may be finished for the next blog in a couple of weeks - but I think I have said that before!
Handley Page Halifax Mk.I
While visiting my parents, my father made the comment that he enjoyed the builds but hadn't recognized any of the recent planes that were built. I stopped and thought about that - there last three were an Alpha Jet in Top Aces markings, a Bell X-1, and a F-35 in fictional RCAF markings, and he didn't have first have first hand experience with either the Alpha Jet or the F-35. Next builds were intended to be a C-130J Hercules and a CC-150 Polaris, and I don't believe he would have seen either of these. Time for a change in plans.
I had been doing a little research a few weeks back regarding an RAF base in England. My paternal grandparents surname was Oulton. They had traced their family heritage thru Nova Scotia and back to England, to a town called Oulton's Broad. By chance I had learned that there was an RAF base there, RAF Air Station Oulton, during WWII. I thought I had read that the base had hosted Canadian Lancaster squadrons, and thought that could make a great build back story. The recent research determined that Oulton didn't have any heavy bombers, but did have a Special Operations unit using B-17's as early electronic warfare aircraft. There were no Canadian squadrons but there was a Canadian crew that became well known, with the pilot getting decorated. I have a B-17 kit that would work out well, so watch for a future article.
Back to the British heavy bombers. I have not built either the Lancaster or the Halifax, even though I have several kits of each. Both were significant in Canadian history, with RCAF crews making up complete Halifax and Lancaster squadrons. And both fit the bill as being familiar to my father.
After spending an hour rummaging under the stairs, I had both a Lancaster and a Halifax kits. I had wanted a Halifax Mk.III, with the Bristol Hercules engines, but only found a Mk.I with Merlin engines. A review of the very through type history on Wikipedia convinced me to go ahead with the Mk.1. The Wikipedia article can be found here if you have a half hour to spare. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Page_Halifax
The kit comes with rather plain markings for a RCAF 405 squadron plane. A little Google research found that the plane was actually rather famous, as was the nose art. So perhaps it may still be a suitable choice. http://aircrewremembered.com/olsen-edward-carl.html
Looking thru my decal stash, I found that I had several Halifax sets but only 1 set for the MkI/II bomber. One was for a bomber "Medicine Hat" that seemed interesting. A quick look at the Bomber Command website found some details. This particular aircraft flwe at least 50 missions, an incredible achievement. https://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/olympus-digital-camera-108/
The kit appears to include a number of different options, including different nose configurations, both types of vertical stabilizers. I am currently leaning towards "Medicine Hat" with the solid nose, vs the current nose of the kit markings. Time will tell. Here are some pictures of some of the sprues, and some of the extras I have collected. The Kitsworld cockpit details are 3D decals, and I am anxious to try them out.
As for a Lancaster? I have markings for a half dozen different WWII aircraft, as well as a post war RCAF Lancaster with the white upper fuselage, red lightening bolt, and silver lower fuselage. Any preferences?
See everyone in a couple weeks. Stay safe.
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