More snow this week. It snowed last weekend, was fairly nice thru the week, and started snowing again Friday night. I don't recall having this much snow in the 20 years we have been on Woodward Lane. The picture below was taken from across the street, and shows the snow pile across the front yard. Hopefully it doesn't suddenly turn hot and all melt quickly.
Thankfully it has warmed up after the bitter cold of last week. That was good enough to get out on the bike a couple of times. The first trip was over to the gazebo in Thickwood. On my second trip, I headed over to the Birchwood Trails to try the Burns Place loop. This area had just been groomed and was a little soft, making for some challenging biking. Soft snow is like soft sand - it is hard to get traction, and there is risk the tires spin out or even slip right out from under you. I am still trying to get used to the - apparently counterintuitive to me - idea that you need to go faster in soft snow. The logical side of my brain has learned that the bike is easier to control, and more stable, with some speed. This is fought by the emotional side of my brain that knows that it will hurt more if I actually do wipe out. I made it around the loop and a hot chocolate helped the two sides of my brain make peace.
The picture below was taken on my second ride, behind Burns Place, looking east towards the river valley.
Marie and I also made it out to the ski hill on Friday. No surprise but the snow is in great shape. Ignoring world events, it has been a pleasant week.
Beaufighter
I have had mixed results with the Aviaeology decals. Most of them were fine, but some had refused to settle down onto the model. In some cases, they seemed brittle, making it difficult to cut in the panel lines, and several areas outright cracked. The wing roundels were the worst example, and simply refused to settle down around a raised detail despite repeated drownings with various decal softeners. Even full strength Solvaset - the original recipe - didn't have any impact. I had read that these decals could resist softening agents and heat was the solution. I tried a hair dryer on the wing roundels, without success. It actually became too hot to keep holding the wing, but there was no apparent effect on the decals. Frustrated, I removed the wing roundels, cut masks, and painted them. The result, as shown below, is much better.
With the roundels repaired, it was on to the various stencil decals. An hour later, and this is where things are at. Next will be a gloss coat to seal the decals, some weathering, installation of the rockets and gear, and finally all the little antenna.
Alpha Jet
Frustrated with the Beaufighter decals, I spent most of the week working on the Alpha Jet. After building a number of subassemblies, it was time to join the fuselage. It was clear that this would be a tail sitter, so a very large amount of weight was added under and behind the cockpit to counter. Unfortunately, the gear bay design meant that the main gear had to be added when the fuselage was joined, leaving the two main gear sticking out. I haven't broken them after a week so fingers crossed.
The kit is clearly designed to have all the landing gear doors open. The gear doors on the Top Aces planes close up once the gear is extended, so they are actually closed. The kit's main gear doors didn't fit the openings, with large gaps around each edge. I inserted strip styrene into the gaps, sanded everything smooth, and then carefully rescribed the panel lines. The nose gear proved almost impossible to close up. The two gear gears were commendably thin, unless you wanted to close them, and then there was nothing to glue to. After several failed efforts, I finally inserted a blob of blue tack into the cavity so the doors had something to rest against, and was able to get them glued in.
After much filling and sanding, it was time to check my work with a shot of primer. Overall it looks okay but there are some spots that will clearly need more work.
Photo 1 - Some clamping was needed to join the fuselage
Photo 2 - Main gear bay and main gear installed. The area is covered completely once the fuselage is joined.
Photo 3 - Weight added under and behind the cockpit.
Photo 4 - Gaps around the closed gear door.
Photo 5 - Gaps filled with strip styrene and sanded smooth.
Photo 6 & 7 - White primer sprayed to check seams. The main gear doors clearly need more work.
I have picked out three new kits to start on. I will share that next week.
And that's it for this week. Stay safe everyone.
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