It is early on a cold, bright Sunday morning. I was up at 4:45 am to say goodbye to Christine as she headed back to Ottawa. Marie took her to the airport and then continued south on her planned trip to Calgary. I tried to go back to sleep but one of the dogs would bark every time I nodded off.
It was really nice to have Christine home for her reading break. While Marie and I enjoyed her company, I think the dogs were the most excited to have her home.
Ember has now had two days in a row without any pees in the house, so we are making progress. She is getting much better at asking to be let out when she needs to pee, either by whining at you directly or heading to the back door and waiting. She has started losing her puppy teeth, with both lower canines gone. She is funny to watch as she can't pick up balls or ice cubes and it really frustrates her. One annoying new habit this week occurred after she discovered her reflection in the stero glass doors. She will now stand in front of the doors and bark at the strange dog. It was funny the first time but we have to nip that habit early. Oh, gotta go. Ember's whining at the door!
I'm back. We tried walking Ember on a double leach with Riley this week, and it didn't go well. Ember doesn't walk. She pulls, bounces, tugs, darts, climbs, chases, and bites poor Riley relentlessly. She will need to calm down a lot before we try that again. Perhaps we can match her with Shadow. He is a slower walker, and will put her in her place if she gets too rambunctious,
Last week's cold weather moderated at the beginning of this week, eventually giving plus temperatures on Thursday. That made everything warm enough to create ice on the driveway, deck and all the sidewalks. I managed to get three bike rides in, including one day with fresh snow and bright sunshine.
Base board painting resumed with the baseboards and windows completed in the kitchen eating area, and the window over the kitchen sink. The last baseboards on the main level are from the pantry to the front hall, and the window trim in the dining room. I will try and get that done this coming week if Ember lets me.
Lancaster
Still need to get pictures of the completed Lancaster. I enjoy researching the planes I build, and obviously enjoy the building. But I don't really get that excited about taking pictures so this tends to lag.
Anson
Each engine nacelle consists of three parts. Fit is very tight, and very dependent on correct assembly of the landing gear bay. Some light and very careful sanding helped improve the fit and the parts literally clicked into place. The instructions call for the exterior to be painted a green zinc chromate colour. It was only after the first nacelle was assembled I realized they probably meant the inside of the nacelle. Oh well.
As I was looking for another part, I realized that there were still two engine nacelle pieces on the sprues. A quick check of the instructions verified that those were the correct parts for the build. I have no idea what the pieces I used are for, and can't see any difference between the ones I used and the ones still on the spruce. That will teach me to pay more attention to the instructions. Perhaps they would have fit a little better?
Photo 1 - Engine nacelle parts. An extra set of hands would have been helpful
Photo 2 - Pata installed. A light sanding still required to neaten the joints.
Photo 3 - Mr Surfacer to the rescue.
Photo 4 -White primer used to check joints.
The engines are small kits all by themselves, with each built up from 7 separate parts. Painting and assembling took two hours!
The engine cowlings were next, consisting of three separate cowling pieces, with 6 cylinder head bumps applied separately. The instructions suggest adding the three cowling pieces around the loose engine, before the engine is installed into the wing nacelles. I had my doubts but the cowling pieces literally click into place around the cylinders. The finished assembly looks very convincing.
Photo 1 - Assembled engines
Photo 2 - First cowl piece in place
Photo 3 - Second cowl piece in place
Photo 4 - Assembled cowlings
Photo 5 - Finished cowlings test fit in place
Onto the home stretch now, with not much left to do. The instructions suggest adding the clear parts next, which finishes the cockpit and the nose. Add the rudder and the model is ready for paint. I bought some pink Mr. Surfacer this week, with the intent of using it as a primer under the yellow. Yellow is a notoriously difficult colour to paint, and using pink as a primer has worked well in the past. I have never used Mr. Surfacer as a primer but others seem to get good results.
Mig-21
I have always had mixed feelings about the MiG-21. I have always been fascinated by airplanes, and fighter jets in particular. Growing up in the 70's and 80's, the Mig was the quintessential "bad guys" plane. Constructed in large numbers - almost 11,000 were built, making it the most produced jet fighter in history - and used by over 50 countries, it seemed to be everywhere and involved in every conflict. It made it easy to dislike it.
That and it is simply ugly. Like many early Russian jet aircraft, it looked purposeful, with sharp angles and unusual shapes that resulted in a shape only a Russian aircraft designer could love. Unlike it's sleek western contemporaries, such as the British Lightning, or the American Phantom and Starfighter, the MiG-21 seemed all elbows and knees. The large tail and rear end structure made it seem unbalanced and inelegant. It simply didn't look fast, or even particularly aerodynamic.
Popular aviation journalism of the time seemed to be of two minds. Either the plane was inferior because it was Russian, or it was a super weapon that threaten the safety of the west. The truth appears to be somewhere in between. Actual combat statistics show it to be be a fast, maneuverable, and capable fighter in the hands of a skilled pilot.
Here"s the Wikipedia link if you have a lot of time.
The kit itself is beautiful, and Dave included a pair of cast resin seats to top it off. The modelling press speak very highly of the fit, and how well it builds, but do note how fine the panel line details are. Several builders recommend rescribing the panel lines and rivets before starting construction to ensure no detail is lost. That seems rather extreme to me but I may have to forgo my usual primer layer.
First step was to paint some of the key components. Confusingly, the colour call outs list two uses of interior green. One is the familiar bright green zinc chromate based paint, while the other is the unique turquoise colour the Russians favour for aircraft cockpits. I have an old bottle of Model Master Russian cockpit green that is close to the prepainted turquoise used on the PE, but may need multiple coats to get sufficient colour depth. I also have a bottle of Mr. Color Russian Cockpit Turquoise on the way as a back up. It is supposed to better match the prepainted PE cockpit parts.
The kit includes markings for 8 different aircraft. The Egyptian plane on the box top, with its large orange hi-vis panels, is very attractive, but I wanted to do an European based jet that a Canadian plane might have encountered. I had been thinking I would do the multi-tone grey Polish jet but have decided to do a tan and green Russian training jet. You can't build a MiG-21 without Russian markings.
And that's it for another week. Not sure how much modelling will get done this week. It will all depend on how much time Ember gives me.
Stay warm and stay safe everyone.
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