We are finally getting some nice weather. It almost makes you think that spring might actually be coming. Hopefully the rapid change from cold to warm doesn't result in a difficult river break up.
I have been having recurring stomach upset the last several weeks. Each bout has been getting progressively worse. I thought I was done with it last weekend but another bout started Thursday afternoon, and it hit me hard. I went to a walk in clinic downtown, where they a felt it could be a number of things. The most likely causes could be treated with antibiotics so I went home with three days of pills, including antibiotics and anti nausea. I wasn't feeling very good when I went to sleep Thursday night, but was better but very weak come Friday morning. The doctor noted that dehydration was a real risk, and wanted me to drink at least 2 litres of Gatorade a day, and up to 6 litres total fluid daily. That is way outside my ability but I have been drinking a lot of Gatorade and water.
Nicholas and Christine had front row seats to the 2023 eastern Canada ice storm. The storm hit Ottawa Wednesday morning, with steady freezing rain thru the day that continued thru until the early morning hours. Christine took pictures of the neighbor's balcony, and the building under construction across the street, were already covered in ice by early afternoon. Nicholas sent a picture of Jill's apartment, where a tree had fallen, crushing the neighbours' car, and taking out the power. Late Wednesday evening, over 150,000 Ottawas area customers were without power. Fortunately, both Nicholas and Christine didn't lose power and were safe.
Nicholas was scheduled to fly from Ottawa to Calgary, via Toronto, on Thursday morning for pre employment testing. He had tried to get it done in Ottawa but Syncrude, where he will be working this summer, indicated that Ontario didn't have all the necessary testing and it had to be done in Alberta. He was supposed to leave Ottawa at 6 am, then catch a 8 am flight from Toronto. When he woke up at 3 am to get to the airport, his Ottawa flight was already so behind schedule that he couldn't make his connection. He engaged Syncrude Travel once he got to the airport, who started to reschedule his connection. He finally boarded two hours late and then things got really bizarre. Deicing took 2 hours, as the plane was coated in ice after sitting out in the freezing rain overnight. Then, when the plane finally left the deicing pad, heavy fog rolled in and the airport closed. He finally made it to Toronto around 1 pm, called the testing company, and confirmed they were fully booked, and couldn't accommodate him later in the day, even if he made it to Calgary. After discussion with Syncrude HR, the testing was postponed and he headed back to Ottawa. Not a great day but Jill surprised him with a Easter basket of goodies when he finally made it back to his place.
Nicholas's testing included a fit test, so he needed to shave his beard. He experimented with several beard styles as he shaved, eventuallly deciding to leave a mustache. Here's the picture he sent us.
We had Daniel home for Easter. He arrived late Thursday afternoon and headed back to Edmonton on Sunday morning. We were thrilled to have him home, the first time since Christmas, and Marie went all out on the food. Daniel, the poor starving university student, took full advantage. He took the opportunity to change his winter tires and clean his car, taking advantage of the garage and the nice weather. It was nice to get caught up on all his activities and learn about his school activities.
Christine's laptop has been acting up for several months, but started making uncomfotably loud noises Wednesday. By Thursday afternoon it was clear that a fan was dying. The computer is critical to her studies, and she is in the final crunch to get the remaining assignments done over the next two weeks. She called a mobile service to look at it, and they confirmed the fan was going but felt it would last two more weeks. Friday the computer disagreed and the noise got worse. Calls Saturday confirmed that local shops wouldn't be able to do anything for at least two weeks. A call to Dell was more reassuring, where the part could be ordered and someone come to install it 5 days after paying. She has now finished the heavy rendering so the remaining work shouldn't strain the graphics fan as much. Everyone has their fingers crossed that the computer makes it long enough for Dell to arrive.
All the kids have about 2 weeks of school left. Christine is into the final assignment crunch, then will have the movers come to pack her stuff up and move it to Calgary. She will be working at the golf course again this summer, then heading to the U of C in the fall to start her Architecture degree. Nicholas is finishing his final week of school before starting finals. He is back home at the end of April, and starts his summer job as an Environmental Engineering student at Syncrude on May 1. He is also planning to work at the gold course on weekends, so he will be busy this summer. He returns to Ottawa in the fall for one more term, graduating at Christmas. Daniel, like Nicholas, also has one more week of class before starting finals. His Co-op term will be with ATCO, as a PM, lasting 8 months. He will then return to school in January for one final term, graduating in the spring of 2024.
One of Ember's ears came unglued this week. She is now old enough that she doesn't need her ears pinned any longer so the glue was removed and she is free!
Anson
I was not happy with my initial repairs to the starboard fuselage serial number. The attempt to simply paint over the pulled up paint looked awful, leading to a decision to sand it smooth and repaint the camouflage colours
While waiting for the fuselage camouflage repairs to dry, I started on the underwing serial numbers. Taking progress pictures can help spur your modelling. For example, I realized one of the under wing serial masks was upside down after looking at the picture below and was able to correct the mask in time.
The second attempt to repaint the fuselage serials didn't go well. Frustratingly, this mask was also placed upside down. In my defense, the mask number starts with 6 and ends with 9, with an 8 in the middle, all of which look fine when upside down. The attempt to carefully remove the mask failed, miserably, damaging the mask and pulling up more paint. Que the use of colorful words. With nothing to lose, masking tape was intentionally placed on the fuselage and ripped off in an effort to pull any remaining poorly bonded paint. Considerable paint pulled up on the first effort, a little less the second, very little by the third, and none by the fourth. A sanding sponge was used to smooth the now jagged paint surface, and then a final piece of masking tape was placed on the fuselage and ripped off. Thankfully, no paint came up this time. The surface was cleaned with IPA and reprimed. Fingers crossed this eliminates any further paint lifting
Photo 1 - Paint sanded smooth, ready to repaint camouflage colours.
Photo 2 - Second repaint complete and ready to mask
Photo 3 - Under wing serial masks in place
Photo 4 - Masks installed correctly this time
Photo 5 - Mask removed. No touch ups needed!
Photo 6 - Camouflage repaired for the third time.
Photo 7 - Calling the repair complete. The numbers might be too low but I am not going to fix them!
Next up will be to apply a clear coat to protect the paint and prepare for decals.
MiG-21 Fishbed
The fuselage seams along the top didn't have to be cleaned up as they would be covered by the tail and spine insert. The underside joints were generally good but needed a little filler under the tail. The engraved panel line detail was a little soft in the tail area so was rescribed after sanding. I don't like scribing circles, but these two turned out okay.
The kit rewards a lot of test fitting before applying glue. The tail fit okay but a little clean up and some dry fitting got it to fit perfectly. The spine also fit along the fuselage perfectly once a little sanding was done. The joint between the tail and the spine was smooth but needed some filler to close a small gap.
Photo 1 - Tail and spine installed
Photo 2 - Repairs after sanding
Not shown but progressing in parallel was the wing and main landing gear bays. All the various detail bits and pieces have been painted and are ready to install. Once that is done, the upper and lower wing sections can be joined and the wind mated to the fuselage. That will come very close to completing the main assemblies.
I am planning to head to Calgary next weekend, stomach issues permitting. Supertrain, the Calgary train show and largest one in Canada, is next Saturday and Sunday. I haven't been to one since it was held in the Big Four, at least 20 years ago, I will stay long enough to take Michelle to her eye doctor's appointment on Wednesday, taking advantage of the trip to visit my Mom, maybe stop at a hobby shop or two, and catch up over have dinner with some friends.
Until next blog update, take care and stay safe.
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