Happy Father's day to my father.
This is my 66th blog posting, having started back in March 2021. The blog was originally created to share modelling progress with my Dad. They have evolved over the year to become weekly family newsletters as much as they are modelling progress. I hope it still meets the original intent and that you are enjoying it.
It's a little after 7 am Sunday morning. Marie is in Calgary, visiting her mom. Nicholas and Christine are at work. Don't own dogs if you want to sleep in.
Nicholas made me breakfast when he got home!
Copper is doing well but it often seems that his bladder is getting smaller. He also seems to have less patience around meal timing. Both situations result in pacing and panting, so you know he wants something but it isn't always easy to figure out what. But you certainly can't sleep thru all the commotion.
Doesn't seem like a whole lot happened this week. The weather hasn't been all that great, with only one day nice enough to take the bike out. I rode down to the Thickwood Golf Course to test out how well the bike does on a big hill, and it more than exceeded my expectations. The motor was louder than normal by the time I got to the top of the hill, suggesting it was time to regrease it. It wasn't hard to do, thanks to youtube video instructions. Very messy, and it was the first time I have had to use a crank arm puller, so there was some learnings. The bike sounds much better now this has been completed. Forecast for next week isn't that promising so it may not get much time out.
Copper used to be the one scared of thunder but is now so deaf that he generally doesn't hear. It doesn't seem to bother Shadow or Riley, but Luna gets really nervous when a storm approaches. It is like she knows there is a storm coming well before it arrives. She is much more reliable than the weatherman.
Table
The crummy weather provided the perfect opportunity to work on the table. To recap where we were last week, the table top had been painted with a light grey deck stain that as supposed to be wiped off but refused to comply. Marie didn't like the result so it had to come off. Initial attempts to sand it off resulted in little rubbery paint balls that quickly gummed up the sandpaper. The paint can's instructions said to wait 48 hours to fully dry so I let it sit a couple days to see if it got harder.
The rest of the table, including the apron and pedestal, was to be white. A scuff sanding was needed before the primer could be applied. Then three coats of an acrylic enamel - isn't acrylic enamel an oxymoron? - to get the desired coverage.
With the white finished it was back to the table top. More time didn't improve sandability. The smaller sanders I had been using just couldn't cut it. I decided to carefully try the belt sander to see if it would work. It did, but it used all 5 of my belts to get it done, even with regularly stopping to use a crepe rubber block to clean the belts.
This time the top was to be stained with a traditional Minwax stain. The instructions said to leave it 5 - 15 minutes before wiping the stain off, but Marie had a youtube video that said leave it 2 hours to get a darker finish. I wiped the first coat off after 10 minutes, scared that it would end up too dark if it stayed longer. The wood looked good but wasn't dark enough. A second coat was applied, and allowed to sit for 20 minutes before wiping off. Much better this time but still not dark enough. So a third coat was applied, and allowed to sit for an hour. Great lesson in following the manufacturer's instructions, as the stain had begun to actually dry, and was really, really hard to wipe off. God forbid that it had been left for 2 hours. Much longer and it would have been back to the sandpaper. This time the colour passed muster and all was good. After three coats of varathane the table was complete. Now it is time to refinish the chairs.
Photo 1 - The original light grey deck stain
Photo 2 - White paint applied
Photo 3 - Top sanded back to bare wood.
Photo 4 - First coat of dark stain
Photo 5 - Third coat of dark stain
Photo 6 - Finished table
DC-6
All the bits and pieces have been applied - gear, gear doors and engines. The various antenna posts are also in position and painted.
I realized that the large registration decal on the starboard wing had bubbles in it as the plane was being wiped down in preparation for the final gloss coat. The bubbles were pierced and decal solvent applied when disaster struck. The decal wrinkled badly, even though this was not the first time decal solvent had been applied. All I can think is that the decal hadn't bonded well and the solvent allowed larger patches to lift and then shrink, causing wrinkles. Naturally, repeated attempts to fix it made it worse. Fortunately the decals were scanned before applying so I will strip the failed decal, then use the scan to cut a mask and paint the registration.
Photo 1 - The almost completed plane
Photo 2 - Decal disaster. The wrinkles can be seen between the C and Z, and between the Z and E.
Enterprise
Decaling has progressed slowly. Mainly of the decals touch or overlap, and I have learned the hard way that the first decal needs to be dry before the next one should be applied. I still haven't found a decal solvent that will reliably soften these decals, so there is a lot of cutting and prodding needed to get them to settle. Thankfully the decals are very robust and put up with all the handling without tearing or stretching.
The decal film is slightly wider than the coloured area, and it is this extra film that is causing the challenges. I can theoretically use the Silhouette cutter to scan and them and cut off the extra film, but I don't know I am confident enough to try it.
Here is where things are at. Most of the decals, with the exception of the main Enterprise name and registration, are now on the top of the saucer.
This kit is going to take a while. Any suggestions on the next model to build while I wait for each decal application to dry? There is a pretty good chance that I have a kit of anything Canadian.
And that's if for now. Wishing everyone a safe week.
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