Happy new year everyone!
We had a wonderful Christmas. Daniel and Christine drove up on the 23rd, while Nicholas flew in on the 28th after spending Christmas in Ontario with Jill. It meant a two part Christmas but we had fun.
We have traditionally made a quick trip to Calgary before Christmas to pick kids up from school and visit the grandparents. The kids' schedules didn't support a trip before Christmas so we headed south for a couple of days beginning January 2. All four dogs made the trip, so we were thankful the weather stayed warm the whole time. I had a wonderful extended birthday dinner with Marie and the kids at La Luna Rossa, a small Italian restaurant we discovered on Edmonton Trail. We were the only people in the restaurant, and the chef made a special dinner and took the time to keep us entertained for over three hours. We ended up extending the planned 2 day trip by an extra day to let Nicholas car shop, and then pick up his new to him 2023 Honda HR-V
Christine stayed in Calgary to resume her second term at the UofC. We dropped Daniel off in Edmonton, where he has begun his final term in Engineering at the UofA. He was almost immediately immersed in school and the F1 program. They have a key design review this coming Monday, and we will be able to watch it online! Nicholas officially graduated from Carleton, though it took them a long time to post his marks.
Nicholas starts work at ARKK Engineering, a small consulting engineering firm in Sherwood Park, on January 15. He had been looking online for places to stay, and visited the most promising when we headed down to Calgary. He found a nice, brand new basement apartment, located in the extreme south end of Edmonton. I helped him move in on January 11, heading south with a fully loaded Suburban, in the midst of a record cold snap. It was a balmy -34C when we pulled into the driveway of his new place. Thankfully, the move went quickly and we had everything inside in quick order. A quick trip to Canadian Tire was in order to pick up some essentials, like cutlery and a shower curtain. Back to the apartment and soon enough we things sufficiently set up he could sleep that night. Good luck on your first day of "real" work!
The boys will turn 23 on January 23, so I picked up Daniel and the three of us headed out to the Scillian Pasta Kitchen to celebrate an early birthday.
The start of the new year means its time to start preparing to move. I will spend the next several weeks packing up completed models, boxing up kits and paints, and packing up the railway. Perhaps putting models in boxes will be enough incentive to get finished pictures of the last 3 builds! Here's a picture of all the completed models currently on the shelves.
Khee Kha Pacemaker
Non-modelling activities have taken up most of my time over the last month. but some progress has been made.
The picture above shows a final dry fit. The engine cowling and front windshield has been attached and work has begun to blend them in. Both still need a little work to get them to the desired state. Wings and tail assembly are simply pushed together, without any glue. Fit of the wings and tail assemblies are very good, and actually better than the injected Dora Wings kit. The fit is so good I am thinking to paint the wings and tail separately and then join the painted pieces together.
The wing struts were the second last assembly to sort out. They came as long two tops and two bottoms that had to be sanded to correct thickness, joined, and then split in half to create 4 pieces. Initial test fit was pretty rough, and much sanding is needed to better refine the strut fit and shape. The picture above shows all four struts pinned to the fuselage and then dry fit in place. I am leaning towards installing the struts so they can be painted with the fuselage, then add the wings after they are painted and lettered.
The main landing gear was the last assembly to be installed. Most of the parts were taken from the Dora Wings kit. The plastic main gear legs were too short and so were replaced with new legs made from brass tube, with the added benefit of being much stronger.
It's finally looking like an airplane! The tail and wings assemblies are simply pressed into place. The windows have been blended in and masked . The resin engine and exhaust have been cleaned up and are friction fit to the cowling. A little more cleanup is needed on the wing struts but otherwise the plane is ready for primer. I am very pleased with how it is turning out.
The primer coat always finds mistakes and areas that need further attention. Three primer coats in total were needed to satisfactorily correct all the issues identified.
The engine, nose cowling and window frames are silver, and have been painted in the picture above. Very thin masks, 0.5mm wide, have been prepared to fit around each of the windows to mask the silver frame. I am curious how well it will work.
The Canadian Airways Pacemaker has a deep blue fuselage and vertical stabilizer, with bright orange wings and horizontal stabilizer. Two rookie mistakes were made painting the wings. The first mistake was using gray rather than white as the base primer, causing the orange to be darker than desired. A couple of drops of white added to the orange helped brighten the colour up. The second mistake was not repriming some minor sanding repairs, which left white spots where sanded. These areas were much brighter orange than the areas with gray primer. They were still visible after 5 thin coats of orange had been applied.
Next up will be to mask and spray the black registration letters on the wings, then prep the fuselage for painting. This will consist of masking the silver window frames and placing the masks for the white fuselage registration letters. Once done, the fuselage can be sprayed a deep blue.
Dora Wings Pacemaker
Fitting the floats was an extraordinarily difficult proof of concept. Several extra hands would have been beneficial.
The picture above shows floats test fit for the first time. A dry fit proved that the struts can be attached to the floats and then to the plane, vindicating the construction strategy. It took a tremendous amount of effort, which begs the question - is there an easier /better way to do this next time?
A major milestone! The floats are assembled and primed. After much thought, I decided it would be easier to attach the struts to the floats and then to the plane vs attaching the struts to the plane and then to the floats.
Rigging the floats was a pain. I have never had any luck gluing rigging into a predrilled hole and then applying a drop of CA glue. Instead, I made tiny eyelets from fuse wire (extremely thin copper wire) and glued them into the holes. EZ Line was then threaded through the eyelet and glued. It was still a challenge as the resin floats hold static, alternately attracting or repelling the EZ Line.
The floats need red lines to mark the prop danger zone. I will have to search through my old decals to see if I have something appropriate. Otherwise I will mask and paint the stripes.
I have been hesitant to begin next steps due to the required difficultly. The rigging between the fuselage and floats needs to be installed into the bottom of the fuselage. Once done, the floats will need to be carefully glued to the fuselage. Then, the loose ends of rigging will need to be attached to the eyelets already installed on the floats and that will finish up the model.
That's if for another blog. Take care and stay warm!
Comments