Realized today that it’s been a month since the last update. The arrival of warmer weather, too much work, and a trip to Calgary meant things slowed down on the Buffalo. A rainy Sunday afternoon has provided the chance to do an update.
The trip to Calgary was to visit my father-in-law, Louis Laflamme. Marie was able to finally arrange a visit on June 25. It was the first visit in almost 4 months, as covid had all our parents in lockdown. Marie made a whirlwind trip, with visits to her mom, my parents and them to her dad In the space of three days. Louis hadn’t been doing well the last few weeks, so it was good she got to visit. Unfortunately, while driving back home the next day, she got a call that he had taken a turn for the worst and was being placed on end of life care. After a day at home, we all headed to Calgary. When we arrived, Louis was on painkillers and medication that calmed him and made him sleep. We were able to visit and say our goodbyes. He passed away the next day. Death is never an easy thing to deal with, but his health had deteriorated quickly, and left him with a lot of pain. We think he decided it was time to go after Marie had visited the week before.
Louis was larger than life, loved all the things that weren’t good for him, and seemed happiest in an animated conversation. Dinner with the Laflamme’s meant you would talk politics, sex and religion, often loudly, and all at the same time, within 5 minutes of sitting down. Deep down, despite his outwards bluster, what I remember is that his heart was in the right place, and he would go out of the way to help you. He was particularly proud of his grandchildren, and he was a great grandpapa. The world was a more exciting place because he was here. The night the kids and I got back home, I pulled down a bottle of J&B, left from his last visit many years ago, for a final toast. Rest In Peace, Louis.
As noted last post, the kit wasn’t a shake the box. The seams on the upper fuselage weren’t too bad, but the bottom of the fuselage took a lot of work. I had originally planned to keep the rear door open but gave up on that when I realized that I was going to have to add weight in the cabin to keep the model from being a tail sitter. Closing the rear doors seemed to make the seams even worse. A lot of filler, sanding, and rescribing and the fuselage was finally done.
At least I thought the fuselage was done. Initial dry-fit of the canopy was promising, but it was anything but when it came time to glue it in. Don’t know what changed but there was a large gap along the bottom, and steps along both sides, that required a lot of filling and sanding to get a decent, smooth fit. I was really glad I had invested in the KV Products masks, as I had removed all the cast on canopy frames by the time I was done sanding. Best $4.35 ever spent! Using pictures, I was able to place the masks. There was no way I could have restored the canopy frames without the masks.
The wings went together without problem, but the engine nacelles were another story. There was offsets and gaps in the seams, and the fit to the wing was poor. More filler, sanding and rescribing before I got a decent result.
A light spray of silver onto all the seams showed a need for some remedial work. More filling, sanding and rescribing was needed before I was happy with the result. Did I mention it was a tail sitter? Even though every available space in the nose was full of lead fishing weight, another 1/2 oz of weight was needed in the cabin. I hope the gear is strong enough to support this beast!
Finally, it was time to join the wing to the fuselage. Test fitting the wing showed there was a noticeable step between the wing section and the fuselage at both sides. Some futzing with shims got a semi-decent fit, and the wing was glued. Naturally, more filler was needed. And that’s were things ended up for today.
Comments