The biggest news of the week was easily the Saturday arrival of Ember. We made a day trip to Edmonton to pick her up, a seven week old female sable Sheltie pup.
We have had her home for 12 hours and she seems to be adapting well. She is curious, likes to play, and very fast. Housebreaking in the winter is going to be a challenge. She doesn't seem to be fazed by the other dogs, and will boldly go right up to them. Shadow pretty much ignores her. Luna is currently scared of her, but is very curious. Riley wants to play but she's so tiny he doesn't know how to engage her.
Otherwise it has been a quiet week. Weather has turned seasonal with snow and below zero temperatures. Not much sunshine but still made it out for a couple bike rides. I didn't wear my winter riding gear on the last ride and was regretting it 10 minutes after leaving the house. The baseboards and door in the main floor bathroom were painting with much contortion. Marie has met some new quilting ladies and spent all Wednesday out in Saprae Creek quilting. The ski hill opened this weekend so will have to get out to get our season passes and take a few runs.
Kids are back hard at it at school. We had the chance to catch up with Daniel while passing thru Edmonton to pick up Ember. He is doing well but very busy. Nicholas is now officially in his room, with new carpet in place. He sent a video and it looks nice and cozy. He and Jill attended the Carleton Engineering Formal on Friday night. Christine is trying to do homework in between facetime visits with the new puppy. Just one month before they are home for Christmas!
Halifax
The Halifax is complete. Almost. Still.
I had just finished rigging the antenna wiring when I realized that I had not finished the under wing landing light. The light is a small, rectangular recess about the size of a Pez candy. A quick application of silver and it was ready for the clear lens. I was ready to put the finished model on the shelf when I found a large blotch of silver under the wing, next to the recently painted landing light. I assume that it is a gloved finger print somehow transferred to the wing. So the plane needs to go back to the paint booth for a quick touch up. Pictures next week, puppy permitting.
GT40
The various openings in the nose have been painted black. I wasn't sure the complex shaped openings could be successfully masked so they could be airbrushed. At least not without a lot of effort. After much internal debate, it was decided to carefully brush paint them. The body is a lacquer based paint, while the openings were painted with an acrylic. The beauty of dissimilar paints means that mistakes can be cleaned up with the top paint thinner.
I debated the best way to approach the decal /clear coat /polish cycle before deciding on a coat of gloss, decals, a second coat of gloss, and then polishing. I am a little nervous that polishing could wear thru the top clear coat and damage the decals, so care will be needed.
Clean up of the paint to remove blemishes and orange peel went fairly quickly. The first clear coat was a heavily thinned application of Tamiya clear, which thankfully dried smooth. Dust bunnies and a couple rough spots were polished out with Tamiya course polishing compound and a polishing sponge.
The body shell was now decal ready. I wasn't overly impressed with the decals after really looking at them. The blue edging on the stripes was somewhat ragged, and the blue line thickness varied along the stripe. The decals proved very slow to release from the backing paper, but were sufficiently strong to allow easy positioning. Response to Micro Sol was mixed, so I turned to Mr Mark Softener to get the decals to conform over details. Once applied, the decals looked the part. Another coat of clear gloss was then applied to seal the decals.
The tire decals had to have been devised by the same sadist who designed the seatbelts. These decals were very thin, fragile, and there was no suggestion of where they belonged. But they definitely looked better than the stock tire once applied.
After putting all the thin blue tire decals on, I realized there was a very faint pair of lines moulded around the edge of each tire. Like a whitewall. Exactly the same width as the blue decals. 🤦🏻. Fortunately, the blue decals floated off after liberally soaking with water, and they were carefully repositioned into the new spot.
Polishing the clear coat went wll, with only a small burn thru on top of the right fender. There was a small paint blemish in the same area, and I decided to deal with both at the same time. I also took the opportunity to clean up a little bit of orange showing around the hood opening. Unfortunately, when a drop of paint was applied to the blemish, it took on an orangish tone. All I could do was quickly wipe it off, let it dry and then repaint. The process was complicated by the proximity of an adjacent decal. The error will need to be sanding down and painted blended smooth, then reprimed and repainted.
Photo 1 - Openings in nose have been brush painted black
Photo 2 - The beauty of dissimilar paints is any mistakes clean up easily.
Photo 3 - Decals in progress.
Photo 4 - Tire decals in progress
Photo 5 - Decals complete
Photo 6 - Tire decals complete with stripes in the correct spot
Photo 7 - Protective clear coat applied over the decals. It's nice and shiny but still needs to be polished.
Photos 8&9- Double trouble. Mistake made while touching up at the top of the hood. Polishing burn thru also visible on the gender just below the fuel cap opening.
Avro Lancaster
Next kit on the bench will be the Airfix 1/72 Avro Lancaster MkI/III kit. This was a birthday present from my parents.
It is hard to believe that I haven't previously built a model of the Avro Lancaster, arguably one of the most famous aircraft of WWII. There is a tremendous amount of information on Wikipedia if you have the time to read thru it all. Avro Lancaster - Wikipedia
Lancasters were significant in Canadian history. Early in the war, to meet expected demands, a contract to build Lancasters was awarded to Victory Aircraft in Malton, Ontario. This was the most complex aircraft build in Canada to date, and gave the Canadian industry invaluable experience. At one point, over 10,000 Canadians were employed producing Lancasters, turning them out a rate of one per day. A total of 430 aircraft were produced, known as Lancaster Mk.X..
There were also a significant number of Lancasters in the RCAF. During the war, RCAF aircraft were part of RAF No. 6 Heavy Bomber Group. Initially formed around 8 RCAF squadrons, it grew to eventually total 15 squadrons. No.6 group flew 40,822 operational sorties, losing 814 aircraft, and approximately 5700 aircrew killed or captured. At the end of the war, the RCAF Lancasters were ferried back to Canada in anticipation of being used in the Pacific against the Japanese. When the Pacific war ended in August 1945, the returned Lancasters were stood down, and transported to storage facilities around the country. After being stored for several years, the majority were struck off record, put up for sale or broken up for scrap. A large number ended up stored in Alberta, Lethbridge, Fort Macleod, and Pearce, and many later being moved to Penhold. The planes were generally bought by scrap dealers, bought a surprising number were bought by farmers for parts, lubricants, or as chicken coops. Some were later rescued from the farms and fields to return to service as maritime patrol aircraft, or to become display aircraft. You can read more about some of these remarkable stories here. LAST CALL FOR LANCASTERS — Vintage Wings of Canada
Post war, the RCAF returned a number of Lancasters to service as transports, target tugs and maritime patrol aircraft. These aircraft, painted in white upper and silver lower fuselage, with a red lightning bolt along the full length of the fuselage, served until 1959, finally displaced by the arrival of the Neptunes.
So, there is no question the Lancaster meets my Canadian criteria - built in Canada, served with the RCAF, or saw significant use in Canada.
The question now comes down to what to build. Searching my decal collection, I found I had decals for 6 different 1/72 scale Lancasters - 1 post war and 5 in WWII markings. I was surprised to discover that I had markings for Lady Orchid, a 434 Squadron aircraft with codes letters WL-0, registration KB885. Calgary's aviation museum repainted their Lancaster in in 2000 to honour this aircraft, where it is now proudly on display at the Hanger Museum. That seems like a good pick, but a little research showed two remarkable stories that made it a great pick.
Part 1 of the story begins with the pilot. Flight Officer (F/O) Ronald Henry Jenkins was born in Calgary on July 8 1913. He grew up in his family's grocery business, and went to work there after graduating from Mount Royal College in 1934. Over the next 10 years, the business thrived, but Jenkins had his heart set on being a pilot and left the grocery business in 1943 to join the RCAF. After training in Edmonton, he was awarded his pilots wings and posted to RCAF 434 Squadron in December 1944. Jenkins and his crew would initially fly 11 missions in Lancaster PA225, which carried the squadron code letters WL-O. As new Canadian built Lancaster were arriving in England, PA225 was reassigned and F/O Jenkins and crew were assigned to a new, personal aircraft, Canadian built Lancaster KB895. The plane was assigned the same WL-O squadron codes as their former plane. The crew decided their new Lancaster needed a name, and christened it "Wee Lady Orchid" after the plane's WL-O squadron code letters. The entire crew then participated in painting a picture of Lady Godiva, pistols in each hand to recognize their pilot's Calgary heriage, riding a falling bomb. The crew would go on to fly 5 sorties in their new plane before the war ended.
With the war over in Europe, Lady Orchid was selected to return to Canada and become part of the Tiger Force, a large heavy bomber force planned for deployment against the Japanese. With the end of the Pacific war in August 1945, the plane was put into storage at Pearce, in Southern Alberta. After sitting for two years, Lady Orchid was struck off charge and flown to Penhold for disposal by Crown Assets.
Jenkins was now back in Calgary and had taken over the family grocery business after his father died. He heard thru a friend that his old plane was for sale, and put in an offer. Crown Assets sold him the plane for $300 on the condition that he never return it to airworthy status, and if he agreed to sell one Merlin engine to NAIT for $100, and another engine to SAIT for $100. Suddenly the proud owner of a decommissioned Lancaster, Jenkins needed to figure out a way to get it out of Penhold. He learned thru a friend that a local farmer would be interested in taking the plane. The farmer used his tractor to tow the plane across a field to his farm. Jenkins removed the crew station parts, shipping them to his former crew as keepsakes, and turned the plane over to the farmer, where it would sit for many years.
A small number of Lancasters continued to serve with the RCAF. FM213, an active RCAF Lancaster, crashed in 1952, and was thought to be damaged beyond repair. The aircraft needed a replacement center section, and was on the way to be scrapped when the repair station remembered hearing about a Lancaster on a famer's field near Penhold. A quick trip confirmed the center section of the former Lady Orchid was serviceable, and a truck was sent to pick it up. The replacement centre section allowed FM213 to return to service for another 10 years, finally being struck off charge in June 1964. FM213 was later purchased by the Goerich branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, to be mounted on three pedestals outside the branch. She sat in Goderich for 13 years, before being acquired by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton. Two RCAF Chinook helicopters were used to transport FM213 to Hamilton, where the plane was rebuilt and returned to flying status. FM213 now wears the colours of 419 Squadron VR-A, known as the Myanarksi Lancaster, named after the brave airman who won the Victoria Cross, and is one of only two flying Lancasters in the world. You can read a much more detailed version of this story here - Lady Orchid (warplane.com)
Part 2 of the story remains linked to Ron Jenkins. In the early 1960's, he was told that many of the old Lancasters had ended up in farmers' fields. Now part of the Lancaster Society of Calgary, he found one in Fort Macleod, and bought it for $700. The plane, FM136, was taken to Calgary and mounted on a pedestal at the south end of the new Calgary Airport. The plane stayed there for 30 years before it was taken down and moved to the nearby Calgary Aviation Museum, where it sat outside for many years. A grass roots campaign was soon started to have the plane painted as Lady Orchid to honour Ron Jenkins. The museum refused several offers to repaint the aircraft, and the plane continued to deteriorate as it sat outside. In 2010, the aircraft was moved inside the new tent, and repainted as Lady Orchid 2 to honour Ron Jenkins. You can read more about FM136 here - Lady Orchid Keeps Lancaster Aloft -- Elinor Florence
So now I have selected markings, it's time to start building. Well, almost. Lady Orchid was a Canadian build Mk.X, meaning there are several differences as compared to the British build Lancaster represented by the Airfix kit. The two most significant differences are the use of Packard build Merlins turning paddle shaped props, and the mid upper turret. Packard made Merlins are visually identical to Rolls Royce built engines, but regardless they aren't visible on the Airfix kit. The kit contains both needle and paddle shaped propellers, so all is good. But the Airfix kit only includes the noticeably different Frazer Nash turret, rather than the Mk.X Martin turret. The Martin turret was an American design, smaller and less bulbous, and much heavier than the British design Frazer Nash. Fortunately, the Airfix kit supplies the turret collar as a separate part, so there is need to remove plastic. The Airfix kit also includes a blanking plate to fill the turret hole. looking thru the stash for options started with the Revell Lancaster - yes, I have one of those too - but it too only includes the Frazer Nash turret. Internet references indicate the Martin turret was also used on the B-26, but I don't have that kit. But the recently finished Halifax included a number of optional parts, including a turret that looks sufficiently close to the Martin design. There will be a fair bit of cutting and hacking to fit the Halifax part but it looks doable. You can read more about Lancaster turrets to your hearts content at this link - https://www.bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca/s,lancastermidupperturret.html
Searching for references on the original Lady Orchid turned up several pictures of the port side nose section, one grainy picture of the plane on the flight line about to depart to Canada, and a number of pictures of the derelict plane sitting in the farmer's field in Penhold. The picture on the flight line is just clear enough to show that the plane was equipped with a H2S fairing, immediately behind the bomb bay doors. This was something I had wanted to include so glad I was able to find some confirmation of it.
The model's internal construction used a one piece bombay trapped between the two fuselage halves. Cockpit and nose crew positions were them mounted on top the bombay floor. The kit's upper turret was dropped into a premoulded ring that located the turret assembly at the correct height. The Halifax Martin turret assembly had a long base that sat on the Halifax's bombay floor. That looked like it might work for the Lancaster as well.
First thing was to cut a new turret hole. After making the turret location and outline with a black Sharpie, it was time to cut plastic. The first attempt was to drill an undersized hole using a drill press. The taped together fuselage, without the bombay in place to brace it, lacked the strength to resist the bit as it engaged. After some thought, a pair of cutters were used to roughly cut the hole, then a small sanding drum in a Dremel was used to shape the hole. A sandpaper wrapped dowel was then used to fine tune the opening.
The Halifax turret assembly proved a little short, so a raised base was made from pieces of cut up credit card. Three pieces of credit card were the perfect thickness and the Halifax turret sat in place. Time to go back to following the instructions.
Photo 1 - The Halifax turret sitting on the credit card set.
Photo 2 - The turret holed.
Photo 3 - Fuselage taped together and the Matrin turret sitting in position.
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