Snowing like the dickens today. Probably 3 - 5 cm last night. Forecast is for 10 -15 cm today and 5 - 10 cm tomorrow. Will have to start shoveling this afternoon.
It has been a pretty quiet week. We had warm weather and freezing rain earlier in the week, so bike rides are on hold until we get more snow. The ice has melted off the deck now but the patio bricks are still icy - not what you want when carrying a puppy outside to pee. Otherwise the week has been spent getting to know Ember and trying to reset her schedule. She is getting much better at letting us know she needs to go outside, and we have learned her "I need to poop" dance. It felt like we were making real progress house training earlier in the week. By Tuesday, we had figured out that she could go about an hour between pees, so the rule became outside every 45 minutes. A successful pee was rewarded with a treat. It seemed to be working, with only one accident in the house Tuesday and another Wednesday. But something happened Thursday, as she suddenly seemed to forget the previous two days, and there were multiple accidents, sometimes only 10 minutes apart. She seemed to be doing better Saturday, but we have already had several accidents before noon Sunday. The life of a puppy owner.
The other dogs are getting used to her. Both Luna and Riley are remarkably tolerant of her rambunctious nature, standing still while Ember essentially mauls them. Luna finally had enough come Saturday evening and growled. Shadow started the week growling whenever Ember got near, but by end of week has moved to tolerating her. Both Luna and Riley will play with her, but we haven't figured out what triggers it. It would be nice to figure out how to instigate play and have their help to wear Ember out.
Ember is a smart puppy and has quickly learned the habits and routines. She knows the food is kept in the pantry. She knows that picking up the big dogs' dishes means it's time to be feed. She has figured out cookie time at bedtime. And she watches TV!
Marie has been putting up Christmas decorations all week. Hopefully, Christmas baking will be next.
Halifax
As mentioned the last two blog posts, the Halifax has been finished for a while. We finally got some sunny weather, at the right time of day, to get some pictures. I know this isn't the most dimensionally accurate model, and I didn't do much to correct the errors, but it looks like a Halifax to me. I enjoyed the build and am happy with the outcome.
Here are some pictures of the finished plane.
GT40
The hood repair had been completed. It isn't perfect, but you really have to look to see it. The paint transition edge is still visible if the light is right. The repair also clogged up the adjacent door panel engraving. An attempt to restore the door engraving was partially successful but looks okay under anything but very close inspection.
I had intended to wax the car, using full size car wax, but got cold feet. I was nervous the solvent based wax would affect the paint. I finally decided to test a small area on the front spoiler, where it would be easy to repair if something went wrong. Happily, it worked and noticeably increased the shine.
A water based dark wash was first applied to all the door and hinge lines to give the impression of depth. Once dry, the model was waxed with Turtle Wax with Teflon, allowed to dry, and then buffed to a shine.
About the only thing left now was the clear parts. The kit includes masks to spray the black border around the windows and lights. They were a challenge to properly center but worked well. The clear parts and rear photoetched grill were then installed with clear part canopy cement.
Bringing the major assemblies together completed the build. The front body shell was press fit into place without glue. The rest engine cover was carefully snapped over the rear hinges and settled into place. The engine cover opens to display the engine, but is a very tight fit when closed. Not something that you will want to open and close often.
I really enjoyed this build and am very happy with how it turned out.
Photo 1 - Repair not perfect but complete.
Photo 2 - Polished and waxed!
Photo 3 - Black window trim masked and sprayed
Photo 4 - Bodywork done!
Photos 5&6 - Finished!
And suddenly the car was done. Here are pictures of the finished car. It has been mounted in a purchased display case. This case didn't include any means to mount the car to the base. The car I had previously built for Christine was held to the base with twist tie wires, but I was nervous the GT-40's finer suspension components wouldn't take the load. The car was therefore glued to the base using small dabs of hot glue.
Lancaster
The focus this week was the puppy, and any spare time was spent on finishing the GT40, so not much was done on the Lancaster. Interior components were sprayed, and are ready to receive the 3D printed instrument decals.
The 3D interior decals from Kitsworld. I am not that impressed. I have used several different sets now and they all seem to be slightly out of register. Documentation is sporadic, and for the Lancaster decals, the placement schematic had numbers, the decals themselves don't. It left me guessing where things go because the placement pictured don't seem to match the decals. And for the Lancaster, the decals are in black and white, missing the colours that are supposed to be there. So what you see in the picture may be fictitous. When it is all said and done, they add "detail", look okay, and you can't seem most of it anyway once the fuselage is closed up.
Next up
Completion of the GT40 frees space for the next built. There has been much internal debate as to what's next. I had originally thought I would build a 1/144 CC-137, the RCAF designation for the Boeing 707, and a CC-150 Polaris, the RCAF's current large jet transport and aerial refueling aircraft. I had recently purchased a Quinta Studios 3D instrument decal for the Kinetic CF-104, and that made me want to build a CF-104. The kit looks really nice, and has gotten great reviews - Kinetic Item No. K48127 - CF-104 Starfighter Review by Mick Evans (hyperscale.com). So research began on Cold Lake based CF-104s and a CF-5Ds. And then this arrived in the mail. It is the latest Airfix super kit, and boy does it look nice! You can have a look at the sprues in this online kit review. Airfix Kit No. A09191 - Avro Anson Mk.I Review by Brett Green (hyperscale.com)
You can't do much when watching a puppy, scared she will pee at any moment. It's actually a pretty good opportunity to research airplanes using google, and many enjoyable hours were spent learning about Southern Alberta based Ansons.
Many years ago, my father built the old Airfix 1/72 Anson. I have fond memories of playing with it - I am sure I wasn't supposed to - flying it around the basement. It had operating landing gear and rear turret. I have no idea how it survived my attentions, but is likely a major reason for my interest in airplanes, both real and modelled.
The Anson plays a number of significant roles in Canadian aviation. 4413 Ansons, of 6 different marks, were assembled or built in Canada, making it the most produced plane in Canadian history. The Anson served the RCAF from 1940 to 1954, in a number of roles, including photographic survey and light transport, but it's primary claim to fame was as the primary trainer in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. It proved extremely adaptable, training pilots, air gunners, navigators, radio operators, and bombardiers. Initially, 1520 Mk. I aircraft, as represented by the Airfix kit, were built from kits shipped from Britian. Training demand soon outstripped supply, and Canadian Mk.II production began in 1941 at 6 different manufacturers. Eventually 1000 Mk.II planes were produced. Noticeable external differences included a reduced in the number of fuselage windows, and the use of a plywood nose with a clear bubble nose, to reduce the use of metal. The Mk.II also used easier to source Jacobs engines instead of the original Cheetah engines, allowing the change to a smooth engine cowling.
The kit is a Mk.I, but a careful look at the sprues shows that it includes smooth cowlings and a blank to model a turretless version. The kit doesn't include a bubble nosecone, but it may be possible to modify the kit piece. Alternatively, my Classic Airframes kit includes both Mk.I and Mk.II nosecones, though they are wider than the Airfix kit. Some test fitting is required but in theory, there is enough parts to model either a Mk.I or Mk.II aircraft.
Anson's were common at all the Southern Alberta BCATP bases, including Calgary, Lethbridge, Fort Macleod, Pearce, Claresholm, Airdre, Penhold and Edmonton. Early Mk.I aircraft retained their British dark earth and dark green camouflage upper over a sky grey lower, but were quickly modified to include high visibility yellow patches on fuselage, upper wings and/or stabilizers. Eventually, Ansons migrated to an overall trainer yellow, with black serials on the rear fuselage and under wing.
The kit includes markings for a Canadian plane based in Charletown, but used the earlier sloped windshield. Given its ubiquitous use in Alberta, I wanted to model a plane with Alberta history. Surprisingly, pictures of wartime Ansons were hard to find. Multiple google searches and dogged reading started to find examples of southern Alberta based planes.
The Anson at the Hangar Aviation Musuem, is a composite of several aircraft, and marked as Mk.II serial 7401. This aircraft served in Calgary at BCATP #3STFS.
Anson 6801 is being restored in Saskatoon. It is a Mk.I that spent time in Calgary at #3STFS. https://saskaviation.ca/1941-avro-652a-anson-mk-i-iii/
I found an interesting site, created by the Claresholm & District Museum, that gives a history of the BCATP in Claresholm. It includes a number of pictures of Mk.II aircraft. Service Flying Training Airplanes: the Cessna Crane and the Avro Anson | The RCAF in Claresholm During the Second World War (communitystories.ca)
The Air Force Museum of Alberta includes a number of pictures of Ansons. There is a detailed photo essay of an Anson that crashed on Moose Mountain, but no details of the aircraft and no serial number is visible in the pictures. Anson Crash - Kananaskis Country (AF2013.009) - Air Force Museum of Alberta Archives (rcaf.museum)
The Air Force Museum of Alberta also includes a picture of an early Mk.I that suffered a collapsed wheel while landing in Claresholm. Photo: Bad Landing - Air Force Museum of Alberta Archives (rcaf.museum)
Finally, the BC Aviation Museum has a restored Mk.I Anson that served in northeastern BC. It has the smooth Mk.II engine cowls but the Mk.I nose cone.
Which one to model? It will depend on how close the extra kit parts can get to a Canadian built Mk.II. If the smooth cowls are appropriate, and a clear bubble nosecone can be attained, then I am leaning towards Mk.II 7201 as displayed at the Calgary Hangar Musuem. If the smooth cowls aren't accurate, I lean towards MK.I 6064, the plane who's gear collapsed on landing in Claresholm. Stay tuned as I work thru the kit.
That's it for this week everyone. Stay warm and stay safe.
Comments