We are now officially empty nesters again. Christine headed off to Ottawa today to finish her final year of Interior Design. After being online for two years, there was a lot of stuff that needed to go back. She ended up with three massive bags, carrying her text books, computer stuff, clothes and all the other things she needed. There were some large oversize charges applied but she got everything on the plane. I am going to miss my dog walking buddy of the last two years. Perhaps it's my imagination but the house seems extra quiet today.
Nicholas has been actively engaged in new student orientation as a team leader. He has clearly been having a blast, and at one point his team had won a fooz ball table for best spirit. Strangely, It all seems to be done at night. Friday, he was up all night for a treasure hunt all over Ottawa. Saturday night, his team was building and racing rafts. He can't have had much more than 4 hours sleep a night for the last few nights. Ah, to be young again!
While doing all that, plus his first week of classes, he has been dealing with challenges with his rented room. He learned late August that there had been some minor flooding in his room, but that the landlord had dealt with it. After he arrived, he discovered that the basement floor drain was actually in his room, under the bedroom carpet. The drain weeps after it rains, and the floor had gotten wet again about the time he had arrived. Good on Nicholas that he wouldn't let the landlord off the hook to fix the problem, and his roommates are supporting him. Last Monday, the landlord filled the drain hole with concrete! Turns out that didn't stop the water, as there was a small amount water over the concrete plug by mid week. The water apparently appears when it is wet outside, such as after a rain storm. The next six months likely won't be a problem, as it gets colder and the ground freezes, stopping outside water. But what happens in the spring? The last thing he needs is a water leak during finals. A plumber is supposed to come early next week to check the drain out, and Nicholas will make sure the landlord follows thru. In the meantime, he was set up his bedroom in the basement common area. His other three room mates don't use this area, and it has remained dry. Not a great situation but I am really proud with how he is dealing with the situation. He sent a video showing the basement, including where he has set up his bed, and what his bedroom looks like.
I haven't heard much from Daniel this week. He has finished is first year orientation activities. UofA was back to classes full time on Tuesday.
I didn't get down to Waterways on my bike, but did get some really nice rides thru the Birchwood Trails. Here are a couple pictures from the week. I love how the trees form a canopy over many of the trails.
F-35
It's finished!
Canada is currently negotiating with Lockheed Martin to purchase 88 of the actual jets, so there are not yet any official Canadian markings. So my plane's markings represents a semi-educated guess. Most of the markings follow standard Canadian practice, but placement of the "Canada" mark and the fuselage roundels are a guess. The markings were put together from CF-18 and CF-5 decals out of the spares box. Stencils and standard markings were from the kit decals. Canadian aircraft are bilingual, so the kit's "No Step" markings were replaced with pictograms from a CF-18 decal set. There are 29 of the little eye watering buggers on the plane. See if you can spot them all.
RCAF numbering practice uses a 6 digit serial number. The first digit has traditionally been 1. The next two digits are typically the US equivalent number. The fourth digit is the aircraft sub class. Finally, the last two numbers are the sequence the aircraft was delivered. Using the existing single seat CF-18 to demonstrate, 118702 is the 1 combined with the US numbering, from the American destination of F-18. The number 7 indicates it is a single seater. A 9 would mean it is a two seater. And the 02 indicates it was the second aircraft delivered. I chose 235523 for my plane using similar logic. The initial number became 2, as the 135XXX serial number was already used by Bell Twin Huey helicopters. The 35 is taken from the American F-35 designation. The 5 is a guess but isn't currently used by any fixed wing plane. There will be 88 planes in total so 23 is in the sequence.
Installing the weapons and the doors to the landing gear and weapons bay was alternatively an exercise in patience and frustration. So much happening in such a small area. I would normally use PVA but gave up and brought out the CA.
This was an enjoyable build and I am happy with the results
Halifax
Interior areas, in the nose and cockpit, were painted interior green. After a gloss clear coat was sprayed, a dark wash was applied to highlight the interior structure such as ribs. It was also used to highlight the seatbelts and seat details.
The Kitsworld 3D decals were applied using PVA white glue. They look really good but I wonder how much will be visible outside the immediate cockpit area. The Tollerton nose I will be using is mostly solid, and will leave most of the interior dark. There are numerous small fuselage windows but I doubt much can be seen thru them. Oh well, I know they are there. Guess I will have to rely on the pictures.
I normally use PVA or a clear glue to attach clear parts, but was worried about the numerous small fuselage windows falling out during handling. The window were therefore attached using Tamiya extra thin cement, which gave the desired effect of securely attaching the smaller windows. It also had the undesired effect of dissolving the interior green colour from the areas where the windows were glued. I debated repainting over the affected areas but decided to leave it. The interior in the affected areas will be rather dark, so I doubt it will be seen.
Shortly after writing the above I knocked the port side fuselage onto the floor. Naturally, a window popped out and was nowhere to be found. So much for securely gluing them in! Twenty minutes on my hands and knees, carefully sweeping the floor, finally found the window.
Photo 1 - Repairing a short shot control column
Photos 2 to 5 - Finished interior. Instrument panel still need to be added
Photo 6 - Dry fit of the interior to the port side fuselage. The green colour fading can bee seen under the windows if you look closely.
Fuselage dry fit
I did a dry fit of the fuselage and wings to test fit before gluing the fuselage together. Fuselage, wings and cockpit glass fit nicely. The Tollerton nose was too wide by quite a bit - see photo 1 below. Looking at the parts, it belatedly dawned on me that the nose section was designed to be added to the fuselage directly. The kit has inserts for a powered turret, or a blown plexiglass nosecone. I incorrectly assumed that the Tollerton nose used the same inserts as the full clear nose. Nope! After some poking and prodding, it became clear that the Tollerton nose attached directly to the fuselage, without any inserts. In fairness, none of this is included in the instructions, but it would have been better if the dry fit was tried before the fuselage extensions were glued in place. Using the Mk.III kit to dry fitting the fuselage sections together quickly proved my fear. The extensions needed to be cut off. Better to figure that out before gluing the fuselage sections together.
Photo 1 - That's problematic. Tolerton nose is too wide
Photo 2 - Dry mounted to the Mk.III. It fits without the nose extension.
Photo 3 - Before cutting off the nose
Photo 4 - Nose extension removed.
Photo 5 - Plastic butchery complete. Nose now fits.
Photo 6 - Fuselage and wings dry fit
GT40
The blemishes in the cobalt blue underframe have now been sanded out, leaving several areas that needed touch up. I had been second guessing starting with cobalt blue. The large boxes - fuel tanks? - at the rear of the frame are supposed to be silver. Painting the blue first will make this a masking challenge. I have also been struggling with the Model Master Acryl paint. It is very thin right out of the bottle, and it is very difficult to get decent coverage without the paint running. There are two coats already on the underframe, and at least one more is needed. After much thought, I decided to mask the tanks, paint them silver, and then do the blue touch ups. If I am not happy with the outcome, I will strip the paint and start over.
And that's when the oh s**t moment happened. Repositioning the first piece of tape while masking the tanks pulled up a large patch of blue paint. Tests on the main body area confirmed the paint lifts with little effort. There is a lot of masking required, especially on the cockpit tub, so this needs to be addressed. Time to strip the paint and start over.
I was surprised to discover that Acryl is resistant to isopropyl alcohol and Mr. Color Thinner. Tamiya comes off very quickly when exposed to either. An internet search found that soaking with Windex would work. It was a slow process but the paint did come off. Strangely, in some areas the paint literally melted under the Windex, while other areas needed to be aggressively scrubbed with a pointed wooden cocktail stick. No idea why some areas seemed to come off easily while other areas stuck like the dickens. There must have been some contamination on the plastic, so I will wash the stripped plastic with soapy water and then use a lacquer primer to get some "bite".
A custom mixed Tamiya paint was used for the second cobalt blue attempt. The paint is going on much better but now I'm struggling with dust and fuzz. The plastic must have a static charge, as I am having a hard time keeping the dust off. After applying the second blue attempt, I was disappointed to see the amount of fuzz trapped in the paint, especially on the frame underside. A second coat of blue was applied after sanding the fuzz out and then washing the plastic. It almost worked, with only one prominent bit of fuzz just ahead of the front axle to deal with. A little more sanding, another wash, and then a repaint will hopefully resolve it.
Photo 1 - Underframe before masking. The two large boxes need to be silver
Photo 2 - Showing where masking has lifted the paint.
Photo 3 - Gray primer applied after stripping the blue. Ready to reapply the blue.
Photo 4 - Blue reapplied. . you can see a bit of fuzz on the frame, just ahead of the front able.
That's it for this week. Take care everyone and be safe.
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