foresterab

Thanks for this idea Robin...I might have to go see what I can find/rig up. Never thought of oven hoods but should be able to find a used one. Thanks Learstang, It's a fun build especially if you want to do something different than military themed aircraft. Lots of built in detail as well so you can take it many different ways.

Will need to watch this one...have a 204 in the stash to build but need to wait till summer to get some local company photos and colors figured out. It does however get a person planning ahead.

So you know those times when you're on a roll and just want to give things one more little touch.... Got the roof gap closed up and filled and thinking life is great. Got the small triangle painted for the front of the nose...even better...oh look there's a little bump where the body comes into contact with the instrument panel... So the instrument panel is no longer inside the plane Along with a control column. Good news is I think I can fix it but will need to make sure the rest of the fiddly bits are done before I touch anything else there. Also realized I had a bad gap in the bottom around the front nose component which is taking layering up the filler: I've been using Squadron White putty straight up and was really impressed. The grey is Mr. Surfacer 1000 again straight up application...even nicer for little seams if you can layer it in. Of course after two days of fill, sand, fill, sand, fill, sand I decided to check into the manual how to use it properly. Oops...forgot to thin it out and after doing so found it's even nicer to work with. Almost as bad as drywalling the various parts of the honey-do list but not mentioning it means that the other half will hopefully forget about that plastering to be done as well. It's still a loose fit with the wing panel. engine pods to go on yet and one set of top control vanes. But overall it's starting to look more and more like a plane.

Thanks Hamden, They used to taxi past the office window at my previous posting so you always knew when to start paying attention to the fire dispatch radio. They're big, slow, kind of gangly looking and beautiful to see on the ground dropping water just ahead of you. So a bottle and half of white paint later...partly due to inexperienced air brush operator syndrome...an initial coat is on most major components now. To give you an idea on how well the kit fits the upper wings are held in place by tension only while the canopy is still loose and was held in place during the 3 phases of painting. You can see here the loose parts better after I fiddled with them some. And since I had the top wing off I realized I hadn't taken any interior photos since the olive drab color mix up. The tan color I saw on some photos of both Greek Air Force machines and one that was for sale by Buffalo Airways in the North West Territories (only $2.5 million CDN). The yellow triangle is due to be painted black to match the rest on the console after I get done with gap filling...the worst of which is on the roof as seen. Filler time I guess. Big question I have for folks....it's -20 C outside and frankly I don't feel like going out to the garage to paint in that temperature. I've been spraying downstairs in the storage room but there is minimal venting and a visible mist is present after I'm done spraying. Any suggestions on how to handle paint mist beyond a spray booth?

Several more hours and days later....the joys of masking canopies comes out. I've been flipping forward on the instructions some and noticed that the canopy a) had interior details to be painted and had a frame that should be airbrushed at the same time as the body. Fast forward through much of the previous day's work and the masking is done and interior canopy is painted. I did mask inside the canopy as well for the top windows. With the canopy ready I could take the next big step...gluing the fuselage together. This is a bit touchy to get the pressures right but overall not bad. Tape used to assist fingers as I raced against the glue bonding. there is one seam at the front along the belly/front shield portion that will need filling and sanding. Overall though this came together fairly nice and hopefully will have minimal cracks to fill once dry. Little more of an overview showing the size of the wings. To be honest a larger kit than I had pictured but a fun build. Measuring spoon is from a new set purchased to measure out paint/thinner for the airbrush...stealing the other half's cooking utensils is more than I dare...be cut off of the baked goods. The reddish lines on the outside of this fire are retardant lines from the water bombers....basically slow the fire down by making things tougher to burn or, if low intensity fire, put it out. Most of these were laid down by Air Tractor 802's but the -215's were one of the initial support groups. Photo taken in northern Canada a couple of years ago....trees for miles to burn and nothing to stop a fire. Next step...more wing components to prep - outboard pylons, stabilizer fins and fiddly bits but progress.

Work yesterday on detail stuff...cockpit details mostly. lots of work with trying to keep a steady hand while marking really tiny dials. Very jealous of those modellers who have the magnifying glass to assist. Yesterday's highlight was trying out the new toy: After many hours of looking online at this company vs. that company's airbrushes I finally found a hobby shop that stocked more than a single model. Unfortunately it was 4,000 km away and on the other side of the country but a family visit at Thanksgiving holidays allowed me enough time to go in an try a few out for fit and ended up with the Grex Genesis.XG model. Was able to fire it all up and redo the green interior I mistakenly painted earlier but ran out of paint I mixed up for the airbrush before I could finish it all. All I can say is wow...what a difference an airbrush makes compared to brushes. Very excited to see how it works on the exterior colors now.

Update Remembrance Day here in Canada Spent most of yesterday painting away quite excitedly since the local pet store also sells some toys and luckily had some paint I forgot to get in the city... Of course I realized late at night that after getting things ready that all the Olive Drab is not supposed to be there. Directions have the interior to be bright Yellow and somehow I read that to mean Olive Drab....so today's chore is to strip the green off and re-do it in a more realistic tan like colour. Cockpit control panel is pretty sparse....good news is looking at pictures online it seems like each has slightly different set-ups so I can paint the controls however I like. It is one weak point of the kit which overall is very good. Also figured out some of the paint issues are just due to new pots of paint...some have badly separated and will need more than shaking before application.

Great job....love seeing the SARTEC planes flying around

Okay...so more work on the fiddly bits...after a run downtown to pick up some blue tak for holding bits. I'm having a real issue but maybe it's working as intended with the paint and amount of coats. Used to use Testor's enamals and now am using Tamiya acrylics...basically need to paint everything twice to account for the thin coats. The good news is that after I get some of the small bits dealt with I can fire up the air brush and prime the entire exterior. Plus clean-up with errors is way easier...thin out the paint, wipe off, dry, redo. is the current set up with a bit more done than shown as I've been painting some items on the sprues to avoid fat finger syndrome. http://www.canaero.ca/subpages/Article%20content/yukoncanadaircl-215page1.html This is a picture of the actual plane trying to model...although it's an article from the Yukon Territory it's pretty common to see water bombers move around on export/exchange between provincial governments if hazard allows PaulJ...thanks for the tip about the landing gear. I hadn't really thought about it yet as to where I'll keep it - at home to annoy the wife or at work to tease the coworkers. either way I expect it'll be moved around a bunch so will need to look into display options more. thomastmcc - unfortunately ebay delivers to here. They do seem to pop up often but shipping is often more than the kit price at least for me. phildagreek - yep...lots of yellow which has me already crossing my fingers I can get a smooth final coat on with the airbrush (which I've never used before)

Okay...so this is 1) my first WIP on Britmodeller and 2) my first model in well...many moons. Shot of the kit and markings: The kit comes with markings for the Securitie Civile department of France...but Leading Edge decals makes a CL215 set for Ontario, Canada's machine. It's not quite my home province but I've worked with enough Ontario water bombers that the first one in their markings is a good start. Not much for photos the first night...started trying to paint and assemble the engine components. Learned my fingers used to be a lot smaller dealing with fiddly bits The carpet monster is bad but has been successfully battled into coughing up all the flying pieces And that I think I'm short paint colors with the nearest source 200km away. Edit since I figured out how to properly link photos.

Funny you say that...still have the first plane I made with my father many moons ago....a spitfire. Now to get back into the hobby. Well done Bristol for introducing your son at such a good age. foresterab

So silly question, I'm hopefully going to be going to the Canadian Warplane Museum in about 2 weeks and taking some photos especially of their Lancaster now that it's returned from England. Are there any camera shots/angles that would be of interest? Most of their collection appears to be BCATP trainers but will be snapping photos away irregardless. Cheers, foresterab

Thanks for the replies...now to spend some money.

Okay...silly question time. Returning to the hobby and slowly gearing up for the long Canadian winter months when time will allow for me to get cracking. Issue is the nearest shop is 200km away so need to make sure I have everything in order before I start and/or ordered online. The "local" hobby shop is almost exclusively focused to RC models with most staff not modellers making questions tough. Questions 1) Paint - 20 years ago I'd use the little Testors bottles or Tamiya paints as available. I see many people prefer Humbrol. Is there a best reason to use either/or? I'll be buying a range of colors and primer no matter what brand I go with and looking at both brush and airbrush application. 2) Airbrushes - something I couldn't afford as a kid but want to pick up. Looking at an Iwata Revolution HP-CR online. Silly question comes with how much paint a person mixes up at a time if it's only got a 1/3oz cup and will a cup's worth cover a normal 1/72 plane? 3) putty - stealing my little brothers plastercine is no longer an option (and doesn't work well FYI). Is there a common, go to name for filling all the cracks and seams I might have with the kit(s)? I've already picked up some Mr.Surfacer online based upon the many references here. 4) Glue - Testors tube cement was what I used to use...but at least one kit has photo-etched parts and might end up building resin kits in future due to subject. Is there a go-to glue or glues best recommended? I've already picked up a couple of kits (and added many many more to the mental build queue), have a hobby knife, sandpaper, various fasteners, and a significant other who isn't asking questions as long as it's not in her way . Appreciate any input on this, foresterab

Amazing work modelbear, Of course now you've pointed out a lot more models to find Cheers, foresterab

Wow...just read through this all today. General...my hats off to you sir. An amazing piece of work which frankly is daunting on the details you've done. I haven't laughed my way through the banter so much since I last read the Bandy Papers by Donald Jack (a Canadian's tale of joining the RAF in WW1 and other adventures). Keep it up. Just flabbergasted at this build. Foresterab

Some excellent work here... Buddy in the Canadian Army says good things about working with the British forces in Helmand province. Showed him some photos of this work. Excellent job overall

Nigel, For what it's worth looking at the pump set up in Georgeusa's post #42 the pump system is almost identical to what I see on stationary fuel bowsers at work. I think the local base uses a small Honda pump since it's been upgraded but every bowser seems to run a different pump system, size, and age. The hose reel and usually some form of litre log counter is pretty consistent. Not sure if it was standard practice at the time but there is a second small reel inside with a grounding cable inside. I deal with civilian helicopters though so not sure what JDF standards/fueling standards at the time were. Also sometimes see spills kits and fuel testing kits (big pickle jar to check for water content) inside the pump cupboard depending on space. It won't be a perfect match but if desired let me know and I'll pop over the helibase and get some photos.

a RCAF C-130 doing orbits of the airport this afternoon with the ramp down. Assuming the SARTEC's doing orientation due to the survival school a couple of hundred kilometers west of us.

Thanks hgbn, First kit came in the mail via ebay today...CL 215 Also have a S2-Tracker Waterbomber enroute from Australia So many more kits to track down but at least I know what I should buy now.

Paul J, Thanks for the heads up on the new markings for the Electra's. I see these guys occasionally helping us out on fires and hope to see the new tankers soon.

Hi there spfparker, lots of different decals out there...been researching this plane for a bit and have seen Greek, Portugese, French, Thai and multiple Canadian paint schemes. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, and the Northwest Territories all own fleets of either CL215 or CL 415's along with some US states (Minnesota comes to mind). There are two different models of CL 215...the orginal design and the CL-215T which has upgraded turbine engines and ?? additions. The CL 415 is successor to the 215 and holds slightly more water (6135 litres vs. 5340 litres) and is slightly faster. The local air tanker base is under going renovations this year so won't be able to see them in person unless on a fire but let me know if there is something on them that doesn't make sense and I'll see what I can track down. foresterab

This is definitely one I could get into. I've got a list of waterbombers that is 47 planes long and growing seemingly daily as I do more research - just planes used in North America as that. Don't even want to think of the helicopters out there (if they'd be eligible or not). Sign me up as another participant please, foresterab