I had an unusual experience yesterday. As I was heading to Seattle to order a new pair of glasses, which we gentlemen of a certain age must do periodically, I was passed overhead by the familiar shape of Air Force One. It was on finals at Boeing Field, where the President was landing for a fund-raising tour in Seattle and Bellevue. I hadn’t seen the plane since it was delivered. At one of the last Boeing Field airshows, the 747 (or rather E-4, I guess) made an unscheduled low pass just as the airshow was opening. It is pretty impressive to see a 747 making a high speed pass at 100 feet. The State Patrol was already set up at all the onramps to close down I-5, so if I had come by 20 minutes later I would have been stuck in the backup until the presidential limo had long passed.
Today, however, was a paint day. Several kits have been started this week, so there were no less than 3 cockpits waiting to be painted. The new Airfix Gnat, an old Matchbox Meteor nightfighter, and a Hawk T2. At the same session, I did a repair job on the new Airfix Swordfish (shooting some Xtracolour silver to save the patchy Alclad). And finally, the Light Gull Gray topcoat on the LTV A-7.
There is also some construction to report. I got the major bits of the Sword P-47N all together. Fit was a little difficult, especially on the wing/fuselage joint. I think the uppers look fine, but the lower joints have a definite step to them and will need some remedial PSR. And I really don’t think I did the tailwheel enclosure correctly, but there isn’t much to be done about it now.
I have also chosen my next escapee from the Shelf of Shame. This is a Heller Constellation that has been there since the Jurassic age. Mostly assembled, there is still a lot of painting to be done.
I also have a number of finished models that will be introduced in the next couple of weeks on this blog. Plus a day trip to Snoqualmie Pass.
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