Author: Pierre Lagacé

Post 303 – RCAF Overseas Catalinas: The ‘Saviour of Ceylon’ and Beyond – 48th scale Decals ‘n Docs

Pierre Lagacé1 Comment

Of course I am not that cheap when it comes to start a new project especially this one. I bought some after-market decals on July 2 when I learned about the Saviour of Ceylon.

The link to the after-market decals is below…

https://www.aviaeology.com/store/p145/AOD48013.html#/

Finally I will build my Monogram PBY-5 but not with the original decals.

Mine will be a tribute to the Saviour of Ceylon who is seen below second from the left.

PL-7404 UK-1122 17/03/42 413 SQN Left to Right: S/Ldr J.C. Scott, Toronto and Galt, Ontario; S/Ldr L.J. Birchall, St. Catharines; P/O A.M. Bell, St. John, New Brunswick; P/O W.R. Meadows, Montreal, Quebec.

As always this will be a way to remember someone who must never be forgotten for his life accomplishments.

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/leonard-birchall

Excerpt

Leonard Joseph (Birch) Birchall, CM, O Ont, air force pilot, war hero, educator (born 6 July 1915 in St. Catharines, ON; died 10 September 2004 in Kingston, ON).

During the Second World War, Birchall became known as the “Saviour of Ceylon” for alerting Allied forces of an approaching Japanese fleet. Captured after sending his message, he is also renowned for the courage and leadership he displayed while a prisoner of war.

To be continued…

A beautiful in-flight shot of a Royal Canadian Air Force Canso in flight in January 1942 in the Temperate Sea Scheme.

Source of the above…

https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/tag/pby-catalina/

Post 302 – The Saviour of Ceylon

Pierre Lagacé6 Comments

I had to wait before posting this on July 6 for a reason. The Saviour of Ceylon was born on July 6, 1915.

https://www.far-eastern-heroes.org.uk/Saviour_of_Ceylon/

More information later about the Saviour of Ceylon…

Of course you can always Google that and get a headstart.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Birchall

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Sunday_Raid

https://youtu.be/gdtpIBlS5Qc

https://youtu.be/9H2WlD0oTCk

Post 301 – Unfinished business

Pierre Lagacé2 Comments

Instructions

I still had to add the decals to finish up the Me 109. I knew I had to let it go before embarking on my next project which might take a year.

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I was careful reading the instructions, but I managed to get something wrong.

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I don’t have to tell you…

The canopy would need to be fixed, but it will stay that way and I won’t lose any sleep over it.

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The Me 109 was part of a duo…

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Both will be gifts… The Spitfire to Frank Sorensen’s daughter.

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Frank Sorensen was shot down by a Me 109. The Me 109 will be a gift to my son who wanted one five years ago…

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Post 299 – Progress report

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Yesterday I had remembered how I had painted canopies before on My Forgotten Hobby.

I had been using a paintbrush with thinned acrylic paint and then gently scrape away the excess with a wooden stick.

Since it had worked so well with the Japanese Zero I have decided to use it again on the Heinkel.

Intermission – Hand Painting Canopies I

I don’t think I will be completing the He 111 before July 6 when I will be embarking on my next project.

The Saviour of Ceylon

Cheap Pete

Pierre LagacéLeave a comment

I just gave myself that nickname. No one has ever called me Pete or any other nickname. I am not cheap, but I like to use what I have on hands when I build my model kits. I won’t spend a fortune on paint masks. I will make my own and use my paint brushes when I can.

Speaking of paint, I still have lots of leftover paint from the 80s. I have been using very thinned Tamiya deep green as a primer on the He 111.

I will be using my airbrush later when the temperature outside has cooled down a bit. Speaking of being cheap, I am still using my old faithful Badger 350 airbrush I bought in the 70s which still gives me good results.

We will see what happens when I get there.

What would you do?

Pierre Lagacé11 Comments

I was tackling the control panel yesterday.

I had left it on the sprue making sure it was easier to add the decal.

How to glue the control panel inside now that I had already glued most of the clear parts?

I had to figure a way out to get it inside.

I came up with this brilliant idea!

How to hold it in place for the glue to set up? Blue Tack on a stick.

Piece of cake…

Sometimes you get distracted along the way

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Calling it a day last November was only intended to last one or two days at the most, but then I was distracted along the way.

I can’t exactly recall how I was distracted, but I decided to build two other model kits.

These two will be a gift to Guy Fournier whose war hero was Omer Levesque. Never heard of Omer Levesque before?

Omer Levesque is quite famous in the history of aviation. He was the first pilot to shoot down a FW 190. He was also the first pilot to shoot down a MiG 15.

https://acesofww2.com/can/aces/levesque.htm