Freestar finished, torch passed to Terrain

Because we were having trouble with the Freestar we started looking for a new vehicle. We figured that we would rather do it on our time instead of having to rush and get a car when the next car died.

In July we ended up getting a new 2019 GMC Terrain. It was brand new - with only 50 km on it. It has a sun roof, and the black-out package - which means that the chrome and rims are black. It doesn't have a CD player so I finally had to figure out how to rip our CDs onto a USB drive. It also doesn't have a gear shifter so I am getting used to changing gears with the buttons instead.

We've mostly been using it on the weekends, and gave it a good run out to Regina on the August long weekend. It seems like it will be a good fit for us. It's also the first new brand new car that we have bought.


Which is good as the Freestar didn't want to start after Labor Day long weekend. We had it towed to the shop and they asked if we had driven through water. It seems that it wasn't the battery or even the starter. They said the engine crankshaft had seized. If we wanted to fix it, we were looking at replacing the entire motor - about $3500.

It's a tough call, as we hoping to get at least another winter out of it. But it is starting to rust, and the brakes would probably need to have been done soon as well. So we really can't justify putting that much into it.
It's a shame as it was a good fit, and had tons of room. But it really doesn't owe us anything. We had a lot of good road trips in it and I will miss it.

Books read May to August 2019

May
The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity: How the Modern Culture is Robbing Billions of People of Happiness by Matthew Kelly
Outremer: Faith and Blood by Jamie Gordon
Dracula’s America: Shadows of the West: Forbidden Power by Jonathan Haythornwaite
Billiards – The Official Rules and Records Book (2000) by Billiard Congress of America
Star Wars: Lightsabers – A Guide to Weapons of the Force by Pablo Hidalgo
Born A Crime by Trevor Noah
Camelot edited by Jane Yolen

June
Heroes for Wargaming by Stewart Parkinson
Escher on Escher: Exploring the Infinite by MC Escher
Dream Sewing Spaces: Design & Organization for Spaces Large & Small by Lynette Ranney Black
Storage & Shelving by Jill Blake
Singer: Sewing Activewear by Cy DeCosse Incorporated

July
The Dracula Centenary Book by Peter Haining
Killing Floor by Lee Child
Heat Rises by Richard Castle
Brian Froud’s Goblins! By Ari Berk
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Aug
The Official Art of Big Trouble in Little China by Tara Bennett & Paul Terry
Time-Life Books: The Epic of Flight: Knights of the Air by Ezra Bowen
The Costume Making Guide: Creating Armor & Props for Cosplay by Svetlana Quindt aka Kamui Cosplay
Art of Atari by Tim Lapetino
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Basic Game by Cam Banks
The Book of Cosplay Sewing – Starting from Zero by Svetlana Quindt
Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely

Lunar Lander assemply started

I got a good start to the assembly on the Lunar Lander when I had time on the weekend of the anniversary of the Moon Landing. I put together the main parts of the upper and lower assemblies. I painted parts of it as I went – especially around where the clear pieces would go. The clear pieces were glued in with white glue to prevent crazing.

I got the basic structure of the upper module done as well as the bottom half. I had knocked over the liquid glue and had to go out and get more, as well as getting some copper paint.


I put the base together but the seam is still rather noticeable from certain angles. I may have to fix that.

While working on the lander, I watched a bunch of the Apollo 11 shows on CNN and NASA. I would occasionally pause the program and take a photo of the screen if there was a good picture for reference.

Figure Painting Total - July 2019

With the switch to resin, Knight Models still had their older metal sets available for a while before they phased them out. They had even bundled some of the figures into 3 packs with cards for DC Universe. I had picked up the other sets but did not pick up the Teen Titans set. I was hoping they would get a better sculpt of Cyborg. Knight Models did release a Teen Titans set in resin but it did not have Cyborg or Kid Flash, and the Starfire is the newer, TV costume. So I was able to find someone who had the old individual metals and was selling them. I was also able to get the original, pre-game Flash, which I like better than the newer models.

BM/DCU – Cyborg – 1
BM/DCU – Batgirl – 2
BM/DCU – Kid Flash – 1
BM/DCU – Starfire – 1
DCU – Flash – 1

July total - figures bought 6, figures painted 0
Running total 2019 – figures bought 124, figures painted 1

50th anniversary Moon Landing

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, I figured that I would put together this kit.

It’s the Apollo 11 Lunar Lander model by Airfix. It’s 1/72 scale so should be close in size for miniature figures. It seems to have all the parts, as well as the instructions and decals.
I had picked it up a few years ago at Value Village for $2.99. It seems to be worth a bit online, and I’m not sure I’ll do it proper justice, but I figured I would give it a go.

With plastic kits, it’s always good to give them a quick wash before starting. Using dish soap and an old toothbrush to gently scrub the mold release agent from the parts helps to prevent problems with painting later. It’s always good to wash the sprues in a tray or container instead of the sink itself. If a part becomes loose, it helps to contain it so you don’t lose a critical piece down the drain.

Make sure they are well rinsed and you can let them air dry or dry them gently with a paper towel.
Now it’s ready to start on the assembly.

Stuck in the middle?

On Canada Day, we took a short trip to the longitudinal center of Canada.

It used to be just a road sign but they have updated it for the 150th anniversary.

New-master reels?

My wife and I are of an age where we used to have Viewmaster reels. These were little white discs about the size of a coaster that you could put into a special viewer and, if you held it up to the light, you would see a 3D image. There were ones for cartoons as well as the more grown up travel ones.

We still have a number of the reels, and we have picked up some of the old ones on the secondary market. When we were still planning to go to Disney World, I had picked up a bunch of the old Disneyland reels for my wife.

She has picked up some of the new VR viewmaster reels that work with a new viewer that has a similar style as an old viewer but holds your cell for VR.

There is also a site that allows to submit images and they will print new reels for you. But the reels only hold 7 images each, so if you have a big event with more pictures, you either have to get multiple reels (like the old 3 packs with A, B, C reels) or choose your best 7 shots.

For her birthday this year, I was tempted to do a Disney set, but that would be hard to edit down to even a few reels. Instead, I was able to select 7 shots to use from her fiftieth birthday and put together a reel with those. I placed the order on May 5 and it came on May 10. It’s supposed to have a five day turnaround before shipping according to the website but I guess they were slow so they finished early and sent it out.

It was sent by UPS so that’s always a tossup. I got an email telling me that there would be duty charges and I could pay online. So I pulled out some money to leave my son in case they came while we were at work but in getting the paper this morning it seems that they just dropped it off in the mail. We were home but they didn’t even knock, they just left it in the mailbox. So I guess the $6.82 in duty wasn’t enough for them to worry about.
I got a letter from UPS about two weeks later collecting on the duty that they should have collected on delivery. So I called them and paid it over the phone.