Books & Models

I don’t get a lot done on Fridays, and last night was no exception.  I fell asleep on the couch after dinner, waking just in time for the second showing of Dr Who on Sci-Fi.  I should have just stayed asleep; “Evolution of the Daleks” was an even bigger cliche-fest than “Daleks in Manhattan”, and the dialogue worse.  Not a highpoint for this series….

Having dashed my chances for a good night’s sleep, I picked up – and very nearly finished — “Flora Segunda” by Ysabeau Wilce last night. It’s set in the same nation/state, Califa, as the Hardhands/Tiny Doom short stories that have appeared in Asimov’s and F&SF, though at least a generation later. (It’s a completely standalone work; Hardhands, the pink pig and I think Tiny Doom do make cameos, but unless you have read some of the shorts you wouldn’t catch that).

I don’t know how to describe it. The narrator/protagonist is a 13 year old girl on a quest, and it’s a coming of age story, but it’s not really YA, at least not in the same vein as Harry Potter, though it’s certainly not as “mature” as “The Linaments of Gratified Desire”, which was in F&SF not too long ago.  It’s really … odd.  Military …. but no battles. And baroque. And funny … Ms Wilce has a very distinctive writing style and it’s a treat to read.

I hope she turns this into a series - I’m excited she’s at work on another book in the same setting.

I did manage to get a small amount of work done on the F-302  (1/72 scale, coming soon from Black Sun), gluing on the starboard wing and filling the landing gear bays with Aves so I can pose the thing “in-flight”.  I needed to pin both wings and fill with epoxy putty (KraftMark’s Pro-Create in this case). 

As originally mastered, the kit was to have had a one-piece fuselage and wings.  After discussing it with the first caster, I opted to make the wings separate and thus save on rubber for the molds.  After the patterns were returned, I carefully – and laboriously – sawed the port wing off.  Then my 3-year old knocked it off the counter and snapped the starboard wing clean off – d’oh!  Why didn’t I think of that? The master  was completely rescribed, and Terry helped out by fixing some incorrect detail, especially the dog-tooth leading edge of the wings.

Turns out that separating the wings was good for another reason.  As originally mastered, the downward angle of the outer wings was too shallow – not a lot, but noticeable.  Now it’s a relatively simple matter to get the right anhedral.

If I can maintain focus, it shouldn’t take long to fill the remain gaps, sand everything down and affix the rest of the parts.  Maybe I can even have it in primer by the end of the weekend….