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Follow the AXIAL FB Events page for more info: www.facebook.com/events/1623366397951597/
Official Date Press Release and General Notes
WHAT: AXIAL ADVENTURES at AXIALFEST2016
WHEN: July 15-17th, 2016
WHERE: Cisco Grove Campground located in the High Sierra Mountains
THANK YOU AXIAL FANS for making our 10-Year anniversary at AXIALFEST2015 the most memorable one! With that, we are once again asking you and your family to come camping with us NEXT YEAR!
Yes, we are giving you the earliest possible invitation to mark your calendars for July 15-17th, 2016. We will once again host an event dedicated to showing our appreciation to you, the Axial customer, friends and family.
And we will once again go camping at our favorite campground nestled high in the Sierra Nevada’s, Cisco Grove Campground. This campground has been the location of our events since the very beginnings back in 2007 and has allowed Axial to transform the 440-acre’s into our very own Axial playground to share with you!
For those of you looking to come for your very first time, you will make your campground reservation with Cisco Grove Campground first (www.ciscogrove.com/), then head over to our event page for event registration (eventzilla). What we would also ask of you is to pop over to our Axial Facebook page and check out the AXIALFEST2016 event page and let us know you are going (www.facebook.com/axialinc/events). THE EVENT PAGE ON FACEBOOK and AXIAL-BLOG IS WHERE ALL OFFICIAL EVENT INFORMATION WILL FLOW FROM! It's just a rumor if you didn't read it directly from us!
VENDOR ROW
Camp sites H1-H10 will be the designated vendor row. Sponsorship inquire submissions can be sent to marketing@axialracing.com
FAQ's and for First Time AXIALFEST attendees, here is a good FIRST MUST READ: www.axialracing.com/blog_posts/1073910705
Foto en Instagram: ift.tt/2Et8tYO Álabes de los discos rotores del compresor axial de un turborreactor. Entre cada uno de estos discos giratorios hay otros discos que no giran, también con álabes y que se llaman estatores. El efecto aerodinámico del aire al pasar entre los diferentes discos en el sentido del eje hace que alcance altas presiones.
Bus Éireann (Broadstone) DAF SB4000 / VDL Berkhof Axial LC 3 (08-D-70605) in Broadstone Depot, Dublin 27th August 2010.
Built between 1906 and 1907, the Leongatha Post and Telegraph Office is located in the very bustling heart of the South Gippsland town of Leongatha at 4 McCartin Street. It is axially sited at the end of Blair Street in the town's commercial centre. It is sited on the most prominent intersection in town, with strong visual relationships to the courthouse to the north and Remembrance Building and old Shire Offices to the south, as well as the Mechanics’ Institute and McCartin Hotel, also very close by.
Designed by J. B. Cohen of the Victorian Public Works Department in 1906, the successful winner of the construction tender was local builder Neil Falconer, who quoted its erection of the post office for just over £1058.00. The building was completed and opened to the public in February 1907. The building originally included a residential quarters for the postmaster, but this was converted to house the local telephone exchange in the 1930s. The mailroom was extended in 1914, resulting in a projecting bay from the north elevation. The building remains in use today as a post office (owned and operated by Australia Post), although the telephone exchange has been relocated to a new building constructed to the rear of the site.
The Leongatha Post and Telegraph Office is a timber building constructed in Federation Queen Anne style architecture. It features a hipped, corrugated iron roof, oriented north and south, with half-hips to the sides. The front elevation features two projecting gables, both stepped and bracketed with roughcast infill, above the main office and the main entry. The original Art Nouveau lettering "Post & Telegraph Office" remains below the roughcast panel. The entry beneath the porch features red brick piers and square timber posts with neck moulds, standing on a low balustrade (originally tuck-pointed). It also has tessellated floor tiles and bluestone steps. The west side roof extends to form a side porch, featuring paired, turned timber posts. The front windows still retain their Art Nouveau stained glass upper panels, featuring stylised tulips in brilliant vermillion.
The Leongatha Post and Telegraph Office is one of a small group of post offices, along with those in Terang (1903), Sorrento (1904), Korumburra (1904) and Woodend (1905), to be constructed for the Commonwealth by the Victorian government in the early years after Federation. These buildings were all designed and constructed by the Victorian Public Works Department under the supervisor of its chief architect, J. H. Marsden, even though postal and telegraphic services were among the powers transferred to the Commonwealth from the states in 1901. After the early months of 1907, no further post offices were built in Victoria until 1909, when a concerted building campaign was commenced by the Commonwealth, which erected postal buildings at Canterbury, Hawthorn, Brunswick, and Beulah. Others followed in 1910, at Casterton, Birchip, Box Hill, Clifton Hill, Port Melbourne, Sandringham, Rupanyup, Violet Town and Willaura. More than a dozen or so more had been completed prior to the outbreak of World War I.
Today the Leongatha Post and Telegraph Office is one of the oldest still functioning post offices built for the Commonwealth after Federation in 1901.
Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located 135 kilometres south-east of Melbourne. The town is the civic, commercial, industrial, religious, educational and sporting centre of the region. The Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Limited, is a farmers' co-operative which trades in Australia under the Devondale label, and has a dairy processing plant just north of the town producing milk-based products for Australian and overseas markets. First settlement of the area by Europeans occurred in 1845. The Post Office opened as Koorooman on 1 October 1887 and renamed Leongatha in 1891 when a township was established on the arrival of the railway. The Daffodil Festival is held annually in September. Competitions are held and many daffodil varieties are on display. A garden competition is also held and there are many beautiful examples throughout the provincial town. The South Gippsland Railway runs historical diesel locomotives and railcars between the market and dairy towns of Nyora and Leongatha, passing through Korumburra.
Bus Éireann (Broadstone) DAF SB4000 / VDL Berkhof Axial LC 20 (08-D-22945) at Parnell Place, Cork 9th May 2011.
Griffith Observatory
Los Angeles, CA
12/22/2012
According to astronomers, Earth has a tilt of about 23 degrees. As you can see, this has no effect on Steve, who is not only planted to the ground due to gravity, but has also achieved proper focus on his subject. It's physics, baby!
Nikon D90
Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8
Over the past decade, Axial has been synonymous with crawlers and the scale trail community for creating vehicles that inspires endless adventure and creative freedom. Something interesting started to evolve and a trend began to appear, 4WD straight axle Monster Jam® Trucks. What better to build upon that trend than to offer one of the most striking trucks within Monster Jam®, MAX-D™. Since 2003, MAX-D™ has won 11 Monster Jam World Finals® championships and brought crowds to their feet with daredevil maneuvers and non-stop excitement. Amongst a lineup of Monster Jam® Trucks, the low slung futuristic SUV body with yellow, red and silver paint scheme combined with chrome spikes is an instant grabber. Axial went all out when designing the chassis and roll cage for the SMT10™ MAX-D™ Monster Jam® Truck. Very similar to modern era full size monster trucks, this chassis was developed for maximum strength and an extremely detailed appearance.
Kingsley's Coaches of Birtley's Volvo/Berkhof Axial R78VVP is pictured at the NEBPT Bus & Coach Rally at the MetroCentre on May 4th 2015.
A group of farmers are irrigating their land using an axial flow pump in Horinofolia in Bangladesh.
Ranak Martin/
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some Background:
The Lavochkin OKB was founded in 1937 as OKB-301, a Soviet aircraft design bureau. The head designer was Vladimir P. Gorbunov. On October, 1945 Semyon Lavochkin was promoted for the head designer of the design bureau. The OKB gained distinction for its family of piston-engined fighter aircraft during World War II, and later shifted to missile and jet fighter designs.
The latter comprised several experimental designs that were build in order to test the potential of jet engines and swept wings - a heritage from WWII. One of these designs was the light Aircraft 160, with a pod-and-boom layout and powered by a single RD-10 axial turbojet.
Despite the flight success of Aircraft 160, Lavochkin also followed an alternative route: a heavier aircraft that carried two engines under its wings. Knowing that the standard RD-10 (actually a poor copy of the German Jumo 004B jet engine that had powered, among others, the Me 262) did not supply enough power for a serious single engine fighter aircraft, Aircraft 170.
Like the contemporary Suchoj Su-9 fighter, Aircraft 170 resembled the Me 262 a lot, even though it was no copy. Its most innovative feature were wings with a 40° sweep at 1/4 chord, mounted in a mid-position and with an almost constant chord from root to tip. A pair of Tumansky RD-10 jet engines was carried in sleek nacelles that were directly attached to the wings' undersurfaces. Tail surfaces were swept, too, the elevator placed high, close to the fin's top in order to keep it away from any jet efflux.
Aircraft 170 had a circular cross-section, all-metal stressed skin monocoque fuselage that housed a single, pressurized cockpit. The pilot was protected by armor plates to his front, an armored seat back and a bulletproof windscreen for the bubble canopy. He was provided with an ejection seat, copied from that used in the Heinkel He 162.
The tricycle landing gear was fully retractable; the nose wheel retracted backwards, while the main wheels retracted inwards into the wing roots. Fuel was carried in three main tanks in the fuselage, two auxillary tanks were placed in the wings.
Intended to intercept American bombers like the B-29. To ensure the destruction of such large bombers, the fighter originally carried three cannons in its nose: two 23 mm with 100 rounds per gun and a single 37 mm with 40 rounds.
Construction of a full-scale mockup was completed in June 1947 and two prototypes ordered for flight testing. The first flight was on 24 June 1948 and took place at Khimki airfield, near Moscow. The first prototype was aptly coded "170 Red".
Successful flight trials were quickly followed by public display at the 1948 Aviation Day airshow at Tushino. This flight demonstration was a show because the original RD-10 engines did not provide enough power to lift Aircraft 170 off of the ground at full weight - all cannons had to be removed, and only a limited fuel load for 30 min of flight was carried!
But these flaws remained well hidden and the new type immediately earned the NATO ASCC code "Forkbeard".
Even with these harsh performance limits Aircraft 170 was evaluated in mock air-to-air combat trials with a captured U.S. B-29, as well as the later Soviet B-29 copy, the Tu-4 "Bull". Once up in the air, Aircraft 170 showed the potential of its basic construction and its good handling characteristics, even though the overall lack of power and sluggish as well as unreliable engines kept haunting the tests.
Things were to improve in early 1949 with the installation of indigenous afterburners to the RD-10 engines, especially for take-off and climb. These modified engines were called RD-10 YuF and also tested on board of the single engine Aircraft 160 prototype.
Aircraft 170's engine nacelles were lengthened and widened accordingly, and the modifed 1st prototype was re-designated Aircraft 171, its code being changed into "171 Red". By late 1949, a second prototype had finally been built (coded "172 Red"), directly outfitted with the uprated engine.
Experimentally, a heavy 45mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-45 cannon with 30 rounds was fitted to both aircraft. Combat trials showed that although the NS-45 cannon proved deadly to enemy aircraft, realistically only its first shot could be aimed. A three-round burst, even when fired near the maximum airspeed of Aircraft 171, resulted in a noticeable loss of both airspeed and stability. Vibrations and shock waves were so heavy that sometimes oil lines sprung leaks after the gun was fired! Firing the NS-45 at airspeeds below 350 km/h even shook the pilot back and forth as if in an automobile suddenly decelerating and accelerating!
Trials continued until summer 1951 when "171 Red" broke up in flight, due to wing flutter, during tests to establish the maximum attainable speed. Its sister ship was immediately grounded and the program stopped. At that time the MiG-15 had already entered service successfully, and it offered comparable if not superior performance in almost any respect to the Lavochkin design.
Anyway, the experience gained with Aircraft 171 spurred on Soviet aircraft designers to design swept winged fighters, albeit cautiously. On the other side, the RD-10, even with a (thirsty!) afterburner, proved to be a dead end. Since other engines like the centrifugal flow Klimov VK-1 (a copy of the British Rolls-Royce Nene engine) were hard to integrate into the Aircraft 171's structure. Nevertheless, work with the YuF afterburner helped pave the way to the MiG-15's successor, the MiG-17, powered by the Klimov VK-1F afterburning turbojet, which was accepted into service in mid-1951.
The surviving "172 Red" prototype eventually ended up as an instructional airframe at the Kremenchuk Flight College of the National Aviation University, and it was scrapped in 1965.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 12.78 m (41 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 11.27 m (36 ft 11 in)
Height: 4.59 m (15 ft 12 in)
Wing area: 21.7 m² (234 ft²)
Empty weight: 4,060 kg (8,951 lb)
Loaded weight: 6,473 kg (14,272 lb)
Fuel capacity: 1.350 kg
Max. takeoff weight: 7,130 kg (15,720 lb)
Powerplant:
2× Tumansky RD-10 YuF axial turbojets, each with 8.83 kN (1,984 lbf)dry thrust
and 11.17 kN (2,510 lbf) with afterburner
Performance:
Maximum speed: 900 km/h (559 mph)
Range: 1,050 km (652 mi)
Service ceiling: 11,450 m (37,565 ft)
Rate of climb: 1,200 m/min (At max weight of 7,130 kg) (3,900 ft/min)
Thrust/weight: 0.28
Armament:
2x Nudelman-Richter NR-23 23 mm (0.9") cannon in the lower right fuselage with 100 RPG
1x Nudelman-Suranov NS-45 45 mm (1.8") cannon in the lower left fuselage (30 RPG)
The kit and its assembly:
My fourth entry to the early 2016 Cold War GB at whatifmodelers.com. Again, it's a project from the long ideas list that finally made it to the hardware stage through a GB's occasion.
This one was originally inspired by an illustration in what I deem a 1950s book about aircraft, including Soviet designs. Based on vague pictures and probably lots of speculation, it is funny to see what the enemy's aircraft were supposed to look like.
In this case, my benchmark was a rather fictional "Lavochkin La-16" fighter, which looked like a travesty version of a Republic F-84G with engine pods under its wings. Actually, the painting rather shows the Yak-25 all-weather interceptor, but you can only recognize it if you know hat you were looking for!
Anyway, the idea of a modified Thunderstreak had some charm, and this is what my kitbash for a fictional Soviet fighter is based upon. For a stronger retro feeling I used the straight wing F-84G, a Heller kit which donated its fuselage and landing gear.
The wings come from a PM Model Ta 183, the engine nacelles (from a Matchbox Me 262) were inserted as spacers into the wings. Their wing position was defined by the landing gear starts' length.
The original nose air intake was closed with a radome from an F-94C (Emhar) and the tail shortened - mostly because of the new swept tail surfaces, which come from a KP MiG-15 (a horribly crude kit!).
While this combination sounds harmless the integration of the parts took some serious effort and sculpting with putty!
Painting and markings:
As a classic Soviet prototype of the Fifties, choice of livery was simple: an all-metal finish with some Red Stars plus a code number.
At first, and also in order to control the surface finish after all the PSR work, the kit received a uniform coat with "White Aluminum" acrylic spray paint - this revealed several flaws.
Later, after mending many dents and scratches, several silver and grey shades were used on different panel and rudder areas, including Revell Acrylic Aluminum, Alu Plate, Steel, Magnesium and Titanium Metallizer as well as RAF Barley Grey.
The cockpit interior was painted with PRU Blue while the landing gear wells received a more grey-ish coat with FS 35237. Some red dots mark openings for fuel and oil and slightly brighten things up, as well as a red trim tab on the fin.
Grinded graphite was used for a weathered look and to emphasize the metallic impression. Panel lines were painted manually onto wings and fuselage with a very soft pencil.
After decal application (Red Stars from a Hobby Boss MiG-15, the tactical code was puzzled together from various sources) the kit was sealed under a semi-glossy coat of acrylic varnish.
Not a spectacular masterpiece, but a funny build and in so far interesting as Aircraft 171 rather appears like a pregnant Me 262 than a converted F-84F? Even the similarity with the Yak-25 is only remote, mostly in top view where the wing planform with the nacelles resembles the much bigger Soviet interceptor most? Still, this creation carries some of the Fifties/Cold War retro feeling.
Axial flow pumps differ from radial flow in that the fluid enters and exits along the same direction parallel to the rotating shaft. The fluid is not accelerated but instead "lifted" by the action of the impeller. They may be likened to a propeller spinning in a length of tube. Axial flow pumps operate at much lower pressures and higher flow rates than radial flow pumps (the Black axial-flow pump in photo is a Griffin 24AX submersible pump).
A centrifugal pump is a rotodynamic pump that uses a rotating impeller to increase the pressure and flow rate of a fluid. Centrifugal pumps are the most common type of pump used to move liquids through a piping system. The fluid enters the pump impeller along or near to the rotating axis and is accelerated by the impeller, flowing radially outward or axially into a diffuser or volute chamber, from where it exits into the downstream piping system. Centrifugal pumps are typically used for large discharge through smaller heads (the Red Centrifugal Pump in the photo is a Griffin 18NCRD).
For more on pumps call toll free: 866-770-8100
Or visit: www.griffinpump.com
P116HCF & P117HCF Volvo B10M. P115HCF was a Dennis Javelin GX ordered to trial a different chassis besides Volvo. (Scanned from Coach and Bus Week Jul '97).
Scania K114EB6, Berkhof Axial 100 (CH61/23Dt)
Ausden Clarke Group, Leicester
Cascades Approach, Portsmouth
15 June 2015
At Boboli Gardens for a morning look around the gardens in Florence. It was a very hot morning in Florence. A bit dehydrating!
The Boboli Gardens (Italian: Giardino di Boboli) is a park in Florence, Italy, that is home to a collection of sculptures dating from the 16th through the 18th centuries, with some Roman antiquities.
The Gardens, directly behind the Pitti Palace, the main seat of the Medici grand dukes of Tuscany at Florence, are some of the first and most familiar formal 16th-century Italian gardens. The mid-16th-century garden style, as it was developed here, incorporated longer axial developments, wide gravel avenues, a considerable "built" element of stone, the lavish employment of statuary and fountains, and a proliferation of detail, coordinated in semi-private and public spaces that were informed by classical accents: grottos, nympheums, garden temples and the like. The openness of the garden, with an expansive view of the city, was unconventional for its time. The gardens were very lavish, considering no access was allowed to anyone outside the immediate Medici family, and no entertainment or parties ever took place in the gardens.
The Boboli Gardens were laid out for Eleonora di Toledo, the wife of Cosimo I de' Medici. The name is a curruption of "Bogoli", a family from whom land had been bought to construct the garden. The first stage was scarcely begun by Niccolò Tribolo before he died in 1550, then was continued by Bartolomeo Ammanati, with contributions in planning from Giorgio Vasari, who laid out the grottos, and in sculpture by Bernardo Buontalenti. The elaborate architecture of the grotto in the courtyard that separates the palace from its garden is by Buontalenti.
The garden lacks a natural water source. To water the plants in the garden, a conduit was built from the nearby Arno River to feed water into an elaborate irrigation system.
The primary axis, centered on the rear façade of the palace, rises on Boboli Hill from a deep amphitheater that is reminiscent in its shape of one half of a classical hippodrome or racecourse. At the center of the amphitheater and rather dwarfed by its position is the Ancient Egyptian Boboli obelisk brought from the Villa Medici at Rome. This primary axis terminates in a fountain of Neptune (known to the irreverent Florentines as the "Fountain of the Fork" for Neptune's trident), with the sculpture of Neptune by Stoldo Lorenzi visible against the skyline as a visitor climbs the slope.
Giulio Parigi laid out the long secondary axis, the Viottolone or Cyprus Road at a right angle to the primary axis. This road led up through a series of terraces and water features, the main one being the Isolotto complex, with the bosquets on either side, and then allowed for exit from the gardens almost at Porta Romana, which was one of the main gates of the walled city. In 1617, Parigi constructed the Grotto of Vulcan (Grotticina di Vulcano) along this axis.
The gardens have passed through several stages of enlargement and restructuring work. They were enlarged in the 17th century to their present extent of 45,000 meters² (111 acres). The Boboli Gardens have come to form an outdoor museum of garden sculpture that includes Roman antiquities as well as 16th and 17th century works.
In the first phase of building, the amphitheatre was excavated in the hillside behind the palace. Initially formed by clipped edges and greens, it was later formalized by rebuilding in stone decorated with statues based on Roman myths such as the Fountain of the Ocean sculpted by Giambologna, then transferred to another location within the same garden. The small Grotto of Madama, and the Large Grotto, were begun by Vasari and completed by Ammannati and Buontalenti between 1583 and 1593.
Even while undergoing restoration work in 2015, the Large Grotto's statues are still on display and represent defining examples of Mannerist sculpture and architecture. Decorated internally and externally with stalactites and originally equipped with waterworks and luxuriant vegetation, the fountain is divided into three main sections. The first one was frescoed to create the illusion of a natural grotto, that is a natural refuge to allow shepherds to protect themselves from wild animals; it originally housed The Prisoners of Michelangelo (now replaced by copies), statues that were first intended for the tomb of the Pope Julius II. Other rooms in the Grotto contain Giambologna's famous Bathing Venus and an 18th-century group of Paris and Helen by Vincenzo de' Rossi.
The Knight's Garden (Giardino del Cavaliere). Leading to the Porcelain Museum. Was also some nice views from up here!
This garden takes it's name from the rampart known as the 'Bastion of Cavaliere Malatesa' (Malatesta the Knight) which was designed by Michelangelo in 1529.
The Porcelain Museum
view at the back of the museum
This is a photo of my Axial Exo Terra RC Buggy. You can see tons of pictures of the build here: rcnewz.com/?p=8660
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Skorpion was the result of the dire need for powerfully armed medium tanks when it was clear in 1944 that the German army would be faced with increasing numbers of Allied tanks. The favored solution would have been an update of the Panzer IV with the powerful 7.5 cm KwK 42 L/70 cannon, but the hull could not carry a turret that was gig enough to house this weapon - it should take several years until an satisfatory update would appear with the Panzer IV K. The alternative were self-propelled weapon carriers and the turret-less Jagdpanzer IV, which could take the long L70 gun, but both were not the tanks the Wehrmacht was looking for.
As a stopgap measure and to fill the ranks of the new Panzer V Panther, Krupp proposed a radically different layout: mounting the KwK 42 cannon with the Panther turret on the chassis of the Geschützwagen III/IV, which took elements of both the Panzer III (driving and steering system) and Panzer IV chassis (suspension and engine). This chassis ahd originally been developed for self-propelled artillery project, with the engine moved from the back of the hull to a front position next to the driver, so that the rear offered space for a combat section. The same chassis was already used for the Nashorn tank destroyer (with an 8,8cm PaK) and the Hummel mobile artillery support (with a 15cm howitzer) for the tank force. Both had an open-topped superstructure, built up around the respective large guns to give the crew some protection, and armor was relatively light, too, as these verhicles were not intended for direct confrontation with tanks.
However, the Panzer III/IV chassis was proven and already in production, and the Panther turret was available, too. For the SdKfz. 168 the open compartment of the Nashorn and Hummel was replaced by a closed, armored deck, which was large enough to carry a ring bearing for the Panther turret and it's drive. Overall armor, esp. on the new tank's front, was beefed up with extra plating, reaching up to 90mm. The crew was reduced to four, since the engine now took the position of the former Panzer IV radio/MG operator next to the driver.
In order to improve the tanks agility and speed, a torsion bar suspension and larger, double-interleaved rubber-rimmed steel roadwheels was proposed, but production started with the spring leaf suspension from the Panzer IV.
The rear turret's rear position had already been proposed for some heavy tank designs (e.g. by Porsche for the Tiger I proposals, which eventually evolved into the Ferdinand/Elefant tank hunter) but had never been employed before. Due to the unusual layout of the tank, the SdKfz. 168 was quickly dubbed "Skorpion".
One of the benefits were a more even weight distribution and a more compact size of the tank, since the long gun barrel did not protrude much over the hull's front end. Another indirect benefit was additional protection for the turret crew through the engine. Loading of ammuntion was also made easier through a rear hatch in the turret as well as in the lower hull that allowed direct access to the shell bunkers under the turret.
Drawbacks were an impaired field of view for the commander, esp. when the vehicle was hidden behind corners, and the field of fire was also limited in such ambush situations. The high silhouette was a tactical weakness, too, but this was regarded as acceptable, as this was a little price to pay for being able to carry the KwK 42/L70.
The Rheinmetall-Borsig 7.5 cm KwK 42 (L/70) featured semi-automatic shell ejection and a supply of 72 rounds). It used three different types of ammunition: APCBC-HE (Pzgr. 39/42), HE (Sprgr. 42) and APCR (Pzgr. 40/42), the last of which was usually in short supply.
While it was of a calibre common on Allied tanks, the Panther's gun was one of the most powerful of World War II, due to the large propellant charge and the long barrel, which gave it a very high muzzle velocity and excellent armour-piercing qualities. This 75 mm gun had actually more penetrating power than the main gun of the Tiger I heavy tank, the 8.8 cm KwK 36 L/56, although the larger 88 mm projectile might inflict more damage if it did penetrate.
Additionally, a MG 34 machine gun was located co-axially with the main gun on the gun mantlet, and another MG 34 was carried on board for close range and anti-aircraf defense.
A status report on 15 December 1944 already listed 41 Skorpion tanks assigned to the Western Front, with 36 operational (87 percent). This was one day before the start of the Battle of the Bulge. The Skorpion demonstrated its prowess in open country, where it could hit its targets at long range with near-impunity, but it also showed its vulnerability in the close-in fighting of the small towns of the Ardennes, where they suffered heavy losses. A status report on 15 January 1945 showed only 17 operational SdKfz. 168 left in the units involved in the operation, out of 82 still in their possession at that time.
In February 1945, all Skorpion tanks were transferred from the West to the Eastern Front, where they filled gaps in the ranks of the Panther battalions. None of the roundabout 180 built and converted SdKfz. 168 survived the hostitilities.
Specifications:
Crew: Four (commander, gunner, loader, driver)
Weight: 25.8 tonnes (28.4 short tons; 25.4 long tons)
Length: 6.48 metres (21 ft 2 3/4 in) (hull only)
7.81 metres (25 ft 7 in) with gun forward
Width: 2.95 m (9 ft 8 in)
Height: 2.84 metres (9 ft 4 in) w/o AA machine gun
Suspension: Leaf spring
Fuel capacity: 470 l (120 US gal)
Armor:
20 – 90 mm (0.78 – 3.54 in)
Performance:
Maximum road speed: 42 km/h (26.71 mph)
Sustained road speed: 38 km/h (24 mph)
Operational range: 235 km (146 mi)
Power/weight: 12 PS/t
Engine:
Maybach HL 120 TRM V12 petrol engine with 300 PS (296 hp, 221 kW)
Transmission:
ZF Synchromesh SSG 77 gear with 6 forward and 1 reverse ratios
Armament:
1× 7.5 cm KwK 42 L/70 with 72 rounds
1× co-axial 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 with 3.000 rounds
Provision for a MG 34 as anti-aircraft gun on the commander's cupola with 2.000 rounds
The kit and its assembly:
The "Skorpion" was partly inspired by thoughts about alternative tank designs like the Merkava, and also by available donation parts in the kit pile, where I found a leftover Panther Ausf. D, earmarked for another conversion, esp. with a new turret.
The Panther turret is big (like the whole tank itself), and the problem to mount more powerful cannons on the Panzer IV chassis could have led to some unusual, if not improvised designs.
The Panzer III/IV chassis for self-propelled artillery was the perfect basis, so I dedided to combine both for an alternative late WWII tank, conceptionally between a classic battle tank and a self-propelled gun carrier. The Panther turret just fits on the wide back section of the Hummel, even though proportions looks odd and the armor with many vertical surfaces is not very good. But, after all, this is intended to be a second choice concept and not a clean sheet battle tank design.
The chassis comes from an ESCI "Hummel", while the Panther turret is from a Hasegawa kit. The Hummel was more or less built OOB, just the open rear section was "clipped" at driver roof level and faired over with styrene sheet. Then, an opening for the Panther turret was cut out, and finally, once the rotation radius was clear, some more details added.
Another deviation from the OOB kit is the vinyl track. This ESCI kit came with styrene segment tracks, and IIRC it originally came with a silver, very stiff vinyl track when I built the Hummel for the first time many years ago - not a pleasant experience. Anyway, I decided to go the the Pavla replacement vinyl tracks, because they are very delicate and soft, moulded in a matt dark grey rubber.
Painting and markings:
This one looks rather wild - and it's a design experiment. The camouflage is a typical Hinterhalt (Ambush) paint scheme in Dark Yellow, Olive Green and Red Brown, onto which spots in light gray and dark brown have been added, for an even more disruptive effect in urban environment - slightly inspired by the unique British Forces Berlin scheme.
Basic tones are Humbrol 63, 160 and 117, plus extra spots with Humbrol 28 and 173. Then the model was weathered with a light black ink wash and dry-brushing with mid-stone and light gray, some acrylic paint to simulate dust and rust, and finally some dry pigments around the suspension and on the hull that simulate mud.
Markings are minimal, just some German crosses on the hull and the tactical code in red on a dedicated beige background - otherwise, it would not have been recognizable at all on the disruptive scheme!
The tracks, made from black, soft vinyl, received a paint treatment in order to get rid of that shiny vinyl look: at first, with a mix of black, sienna and silver, which was immediately wiped off again, and later with a second, similar turn with silver and dark brown.
An odd concept, and the result looks rather weird - be it the tank concept and the parts used in it, but also the totally fragmented paint scheme which looks gaudy and almost clown-esques, but succesfully breaks up the lines of the boxy vehicle. So, why not?
PRECIOSA ORNELA presents the new PRECIOSA Pip™ pressed bead from the PRECIOSA Traditional Czech Beads brand.
The bead’s dimensions of 5 x 7 mm comply with the current trend for mini beads. The axially symmetric flattened shape of the small core enables the realisation of half metal coating on both sides of the bead with the resulting effect of an overall decoration. The strung beads fit together tightly and create an interlocking zip effect. Six beads connected in a circle can easily be used to create an application in the shape of a flat flower which is a suitable accessory for seed bead embroidery. Thanks to its small protrusion, this bead is an excellent accessory to the two-hole PRECIOSA Twin™ beads and seed beads, like PRECIOSA Solo™.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
Article number: 111 01 346
Size: 5 x 7 mm
ca KS / KG: 6600
NEWS
PROJECTS
Wire Jewelry Making With PRECIOSA Pip™ ON-LINE
Kumihimo and PRECIOSA Pip™ ON-LINE
Design by Hana Černá