+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

The Fiat Macchi C.170 Brezza ("Gust of wind") was a single-seat biplane fighter which served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica before and in the early stages of World War II. The aircraft was produced by the Varese firm, and entered service, in smaller numbers, with the air forces of Italy, Austria and Hungary.

Although an obsolete design, it proved to be robust, durable and effective especially in severe conditions. In spring 1943, surviving C.170s were rounded up from training schools and delivered to night ground attack units operating on the Eastern Front. The C.170 was used to conduct night harassment sorties on the Eastern Front until September 1944, when the units were disbanded, due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 8.25 m (27 ft 1 in)

Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 323 ft² (30.0 m²)

Empty weight: 3,217 lb (1,462 kg)

Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)

Powerplant

1× Fiat A.74 R.C.38 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 650 kW (870 hp) at 2,520 rpm for take-off

Performance

Maximum speed: 441 km/h (238 kn, 274 mph) at 20,000 ft

Cruise speed: 338 km/h (187 kn, 210 mph)

Range: 780 km (420 nmi, 485 mi)

Service ceiling: 10,210 m (33,500 ft)

Rate of climb: 11.8 m/s (2,340 ft/min)

Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 4.75 min

Wing loading: 69,6 kg/m² (15,3 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 311 W/kg (0.19 hp/lb)

Armament

2× 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Breda-SAFAT synchronized machine guns above the engine, 370 rpg

Some aircraft were field-modified to carry up to 8× 15 kg (33 lb) or 2× 50 or 100 kg (110/220 lb) bombs under the wings

The kit and its assembly

Inspiration for this little, whiffy biplane came when I posted a pic of an Austrian Ju 86 bomber as a reply/ suggestion to a fellow modeler's (NARSES2) search at whatifmodelers.com for “something” to make from a Gloster Gladiator.

When I looked at the paint scheme a second time I remembered that I still had some Austrian roundels in stock, as well some very old biplane spare parts... hmmm.

Biplanes are tricky to build, even OOB, and kitbashing this kind of whif would not make things easier. Anyway, I love such challenges, and the potential outcome would surely look nice, if not exotic, so I decided to tackle the project.

Basically, the following donation ingredients went into it:

● Fuselage, engine, cockpit/pilot and tail from a Revell Macchi C.200 "Saetta"

● Upper wing from a Matchbox Gloster "Gladiator"

● Lower wings from a Matchbox SBC "Helldiver"

● Wheels from a Matchbox Hs 126 (shortened)

Pretty straightforward, but even though it would be a small aircraft model, it would come with two big challenges: mounting the lower wings and shaping the resulting, gaping belly, and the custom-made struts and wirings for the upper wing.

Work started with the Macchi C.200’s fuselage, which was built OOB - just without the wing, which is a single part, different pilot (the included one is a pygmy!) and with a free spinning metal axis for the propeller.

The wing installation started with the lower wings. I glued the Helldiver wings onto the C.200 fuselage, so that the wings' trailing edge would match the C.200's wing root ends. From that, a floor plate was fitted under the fuselage and any excessive material removed, the gaps filled with lumps of 2C putty. That moved the lower wing's roots backwards, creating space at the lower forward fuselage for the new landing gear.

The latter was taken from a vintage Matchbox Hs 126 reconnaissance aircraft - probably 25, if 30 years old... Size was O.K., but the struts had to shortened by about 5mm, as thge HS 126 is a much bigger/longer aircraft than the C.200. A cut was made just above the wheel spats, material taken out, and the separate parts were glued back together again.

With the lower wings in place I started building strut supports for the upper wing from styrene strips - tricky and needs patience, but effective. I started with the outer supports, carving something SBC-style from styrene. These were glued into place, slightly canted outwards, and their length/height adapted to the upper wing’s position.

When this was settled, the upper Gladiator wing was glued into place. After a thorough drying period the short fuselage supports in front of the cockpit – again, styrene strips – were inserted into the gap. This allowed an individual lengthening, and was easier than expected, with a stable result.

After having the upper wing glued in place I added some wiring, made from heated and pulled-out styrene sprues. This not only enhances the kit's look, it also (just like in real life) improves rigidity of the model. Also a tedious task, but IMHO worth the effort. I tried thin wire, nylon strings and sewing yarn for this job, but finally the styrene solution is what worked best for me.

The exhaust installation had also to be modified: the new Hs 126 struts with spats would have been where the original C.200’s hot exhaust gases would have gone, so I added new exhaust pipes that would go between the new legs.

Other small added details included, among others, a pitot on a wing strut, a visor in front of the cockpit, a radio antenna, a ladder made from wire.

Painting and markings:

I would not call the Austrian 3+1-tone pre-WWII-scheme spectacular, but the colors are unique. My scheme is based on an Austrian Ju 86 bomber from 1938, so it fits into the intended time frame.

The colors were puzzled together from various sources and are subjective guesstimates:

● A pale, yellow-ish beige (Humbrol 74, ‘Linen’, out of production)

● A rather brownish green (Testors 1711, ‘Olive Drab’, FS 34087)

● A dark green with a yellow-ish hue (Humbrol 116, ‘US Dark Green’ FS 34079)

● Light blue for the undersides (Humbrol 65, ‘Aircraft Blue’, RLM 65)

In order to add some details I painted the area behind the engine cowling in aluminum. The respective part under the fuselage, where the exhaust gases would pass, was painted in Steel – both Testors Metallizers.

The interior surfaces were painted in a neutral Grey – but with the engine and the pilot in place you cannot see anything of that at all.

Markings are minimal: the Austrian roundels come from a TL Decals aftermarket sheet, the flag on the rudder was laid out with red paint (a mix of Humbrol 19 and 60), the white bar is a decal. The tactical code is fictional, puzzled together from single digits in various sizes (also from TL Modellbau sheets). The original documents how purely black fuselage codes, but I found these hard to read. So I chose digits with a white rim (actually, these belong to modern German Luftwaffe tactical codes in 1:32), which improve contrast a little.

The kit received a thin black ink wash and some shading/dry-painting with lighter basic tones (Humbrol 103, 155, Model Master 2138,‘Israeli Armor Sand Grey’, and Humbrol 122). After decal application, another turn with overall Hemp and Light Grey was done in order to fade contrast and to emphasize the surface structure. The wires were also painted, but only with thinned black ink and a VERY soft brush.

Finally, everything was sealed under a spray coat of matt acrylic varnish.

Voilà, and done in just about a week!

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

The Fiat Macchi C.170 Brezza ("Gust of wind") was a single-seat biplane fighter which served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica before and in the early stages of World War II. The aircraft was produced by the Varese firm, and entered service, in smaller numbers, with the air forces of Italy, Austria and Hungary.

Although an obsolete design, it proved to be robust, durable and effective especially in severe conditions. In spring 1943, surviving C.170s were rounded up from training schools and delivered to night ground attack units operating on the Eastern Front. The C.170 was used to conduct night harassment sorties on the Eastern Front until September 1944, when the units were disbanded, due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 8.25 m (27 ft 1 in)

Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 323 ft² (30.0 m²)

Empty weight: 3,217 lb (1,462 kg)

Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)

Powerplant

1× Fiat A.74 R.C.38 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 650 kW (870 hp) at 2,520 rpm for take-off

Performance

Maximum speed: 441 km/h (238 kn, 274 mph) at 20,000 ft

Cruise speed: 338 km/h (187 kn, 210 mph)

Range: 780 km (420 nmi, 485 mi)

Service ceiling: 10,210 m (33,500 ft)

Rate of climb: 11.8 m/s (2,340 ft/min)

Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 4.75 min

Wing loading: 69,6 kg/m² (15,3 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 311 W/kg (0.19 hp/lb)

Armament

2× 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Breda-SAFAT synchronized machine guns above the engine, 370 rpg

Some aircraft were field-modified to carry up to 8× 15 kg (33 lb) or 2× 50 or 100 kg (110/220 lb) bombs under the wings

The kit and its assembly

Inspiration for this little, whiffy biplane came when I posted a pic of an Austrian Ju 86 bomber as a reply/ suggestion to a fellow modeler's (NARSES2) search at whatifmodelers.com for “something” to make from a Gloster Gladiator.

When I looked at the paint scheme a second time I remembered that I still had some Austrian roundels in stock, as well some very old biplane spare parts... hmmm.

Biplanes are tricky to build, even OOB, and kitbashing this kind of whif would not make things easier. Anyway, I love such challenges, and the potential outcome would surely look nice, if not exotic, so I decided to tackle the project.

Basically, the following donation ingredients went into it:

● Fuselage, engine, cockpit/pilot and tail from a Revell Macchi C.200 "Saetta"

● Upper wing from a Matchbox Gloster "Gladiator"

● Lower wings from a Matchbox SBC "Helldiver"

● Wheels from a Matchbox Hs 126 (shortened)

Pretty straightforward, but even though it would be a small aircraft model, it would come with two big challenges: mounting the lower wings and shaping the resulting, gaping belly, and the custom-made struts and wirings for the upper wing.

Work started with the Macchi C.200’s fuselage, which was built OOB - just without the wing, which is a single part, different pilot (the included one is a pygmy!) and with a free spinning metal axis for the propeller.

The wing installation started with the lower wings. I glued the Helldiver wings onto the C.200 fuselage, so that the wings' trailing edge would match the C.200's wing root ends. From that, a floor plate was fitted under the fuselage and any excessive material removed, the gaps filled with lumps of 2C putty. That moved the lower wing's roots backwards, creating space at the lower forward fuselage for the new landing gear.

The latter was taken from a vintage Matchbox Hs 126 reconnaissance aircraft - probably 25, if 30 years old... Size was O.K., but the struts had to shortened by about 5mm, as thge HS 126 is a much bigger/longer aircraft than the C.200. A cut was made just above the wheel spats, material taken out, and the separate parts were glued back together again.

With the lower wings in place I started building strut supports for the upper wing from styrene strips - tricky and needs patience, but effective. I started with the outer supports, carving something SBC-style from styrene. These were glued into place, slightly canted outwards, and their length/height adapted to the upper wing’s position.

When this was settled, the upper Gladiator wing was glued into place. After a thorough drying period the short fuselage supports in front of the cockpit – again, styrene strips – were inserted into the gap. This allowed an individual lengthening, and was easier than expected, with a stable result.

After having the upper wing glued in place I added some wiring, made from heated and pulled-out styrene sprues. This not only enhances the kit's look, it also (just like in real life) improves rigidity of the model. Also a tedious task, but IMHO worth the effort. I tried thin wire, nylon strings and sewing yarn for this job, but finally the styrene solution is what worked best for me.

The exhaust installation had also to be modified: the new Hs 126 struts with spats would have been where the original C.200’s hot exhaust gases would have gone, so I added new exhaust pipes that would go between the new legs.

Other small added details included, among others, a pitot on a wing strut, a visor in front of the cockpit, a radio antenna, a ladder made from wire.

Painting and markings:

I would not call the Austrian 3+1-tone pre-WWII-scheme spectacular, but the colors are unique. My scheme is based on an Austrian Ju 86 bomber from 1938, so it fits into the intended time frame.

The colors were puzzled together from various sources and are subjective guesstimates:

● A pale, yellow-ish beige (Humbrol 74, ‘Linen’, out of production)

● A rather brownish green (Testors 1711, ‘Olive Drab’, FS 34087)

● A dark green with a yellow-ish hue (Humbrol 116, ‘US Dark Green’ FS 34079)

● Light blue for the undersides (Humbrol 65, ‘Aircraft Blue’, RLM 65)

In order to add some details I painted the area behind the engine cowling in aluminum. The respective part under the fuselage, where the exhaust gases would pass, was painted in Steel – both Testors Metallizers.

The interior surfaces were painted in a neutral Grey – but with the engine and the pilot in place you cannot see anything of that at all.

Markings are minimal: the Austrian roundels come from a TL Decals aftermarket sheet, the flag on the rudder was laid out with red paint (a mix of Humbrol 19 and 60), the white bar is a decal. The tactical code is fictional, puzzled together from single digits in various sizes (also from TL Modellbau sheets). The original documents how purely black fuselage codes, but I found these hard to read. So I chose digits with a white rim (actually, these belong to modern German Luftwaffe tactical codes in 1:32), which improve contrast a little.

The kit received a thin black ink wash and some shading/dry-painting with lighter basic tones (Humbrol 103, 155, Model Master 2138,‘Israeli Armor Sand Grey’, and Humbrol 122). After decal application, another turn with overall Hemp and Light Grey was done in order to fade contrast and to emphasize the surface structure. The wires were also painted, but only with thinned black ink and a VERY soft brush.

Finally, everything was sealed under a spray coat of matt acrylic varnish.

Voilà, and done in just about a week!

Lisboa - Miradouro de Santa Luzia

www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6DkIcsHYNE

L'alba di un nuovo giorno

Respiro la delicata brezza del mare

e sento la vita scorrere dentro di me,

il caldo abbraccio del nuovo sole

è come una carezza

che dolcemente sfiora la mia pelle

mentre silenziosa l'alba del nuovo giorno arriva

ed una rinnovata speranza la mia anima accoglie.

- Nadia -

Dawn of a new day.

I breathe the delicate breeze of sea

and feel life flowing inside me

the hot hug of new sun

seems like a caress

that softly touch my skin

while silent dawn of new day arrives

and renovated expectation my soul receive.

Stanotte pioggia disordinata

la brezza sfoglia il libro

il dizionario fa delle allusioni

mi costringe a cedere

Bei Dao 北島

"Domande al cielo"

La brezza giunta da nord

porta con sé nuvole splendide

un gregge d’acqua che bruca il cielo.

Senza le acrobazie serali dei rondoni

non crederei al calendario,

darei ascolto alla neve

che aspetta solo un cenno dell’aria

per scendere come un sudario

lieve ed attizzare il mondo,

spegnendo questa strana estate,

ad ovattare gli aghi sui rami di voce

della mia bambina, gioia pura tra i giochi,

una promessa d’albero nella stanza accanto.

_________________________

The breeze arrived from the north

carries splendid clouds

a watery flock that grazes the sky.

Without the swifts' evening acrobatics

I couldn't believe to calendar,

I would listen the snow

that waits just an air sign

to pour down like a light

shroud to hush the world,

putting out this strange summer,

muffling the needles on the voice branches

of my child, pure joy among her toys,

a tree promise in the other room.

(from my latest book curva di luce - 2005 -, translated by me).

Camminare sulla spiaggia offre numerosi benefici per il corpo e la mente! Ecco alcuni dei principali vantaggi:

- Attivazione muscolare completa: La sabbia crea una resistenza naturale, costringendo i muscoli delle gambe, dei piedi e dell'addome a lavorare di più⁽¹⁾.

- Tonificazione e rafforzamento: Camminare sulla sabbia richiede più energia rispetto a una superficie dura, contribuendo a tonificare i muscoli⁽¹⁾.

- Esfoliazione naturale: La sabbia agisce come un esfoliante, rimuovendo le cellule morte e lasciando la pelle dei piedi più morbida⁽¹⁾.

- Effetto rilassante: Il suono delle onde e la brezza marina aiutano a ridurre lo stress e migliorare il benessere mentale⁽²⁾.

- Miglioramento della circolazione: Camminare a piedi nudi sulla sabbia stimola la circolazione sanguigna e favorisce il ritorno venoso⁽³⁾.

- Brucia più calorie: Il maggiore sforzo richiesto per camminare sulla sabbia aiuta a consumare più energia rispetto a una normale passeggiata⁽²⁾.

- Riduzione del rischio di infortuni: La sabbia ammortizza l'impatto, riducendo lo stress su articolazioni e tendini.

Walking on the beach offers numerous benefits for the body and mind! Here are some of the main advantages:

- Complete Muscle Activation: Sand creates natural resistance, forcing the muscles in your legs, feet and abdomen to work harder⁽¹⁾.

- Toning and strengthening: Walking on sand requires more energy than a hard surface, helping to tone muscles⁽¹⁾.

- Natural exfoliation: Sand acts as an exfoliant, removing dead cells and leaving the skin on your feet softer⁽¹⁾.

- Relaxing effect: The sound of the waves and the sea breeze help reduce stress and improve mental well-being⁽²⁾.

- Improved circulation: Walking barefoot on the sand stimulates blood circulation and promotes venous return⁽³⁾.

- Burns more calories: The greater effort required to walk on sand helps expend more energy than a normal walk⁽²⁾.

- Reduced risk of injury: Sand cushions impact, reducing stress on joints and tendons

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A Riviera Trasporti SpA trolleybus heads down Via Bartolomeo Asquasclati in San Remo,Liguria on route U Sanremo urban service (La Brezza ↔ Villa Helios). This is a Polish built Solaris Trollino 12.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

The Fiat Macchi C.170 Brezza ("Gust of wind") was a single-seat biplane fighter which served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica before and in the early stages of World War II. The aircraft was produced by the Varese firm, and entered service, in smaller numbers, with the air forces of Italy, Austria and Hungary.

Although an obsolete design, it proved to be robust, durable and effective especially in severe conditions. In spring 1943, surviving C.170s were rounded up from training schools and delivered to night ground attack units operating on the Eastern Front. The C.170 was used to conduct night harassment sorties on the Eastern Front until September 1944, when the units were disbanded, due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 8.25 m (27 ft 1 in)

Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 323 ft² (30.0 m²)

Empty weight: 3,217 lb (1,462 kg)

Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)

Powerplant

1× Fiat A.74 R.C.38 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 650 kW (870 hp) at 2,520 rpm for take-off

Performance

Maximum speed: 441 km/h (238 kn, 274 mph) at 20,000 ft

Cruise speed: 338 km/h (187 kn, 210 mph)

Range: 780 km (420 nmi, 485 mi)

Service ceiling: 10,210 m (33,500 ft)

Rate of climb: 11.8 m/s (2,340 ft/min)

Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 4.75 min

Wing loading: 69,6 kg/m² (15,3 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 311 W/kg (0.19 hp/lb)

Armament

2× 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Breda-SAFAT synchronized machine guns above the engine, 370 rpg

Some aircraft were field-modified to carry up to 8× 15 kg (33 lb) or 2× 50 or 100 kg (110/220 lb) bombs under the wings

The kit and its assembly

Inspiration for this little, whiffy biplane came when I posted a pic of an Austrian Ju 86 bomber as a reply/ suggestion to a fellow modeler's (NARSES2) search at whatifmodelers.com for “something” to make from a Gloster Gladiator.

When I looked at the paint scheme a second time I remembered that I still had some Austrian roundels in stock, as well some very old biplane spare parts... hmmm.

Biplanes are tricky to build, even OOB, and kitbashing this kind of whif would not make things easier. Anyway, I love such challenges, and the potential outcome would surely look nice, if not exotic, so I decided to tackle the project.

Basically, the following donation ingredients went into it:

● Fuselage, engine, cockpit/pilot and tail from a Revell Macchi C.200 "Saetta"

● Upper wing from a Matchbox Gloster "Gladiator"

● Lower wings from a Matchbox SBC "Helldiver"

● Wheels from a Matchbox Hs 126 (shortened)

Pretty straightforward, but even though it would be a small aircraft model, it would come with two big challenges: mounting the lower wings and shaping the resulting, gaping belly, and the custom-made struts and wirings for the upper wing.

Work started with the Macchi C.200’s fuselage, which was built OOB - just without the wing, which is a single part, different pilot (the included one is a pygmy!) and with a free spinning metal axis for the propeller.

The wing installation started with the lower wings. I glued the Helldiver wings onto the C.200 fuselage, so that the wings' trailing edge would match the C.200's wing root ends. From that, a floor plate was fitted under the fuselage and any excessive material removed, the gaps filled with lumps of 2C putty. That moved the lower wing's roots backwards, creating space at the lower forward fuselage for the new landing gear.

The latter was taken from a vintage Matchbox Hs 126 reconnaissance aircraft - probably 25, if 30 years old... Size was O.K., but the struts had to shortened by about 5mm, as thge HS 126 is a much bigger/longer aircraft than the C.200. A cut was made just above the wheel spats, material taken out, and the separate parts were glued back together again.

With the lower wings in place I started building strut supports for the upper wing from styrene strips - tricky and needs patience, but effective. I started with the outer supports, carving something SBC-style from styrene. These were glued into place, slightly canted outwards, and their length/height adapted to the upper wing’s position.

When this was settled, the upper Gladiator wing was glued into place. After a thorough drying period the short fuselage supports in front of the cockpit – again, styrene strips – were inserted into the gap. This allowed an individual lengthening, and was easier than expected, with a stable result.

After having the upper wing glued in place I added some wiring, made from heated and pulled-out styrene sprues. This not only enhances the kit's look, it also (just like in real life) improves rigidity of the model. Also a tedious task, but IMHO worth the effort. I tried thin wire, nylon strings and sewing yarn for this job, but finally the styrene solution is what worked best for me.

The exhaust installation had also to be modified: the new Hs 126 struts with spats would have been where the original C.200’s hot exhaust gases would have gone, so I added new exhaust pipes that would go between the new legs.

Other small added details included, among others, a pitot on a wing strut, a visor in front of the cockpit, a radio antenna, a ladder made from wire.

Painting and markings:

I would not call the Austrian 3+1-tone pre-WWII-scheme spectacular, but the colors are unique. My scheme is based on an Austrian Ju 86 bomber from 1938, so it fits into the intended time frame.

The colors were puzzled together from various sources and are subjective guesstimates:

● A pale, yellow-ish beige (Humbrol 74, ‘Linen’, out of production)

● A rather brownish green (Testors 1711, ‘Olive Drab’, FS 34087)

● A dark green with a yellow-ish hue (Humbrol 116, ‘US Dark Green’ FS 34079)

● Light blue for the undersides (Humbrol 65, ‘Aircraft Blue’, RLM 65)

In order to add some details I painted the area behind the engine cowling in aluminum. The respective part under the fuselage, where the exhaust gases would pass, was painted in Steel – both Testors Metallizers.

The interior surfaces were painted in a neutral Grey – but with the engine and the pilot in place you cannot see anything of that at all.

Markings are minimal: the Austrian roundels come from a TL Decals aftermarket sheet, the flag on the rudder was laid out with red paint (a mix of Humbrol 19 and 60), the white bar is a decal. The tactical code is fictional, puzzled together from single digits in various sizes (also from TL Modellbau sheets). The original documents how purely black fuselage codes, but I found these hard to read. So I chose digits with a white rim (actually, these belong to modern German Luftwaffe tactical codes in 1:32), which improve contrast a little.

The kit received a thin black ink wash and some shading/dry-painting with lighter basic tones (Humbrol 103, 155, Model Master 2138,‘Israeli Armor Sand Grey’, and Humbrol 122). After decal application, another turn with overall Hemp and Light Grey was done in order to fade contrast and to emphasize the surface structure. The wires were also painted, but only with thinned black ink and a VERY soft brush.

Finally, everything was sealed under a spray coat of matt acrylic varnish.

Voilà, and done in just about a week!

+++ 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 Fokker D.XX fighter was designed in 1935 by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker as a conservative export alternative to the D.XXI monoplane. The latter had been developed in response to requirements laid out by the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force (Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger, ML-KNIL), but Fokker saw a good deal of market potential for the aircraft in Europe, too, but was afraid that many smaller European air forces still preferred conservative biplane designs.

Total production, including two prototypes and three pre-production aircraft, only reached a mere 46 machines, and none of them survived the first months of the 2nd World War.

General characteristics:

Crew: one

Length: 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in)

Wingspan: 10.6 m (34 ft 8 ½ in)

Height: 2.92 m (9 ft 7 in)

Wing area: 28m² (300 sq ft)

Empty weight: 1,594 kg (3,514 lb)

Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)

Powerplant:

1 × Bristol Mercury VIII 9-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine, 620 kW (830 hp)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 253 mph (220 knots, 407 km/h) at 14,500 ft (4,400 m)

Cruise speed: 338 km/h (210 mph; 186 kn)

Stall speed: 85 km/h (53 mph; 46 knots)

Range: 930 km (578 mi; 502 nmi)

Endurance: 2 hours

Service ceiling: 11,350 m (37,240 ft)

Rate of climb: 11.7 m/s (2,300 ft/min)

Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 4.75 min

Power/mass: 0.309 kW/kg (0.188 hp/lb)

Armament:

4× 8 mm (0.315 in) machine guns with 500 RPG in the fuselage and 300 RPG under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

I had found the spare wings from a Gloster Gladiator in my donor bank, and wondered what I could do with them - and eventually stunbled upon a PM Model Fokker D.XXI. Why not retrograde this early monoplane fighter into a biplane, with relatively modern features?

Said and done, and the respective conversion/kitbashing was a rather straightforward affair, even though not without some challenges.

The biggest issue became the lower wings: the Gladiator wings are much thinner and have less depth than the original Fokker wings, so that much of the wing roots on the fuselage had to be sanded away. This resulted in gaping openings, which had to be filled, including a resculpted trailing edge intersection. Not a complicated feat, but messy.

Another issue arose through the fact that the D.XXI's fuselage is wider than the Gloster Gladiator's - resulting in a wider span of the lower wings than the upper! In order to correct this, the lower wings' tips were clipped and I used the occasion to re-sculpt all wing tips, trying to get away from the Gladiator's characteristic round shape.

Once the lower wings were mated with the fuselage, the upper wings were added with the help of the outer support struts only. Once dry, the additional struts between the upper wing and the fuselage were added - the latter were scratched with styrene strips. Thin styrene was also used to add some diagonal bracing struts, once more in an attempt to change the wings' look away from its Gladiator origins.

The spatted wheels were taken from the PM Model kit, but shortened by 2mm - OOB they are IMHO much too long, and the result would be a very stalky stance. The tail wheel was also taken OOB, but moved aft and shortened, too.

Inside, a different seat was used; a box was placed behind it, filling the gap, and a dashboard was added under the windshield. The canopy (very thick material!) was cut into three pieces, for a potential open presentation.

Engine and cowling were taken OOB, but the propeller was replaced with a better-looking scrap box find, which also received a longer axis for better balance and free spinning.

The rigging was done with material derived from heated, black IP sprues, which I like because it bonds well with the kit's plastic and can be attached with standard glue. Additionally, the wire's strength can the individually tailored.

Painting and markings:

I used this occasion to apply the somewhat obscure camouflage of the Royal Danish Air Force from the late Thirties. While the scheme itself is rather simple, the colors remain obscure. In profiles and painting instructions you can find a wide range of recommendations - ranging from sand or a greenish yellow and olive drab to dark green and dark earth! The undersides were supposed to be "bluish grey".

I eventually settled upon a relatively simple choice, with Humbrol 83 (Ochre) and Revell 46 (NATO Olive Drab, RAL 7013 a.k.a. Gelboliv), which looks almost like a dark brown together with the greenish sand tone. IMHO they make a good combo for the Danish scheme. For the undersides, I went for Humbrol 128 (FS 36320). Interior surfaces were painted in a dark slate grey tone, the propeller received an aluminum front and flat black back surfaces.

The kit received a light black ink wash and a post-shading treatment with various shades of the basic tones, including ModelMaster RAL 7028 (German WWII Dunkelgelb) as well as Humbrol 155, 163 and 247. Finally, the fabric structure on the wings was slightly emphasized with dry-brushed light grey, and exhaust soot under the fuselage was added with grinded graphite.

The markings come from various sources: roundels from a D.XXI sheet from PrintScale, the flags on the fin belong to a Danish F-100 (XtraDecal) and the tactical code was puzzled together. The nose art, the charging knight on the cowling, which I added because I found the overall aircraft to look pretty bleak, comes from a ModelCollect tank model sheet.

Finally, the whole kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Not a spectacular whif, and this one does not really stand out between similar builds (e.g. the Macchi Brezza or the Gloster Glaive) I did before, but I find it interesting how good and plausible the retrograded Fokker D.XXI looks. The new/old wings blend in nicely, and the Danish scheme looks good on this biplane, too, even though I wonder why these colors were chosen? It looks rather like a desert paint scheme than something for Northern Europe, with lots of water and mostly green, flat landscape?

vagamente tricolore

In ballroom dancing, the Gentleman is responsible for recognizing the music, choosing the most appropriate ballroom dance to best characterize the music, and Expertly Leading The Lady to Dance. In ballroom dancing, the Lady is responsible for recognizing the music, recognizing the appropriate dance to best characterize the music, and Following The Gentleman’s Expert Lead. But then Life is not always like a ballroom dance — where the Dance is all about ‘Lead & Follow.’

So sometimes the Gentleman must Dance Solo. 😌

Your very lovely lady is back home 778 miles away. Were your very lovely lady here on the Fabulous Las Vegas Strip, she would not have approved of your choice to attend the Katy Perry Show tonight at Resorts World. She would not have approved of the hip menu at FUHU. You two would have needed to dine at Brezza instead. Had your very lovely lady arrived on the Las Vegas Strip with her two adorable Westie Terriers in tow, your plans for the next three and a half days of your vacation would be drastically different! 😒 Surely three years of living through the Coronavirus Global Pandemic has taught you well how to ‘Love & Live Las Vegas’ Solo Style.

So let’s get started — Solo Style! 😏

Balaustrata di brezza

per appoggiare la mia malinconia stasera.

G. Ungaretti

Villa e Giardini del Balbianello, Lenno, Lago di Como, Italia.

Proprietà del FAI

Sanremo is one of the few places left in Italy with a trolleybus system. It opened in 1942 and in 1951 it reached it's maximum extension. There were three lines:

T Sanremo (Piazza Colombo) - Taggia;

U La Brezza - Villa Helios (urban line that connects the far east to the far west);

V Sanremo (Piazza Colombo) - Ventimiglia.

Since the nineties line T was interrupted and since then unfortunately we are still waiting for it to become a trolleybus again.

Today the trolleybuses in service are 9 Bredabus 4001.12 from 1991 and two Solaris Trollino from 2008.

Here is Bredabus 4001.12 # 1709 in service on line U at it's east terminal at La Brezza beach.

Bredabus 4001.12 # 1709 is in service on line U on Corso Giuseppe Mazzini (Aurelia) just a few meters from it's east terminal at La Brezza beach.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

The Fiat Macchi C.170 Brezza ("Gust of wind") was a single-seat biplane fighter which served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica before and in the early stages of World War II. The aircraft was produced by the Varese firm, and entered service, in smaller numbers, with the air forces of Italy, Austria and Hungary.

Although an obsolete design, it proved to be robust, durable and effective especially in severe conditions. In spring 1943, surviving C.170s were rounded up from training schools and delivered to night ground attack units operating on the Eastern Front. The C.170 was used to conduct night harassment sorties on the Eastern Front until September 1944, when the units were disbanded, due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 8.25 m (27 ft 1 in)

Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 323 ft² (30.0 m²)

Empty weight: 3,217 lb (1,462 kg)

Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)

Powerplant

1× Fiat A.74 R.C.38 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 650 kW (870 hp) at 2,520 rpm for take-off

Performance

Maximum speed: 441 km/h (238 kn, 274 mph) at 20,000 ft

Cruise speed: 338 km/h (187 kn, 210 mph)

Range: 780 km (420 nmi, 485 mi)

Service ceiling: 10,210 m (33,500 ft)

Rate of climb: 11.8 m/s (2,340 ft/min)

Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 4.75 min

Wing loading: 69,6 kg/m² (15,3 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 311 W/kg (0.19 hp/lb)

Armament

2× 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Breda-SAFAT synchronized machine guns above the engine, 370 rpg

Some aircraft were field-modified to carry up to 8× 15 kg (33 lb) or 2× 50 or 100 kg (110/220 lb) bombs under the wings

The kit and its assembly

Inspiration for this little, whiffy biplane came when I posted a pic of an Austrian Ju 86 bomber as a reply/ suggestion to a fellow modeler's (NARSES2) search at whatifmodelers.com for “something” to make from a Gloster Gladiator.

When I looked at the paint scheme a second time I remembered that I still had some Austrian roundels in stock, as well some very old biplane spare parts... hmmm.

Biplanes are tricky to build, even OOB, and kitbashing this kind of whif would not make things easier. Anyway, I love such challenges, and the potential outcome would surely look nice, if not exotic, so I decided to tackle the project.

Basically, the following donation ingredients went into it:

● Fuselage, engine, cockpit/pilot and tail from a Revell Macchi C.200 "Saetta"

● Upper wing from a Matchbox Gloster "Gladiator"

● Lower wings from a Matchbox SBC "Helldiver"

● Wheels from a Matchbox Hs 126 (shortened)

Pretty straightforward, but even though it would be a small aircraft model, it would come with two big challenges: mounting the lower wings and shaping the resulting, gaping belly, and the custom-made struts and wirings for the upper wing.

Work started with the Macchi C.200’s fuselage, which was built OOB - just without the wing, which is a single part, different pilot (the included one is a pygmy!) and with a free spinning metal axis for the propeller.

The wing installation started with the lower wings. I glued the Helldiver wings onto the C.200 fuselage, so that the wings' trailing edge would match the C.200's wing root ends. From that, a floor plate was fitted under the fuselage and any excessive material removed, the gaps filled with lumps of 2C putty. That moved the lower wing's roots backwards, creating space at the lower forward fuselage for the new landing gear.

The latter was taken from a vintage Matchbox Hs 126 reconnaissance aircraft - probably 25, if 30 years old... Size was O.K., but the struts had to shortened by about 5mm, as thge HS 126 is a much bigger/longer aircraft than the C.200. A cut was made just above the wheel spats, material taken out, and the separate parts were glued back together again.

With the lower wings in place I started building strut supports for the upper wing from styrene strips - tricky and needs patience, but effective. I started with the outer supports, carving something SBC-style from styrene. These were glued into place, slightly canted outwards, and their length/height adapted to the upper wing’s position.

When this was settled, the upper Gladiator wing was glued into place. After a thorough drying period the short fuselage supports in front of the cockpit – again, styrene strips – were inserted into the gap. This allowed an individual lengthening, and was easier than expected, with a stable result.

After having the upper wing glued in place I added some wiring, made from heated and pulled-out styrene sprues. This not only enhances the kit's look, it also (just like in real life) improves rigidity of the model. Also a tedious task, but IMHO worth the effort. I tried thin wire, nylon strings and sewing yarn for this job, but finally the styrene solution is what worked best for me.

The exhaust installation had also to be modified: the new Hs 126 struts with spats would have been where the original C.200’s hot exhaust gases would have gone, so I added new exhaust pipes that would go between the new legs.

Other small added details included, among others, a pitot on a wing strut, a visor in front of the cockpit, a radio antenna, a ladder made from wire.

Painting and markings:

I would not call the Austrian 3+1-tone pre-WWII-scheme spectacular, but the colors are unique. My scheme is based on an Austrian Ju 86 bomber from 1938, so it fits into the intended time frame.

The colors were puzzled together from various sources and are subjective guesstimates:

● A pale, yellow-ish beige (Humbrol 74, ‘Linen’, out of production)

● A rather brownish green (Testors 1711, ‘Olive Drab’, FS 34087)

● A dark green with a yellow-ish hue (Humbrol 116, ‘US Dark Green’ FS 34079)

● Light blue for the undersides (Humbrol 65, ‘Aircraft Blue’, RLM 65)

In order to add some details I painted the area behind the engine cowling in aluminum. The respective part under the fuselage, where the exhaust gases would pass, was painted in Steel – both Testors Metallizers.

The interior surfaces were painted in a neutral Grey – but with the engine and the pilot in place you cannot see anything of that at all.

Markings are minimal: the Austrian roundels come from a TL Decals aftermarket sheet, the flag on the rudder was laid out with red paint (a mix of Humbrol 19 and 60), the white bar is a decal. The tactical code is fictional, puzzled together from single digits in various sizes (also from TL Modellbau sheets). The original documents how purely black fuselage codes, but I found these hard to read. So I chose digits with a white rim (actually, these belong to modern German Luftwaffe tactical codes in 1:32), which improve contrast a little.

The kit received a thin black ink wash and some shading/dry-painting with lighter basic tones (Humbrol 103, 155, Model Master 2138,‘Israeli Armor Sand Grey’, and Humbrol 122). After decal application, another turn with overall Hemp and Light Grey was done in order to fade contrast and to emphasize the surface structure. The wires were also painted, but only with thinned black ink and a VERY soft brush.

Finally, everything was sealed under a spray coat of matt acrylic varnish.

Voilà, and done in just about a week!

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Io che curavo la serra,

amavo alberi e fiori,

da vivo guardai spesso quest’olmo ombroso,

ne misurai con l’occhio i rami generosi,

e ascoltai le foglie festose

carezzarsi amorosamente

con dolci sussurri eolii.

E potevano ben farlo:

perché le radici si erano fatte così larghe e profonde

che il suolo della collina, arricchito dalla pioggia

e scaldato dal sole,

nulla tratteneva delle sue virtù,

ma tutte le cedeva alle vigorose radici,

dalle quali erano succhiate e fatte turbinare nel tronco

e poi nei rami, e nelle foglie,

da cui la brezza traeva vita e cantava.

Ora io, abitatore sotterraneo della terra, vedo

che i rami di un albero

non sono più ampi delle radici.

E come potrebbe l’anima d’un uomo

essere più grande della vita che ha vissuto?

(Edgar Lee Masters, "Antologi di Spoon River", "Samuel Gardner" )

--------------------------

I who kept the greenhouse,

Lover of trees and flowers,

Oft in life saw this umbrageous elm,

Measuring its generous branches with my eye,

And listened to its rejoicing leaves

Lovingly patting each other

With sweet aeolian whispers.

And well they might:

For the roots had grown so wide and deep

That the soil of the hill could not withhold

Aught of its virtue, enriched by rain,

And warmed by the sun;

But yielded it all to the thrifty roots,

Through which it was drawn and whirled to the trunk,

And thence to the branches, and into the leaves,

Wherefrom the breeze took life and sang.

Now I, an under--tenant of the earth, can see

That the branches of a tree

Spread no wider than its roots.

And how shall the soul of a man

Be larger than the life he has lived?

(Edgar Lee Masters, "Spoon River Anthology", "Samuel Gardner")

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GhostWorks Texture Competition #57

Texture with thanks to Skeletal Mess

E la brezza le arruffa e le ricompone...come le mie dita tra i tuoi capelli

youtu.be/JAu_z2E8wTM

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+++ 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 Fokker D.XX fighter was designed in 1935 by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker as a conservative export alternative to the D.XXI monoplane. The latter had been developed in response to requirements laid out by the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force (Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger, ML-KNIL), but Fokker saw a good deal of market potential for the aircraft in Europe, too, but was afraid that many smaller European air forces still preferred conservative biplane designs.

Total production, including two prototypes and three pre-production aircraft, only reached a mere 46 machines, and none of them survived the first months of the 2nd World War.

General characteristics:

Crew: one

Length: 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in)

Wingspan: 10.6 m (34 ft 8 ½ in)

Height: 2.92 m (9 ft 7 in)

Wing area: 28m² (300 sq ft)

Empty weight: 1,594 kg (3,514 lb)

Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)

Powerplant:

1 × Bristol Mercury VIII 9-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine, 620 kW (830 hp)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 253 mph (220 knots, 407 km/h) at 14,500 ft (4,400 m)

Cruise speed: 338 km/h (210 mph; 186 kn)

Stall speed: 85 km/h (53 mph; 46 knots)

Range: 930 km (578 mi; 502 nmi)

Endurance: 2 hours

Service ceiling: 11,350 m (37,240 ft)

Rate of climb: 11.7 m/s (2,300 ft/min)

Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 4.75 min

Power/mass: 0.309 kW/kg (0.188 hp/lb)

Armament:

4× 8 mm (0.315 in) machine guns with 500 RPG in the fuselage and 300 RPG under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

I had found the spare wings from a Gloster Gladiator in my donor bank, and wondered what I could do with them - and eventually stunbled upon a PM Model Fokker D.XXI. Why not retrograde this early monoplane fighter into a biplane, with relatively modern features?

Said and done, and the respective conversion/kitbashing was a rather straightforward affair, even though not without some challenges.

The biggest issue became the lower wings: the Gladiator wings are much thinner and have less depth than the original Fokker wings, so that much of the wing roots on the fuselage had to be sanded away. This resulted in gaping openings, which had to be filled, including a resculpted trailing edge intersection. Not a complicated feat, but messy.

Another issue arose through the fact that the D.XXI's fuselage is wider than the Gloster Gladiator's - resulting in a wider span of the lower wings than the upper! In order to correct this, the lower wings' tips were clipped and I used the occasion to re-sculpt all wing tips, trying to get away from the Gladiator's characteristic round shape.

Once the lower wings were mated with the fuselage, the upper wings were added with the help of the outer support struts only. Once dry, the additional struts between the upper wing and the fuselage were added - the latter were scratched with styrene strips. Thin styrene was also used to add some diagonal bracing struts, once more in an attempt to change the wings' look away from its Gladiator origins.

The spatted wheels were taken from the PM Model kit, but shortened by 2mm - OOB they are IMHO much too long, and the result would be a very stalky stance. The tail wheel was also taken OOB, but moved aft and shortened, too.

Inside, a different seat was used; a box was placed behind it, filling the gap, and a dashboard was added under the windshield. The canopy (very thick material!) was cut into three pieces, for a potential open presentation.

Engine and cowling were taken OOB, but the propeller was replaced with a better-looking scrap box find, which also received a longer axis for better balance and free spinning.

The rigging was done with material derived from heated, black IP sprues, which I like because it bonds well with the kit's plastic and can be attached with standard glue. Additionally, the wire's strength can the individually tailored.

Painting and markings:

I used this occasion to apply the somewhat obscure camouflage of the Royal Danish Air Force from the late Thirties. While the scheme itself is rather simple, the colors remain obscure. In profiles and painting instructions you can find a wide range of recommendations - ranging from sand or a greenish yellow and olive drab to dark green and dark earth! The undersides were supposed to be "bluish grey".

I eventually settled upon a relatively simple choice, with Humbrol 83 (Ochre) and Revell 46 (NATO Olive Drab, RAL 7013 a.k.a. Gelboliv), which looks almost like a dark brown together with the greenish sand tone. IMHO they make a good combo for the Danish scheme. For the undersides, I went for Humbrol 128 (FS 36320). Interior surfaces were painted in a dark slate grey tone, the propeller received an aluminum front and flat black back surfaces.

The kit received a light black ink wash and a post-shading treatment with various shades of the basic tones, including ModelMaster RAL 7028 (German WWII Dunkelgelb) as well as Humbrol 155, 163 and 247. Finally, the fabric structure on the wings was slightly emphasized with dry-brushed light grey, and exhaust soot under the fuselage was added with grinded graphite.

The markings come from various sources: roundels from a D.XXI sheet from PrintScale, the flags on the fin belong to a Danish F-100 (XtraDecal) and the tactical code was puzzled together. The nose art, the charging knight on the cowling, which I added because I found the overall aircraft to look pretty bleak, comes from a ModelCollect tank model sheet.

Finally, the whole kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Not a spectacular whif, and this one does not really stand out between similar builds (e.g. the Macchi Brezza or the Gloster Glaive) I did before, but I find it interesting how good and plausible the retrograded Fokker D.XXI looks. The new/old wings blend in nicely, and the Danish scheme looks good on this biplane, too, even though I wonder why these colors were chosen? It looks rather like a desert paint scheme than something for Northern Europe, with lots of water and mostly green, flat landscape?

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

The Fiat Macchi C.170 Brezza ("Gust of wind") was a single-seat biplane fighter which served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica before and in the early stages of World War II. The aircraft was produced by the Varese firm, and entered service, in smaller numbers, with the air forces of Italy, Austria and Hungary.

Although an obsolete design, it proved to be robust, durable and effective especially in severe conditions. In spring 1943, surviving C.170s were rounded up from training schools and delivered to night ground attack units operating on the Eastern Front. The C.170 was used to conduct night harassment sorties on the Eastern Front until September 1944, when the units were disbanded, due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 8.25 m (27 ft 1 in)

Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 323 ft² (30.0 m²)

Empty weight: 3,217 lb (1,462 kg)

Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)

Powerplant

1× Fiat A.74 R.C.38 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 650 kW (870 hp) at 2,520 rpm for take-off

Performance

Maximum speed: 441 km/h (238 kn, 274 mph) at 20,000 ft

Cruise speed: 338 km/h (187 kn, 210 mph)

Range: 780 km (420 nmi, 485 mi)

Service ceiling: 10,210 m (33,500 ft)

Rate of climb: 11.8 m/s (2,340 ft/min)

Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 4.75 min

Wing loading: 69,6 kg/m² (15,3 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 311 W/kg (0.19 hp/lb)

Armament

2× 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Breda-SAFAT synchronized machine guns above the engine, 370 rpg

Some aircraft were field-modified to carry up to 8× 15 kg (33 lb) or 2× 50 or 100 kg (110/220 lb) bombs under the wings

The kit and its assembly

Inspiration for this little, whiffy biplane came when I posted a pic of an Austrian Ju 86 bomber as a reply/ suggestion to a fellow modeler's (NARSES2) search at whatifmodelers.com for “something” to make from a Gloster Gladiator.

When I looked at the paint scheme a second time I remembered that I still had some Austrian roundels in stock, as well some very old biplane spare parts... hmmm.

Biplanes are tricky to build, even OOB, and kitbashing this kind of whif would not make things easier. Anyway, I love such challenges, and the potential outcome would surely look nice, if not exotic, so I decided to tackle the project.

Basically, the following donation ingredients went into it:

● Fuselage, engine, cockpit/pilot and tail from a Revell Macchi C.200 "Saetta"

● Upper wing from a Matchbox Gloster "Gladiator"

● Lower wings from a Matchbox SBC "Helldiver"

● Wheels from a Matchbox Hs 126 (shortened)

Pretty straightforward, but even though it would be a small aircraft model, it would come with two big challenges: mounting the lower wings and shaping the resulting, gaping belly, and the custom-made struts and wirings for the upper wing.

Work started with the Macchi C.200’s fuselage, which was built OOB - just without the wing, which is a single part, different pilot (the included one is a pygmy!) and with a free spinning metal axis for the propeller.

The wing installation started with the lower wings. I glued the Helldiver wings onto the C.200 fuselage, so that the wings' trailing edge would match the C.200's wing root ends. From that, a floor plate was fitted under the fuselage and any excessive material removed, the gaps filled with lumps of 2C putty. That moved the lower wing's roots backwards, creating space at the lower forward fuselage for the new landing gear.

The latter was taken from a vintage Matchbox Hs 126 reconnaissance aircraft - probably 25, if 30 years old... Size was O.K., but the struts had to shortened by about 5mm, as thge HS 126 is a much bigger/longer aircraft than the C.200. A cut was made just above the wheel spats, material taken out, and the separate parts were glued back together again.

With the lower wings in place I started building strut supports for the upper wing from styrene strips - tricky and needs patience, but effective. I started with the outer supports, carving something SBC-style from styrene. These were glued into place, slightly canted outwards, and their length/height adapted to the upper wing’s position.

When this was settled, the upper Gladiator wing was glued into place. After a thorough drying period the short fuselage supports in front of the cockpit – again, styrene strips – were inserted into the gap. This allowed an individual lengthening, and was easier than expected, with a stable result.

After having the upper wing glued in place I added some wiring, made from heated and pulled-out styrene sprues. This not only enhances the kit's look, it also (just like in real life) improves rigidity of the model. Also a tedious task, but IMHO worth the effort. I tried thin wire, nylon strings and sewing yarn for this job, but finally the styrene solution is what worked best for me.

The exhaust installation had also to be modified: the new Hs 126 struts with spats would have been where the original C.200’s hot exhaust gases would have gone, so I added new exhaust pipes that would go between the new legs.

Other small added details included, among others, a pitot on a wing strut, a visor in front of the cockpit, a radio antenna, a ladder made from wire.

Painting and markings:

I would not call the Austrian 3+1-tone pre-WWII-scheme spectacular, but the colors are unique. My scheme is based on an Austrian Ju 86 bomber from 1938, so it fits into the intended time frame.

The colors were puzzled together from various sources and are subjective guesstimates:

● A pale, yellow-ish beige (Humbrol 74, ‘Linen’, out of production)

● A rather brownish green (Testors 1711, ‘Olive Drab’, FS 34087)

● A dark green with a yellow-ish hue (Humbrol 116, ‘US Dark Green’ FS 34079)

● Light blue for the undersides (Humbrol 65, ‘Aircraft Blue’, RLM 65)

In order to add some details I painted the area behind the engine cowling in aluminum. The respective part under the fuselage, where the exhaust gases would pass, was painted in Steel – both Testors Metallizers.

The interior surfaces were painted in a neutral Grey – but with the engine and the pilot in place you cannot see anything of that at all.

Markings are minimal: the Austrian roundels come from a TL Decals aftermarket sheet, the flag on the rudder was laid out with red paint (a mix of Humbrol 19 and 60), the white bar is a decal. The tactical code is fictional, puzzled together from single digits in various sizes (also from TL Modellbau sheets). The original documents how purely black fuselage codes, but I found these hard to read. So I chose digits with a white rim (actually, these belong to modern German Luftwaffe tactical codes in 1:32), which improve contrast a little.

The kit received a thin black ink wash and some shading/dry-painting with lighter basic tones (Humbrol 103, 155, Model Master 2138,‘Israeli Armor Sand Grey’, and Humbrol 122). After decal application, another turn with overall Hemp and Light Grey was done in order to fade contrast and to emphasize the surface structure. The wires were also painted, but only with thinned black ink and a VERY soft brush.

Finally, everything was sealed under a spray coat of matt acrylic varnish.

Voilà, and done in just about a week!

No hay nada mejor que tomarse una cerveza bien helada cons las amigas en la terraza, disfrutando la brisa de una tarde de verano...

There's nothing better than have a cold beer with your friends on a terrace, enjoying the breeze on a summer afternoon...

Non c'è niente di meglio che bersi una birra bella fredda con le amiche in terrazza, godendosi la brezza di un pomeriggio estivo...

Ci sono posti dove torno sempre con molto piacere. La spiaggia di Chennai è uno di questi. A fine pomeriggio, e soprattutto al sabato e alla domenica, si riempie di gente che cerca di approfittare del fresco della brezza marina. Sulla spiaggia si mangia, si gioca, si discute, si salta vestiti sulle onde, e si rimane fino a sera inoltrata.

Il y a des endroits où je retourne toujours avec plaisir. La plage de Chennai est l'un d'entre eux. En fin d'après-midi, surtout le samedi et le dimanche, la plage se remplit de gens qui profitent de la fraicheur de la brise. On mange, on joue, on discute, on saute dans les vagues, et on s’y attarde jusqu'à la nuit.

model: my love :) location: San Vito, Taranto

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

The Fiat Macchi C.170 Brezza ("Gust of wind") was a single-seat biplane fighter which served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica before and in the early stages of World War II. The aircraft was produced by the Varese firm, and entered service, in smaller numbers, with the air forces of Italy, Austria and Hungary.

Although an obsolete design, it proved to be robust, durable and effective especially in severe conditions. In spring 1943, surviving C.170s were rounded up from training schools and delivered to night ground attack units operating on the Eastern Front. The C.170 was used to conduct night harassment sorties on the Eastern Front until September 1944, when the units were disbanded, due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 8.25 m (27 ft 1 in)

Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 323 ft² (30.0 m²)

Empty weight: 3,217 lb (1,462 kg)

Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)

Powerplant

1× Fiat A.74 R.C.38 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 650 kW (870 hp) at 2,520 rpm for take-off

Performance

Maximum speed: 441 km/h (238 kn, 274 mph) at 20,000 ft

Cruise speed: 338 km/h (187 kn, 210 mph)

Range: 780 km (420 nmi, 485 mi)

Service ceiling: 10,210 m (33,500 ft)

Rate of climb: 11.8 m/s (2,340 ft/min)

Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 4.75 min

Wing loading: 69,6 kg/m² (15,3 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 311 W/kg (0.19 hp/lb)

Armament

2× 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Breda-SAFAT synchronized machine guns above the engine, 370 rpg

Some aircraft were field-modified to carry up to 8× 15 kg (33 lb) or 2× 50 or 100 kg (110/220 lb) bombs under the wings

The kit and its assembly

Inspiration for this little, whiffy biplane came when I posted a pic of an Austrian Ju 86 bomber as a reply/ suggestion to a fellow modeler's (NARSES2) search at whatifmodelers.com for “something” to make from a Gloster Gladiator.

When I looked at the paint scheme a second time I remembered that I still had some Austrian roundels in stock, as well some very old biplane spare parts... hmmm.

Biplanes are tricky to build, even OOB, and kitbashing this kind of whif would not make things easier. Anyway, I love such challenges, and the potential outcome would surely look nice, if not exotic, so I decided to tackle the project.

Basically, the following donation ingredients went into it:

● Fuselage, engine, cockpit/pilot and tail from a Revell Macchi C.200 "Saetta"

● Upper wing from a Matchbox Gloster "Gladiator"

● Lower wings from a Matchbox SBC "Helldiver"

● Wheels from a Matchbox Hs 126 (shortened)

Pretty straightforward, but even though it would be a small aircraft model, it would come with two big challenges: mounting the lower wings and shaping the resulting, gaping belly, and the custom-made struts and wirings for the upper wing.

Work started with the Macchi C.200’s fuselage, which was built OOB - just without the wing, which is a single part, different pilot (the included one is a pygmy!) and with a free spinning metal axis for the propeller.

The wing installation started with the lower wings. I glued the Helldiver wings onto the C.200 fuselage, so that the wings' trailing edge would match the C.200's wing root ends. From that, a floor plate was fitted under the fuselage and any excessive material removed, the gaps filled with lumps of 2C putty. That moved the lower wing's roots backwards, creating space at the lower forward fuselage for the new landing gear.

The latter was taken from a vintage Matchbox Hs 126 reconnaissance aircraft - probably 25, if 30 years old... Size was O.K., but the struts had to shortened by about 5mm, as thge HS 126 is a much bigger/longer aircraft than the C.200. A cut was made just above the wheel spats, material taken out, and the separate parts were glued back together again.

With the lower wings in place I started building strut supports for the upper wing from styrene strips - tricky and needs patience, but effective. I started with the outer supports, carving something SBC-style from styrene. These were glued into place, slightly canted outwards, and their length/height adapted to the upper wing’s position.

When this was settled, the upper Gladiator wing was glued into place. After a thorough drying period the short fuselage supports in front of the cockpit – again, styrene strips – were inserted into the gap. This allowed an individual lengthening, and was easier than expected, with a stable result.

After having the upper wing glued in place I added some wiring, made from heated and pulled-out styrene sprues. This not only enhances the kit's look, it also (just like in real life) improves rigidity of the model. Also a tedious task, but IMHO worth the effort. I tried thin wire, nylon strings and sewing yarn for this job, but finally the styrene solution is what worked best for me.

The exhaust installation had also to be modified: the new Hs 126 struts with spats would have been where the original C.200’s hot exhaust gases would have gone, so I added new exhaust pipes that would go between the new legs.

Other small added details included, among others, a pitot on a wing strut, a visor in front of the cockpit, a radio antenna, a ladder made from wire.

Painting and markings:

I would not call the Austrian 3+1-tone pre-WWII-scheme spectacular, but the colors are unique. My scheme is based on an Austrian Ju 86 bomber from 1938, so it fits into the intended time frame.

The colors were puzzled together from various sources and are subjective guesstimates:

● A pale, yellow-ish beige (Humbrol 74, ‘Linen’, out of production)

● A rather brownish green (Testors 1711, ‘Olive Drab’, FS 34087)

● A dark green with a yellow-ish hue (Humbrol 116, ‘US Dark Green’ FS 34079)

● Light blue for the undersides (Humbrol 65, ‘Aircraft Blue’, RLM 65)

In order to add some details I painted the area behind the engine cowling in aluminum. The respective part under the fuselage, where the exhaust gases would pass, was painted in Steel – both Testors Metallizers.

The interior surfaces were painted in a neutral Grey – but with the engine and the pilot in place you cannot see anything of that at all.

Markings are minimal: the Austrian roundels come from a TL Decals aftermarket sheet, the flag on the rudder was laid out with red paint (a mix of Humbrol 19 and 60), the white bar is a decal. The tactical code is fictional, puzzled together from single digits in various sizes (also from TL Modellbau sheets). The original documents how purely black fuselage codes, but I found these hard to read. So I chose digits with a white rim (actually, these belong to modern German Luftwaffe tactical codes in 1:32), which improve contrast a little.

The kit received a thin black ink wash and some shading/dry-painting with lighter basic tones (Humbrol 103, 155, Model Master 2138,‘Israeli Armor Sand Grey’, and Humbrol 122). After decal application, another turn with overall Hemp and Light Grey was done in order to fade contrast and to emphasize the surface structure. The wires were also painted, but only with thinned black ink and a VERY soft brush.

Finally, everything was sealed under a spray coat of matt acrylic varnish.

Voilà, and done in just about a week!

+++ 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 Fokker D.XX fighter was designed in 1935 by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker as a conservative export alternative to the D.XXI monoplane. The latter had been developed in response to requirements laid out by the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force (Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger, ML-KNIL), but Fokker saw a good deal of market potential for the aircraft in Europe, too, but was afraid that many smaller European air forces still preferred conservative biplane designs.

Total production, including two prototypes and three pre-production aircraft, only reached a mere 46 machines, and none of them survived the first months of the 2nd World War.

General characteristics:

Crew: one

Length: 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in)

Wingspan: 10.6 m (34 ft 8 ½ in)

Height: 2.92 m (9 ft 7 in)

Wing area: 28m² (300 sq ft)

Empty weight: 1,594 kg (3,514 lb)

Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)

Powerplant:

1 × Bristol Mercury VIII 9-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine, 620 kW (830 hp)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 253 mph (220 knots, 407 km/h) at 14,500 ft (4,400 m)

Cruise speed: 338 km/h (210 mph; 186 kn)

Stall speed: 85 km/h (53 mph; 46 knots)

Range: 930 km (578 mi; 502 nmi)

Endurance: 2 hours

Service ceiling: 11,350 m (37,240 ft)

Rate of climb: 11.7 m/s (2,300 ft/min)

Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 4.75 min

Power/mass: 0.309 kW/kg (0.188 hp/lb)

Armament:

4× 8 mm (0.315 in) machine guns with 500 RPG in the fuselage and 300 RPG under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

I had found the spare wings from a Gloster Gladiator in my donor bank, and wondered what I could do with them - and eventually stunbled upon a PM Model Fokker D.XXI. Why not retrograde this early monoplane fighter into a biplane, with relatively modern features?

Said and done, and the respective conversion/kitbashing was a rather straightforward affair, even though not without some challenges.

The biggest issue became the lower wings: the Gladiator wings are much thinner and have less depth than the original Fokker wings, so that much of the wing roots on the fuselage had to be sanded away. This resulted in gaping openings, which had to be filled, including a resculpted trailing edge intersection. Not a complicated feat, but messy.

Another issue arose through the fact that the D.XXI's fuselage is wider than the Gloster Gladiator's - resulting in a wider span of the lower wings than the upper! In order to correct this, the lower wings' tips were clipped and I used the occasion to re-sculpt all wing tips, trying to get away from the Gladiator's characteristic round shape.

Once the lower wings were mated with the fuselage, the upper wings were added with the help of the outer support struts only. Once dry, the additional struts between the upper wing and the fuselage were added - the latter were scratched with styrene strips. Thin styrene was also used to add some diagonal bracing struts, once more in an attempt to change the wings' look away from its Gladiator origins.

The spatted wheels were taken from the PM Model kit, but shortened by 2mm - OOB they are IMHO much too long, and the result would be a very stalky stance. The tail wheel was also taken OOB, but moved aft and shortened, too.

Inside, a different seat was used; a box was placed behind it, filling the gap, and a dashboard was added under the windshield. The canopy (very thick material!) was cut into three pieces, for a potential open presentation.

Engine and cowling were taken OOB, but the propeller was replaced with a better-looking scrap box find, which also received a longer axis for better balance and free spinning.

The rigging was done with material derived from heated, black IP sprues, which I like because it bonds well with the kit's plastic and can be attached with standard glue. Additionally, the wire's strength can the individually tailored.

Painting and markings:

I used this occasion to apply the somewhat obscure camouflage of the Royal Danish Air Force from the late Thirties. While the scheme itself is rather simple, the colors remain obscure. In profiles and painting instructions you can find a wide range of recommendations - ranging from sand or a greenish yellow and olive drab to dark green and dark earth! The undersides were supposed to be "bluish grey".

I eventually settled upon a relatively simple choice, with Humbrol 83 (Ochre) and Revell 46 (NATO Olive Drab, RAL 7013 a.k.a. Gelboliv), which looks almost like a dark brown together with the greenish sand tone. IMHO they make a good combo for the Danish scheme. For the undersides, I went for Humbrol 128 (FS 36320). Interior surfaces were painted in a dark slate grey tone, the propeller received an aluminum front and flat black back surfaces.

The kit received a light black ink wash and a post-shading treatment with various shades of the basic tones, including ModelMaster RAL 7028 (German WWII Dunkelgelb) as well as Humbrol 155, 163 and 247. Finally, the fabric structure on the wings was slightly emphasized with dry-brushed light grey, and exhaust soot under the fuselage was added with grinded graphite.

The markings come from various sources: roundels from a D.XXI sheet from PrintScale, the flags on the fin belong to a Danish F-100 (XtraDecal) and the tactical code was puzzled together. The nose art, the charging knight on the cowling, which I added because I found the overall aircraft to look pretty bleak, comes from a ModelCollect tank model sheet.

Finally, the whole kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Not a spectacular whif, and this one does not really stand out between similar builds (e.g. the Macchi Brezza or the Gloster Glaive) I did before, but I find it interesting how good and plausible the retrograded Fokker D.XXI looks. The new/old wings blend in nicely, and the Danish scheme looks good on this biplane, too, even though I wonder why these colors were chosen? It looks rather like a desert paint scheme than something for Northern Europe, with lots of water and mostly green, flat landscape?

Dawn. At the shore. The world, all around me, only speaks through the whisper of the morning breeze. There is no one around. Except for a few seagulls fighting with their own reflection. I see the stars no more in the golden sky and I have not been able to see the moon. The beautiful waning moon. But I know it was there, hidden somewhere under my sky. I feel it's just a matter of time, but I'll get to see that enchanted view as perfect and deep as it can be.

PS: No post processing, just a slight crop. Canon EOS 550D + EF-S18-135IS

In cerca della falce di luna alle 5.45AM

Alba. Sul litorale. Il mondo, tutto attorno a me, parla soltanto attraverso il sussurro della brezza del mattino. Non c'è nessuno attorno. Solo qualche gabbiano litiga con il suo stesso riflesso. Non vedo più alcuna stella nel cielo dorato e non sono riuscito a vedere la luna. La bella falce di luna crescente. Ma so che era là, da qualche parte nascosta sotto al mio cielo. Sento che è solo questione di tempo, ma so che riuscirò a fotografare quella visione, così perfetta e profonda come la si può immaginare.

PS: Nessuna elaborazione, solo un leggero ritaglio. Canon EOS 550D + EF-S18-135IS

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sirius/233/156/22/

Stasera

Balaustrata di brezza

per appoggiare stasera la mia malinconia

di Giuseppe Ungaretti

Tonight

Balaustrade of breeze

to rest my melancholy against tonight

poem by Giuseppe Ungaretti

The Grand Mauritian Resort & Spa, Mauritius, Ile Maurice

Some of them were alredy in my last fav mosaic...Love them too much!

1. Galletas, 2. the road less traveled tend to be more lonely..., 3. It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed. ~Ram Dass, 4. Dauphine Street Books, 5. peace, love., 6. come si chiamano questi fiori che si vedono ora nei campi ovunque?, 7. Untitled, 8. Untitled, 9. cookies & granny glasses, 10. Untitled, 11. happy beautiful ten, 12. snapshots of a small town life, part 2, 13. Untitled, 14. guess what we did today?, 15. Untitled, 16. figlicious, 17. .a place you could stand for one night, and get gone., 18. Brezza Marina, 19. soldati, 20. .it's just something my mom used to draw for me, he said. something about the heart in hand., 21. me in the mirror - part. 3, 22. sunday morning, 23. P1011805, 24. Istanti di strada, 25. Untitled, 26. Untitled, 27. Homemade Sweetness, 28. (raspberry), 29. autumn is here, 30. enchanted, 31. Beauty is the Pointe, 32. holding on to summer evenings..., 33. baby pumpkin theft, 34. Ode To Viola (Scarletd), 35. Morning in the city, 36. flickr.com/photos/38091930@N04/3860690234/

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

The Fiat Macchi C.170 Brezza ("Gust of wind") was a single-seat biplane fighter which served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica before and in the early stages of World War II. The aircraft was produced by the Varese firm, and entered service, in smaller numbers, with the air forces of Italy, Austria and Hungary.

Although an obsolete design, it proved to be robust, durable and effective especially in severe conditions. In spring 1943, surviving C.170s were rounded up from training schools and delivered to night ground attack units operating on the Eastern Front. The C.170 was used to conduct night harassment sorties on the Eastern Front until September 1944, when the units were disbanded, due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 8.25 m (27 ft 1 in)

Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 323 ft² (30.0 m²)

Empty weight: 3,217 lb (1,462 kg)

Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)

Powerplant

1× Fiat A.74 R.C.38 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 650 kW (870 hp) at 2,520 rpm for take-off

Performance

Maximum speed: 441 km/h (238 kn, 274 mph) at 20,000 ft

Cruise speed: 338 km/h (187 kn, 210 mph)

Range: 780 km (420 nmi, 485 mi)

Service ceiling: 10,210 m (33,500 ft)

Rate of climb: 11.8 m/s (2,340 ft/min)

Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 4.75 min

Wing loading: 69,6 kg/m² (15,3 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 311 W/kg (0.19 hp/lb)

Armament

2× 12.7 mm (0.5 in) Breda-SAFAT synchronized machine guns above the engine, 370 rpg

Some aircraft were field-modified to carry up to 8× 15 kg (33 lb) or 2× 50 or 100 kg (110/220 lb) bombs under the wings

The kit and its assembly

Inspiration for this little, whiffy biplane came when I posted a pic of an Austrian Ju 86 bomber as a reply/ suggestion to a fellow modeler's (NARSES2) search at whatifmodelers.com for “something” to make from a Gloster Gladiator.

When I looked at the paint scheme a second time I remembered that I still had some Austrian roundels in stock, as well some very old biplane spare parts... hmmm.

Biplanes are tricky to build, even OOB, and kitbashing this kind of whif would not make things easier. Anyway, I love such challenges, and the potential outcome would surely look nice, if not exotic, so I decided to tackle the project.

Basically, the following donation ingredients went into it:

● Fuselage, engine, cockpit/pilot and tail from a Revell Macchi C.200 "Saetta"

● Upper wing from a Matchbox Gloster "Gladiator"

● Lower wings from a Matchbox SBC "Helldiver"

● Wheels from a Matchbox Hs 126 (shortened)

Pretty straightforward, but even though it would be a small aircraft model, it would come with two big challenges: mounting the lower wings and shaping the resulting, gaping belly, and the custom-made struts and wirings for the upper wing.

Work started with the Macchi C.200’s fuselage, which was built OOB - just without the wing, which is a single part, different pilot (the included one is a pygmy!) and with a free spinning metal axis for the propeller.

The wing installation started with the lower wings. I glued the Helldiver wings onto the C.200 fuselage, so that the wings' trailing edge would match the C.200's wing root ends. From that, a floor plate was fitted under the fuselage and any excessive material removed, the gaps filled with lumps of 2C putty. That moved the lower wing's roots backwards, creating space at the lower forward fuselage for the new landing gear.

The latter was taken from a vintage Matchbox Hs 126 reconnaissance aircraft - probably 25, if 30 years old... Size was O.K., but the struts had to shortened by about 5mm, as thge HS 126 is a much bigger/longer aircraft than the C.200. A cut was made just above the wheel spats, material taken out, and the separate parts were glued back together again.

With the lower wings in place I started building strut supports for the upper wing from styrene strips - tricky and needs patience, but effective. I started with the outer supports, carving something SBC-style from styrene. These were glued into place, slightly canted outwards, and their length/height adapted to the upper wing’s position.

When this was settled, the upper Gladiator wing was glued into place. After a thorough drying period the short fuselage supports in front of the cockpit – again, styrene strips – were inserted into the gap. This allowed an individual lengthening, and was easier than expected, with a stable result.

After having the upper wing glued in place I added some wiring, made from heated and pulled-out styrene sprues. This not only enhances the kit's look, it also (just like in real life) improves rigidity of the model. Also a tedious task, but IMHO worth the effort. I tried thin wire, nylon strings and sewing yarn for this job, but finally the styrene solution is what worked best for me.

The exhaust installation had also to be modified: the new Hs 126 struts with spats would have been where the original C.200’s hot exhaust gases would have gone, so I added new exhaust pipes that would go between the new legs.

Other small added details included, among others, a pitot on a wing strut, a visor in front of the cockpit, a radio antenna, a ladder made from wire.

Painting and markings:

I would not call the Austrian 3+1-tone pre-WWII-scheme spectacular, but the colors are unique. My scheme is based on an Austrian Ju 86 bomber from 1938, so it fits into the intended time frame.

The colors were puzzled together from various sources and are subjective guesstimates:

● A pale, yellow-ish beige (Humbrol 74, ‘Linen’, out of production)

● A rather brownish green (Testors 1711, ‘Olive Drab’, FS 34087)

● A dark green with a yellow-ish hue (Humbrol 116, ‘US Dark Green’ FS 34079)

● Light blue for the undersides (Humbrol 65, ‘Aircraft Blue’, RLM 65)

In order to add some details I painted the area behind the engine cowling in aluminum. The respective part under the fuselage, where the exhaust gases would pass, was painted in Steel – both Testors Metallizers.

The interior surfaces were painted in a neutral Grey – but with the engine and the pilot in place you cannot see anything of that at all.

Markings are minimal: the Austrian roundels come from a TL Decals aftermarket sheet, the flag on the rudder was laid out with red paint (a mix of Humbrol 19 and 60), the white bar is a decal. The tactical code is fictional, puzzled together from single digits in various sizes (also from TL Modellbau sheets). The original documents how purely black fuselage codes, but I found these hard to read. So I chose digits with a white rim (actually, these belong to modern German Luftwaffe tactical codes in 1:32), which improve contrast a little.

The kit received a thin black ink wash and some shading/dry-painting with lighter basic tones (Humbrol 103, 155, Model Master 2138,‘Israeli Armor Sand Grey’, and Humbrol 122). After decal application, another turn with overall Hemp and Light Grey was done in order to fade contrast and to emphasize the surface structure. The wires were also painted, but only with thinned black ink and a VERY soft brush.

Finally, everything was sealed under a spray coat of matt acrylic varnish.

Voilà, and done in just about a week!

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Durante una lunga febbre si hanno molte visioni:

mi trovavo di nuovo nella casetta

col gran prato di trifoglio

che scendeva fino allo steccato,

ombreggiato dalla quercia,

dove noi bimbi avevamo l’altalena.

Però la casetta era un maniero

in mezzo a una radura, e accanto alla radura c’era il mare.

Ero nella stanza dove il piccolo Paul

soffocava per la difterite,

però non era questa stanza—

era una veranda soleggiata chiusa

da finestre a colonnine,

e su uno scanno sedeva un uomo dal mantello scuro,

il viso pareva quello di Euripide.

Era venuto a trovarmi, o forse ero andato io a trovare lui—

non sono sicuro.

Si sentiva il fremito del mare, il trifoglio ondeggiava

nella brezza estiva, e il piccolo Paul venne

alla finestra coi fiori di trifoglio e sorrise.

Allora dissi: «Che cos’è “la disperazione divina”, Alfred?»

«Hai letto “Lacrime, vane lacrime”?» mi chiese.

«Sì, ma lì non hai espresso la disperazione divina.»

«Ma caro amico» rispose «ecco perché la disperazione era divina.»

(Edgar Lee Masters, "Antologia di Spoon River", "Hamlet Micure")

------------------------

In a lingering fever many visions come to you:

I was in the little house again

With its great yard of clover

Running down to the board-fence,

Shadowed by the oak tree,

Where we children had our swing.

Yet the little house was a manor hall

Set in a lawn, and by the lawn was the sea.

I was in the room where little Paul

Strangled from diphtheria,

But yet it was not this room--

It was a sunny verandah enclosed

With mullioned windows

And in a chair sat a man in a dark cloak

With a face like Euripides.

He had come to visit me, or I had gone to visit him-- I could not tell.

We could hear the beat of the sea, the clover nodded

Under a summer wind, and little Paul came

With clover blossoms to the window and smiled.

Then I said: "What is "divine despair" Alfred?"

"Have you read OTears, Idle Tears'?" he asked.

"Yes, but you do not there express divine despair."

"My poor friend," he answered, "that was why the despair

Was divine."

ricordando