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A developed pack of Kodak Disc Film (discarded in the Nappanee, Indiana area of the United States) found its way to me in a package of flash cubes ordered on e-bay.

 

"Disc film was a still-photography film format aimed at the consumer market, and introduced by Kodak in 1982.

 

The film was in the form of a flat disc, and was fully housed within a plastic cartridge. Each disc held fifteen 11 × 8 mm exposures, arranged around the outside of the disc, with the disc being rotated 24° between each image."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_film

 

Image © 2010 Michael Raso

 

My Film Photography Blog

michaelraso.blogspot.com/

 

The Film Photography Internet Radio Show

www.filmphotographypodcast.com/

 

Earth Designs Garden Design and Build were asked to created a landscape and propose garden design in Acton, London*. Here are the details of the project

 

Brief: The plot for this design was a mid-size family garden, which had recently benefited from the addition of a large sunroom on the back of the property. It was a fairly blank canvas, with nothing of note to be retained in the re-design. The garden had side access and worn boundary fences which required replacing. There was no clear brief other than that the design include a seating area and some lawn, and that the transition from sunroom to garden be fairly seamless.

 

Solution: The focus of this design was to create an exterior space that serves as an extension to the interior, featuring several distinct and versatile areas that can be adapted to a variety of uses.

 

The garden's boundaries were replaced with new fencing to provide a uniform and attractive backdrop to the transformation within, while the long sideway down the right of the house was renovated with the addition of attractive 'bamboo' slate tile flooring in a random lay pattern.

 

The first section of the space comprises a large area of Western Red Cedar decking adjoining the house, and offers ample room for entertaining, with a long L-shaped fixed-bench seat stretching width-ways across the space from the left-hand side to the centre. This was backed with a rendered block raised bed, planted with fragrant lavender and capped with 'bamboo' slate tile, to provide a sense of enclosure and separation from the rest of the garden.

 

A decked walkway running down the right hand side of the space provides access to a 'spa' area, featuring a large square hot tub housed upon a reinforced paved hard-standing and nestled between existing and additional trees, shrubs and foliage to provide a secluded and intimate area for bathing throughout the seasons. Hidden behind mature and new planting in the bottom left corner, a large shed provides ample storage for the client's garden accessories. The middle of the space has been given over to a large lawn edges with slate.

 

A purple and yellow planting scheme of soft, cottage-style evergreen shrubs and flowering perennials will help to bring year round lightness and subtle colouring to the space.

 

After-dark hot tub bathing is enhanced by several strings of pea-lights woven through the existing shrubbery. Deck lights demark the main area of decking and guide one's journey along the decked walkway. Finally, spot lights in the beds highlight certain area while providing a gentle wash throughout the space.

 

Testimonial: "After months of planning and a full year of having builders everywhere, we had finally got the house into good shape but the garden was a nightmare. It had been somewhat overgrown before the builders moved in, but after a year of being used as a builders yard, it needed shock treatment.

 

We needed help fast so we searched the web. We were looking for garden designers with creative ideas for smaller London gardens. We didn't want anything too traditional but at the same time, nothing too extreme.

 

Earth Designs fitted the bill and after a design session with Katrina, we engaged them for the project. They had offered us a design service only, but as we only had a 4 week window in which to complete the job, we gave them the whole project.

 

We had built a new extension with wide glass doors that opened out into the garden, so the brief to Earth Designs was to "bring the outside, inside" and create a strong link between the new room and the garden beyond. The actual garden space was not large so we wanted to use the space as an extension of the living space - to be an "outside room".

 

Monday 18th April and three very charming men arrived on our doorstep at 8.0am sharp. Arlo was the project manager, ably aided and abetted by Paul and Phillip. They worked brilliantly as a team and always hit all the deadlines. In particular they did a great job in working with our neighbours to ensure the whole project ran smoothly.

 

The first week involved clearing the site - no mean feat with 30-year-old ivy stems that looked more like tree trunks.

 

The second week involved levelling the garden, putting up new fencing, building the corner seating base and planters, plus marking out the garden shape. It was good to be able to make minor changes to the design on the ground at this stage. The hot tub arrived too and was winched into place for connection later.

 

Week 3 saw the decking and seating built.

 

Then in week four the turf arrived, the lawn went down and on the last day, Katrina arrived with a truckload of wonderful specimens (and Matt) and we had a wonderful time planting. Ground Force Mk II - a complete garden from start to finish in just 4 weeks!

 

There were a few things that needed to be sorted out after the main work was complete. Earth Designs were great about coming back until all was complete and finished.

 

Our thanks to Katrina, Matt, Arlo, Paul and Phillip for a great job, completed on time and on budget with a great looking result."

 

If you dig this and would like to find out more about this or any of other of our designs, please stop by our web-site and have a look at our work.

 

Earth Designs is a bespoke London Garden Design and build company specialising in classic, funky and urban contemporary garden design.

 

Our Landscape and Garden build teams cover London, Essex and parts of South East England, while garden designs are available nationwide.

Please visit www.earthdesigns.co.uk to see our full portfolio. If you would like a garden designer in London or have an idea of what you want and are looking for a landscaper London to come and visit your garden, please get in touch.

 

Follow our Bespoke Garden Design and Build and Blog to see what we get up to week by week, our free design clinic as well as tips and products we recommend for your garden projects www.earthdesigns.co.uk/blog/.

 

Earth Designs is located in East London, but has built gardens in Essex , gardens in Hertfordshire Hertfordshire and all over the South East. Earth Designs was formed by Katrina Wells in Spring 2003 and has since gone from strength to strength to develop a considerable portfolio of garden projects. Katrina, who is our Senior Garden Designer, has travelled all over the UK designing gardens. However we can design worldwide either through our postal garden design service or by consultation with our senior garden designer. Recent worldwide projects have included garden designs in Romania. Katrina’s husband. Matt, heads up the build side of the company, creating a unique service for all our clients.

 

If you a not a UK resident, but would like an Earth Designs garden, Earth Designs has a worldwide design service through our Garden Design Postal Design Vouchers. If you are looking for an unique birthday present or original anniversary present and would like to buy one of our Garden Design Gift Vouchers for yourself or as a present please our sister site www.gardenpresents.co.uk. We do also design outside of the UK, please contact us for details.

 

Decided the other day to work on other things, but I have this one hanging around....

 

Crease pattern available.

Amazingly, they cut out a section of the egg wall and replace it seamlessly with a clear window. Visitors can then watch the embryonic sharks developing and moving around inside until they hatch normally.

 

Chris Mule and Dave Jordan

 

Cha Dooky Doo

Celebration of Art Neville

Tipitina's, 11/15/2014

New Orleans, Louisiana

 

ART NEVILLE

If you're lucky enough to be born in New Orleans, you've automatically inherited a lush tapestry of traditions, of which the richest, most varicolored and enduring motif is music. Arthur Neville came into that inheritance in 1937, but in his case the real luck fell to New Orleans, where he has spent most of a lifetime enhancing and expanding that tapestry. It's open to debate exactly where Art learned to weave such glorious new colors into such an already-vibrant fabric of sound - parents who supported and encouraged his musical quest? A childhood curiosity about music in general, and the keyboard in particular? Simply the intense and heady musical environment of the city itself?

 

What can't be argued that even as a kid he had already begun to shape the sumptuous patterns that the world now recognizes instantly as the Nevilles Sound. As a teenager, no amount of music - even in New Orleans - was too much for Art. He worked for a time in a record shop, where he absorbed the great doo-wop groups of the day: Clyde McPhatter's Drifters, The Orioles, The Clovers, as well as local piano rockers Professor Longhair and Fats Domino. In time he formed his own doo-wop group, and after school, after work, they would sit on a park bench in the crazy half-moon city and sing to the night.

 

In 1953, Art joined the Hawkettes, who recorded the classic "Mardi Gras Mambo" in 1954. That song turned out to be more influential to other musicians - and to the City of New Orleans - than even Art could have imagined. Listen to the music of his reflections on that historic (and now, very traditional) piece of pop culture:

 

"I became involved with the Hawkettes, I don't even remember the exact year but it must have been in '53. A friend of mine, one of the members of the Hawkettes at the time, George Davis. He was taking saxophone lessons from Alcee Wallace, one of my friends that we had the doo-wop group with. Mr. Wallace, Alcee's father, was teaching George Davis saxophone and so he told him about me and he needed a piano player."

 

"And so he came to my home and asked me would I be interested in playing with the Hawkettes. I didn't know who they were at that point and I said "sure," and my mother and father said 'Yeah, go ahead.' And the rest is really history. We went on, and we were the hottest band in New Orleans and the surrounding area we played for every function like sororities, fraternities, and different other functions around New Orleans: Night clubs, little small clubs, large clubs."

 

"We recorded this song, 'Mardi Gras Mambo,' I don't even remember the year, I think 1953 or 1954, something like that, and lo and behold! 'Mardi Gras Mambo' is still here today."

Most of the Hawkettes went off to college and other pursuits after the recording was made, but Art kept the Hawkettes together, finding musicians where he could. And did. The Hawkettes got such a wide reputation that by 1957 they found themselves touring with Larry Williams, whose "Short Fat Fannie" and "Bony Maronie" had also gone into the pop canon, and remain there. Art came home from this tour (which included the Spaniels), to be drafted into the Navy Reserve's active duty for two years.

 

"N.A.S., Oceana, Virginia Beach. Aviation," he remembers. "It was a good experience." In a recent discussion, Art remarked, "I was in the Navy Reserve - and I wasn't making the meetings that I should have been making - I was playing Rock 'n Roll.. So they drafted me on Active Duty and that must have been '59 or '60."

 

Brother Aaron hung in there with the Hawkettes, and when Art returned he rejoined his old friends. "Meanwhile, we started changing players, and we ended up with the guys who wound up being the Meters: Zigaboo, Leo, George," he says.

 

At the same time, Allen Toussaint and Joe Banashak approached Art with a song that's long since been a New Orleans staple: "All These Things." Art jumped at the chance to record it. "I can see it now," he says fondly.

 

By 1966, he was touring with brother Aaron in support of the hit single, "Tell It Like It Is." Another classic. Soon after the tour, Art took the first shot at a Neville Brothers grouping with "Art Neville and the Neville Sounds." The band consisted of Leo Nocentelli on guitar, George Porter on bass, Art on piano and organ, Zig Modeliste on drums, brothers Cyril and Aaron Neville and, on saxophone, Gary Brown. It was strictly a labor of love, and the band wasn't making money. But they were getting tighter, more streamlined musically, the sound was getting around. Eventually Art was offered a chance to play the Ivanhoe bar in New Orleans' French Quarter - a coveted gig among local musicians, except that the venue could only accomodate four musicians onstage. Cyril, Aaron and Gary Brown bowed out and went on to pursue their own musical paths, but what remained was a white-hot quartet with a solid rhythmic vision. There at the Ivanhoe, the Meters were born. The band developed a funk-infected R-B sound characterized by subtle shadings and the loose interplay among guitar, bass and Art's Professor Longhair-inspired keyboard figures.

 

Producer/writer Allen Toussaint took one listen and wanted the Meters for session work.

 

With Toussaint at the boards, the band released The Meters (1969), featuring the signature instrumentals "Cissy Strut" and "Sophisticated Cissy." By 1972, big fish were circling and the Meters recorded their first of several albums for Warner Brothers. On the strength of this work, the Meters opened for the Rolling Stones' "Tour of the Americas" the following year. In 1976, the Neville brothers' revered uncle George Landry called the boys together to work on an album entitled "The Wild Tchoupitoulas," an aural documentary of sorts of the Mardi Gras Indians. Landry told Art then that the Neville's parents had always longed to see the four brothers work together, and in 1977 that dream became reality for everyone. With Art on keys, Charles blowing sax, Cyril slapping congas and Aaron, well, playing Aaron on vocals, the Neville Brothers groove at last wove itself indelibly into the tapestry. The Neville Brothers was released on Capitol, but so unique and unclassifiable was the sound that the corporate thinkers didn't quite get how to market it.

 

Not black or white, not strictly soul or R-B, not exactly pop but not rigidly rock either, the problem wasn't so much that the Neville Sound was neither here nor there as that it was here, there and everywhere imaginable. It was off the label's graph and therefore out of its grasp. Things got better. Radio, the national and then the international audience began to blossom with A-M's Fiyo on the Bayou and later Neville-ization. By the time of Uptown Art and the boys were sending their New Orleans sound around the world and back again, and they followed with more of the family groove in albums like the nearly flawless Yellow Moon. The basics stitched together by Art and his keys have created ripples of soulful patterns across every curve in the musical sphere, influencing artists as diverse as Santana, and the Rolling Stones. And Art weaves on. Maybe only the lucky get to be born in New Orleans. But Arthur Neville's vision has made it possible for the rest of us to share a little bit of the grand fortune he's given back to his city.

 

tipitinas.com/bands/a/art-neville

 

Art Neville Discography:

www.discogs.com/artist/294571-Art-Neville?type=Appearances

I bought several of these apple crates at Kempenfest 2011 in Barrie Ontario. This orchard was directly across from my Public School. I needed the crates for record storage and the nicely cleaned up crates were being sold for charity. In 2012 I purchased one more to complete the wall unit to house my old 33LP's.

 

John Cameron Watson's parent, Beatrice Alberta Acheson and John Cecil Watson, originally bought the farm in Highland Creek in 1921 from the Stanley Piano Company. Cameron 'Cam' Watson was born on 'Cherrydale Farm' on November 24, 1922. He could be found at the St. Lawrence Market every Saturday for 74 years, beginning when he was carried in a butcher basket as an infant, and eventually selling his own apples and fruit. He loved his work as an orchardist and his farm was still producing apples, pears, raspberries and red and black currants for sale until 2004.

Camer'n's mother, Beatrice, was a very caring teacher, and she and Cameron both shared a love for all animals and nature. These two kind and compassionate people sought to better the lives of all living creatures by teaching respect and kindness, and encouraging others to develop empathy, tolerance and the understanding of the need for sensitivity and reverence towards all life -- it was these values that Cameron based his Foundation. The Beatrice Watson-Acheson Foundation began as the Ontario branch of 'The Kindness Club' and the first Honourary President was Dr. Albert Schweitzer.

The Foundation sends teachers, accompanied by their dog, into Elementary Schools to teach 'Values through Humane Education' --- a message of responsible pet ownership and promoting kindness and respect towards people, animals and the environment. It is our sincere hope that children who hear our message will be more thoughtful, considerate and respectful, develop empathy for all life, and learn about the humane treatment of animals. we have no political agenda, nor do we make any reference in our presentations to trapping, sealing, whaling or other politicized aspects of animal welfare.

The Kindnes Program began in Toronto in 1974 and in Ottawa in January 2005, and has reached over three million school children. The program is provided free of charge to students in kindergarten to Grade Eight in the Public, Catholic and Private Schools. Two thousand and twelve, marks our thirty-eighth anniversary of educating children and this program has been a tangible way to promote reverence and sensitivity to all life and bring ideas of responsibility, caring and kindness towards pets, wildlife and people to the attention of children and adults.

One of the Foundation's new initiatives in 2009 was to 'Spread Kindness Across Canada -- Step by Step'. Boys and girls from ages 6 to 14 were asked to submit a description of an act of kindness they had shown to an animal or person, written on their 'footprint'. Their 'kindness effort' was ten personally acknowledged by letter and shown on our website on the map of Canada. We received more than 1,700 acts of kindness by August 21, 2011 and we will soon announce another Kindness Activity Project for school children.

A long standing member of Centennial-Rouge United Church and a charter member of the Centennial Community and Recreation Association and Planning Committee, Cameron was a highly respected and involved member of the community. As an environmentalist he took an active part in the planning of the community and in seeking high standards for the local land development and he was a vocal advocate in the fight to save Centennial Creek. Cameron taught Sunday School, was a church Trustee, and member of the choir. He was involved for many years with the Kindness Club, the Advisory Council of Salvation Army Laymen, The St. Lawrence Farmers Market stallholders Committee, and the Scout Troop and Cub Pack Group Committee. Cameron was also well-known in the community for his generosity and philanthropy.

In 1992 Cameron received the 125th. Anniversary of Confederation Commemorative Medal presented to 'exemplary Canadians, who have given of themselves for the benefit of others and have enriched Canada by their contributions'.

The J. Cameron Watson Bursary that was set up at Algonquin College in Ottawa in 2007, and a room dedicated to the care of injured waterfowl at the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre in 2005, are both in memory of Cameron. The bursary and plaque description remembers Cameron as 'a man whose compassion, foresight and generosity has made a difference in the way we view and respond to the needs of all creatures and the environment'. www.thekindnessprogram.org . The Beatrice Watson-Acheson Foundation, 48 Cindy Lande, Lisle, Ontario L0M 1M0.

"The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less." ~ Socrates

 

chiotsrun.com/2010/03/13/sunny-spring-days/

SONY a7II + SIGMA 16mm F1.4 DC DN C017

 

Developed by Adobe Lightroom Classic 7.0.1

 

foxfoto.exblog.jp/27751138/

BSG training for Countries (SG1) for SG Effectiveness. 19-01-2016

 

©ITU/A.Mhadhbi

Some background:

The Rolls-Royce Griffon engine was designed in answer to Royal Navy specifications for an engine capable of generating good power at low altitudes. Concepts for adapting the Spitfire to take the new engine had begun as far back as October 1939; Joseph Smith felt that "The good big 'un will eventually beat the good little 'un." and Ernest Hives of Rolls-Royce thought that the Griffon would be "a second power string for the Spitfire". The first of the Griffon-engined Spitfires flew on 27 November 1941. Although the Griffon-powered Spitfires were never produced in the large numbers of the Merlin-engined variants they were an important part of the Spitfire family, and in their later versions kept the Spitfire at the forefront of piston-engined fighter development. The first Griffon-powered Spitfires suffered from poor high- altitude performance due to having only a single stage supercharged engine. By 1943, Rolls-Royce engineers had developed a new Griffon engine, the 61 series, with a two-stage supercharger. In the end it was a slightly modified engine, the 65 series, which was used in the Mk. XIV, the first Spitfire mark with a Griffon engine to enter service. The resulting aircraft provided a substantial performance increase over the Mk IX. Although initially based on the Mk VIII airframe, common improvements made in aircraft produced later included the cut-back fuselage and tear-drop canopies, and the E-Type wing with improved armament.

 

The Mk. XIV differed from its direct predecessor, the Mk XII, in that the longer, two-stage supercharged Griffon 65, producing 2,050 hp (1,528 kW), was mounted 10 inches (25.4 cm) further forward. The top section of the engine bulkhead was angled forward, creating a distinctive change of angle to the upper cowling's rear edge. A new five-bladed Rotol propeller of 10 ft 5 in (3.18 m) in diameter was used. The "fishtail" design of ejector exhaust stub gave way to ones of circular section. The increased cooling requirements of the Griffon engine meant that all radiators were much bigger, and the underwing housings were deeper than previous versions. The cowling fasteners were new, flush fitting "Amal" type and there were more of them. The oil tank (which had been moved from the lower cowling location of the Merlin engine variants to forward of the fuselage fuel tanks) was increased in capacity from 6 to 10 gal.

To help balance the new engine, the radio equipment was moved further back in the rear fuselage and the access hatch was moved from the left fuselage side to the right. Better VHF radio equipment allowed for the aerial mast to be removed and replaced by a "whip" aerial further aft on the fuselage spine. Because the longer nose and the increased slipstream of the big five-bladed propeller a new tail unit with a taller, broader fin and a rudder of increased area was adopted.

 

When the new fighter entered service with 610 Squadron in December 1943 it was a leap forward in the evolution of the Spitfire. The Mk. XIV could climb to 20,000 ft (6,100 m) in just over five minutes and its top speed, which was achieved at 25,400 ft (7,700 m), was 446 mph (718 km/h). In operational service many pilots initially found that the new fighter could be difficult to handle, particularly if they were used to earlier Spitfire marks. But in spite of the difficulties, pilots appreciated the performance increases.

 

F Mk. XIVs had a total of 109.5 gal of fuel consisting of 84 gal in two main tanks and a 12.5 imp gal fuel tank in each leading-edge wing tank; other 30, 45, 50 or 90 gal drop tanks could be carried. The fighter's maximum range was just a little over 460 miles (740 km) on internal fuel, since the new Griffon engine consumed much more fuel per hour than the original Merlin engine of earlier variants. By late 1944, Spitfire XIVs were fitted with an extra 33 gal in a rear fuselage fuel tank, extending the fighter's range to about 850 miles (1,370 km) on internal fuel and a 90 gal drop tank. Mk. XIVs with "tear-drop" canopies had 64 gal. As a result, F and FR Mk. XIVs had a range that was increased to over 610 miles (980 km), or 960 miles (1,540 km) with a 90 gal drop tank. The armament initially consisted of two 20 mm Hispano cannon and four light 0.303” machine guns (in a standard “C” wing configuration), but later builds had the latter replaced with a pair of heavier 0.5” machine guns that had better range and weight of fire (“E” wing configuration).

 

The first test of the aircraft was in intercepting V1 flying bombs and the Mk. XIV was the most successful of all Spitfire marks in this role. When 150 octane fuel was introduced in mid-1944 the "boost" of the Griffon engine was able to be increased to +25 lbs (80.7"), allowing the top speed to be increased by about 30 mph (26 kn; 48 km/h) to 400 mph (350 kn; 640 km/h) at 2,000 ft (610 m).

The Mk. XIV was used by the 2nd Tactical Air Force as their main high-altitude air superiority fighter in northern Europe with six squadrons operational by December 1944.

 

One problem which did arise in service was localized skin wrinkling on the wings and fuselage at load attachment points; although Supermarine advised that the Mk. XIVs had not been seriously weakened, nor were they on the point of failure, the RAF issued instructions in early 1945 that all F and FR Mk. XIVs were to be refitted with clipped wings. Spitfire XIVs began to arrive in the South-East Asian Theatre in June 1945, too late to operate against the Japanese. In total, 957 Mk. XIVs were built, over 430 of which were FR Mk. XIVs.

 

After the war, secondhand Mk. XIVs still in good shape were exported to a number of foreign air forces; 132 went to the Royal Belgian Air Force, 70 went to the Royal Indian Air Force and 30 of the reconnaissance version went to the Royal Thai Air Force. The Royal Iraqi Air Force (RIrAF) was another operator, even though only a small one.

In late 1946, five years after the Anglo-Iraqi War had left the RIrAF shattered, the Iraqis reached an agreement with the British under which they would return their surviving Avro Ansons in exchange for the authorization to order more modern and potent fighter aircraft from the UK, namely Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Furies. The next year, three de Havilland Doves and three Bristol Freighters were ordered, too, and they arrived in early 1947 with a batch of ten refurbished ex-RAF Spitfire F Mk. XIVcs, some of them WWII survivors. All these machines received the original wing tips to better cope with the expected higher ambient temperatures in the Middle Eastern theatre of operations, reinforced aluminum skinning along the wing roots, and they were retrofitted with hardpoints under the wings and the fuselage to carry unguided missiles, bombs and drop tanks, what gave them an additional ground attack capability. The radio equipment was modernized, too, including a DF loop antenna as navigational aid. Despite these standardizations, though, the Spitfires were delivered with a mix of the different canopies.

 

The RIrAF was still recovering and re-structuring its assets when it joined in the war against the newly created state of Israel in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The RIrAF only played a small role in the first war against Israel, though. A few Spitfire F Mk. XIVs as well as Avro Anson training bombers operated from Transjordan airfields from where they flew several attacks against the Israelis. After a series of indiscriminate attacks on Arab capitals, flown by three Boeing B-17s that had been pressed into service by the Israeli Air Force, the governments of Transjordan and Syria demanded that the Iraqis take more offensive action and replace their Ansons with Hawker Furies. However, only six Furies were sent to Damascus to join the Spitfires in the region, and they never encountered any Israeli aircraft during their deployment.

Despite some effective attacks on ground targets by the Spitfires, limited amount of cannon ammunition, RPGs and suitable bombs heavily limited the Iraqi operations. The fighters were mostly used for armed reconnaissance, and three Spitfires were upgraded to FR Mk. XIV standard for this purpose. In 1949 a second batch of eight more Spitfire F Mk. XIVs was delivered from Britain, and in 1951 the RIrAF purchased 20 more Fury F.Mk.1s, for a total of 50 F.Mk.1s single-seaters and 2 two-seaters. They soon replaced the Spitfires in frontline units, even though the machines were still kept in service.

 

In the early Fifties, thanks to increased income from oil and agricultural exports, the RIrAF was thoroughly re-equipped. In 1951, 15 each of de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunks, Percival Provosts and North American T-6s were bought to replace obsolete de Havilland Tiger Moth trainers. With these new aircraft the RIrAF Flying School was expanded into the Air Force College. The training curriculum was improved, and the number of students graduating each year was increased. This allowed to form a solid basis for the RIrAF's long-term growth. Also in 1951, the RIrAF bought its first helicopters: three Westland Dragonflies. The RIrAF's first jet fighter was the de Havilland Vampire: 12 FB.Mk.52 fighters and 10 T.Mk.55 trainers were delivered from 1953 to 1955, and they fully replaced the Spitfires. The Vampires were quickly supplemented by 20 de Havilland Venoms, delivered between 1954 and 1956.

Following the formation of the Baghdad Pact, the United States donated at least six Stinson L-5 Sentinels and seven Cessna O-1 Bird Dogs to the RIrAF. The RAF also vacated Shaibah Air Base, and the RIrAF took over it as Wahda Air Base. In 1957, six Hawker Hunter F.Mk.6s were delivered. The next year, the United States agreed to provide 36 F-86F Sabres free of charge.

 

However, following the 14 July Revolution of 1958, which resulted in the end of monarchy in Iraq, the influence of the Iraqi Communist Party grew significantly. The first commander of the Iraqi Air Force (the "Royal" prefix was dropped after the revolution), Jalal Jaffar al-Awqati, was an outspoken communist, and encouraged prime minister Abd al-Karim Qasim to improve relations between Iraq and the USSR. The Soviets reacted quickly, and in the autumn of 1958 a series of arms contracts was passed between Iraq and the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. These stipulated the delivery of MiG-15UTI trainers, MiG-17F fighters, Ilyushin Il-28 bombers, and Antonov An-2 and An-12 transports. The first aircraft arrived in Iraq in January 1959; during the late Sixties and the early Seventies additional MiG-17s may have been purchased and then forwarded to either Syria or Egypt.

 

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 32 ft 8 in (9.96 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m) with full span elliptical tips

Height: 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m)

Wing area: 242.1 sq ft (22.49 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2213 (root), NACA 2209.4 (tip)

Empty weight: 6,578 lb (2,984 kg)

Gross weight: 7,923 lb (3,594 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 8,400[53] lb (3,810 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Griffon 65 supercharged V12, 2,050 hp (1,530 kW) at 8,000 ft (2,438 m),

driving a 5-bladed Jablo-Rotol propeller

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 441 mph (710 km/h, 383 kn) in FS supercharger gear at 29,500 ft.

391 mph in MS supercharger gear at 5,500 ft.

Combat range: 460 mi (740 km, 400 nmi)

Ferry range: 1,090 mi (1,760 km, 950 nmi)

Service ceiling: 43,500 ft (13,300 m)

Rate of climb: 5,040 ft/min (25.6 m/s) in MS supercharger gear at 2,100 ft.

3,550 ft/min in FS supercharger gear at 22,100 ft.

Time to altitude: 7 mins to 22,000 ft (at max weight)

Wing loading: 32.72 lb/sq ft (159.8 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.24

 

Armament:

2× 20 mm (0.787-in) Hispano Mk II cannon, 120 rpg

4× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns, 350 rpg,

Underwing hard points for 8× 60 lb (27 kg) rockets, 2 x 250 lb (113 kg) bombs or slipper tanks,

1× ventral hardpoint for a 500 lb (227 kg) bomb or a drop tank

  

The kit and its assembly:

This was a rather spontaneous interim build. The Academy Spitfire was left over from a D-Day combo that contained a Hawker Typhoon, too, and I lacked an idea for the Spitfire for a long time) since I am not a big fan of the aircraft, at least what-if-inspiration-wise). However, when pondering about a potential operator from the very early pos-war period I remembered the Royal Iraqi Air Force and its later Hawker Hunters which retained their NATO-style camouflage (RAF green/grey) despite being primarily operated in a desert environment. This, on a Spitfire…?

 

From this idea the Academy Spitfire was built almost OOB. Because the kit offers them as an option and for the cool look, I gave the Spitfire four RPGs under each outer wing. The ventral drop tank was taken from a Special Hobby late Spitfire kit. The only other additions are the antenna mast and the non-standard DF loop antenna behind the cockpit, created from thin wire and mounted on a small, streamlined socket.

  

Painting and markings:

The upper surfaces were painted in standard RAF WWII colors, Dark Green and Ocean Grey, using a mix of Humbrol 163 and 30 for a slightly more bluish WWII-style green and a mix of 106 and 145 for a lightened grey tone, respectively. As an individual contrast and paint scheme variation the undersides and the spinner were painted in RAF Azure Blue (Humbrol 157, lightened up with 47), more appropriate than the standard WWII Medium Sea Grey from the European theatre of operations. The cockpit interior became RAF cockpit green (Humbro,78) while the inside surfaces of the landing gear were painted in Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 165), reflecting the original undersides’ tone in former RAF service.

 

Other markings were minimal. The Iraqi triangles were taken from a Balkan Models Su-25 sheet, because their green was rather pale, for more contrast to the surrounding camouflage. RIrAF fin flash was taken from a PM Model Hawker Fury two-seater (a.k.a. “Bagdad Fury”). The tactical code came from an Airfix Hawker Hunter (from an optional Kuwaiti machine). This looked O.K. but somewhat bleak, so I added more markings. I could not find any evidence for special ID markings on Iraqi aircraft during the Arab-Israel war, but to add an eye-catcher I gave the aircraft white ID bands on the wings and on the fuselage – inspired by markings carried by Egyptian aircraft (e. g. Spitfires) during the conflict, but somewhat simplified, without black trim. They were created from generic white decal sheet material.

 

After some soot stains around the gun ports and the exhausts, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

  

A relatively simple project and just a fictional livery - but the Iraqi Spitfire looks pretty cool, especially the ID stripes add a special touch. The European RAF scheme looks a bit off on an aircraft that would be delivered to the Middel East, but the Iraqi Air Force operated British types like the Hunter in this guise, and later Su-22 fighter bombers carried a similarly murky camouflage in very dark green and earth brown.

developed in Xtol (stock)

Developed from the ground up as a fully-electric truck on GM’s advanced Ultium EV Platform, the Silverado EV offers a combination of capability, performance and versatility, along with advanced technologies that can evolve the vehicle over time. In spring 2023, the Silverado EV will debut a WT model offering a large range battery with an expected GM-estimated range of over 400 miles on a full charge. In the fall of 2023, a fully loaded RST First Edition model, also including a 400-mile range, will debut with an MSRP of $105,000 + DFC. After production ramps up, Chevrolet will unleash the full Silverado EV portfolio including WT with a starting at MSRP of $39,900 + DFC, RST, Trail Boss and more with the ability to content the truck across various price ranges, with MSRPs around $50,000, $60,000, $70,000, $80,000 and more. This will allow customers to choose the truck that meets their capability and pricing needs.

 

Unusually rapid vertical convection in the lower atmosphere.

From the early 50's until a fire in the 80's this was the site of Gold Star Studios, then the center of rock music recording on the West Coast. Located on Santa Monica Boulevard near Vine Street (about a mile south of Hollywood & Vine), it is near Paramount Studios (incorporating the former RKO/Desilu Studios) and the Hollywood Forever Cemetary where numerous famous stars are buried.

 

As one of the first independent recording studios it was not constrained by the "old line" policies of the majors and developed its own unique commercially succesful sound. Using custom-built recording equipment and its "best ever" echo chamber, it was home to Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound", an unmatched "Wrecking Crew" house band, and source of hundreds of hit records.

 

A very abbreviated list of top artists that were associated with Gold Star:

 

Hal Blaine - the world's most recorded drummer

 

Tommy Tedesco - the world's most recorded guitarist

 

Jack Nitzsche - arranger - including many hits produced by Phil Spector. Co-wrote "Up Where We Belong".

 

Sonny Bono - percussion. Brought his girlfriend Cher to Gold Star. The backing on his defiantly patriotic "Revolution Kind" is a great example of the Gold Star sound.

 

Cher - graduated from backing singer to superstar. Recorded "Bang Bang" and "You Better Sit Down Kids" at Gold Star

 

Ronnettes - recorded "Be My Baby" at Gold Star -- favorite song of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. The elaborate intro to their "Do I Love You?" clearly highlights the elements of the Gold Star sound.

 

Beach Boys - recorded "Don't Worry Baby" at Gold Star - a tribute to "Be My Baby" with same Hal Blaine drum intro

 

Paul Revere & the Raiders - recorded "Kicks" and "Hungry" at Gold Star with Hal Blaine on drums

 

Buffalo Springfield - recorded "Expecting to Fly" at Gold Star with Jack Nitzsche as arranger

 

Righteous Brothers - recorded "Ebb Tide", "Unchained Melody", "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" (the most played song ever on US radio), and many others at Gold Star

 

Ike & Tina Turner - recorded "River Deep-Mountain High" and "I'll Never Need More Than This" at Goldstar - Tina was never hotter and no one ever did a better job of soaring over the Wall of Sound

 

Darlene Love - recorded the best rock Christmas song ever at Gold Star: "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"

 

Crystals - recorded "Uptown", "He's a Rebel", and the quickly withdrawn "He Hit Me and It Felt Like a Kiss" at Gold Star. Group often included Darlene Love.

 

Glen Campbell - started as session guitarist at Gold Star

 

Leon Russell - played keyboards at Gold Star early in his career

 

Later recordings that paid tribute to the Gold Star sound include:

 

Bruce Springsteen - "Born to Run"

 

The Tubes - "Don't Touch Me There"

 

Eddie Money - "Take Me Home Tonight" which featured Ronnie of the Ronnettes reprisng the chorus from "Be My Baby"

 

(These are the one's that instantly come to mind -- there are hundreds more).

 

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

 

Added February 2013: As the result of a comment, the photo has been updated. According to Wikipedia:

 

"Gold Star Recording Studios was located at 6252 Santa Monica Boulevard near the corner of Vine Street in Hollywood. The studio closed in 1984. A fire occurred in the structure after its closure, but all contents had been removed prior to the fire. The building was later demolished. A strip mall currently stands on the original location."

 

6252 Santa Monica Boulevard is now occupied by the water store in the above photo. The photo previously here was 6223 Santa Monica Boulevard, across the street. It had a "strong resemblence" to an alleged photo of the studio on a now non-existent web site.

+++ 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 "Entwicklung" tank series (= "development"), more commonly known as the E-Series, was a late-World War II attempt by Germany to produce a standardized series of tank designs. There were to be six standard designs in different weight classes, from which several specialized variants were to be developed. This intended to reverse the trend of extremely complex tank designs that had resulted in poor production rates and mechanical unreliability.

 

The E-series designs were simpler, cheaper to produce and more efficient than their predecessors; however, their design offered only modest improvements in armor and firepower over the designs they were intended to replace, such as the Jagdpanzer 38(t), Panther Ausf. G or Tiger II. However, the resulting high degree of standardization of German armored vehicles would also have made logistics and maintenance easier. Indeed, nearly all E-series vehicles — up through and including the E-75 — were intended to use what were essentially the Tiger II's 80 cm (31½ in) diameter, steel-rimmed road wheels for their suspension, meant to overlap each other (as on the later production Tiger I-E and Panther designs that also used them), even though in a highly simplified fashion. For instance, while the E-50/75’s running gear resembled outwardly the Tiger II’s, the latter’s torsion bar suspension, which necessitated a complex hull with many openings, was replaced by very compact conical spring coil packages that each held a pair of interleaved road wheels – with the benefit that all suspension elements remained outside of the hull. This considerably simplified production and saved time as well as scarce material.

 

Focus of initial chassis and combat vehicle development was the E-50/75 Standardpanzer, designed by Adler. These were two mostly identical vehicles and only differed in armor thickness, overall weight and running gear design to cope with the different weights. While the E-50 was the standardized replacement for the medium PzKpfw. V “Panther” and the last operational PzKpfw. VI “Tiger”, with an operational weight of around 50 tons, the E-75 was intended to become the standard heavy tank in the 70 ton class, as a replacement for the Tiger II battle tank and the Jagdtiger SPG. They were to share many components, including the same Maybach HL 234 engine with up to 900 hp output and the drivetrain, as well as running gear elements and almost all peripheral equipment. Both E-50 and E-75 were built on the same production lines for ease of manufacture.

 

This universal tank chassis would, beyond the primary use for battle tanks, also become the basis for a wide range of specialized support vehicles like self-propelled artillery, assault guns, tank hunters and anti-aircraft weapon carriers, which would gradually replace and standardize the great variety of former support vehicles, dramatically optimizing maintenance and logistics.

The E-50/75 SPAAG sub-family itself was quite diversified and comprised a wide range of vehicles that mainly carried different turrets with the respective weaponry as well as air space surveillance, targeting and command equipment. The range of armament included not only guns of various calibers for short, medium and long range in armored and mostly fully enclosed turrets, there were furthermore armored launch ramps for anti-aircraft missiles, including the guided “Rheintochter”, “Wasserfall” or “Enzian” SAMs as well as batteries with unguided “Taifun” anti-aircraft missiles.

 

Among this new vehicle family, the heaviest gun that was carried in a fully enclosed turret was the Rheinmetall 8.8 cm Flak 41. This was an improved version of the powerful pre-war 8.8 cm Flak 36/37 that was also developed into an anti-tank gun and became the main armament for Germany’s heavy battle tanks like the Tiger I: the 8.8 cm PaK 43 and KwK 43, respectively.

The 8.8 cm Flak 41 was a mobile field weapon on a new pedestal mounting that lowered its silhouette, and it used a longer barrel and a longer 88 mm cartridge with an increased propellant load. The shells had a weight of 9.4-kilogram (20 lb) and achieved a muzzle velocity of 1,000 m/s (3,280 ft/s), giving the gun an effective ceiling of 11,300 meters (37,100 ft) and a maximum of 14,700 meters (48,200 ft). The barrel initially consisted of three sections and had a length of 74 calibers but was then redesigned to a simpler dual-section barrel with a length of 72 calibers, for easier manufacture. Improvements in reloading raised the manual firing rate, with 20 to 25 rounds a minute being quoted. The Flak 41 could also be used against ground targets and was able to penetrate about 200 mm (7.9 inches) of armor at 1,000 m (3,280 feet), allowing it to defeat the armor of any contemporary tank from a relatively safe distance. Because of the high cost and complexity of this weapon, however, Rheinmetall manufactured relatively few of them, 556 in all. 399 were fielded, the rest went into SPAAG production.

 

The new pedestal mounting made it easy to adapt the weapon to a vehicle, so that this formidable weapon was immediately earmarked to be combined with a tank chassis to improve its mobility. Since an SPAAG would not need the massive frontal armor of a battle tank, the hull from the lighter E-50 was used (which still had a maximum armor thickness of 60mm at the front at 30°, which was effectively 120 mm vs. the E-75’s 185 mm), but instead of the E-50 MBT’s running gear with six steel wheels per side, the Flak 41 SPAAG used the heavier E-75’s running gear with eight wheels per side and wider tracks, effectively creating a hybrid E-50/75 chassis. This measure was taken to better distribute the vehicle’s overall weight and stabilize the it while moving and firing. In this form the new vehicle received the designation Sd.Kfz. 192/3, also known as “Einheits-Flakpanzer E-50 (88 mm)” or “E-50-41” for short.

 

The Flak 41 was integrated into Rheinmetall’s standardized SPAAG turret that could carry a wide range of automatic anti-aircraft weapons. It was a spacious, boxy design, optimized for maximum internal space than for effective armor protection, resulting in almost vertical side walls and a high silhouette. However, the level of armor was sufficient to protect the crew and the equipment inside from 20 mm gun shells – the typical armament of Allied fighter bombers of the time like the Hawker Typhoon and Tempest.

 

A heavy-duty hydraulic gun mount with a reinforced recoil system allowed an elevation of the Flak 41 between +83° and -3°. As a novel feature the weapon received a semi-automatic loading mechanism. This was the attempt to increase the gun’s excellent manual rate of fire even further, and it mimicked the magazine clips of the smaller 37 mm Flak 37 that contained seven rounds for short, continuous bursts of fire. A belt feed for truly continuous fire had been envisioned, but not possible with the long and heavy 88 mm rounds within the turret and chassis limits. A mechanical magazine solution, e. g. a drum with several rounds, was impossible, too. The most practical solution was a spiral-shaped magazine, driven by simple gravitation and directly attached to the Flak 41’s breech. This feeding could – beyond an initial round already in the barrel – hold up to three more rounds, and upon firing and expelling the empty case, a fresh round automatically fell into place. The rounds from the magazine could be fired in a fully automatic mode in a short burst with a rate of 50-55 RPM. The magazine itself had to be filled manually, though, and the gun could alternatively be fed directly, too, so that different types of ammunition could be prepared and the gunner could switch between them on short notice.

 

To accommodate the weapon’s longer ammunition (the Flak 41’s cartridge was 855 mm long) and a crew of four (commander, gunner and two loaders), the standard Rheinmetall Flak turret had to be extended at the rear. Anti-aircraft aiming was done visually, a stereoscopic rangefinder with a span of 200 cm (78¾ in) was integrated above the gun mount. A secondary ZF.20 scope for ground targets was available, too. Two more crewmen, the driver and a radio operator, sat in the hull in front of the turret, similar to the E-50/75 battle tank’s layout. The radio operator on the right side also acted as a third loader for the ammunition supply stored in the hull’s front.

 

Initially, no secondary defensive armament was provided since the new SPAAGs were to be operated in specialized anti-aircraft units, the so-called Fla-Züge, in which the SPAAGs’ protection would be taken over by supporting infantry and other dedicated vehicles. However, initial field experience quickly revealed this weak spot in the vehicle’s close-range defense: due to material and personnel shortages the Fla-Züge units could hardly be equipped with everything they needed to operate as planned, so that they were in most cases just an underserved mix of SPAAGs, occasionally augmented by a command vehicle and rarely with the protection these specialized vehicles needed. Most of the time the units’ vehicles had to operate independently and were therefore left to their own devices. As a solution, a commander cupola was soon added to the Sd. Kfz.192/3’s turret that not only improved the field of view around the vehicle to assess the tactical situation and detect approaching infantrymen that tried to attach mines or throw Molotov cocktails, it also featured a remote-controlled MG 42 that could be aimed and fired by the commander from the inside. However, to re-supply the ammunition, the cupola hatch had to be opened and someone had to leave the turret’s cover and manually insert a new box of rounds. Furthermore, a 100 mm grenade launcher, a so-called “Nahverteidigungswaffe”, was mounted into the opposite side of the turret roof, too. It fired SMi 35 leaping mines for close defense against approaching infantry. This made the cramped turret interior even more cluttered, but significantly improved the vehicle’s survivability, especially in a confined, urban combat environment. Updated vehicles reached the frontline units in late 1945 and were immediately thrown into service.

 

Despite being a powerful weapon, several operational problems with the Sd.Kfz. 192/3 became soon apparent. The complex Flak 41 and its feeding mechanism needed constant proper maintenance and service – otherwise it easily jammed. Spent shell casing also frequently jammed the gun. The high silhouette was an innate tactical problem, but this had already been accepted during the design phase of Rheinmetall’s SPAAG standard turret. However, the tall turret was the source of an additional conceptual weakness of the Sd.Kfz. 192/3: the sheer weight of the large turret with the heavy gun frequently caused imbalances that overstressed the turret bearing and its electric drive (which had been taken over from the E-50/75 battle tanks), resulting in a jammed turret — especially when either fully loaded or when the ammunition supply was depleted. Due to the large and heavy turret, the vehicle’s center of gravity was relatively high, too, so that its off-road handling was limited. Even on paved roads the early Sd.Kfz. 192/3s tended to porpoise in tight corners and upon braking. Stiffer coil springs, introduced during the running production and retrofitted through field kits to existing vehicles, countered this flaw, even though these kits were rare due to material shortages. Sometimes the harder coil springs were distributed between two vehicles, only replacing the suspension on the front and rear pair of wheels.

A different tactical problem was the limited ammunition supply for the Flak 41. While 57 rounds were sufficient for a comparable battle tank, the semi-automatic Flak 41‘s theoretical high rate of fire meant that the Sd.Kfz. 192/3 quickly depleted this supply and could only keep up fire and its position for a very limited period, or it had to save ammunition to a point that its deployment became pointless. After spending its ammunition, the vehicle had to retreat to a safe second line position to re-supply, and this was, due to the vehicle’s limited mobility, size and the heavy and bulky rounds, a risky undertaking and meant tedious manual labor with poor protection for the supply crews. The resulting supply logistics to keep the Sd.Kfz. 192/3 operational and effective were demanding.

 

Nevertheless, despite these shortcoming, the Sd.Kfz. 192/3 greatly improved the heavy Flak units’ mobility and firepower, and the weapon’s effectiveness was high against both air and ground targets. Until mid-1946, a total of around forty Sd.Kfz. 192/3 were built and put into service, primarily with units that defended vital production sites in Western Germany and Saxonia.

 

At the time of the Sd.Kfz. 192/3’s introduction, anti-aircraft aiming was already augmented by mobile radar systems like the “Würzburg” device or special command vehicles like the Sd.Kfz. 282 “Basilisk” which combined an autonomous radar system with a powerful visual rangefinder and an integrated analogue range calculator, the Kommandogerät 40. However, fire control development had continued, and at least one Sd.Kfz. 192/3 was used in late 1946 during trials to fully automatize gun aiming and firing remotely through electric drives through “slaving” a turret to an external director. This was a modified Sd.Kfz. 282/1 that successfully controlled the Sd.Kfz. 192/3 via cable from an elevated location 50 m away from the SPAAG’s firing position. The objective of these trials was to connect several anti-aircraft weapons to a single command unit with improved sensors and high accuracy under any weather condition for concentrated and more effective fire and an improved first shot hit probability.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Sixe (commander, gunner, two loaders, radio operator, driver)

Weight: 64 tonnes (71 short tons)

Length: 7.27 m (23 ft 10 ¾ in) (hull only)

9.57 m (31 ft 4 ½ in) with gun forward

Width: 3.88 m (12 ft 9 in)

Height 3.46 m (11 ft 4 in)

3.81 m (12 ft 6 in) with commander cupola

Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)

Suspension: Conical spring

Fuel capacity: 720 liters (160 imp gal; 190 US gal)

 

Armor:

30 – 60 mm (1.2 – 2.4 in)

 

Performance:

Speed

- Maximum, road: 44 km/h (27.3 mph)

- Sustained, road: 38 km/h (24 mph)

- Cross country: 15 to 20 km/h (9.3 to 12.4 mph)

Operational range: 160 km (99 miles)

Power/weight: 14 PS/tonne (12.5 hp/ton)

 

Engine:

V-12 Maybach HL 234 gasoline engine with 900 PS (885 hp/650 kW)

 

Transmission:

ZF AK 7-200 with 7 forward 1 reverse gears

Armament:

1× 8,8 cm Flak 41 L/72 anti-aircraft cannon with 57 rounds in turret and hull

1× 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 42 with 2.400 rounds, remote-controlled on the commander cupola

  

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional German SPAAG never existed, not even on the drawing boards. But I wondered, after ModelCollect had released an E-100 SPAAG with a twin 88mm gun some years ago, why there was no lighter vehicle with the powerful 88 mm Flak in a closed turret? There were plans to mount this weapon onto a tracked chassis in real life, but it would have been only lightly armored. Then I recently came across a whiffy aftermarket resin turret with a single 88 mm Flak, based on the Tiger II’s Porsche turret, and I liked the idea – even though the rather MBT-esque aftermarket turret looked rather dubious and too small for my taste – esp. the potential angle of the AA weapon appeared insufficient. From this basis the idea was born to create a personal interpretation of a Flak 41 in a fully enclosed turret on a tank chassis.

 

The basis became the Trumpeter 1:72 E-75 kit of the twin 55 mm Flak with its boxy turret. While I initially considered a totally different turret shape, I eventually settled on a generic design that would have been used for a variety of weapons. This appeared more realistic to me and so I stuck to the Rheinmetall AA turret. However, due to the heavy weapon its certainly massive mount and bulky recoil system as well as the long rounds and a crew of four, I decided to enlarge the Rheinmetall turret. The turret was cut into a front and rear half and an 8 mm wide plug, made from 1.5 mm styrene sheet, was implanted and PSRed. To keep the turret rotatable, the rear extension had to be raised, so that the “oriel” could move over the air intake fairings on the engine cover.

Due to the longer roof, some details were modified there. The most obvious addition is a commander cupola on the left, taken from an early Panzer IV, together with a MG 42 and a small shield on a swing arm, inspired by the remote-controlled installation on some Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer. A stereoscopic rangefinder was added to the turret flanks and a periscope added to one of the loader’s hatches. A cover for a ventilator was added on the right side of the roof, together with a cover for a vertical grenade launcher underneath.

 

Using the original turret as base, the model’s movable mount for the twin 55 mm guns was retained and the rear extension would also become a good visual balance for the new main weapon. The armor at barrels’ base was cut off and a 1:72 Flak 41, taken from a Zvezda field gun kit, was glued to it, together with parts of the field gun’s recoil system and styrene bits to blend the new gun into the rest of the turret.

 

The E-75 chassis was taken OOB, since it would be a standardized vehicle basis. Outwardly the hull did not bear recognizable differences to the lighter E-50, which it is supposed to represent, just with more wheels to better cope with the bulky and heavy new turret.

 

Thankfully, this Trumpeter kit’s vinyl tracks were molded in black – sometimes they come in a sandy beige, and it’s a PITA to paint them! As another bonus, Trumpeter’s running gear on the 1:72 E-50/75 model is of a more sturdy and simpler construction than the one on the alternative ModelCollect kit(s), making the assembly and esp. the mounting of the tracks much easier. The Trumpeter kit is simpler than the comparable ModelCollect models with the E-50/75 basis, but the result is visually quite similar.

  

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme uses once more typical German late WWII "Hinterhalt" camouflage colors, namely Dark Yellow, Olive Green and Red Brown. This time, however, to adapt the livery to the boxy hull and the huge turret, the pattern ended up as a kind of a splinter scheme – inspired by a real Panzer V Panther from the Eastern Front in 1943.

The basic colors became Humbrol 57 (Buff) for the RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb, in this case as a rather pale (stretched?) shade, plus large areas of brown (RAL 8017, I used this time Humbrol 98 for a darker and less reddish shade) and Humbrol 86 for the green (RAL 6003), which appears quite pale in contrast to the dark brown. The camouflage was applied over an overall coat of sand brown as a primer coat, with the intention of letting this uniform basis shine through here and there. The distribution of the darker colors is quite unique, concentrating the brown on the vehicle’s edges and the green only to the flanks of hull and turret. However, the pattern works well on the huge E-50/75, and I can imagine that it might have worked well in an urban environment, breaking up the tank’s outlines.

As a match for the upper hull the wheels were painted uniformly in the same standard colors –without any pattern, because this would be very eye-catching while on the move. The many delicate tools on the tank’s hull are molded, and instead of trying to paint them I tried something else: I rubbed over them with graphite, and this worked very well, leaving them with a dark metallic shine. Just some wooden handles were then painted with a reddish brown.

 

Decals/marking came next, everything was procured from the scrap box. The Balkenkreuze came from a Hasegawa Sd.Kfz. 234/2 “Puma”, the tactical code from a TL-Modellbau sheet and the small unit badges on front and back from an UM Models Bergehetzer. A dry brushing treatment with light grey followed, highlighting surface details and edges, and after painting some details and adding some rust marks with watercolors followed a coat of matt varnish.

 

The tracks were painted with a cloudy mix of dark grey, red brown and iron acrylic paints, and mounted after hull and running gear had been assembled. The antennae, made from heated spure material, were mounted to the turret and, finally, the tank’s lower areas were dusted with a greyish-brown mineral pigment mix, simulating dust and mud residue.

  

This project was realized in just two days, made easy through the Trumpeter kit’s simple construction. Most work went into the extended turret and the different main weapon, but all parts mostly fell into place – and the result looks IMHO quite believable. In fact, the E-50/75 with a Flak 41 reminds a bit of the Italian Otomatic 76 mm SPAAG from the late Eighties?

 

The A4, internally designated Typ 8E, debuted on 10 October 2000, now riding on the Volkswagen Group B6 (PL46) platform. The car's new styling was developed under Peter Schreyer between 1996–1998, inspired by the Bauhaus design language of the C5 (second-generation) Audi A6 introduced in 1997. The 1.6 litre base model powerplant remained unchanged, but most other petrol/gasoline engines received either displacement increases, or power upgrades. The 1.8 litre 20-valve Turbo was now available in two additional versions, with 150 PS (110 kW; 148 bhp) or 180 PS (132 kW; 178 bhp), this one with a standard six-speed manual gearbox, while the naturally aspirated 1.6 litre inline-four engine and 2.8 litre V6 were replaced by 2.0 litre, and all-aluminium alloy 3.0 litre units, still with five valves per cylinder, the most powerful of which was capable of 220 PS (162 kW; 217 bhp) and 300 newton metres (221 lb·ft) of torque. The 1.9 Turbocharged Direct Injection (TDI) engine was upgraded to 130 PS (96 kW; 128 bhp), with Pumpe Düse (Unit Injector) (PD) technology, and was now available with quattro permanent four-wheel drive, while the 2.5 V6 TDI high-end model was introduced with 180 PS (132 kW; 178 bhp) and standard quattro. This generation of quattro consisted of default of 50:50 front to rear dynamic torque distribution. A Bosch ESP 5.7 Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) system, with anti-lock braking system (ABS), brake assist, and electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD) were standard across the range.

 

The Avant was introduced in June 2001 and arrived in European showrooms in September 2001.

 

For 2002, Audi increased power in the 1.8 Turbo engines to 163 PS (120 kW; 161 bhp) and 190 PS (140 kW; 187 bhp) – the 190 PS variant designated by a red 'T' on the boot lid, both with a 95 mph top speed govered ECU. Available with four wheel drive and in the 2.5 TDI intermediate version to 163 PS (120 kW; 161 bhp). A 2.0 engine with Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI) was also available. A year later, Audi reintroduced the S4, now powered by a 344 PS (253 kW; 339 bhp) 4.2 L V8 engine, as well as an A4 Cabriolet convertible variant (Typ 8H), finally replacing the 80-based Audi Cabriolet which had been discontinued in 2000. It included an electro-hydraulic operated roof, which lowered in under 30 seconds and incorporated some styling changes, such as body-coloured lower bumper and sill panels, which later found their way to the saloon version.

 

Audi introduced a continuously variable transmission developed by LuK, named multitronic, which replaced the dated conventional automatic transmission on front-wheel drive models. The transmission won considerable praise from the automotive press, and is generally regarded as being the best of its type in the world, due to its light weight and promptness in response.[citation needed] This high strength chain driven CVT was made from highly durable metals and utilised a very high grade, purpose-designed fully synthetic lubricant. However, there have been widespread complaints from consumers around the world that the transmission box is prone to electronic glitches as well as mechanical problems.

 

Borrowing from the Audi A6, the boot was redesigned to remove the extension of the top edge with a smoother fold line. The rear light assemblies now formed part of the top line, these styling cues were eventually borrowed by other European as well as Asian manufacturers.

 

A sport package named 'Ultra Sport' was introduced in the North American market shortly before the B6 was replaced by the B7. It included aluminium interior trim and door sills, "S line" steering wheel, front and rear spoilers, side skirts, and quattro GmbH designed 18-inch RS4 alloy roadwheels.

 

[Text from Wikipedia]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_A4#B6

 

This Lego miniland scale Audi A4 Quattro Avant (B6/PL46 - 2001) has been created for Flickr LUGNuts' 96th Build Challenge - The 8th Birthday, titled - 'Happy Crazy Eight Birthday, LUGNuts' - where all previous build challenges are available to build to. This model is built to the LUGNuts 41st Build Challenge, - "Snowed In" - a challenge to build a vehicle designed to handle snowy conditions. Audi's Quattro all-wheel-drive system was designed to aid traction in low grip situations, ideal for snow and ice.

Developed using darktable 3.8.0

Lipca Rollop Automatic 2.8

 

Arista EDU Ultra 100 developed in Rodinal (1:50)

 

view large

Metcheck said 67 % cloud cover for sunrise , it also said rain would stop 30 minutes before sunrise BANG ON ME WEATHER MAN

  

View On Black

On a walk around the city to catch up on what's been happening while I was on Holiday in Australia August 18, 2015 Christchurch New Zealand.

 

There were lot more buildings going up and seems to be more people about. The day wasn't good weather wise for shots as it was very dull and gloomy.

A developing Supercell across far Northeast Wisconsin on July 1 2017. Only isolated storms were expected, but this beast began to develop along an old outflow boundary from a storm early in the afternoon. Aiding in the development was a lake breeze boundary. The updraft was so explosive.

Home Developed taken with Canon Eos

 

HP5+ Ilfotech DDX 15 mins at 20 c, Scanned with Pentax DSLR

   

The recent rise in sovereign debt vulnerabilities in many developing countries merits attention, especially in the context of a new creditor landscape and rising shares of domestic, non-concessional and collateralized debts. Key policy questions include: How can sovereigns increase their resilience to exogenous shocks? Can state-contingent debt help? What role can official and private creditors play in preventing and resolving unsustainable debt situations?

Developed from the earlier Yakovlev fighters that included the successful Yak-3 and Yak-7, the Yak-9, when it first entered combat in 1942, was simply a lighter version of the former. The Yak-9 eventually was built in many different versions. Most were optimized for ground attack.

 

The Museum's Yak-9 is a rare, rebuilt original aircraft. Doug Champlin first learned of it during a trip to Russia in 1992. Shortly afterwards, Art Williams was hired to find and acquire it. Williams traveled to Novosibirsk, Siberia, and after consummating the acquisition, arranged for the Yak-9 to be transferred to Moscow via the Siberian railroad. The trip took four days under constant guard.

 

Once the Yak-9 was safely stored in Moscow, Sergei Kotov arranged for a restoration team to rebuild it. This work took two years to complete. In 1996, the Yak-9 was shipped to The Champlin Museum in Mesa, Arizona.

 

The Museum's Yak-9 is one of four original aircraft known. It is the only original Yak-9 on display in the West. It is equipped with an original engine and propeller, and all instrumentation and other miscellaneous parts are of original Russian manufacture. The aircraft is painted in the markings of the Russian World War II ace, Gen Maesky.

 

(C)The Museum of Flight

Mark ‘Spoonman’ Petrakis and I are experimenting with new interactive storytelling ideas, from shadow puppets to poetic robots.

 

Our first experiment is ‘Ubu’s Dreams’, a shadow puppet show featuring Père Ubu, the hero of Alfred Jarry’s surreal plays at the turn of the last century. In this show, Ubu is constantly dreaming, interacting with archetypal characters from our collective unconscious. Each of his dreams is a separate sketch in our play and lasts about a minute.

 

For our second rehearsal, we ran through a new scene: dream #8. In this dream, Ubu climbs up a set of stairs and walks through a door to a bedroom where strange animals are sleeping. He realizes he’s in a church when a cross hits him and he is woken up by the sound of a goat -- as shown by the keyframes in this photo-set. See links below to learn more about Ubu’s Dreams.

 

In this quick test, Mark read the script as the voice of Ubu, and we both moved puppets and props from each side of the stage. These tests are helping us explore different ways to illustrate these stories with only lights and shadows.

 

We plan to develop this concept through the summer and perform this show during our Dada exhibit this fall at the Canessa Gallery in North Beach. And I’m also developing a ‘Magic Theater’ course combining maker art and storytelling for our lower and middle school students.

 

View more pictures of this Magic Theater project on Flickr:

www.flickr.com/photos/fabola/albums/72157664637863884

 

Learn more about Ubu’s Dreams:

bit.ly/ubu-dreams-page

 

Learn more about the Magic Theater project (first called Théâtre Mécanique):

fabriceflorin.com/2015/01/10/theatre-mecanique/

Self developed Washi S sound recording film loaded into an Olympus om10.

Part of the less beautiful Stockholm. "Bypass Stockholm" developd. A gigantic show of building and engineering knowledge. A total of 21 km from Kungens Kurva to Häggvik, of which 18 km through tunnel. Expected to be completed in 2026.

 

En del av det mindre vackra Stockholm. Förbifart Stockholm växer fram. En gigantisk uppvisning av byggnations och ingenjörskonst. Totalt 21 km från Kungens Kurva till Häggvik varav 18 km genom tunnel. Beräknas vara klar år 2026.

Developed specifically to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses, the Avaya 5400 Series Digital Telephones incorporate sleek design, improved ergonomics, flexibility, and enterprise-class voice quality. These two-wire digital phones come in three models, all of which feature paperless button labels, local call log, and speed-dial directories.

 

Visit Avaya.com for more information about the Avaya 5400 Series Telephones.

Storms developing just west of my location in western Ohio, July 13, 2016.

Developed with Gimp 2.10. This is a negative scan of 4x5 sheet film. I scanned it using this process youtu.be/oOKmjXIz2Uw

05/05/2023. London, United Kingdom. Lady Tuaine Marsters from the Cook Islands watches as dignitaries and officials speak at a Small Island Developing States Coronation Event in Lancaster House. Picture by Kirsty O'Connor/Treasury

The Pittock Mansion was home to Portland pioneers Henry and Georgiana Pittock from 1914 to 1919. During the late 1800s and the early 1900s, their lives and work paralleled the growth of Portland from a small Northwest town site to a thriving city with a quarter million population. With its eclectic architectural design and richly decorated interior, including family artifacts, the Pittock Mansion stands today as a living memorial of this family’s contributions to the blossoming of Portland and its people.

 

English-born Henry Lewis Pittock journeyed on a wagon train from Pennsylvania to Oregon in 1853 where, at the young age of 19, and in his own words, “barefoot and penniless,” he began working for Thomas Jefferson Dryer’s Weekly Oregonian newspaper. In 1860, at the age of 26, he married 15-year-old Georgiana Martin Burton of Missouri. Six years prior, Georgiana had crossed the plains from Keokuk, Iowa to Oregon Territory with her parents. Georgiana’s father E.M. Burton was a flour mill owner and one of early Portland’s well known building contractors.

 

Together, Henry and Georgiana began a long life of work, community service, and devotion to family, which would last 58 years and celebrate six children and eighteen grandchildren.

 

A consummate businessman, Henry Pittock took ownership of the Weekly Oregonian in 1860, changing its format to the daily paper we read today. He went on to build an empire incorporating real estate, banking, railroads, steamboats, sheep ranching, silver mining, and the pulp and paper industry.

 

Georgiana dedicated herself to improving the lives of the community’s women and children. She helped found the Ladies Relief Society in 1867, whose Children’s Home provided care, food, and shelter for needy children. Georgiana also worked with the Woman’s Union, and played a key role in building the Martha Washington Home for single, working women.

 

The couple was known for their quiet reserve, helpful demeanor, and love for the outdoors. Georgiana cherished gardening, and kept a terraced flower garden at the mansion covered with every kind of flower imaginable. She frequently adorned her house with cut flowers, and is recognized for originating the tradition of Portland’s annual Rose Festival.

  

A vigorous outdoorsman, Henry rode horses in the Rose Festival parades, and was a member of the first party to climb Mt. Hood, one of the spectacular peaks visible from the mansion. On one of his climbing expeditions, someone suggested that the group sit down and rest, at which point Henry responded, “The man who sits down never reaches the top.”

 

Henry and Georgiana were at the pinnacle of their successful lives when they commissioned architect Edward Foulkes to design and build their new home overlooking Portland, the city they loved.

 

They began planning and designing their new home in 1909. The mansion was completed in 1914, replete with stunningly progressive features including a central vacuum system, intercoms, and indirect lighting. The house also creatively incorporated Turkish, English, and French designs. In keeping with their loyalty to their home state, the Pittocks hired Oregon craftsmen and artisans, and used Northwest materials to build the house. The final estate included the mansion, a three-car garage, a greenhouse, and the Italianate gate lodge servants’ residence, all situated on 46 acres of land almost 1,000 feet above downtown Portland.

 

At 80 and 68 respectively, Henry and Georgiana moved to their new home. The hard-working couple who had lived in the heart of Portland as it developed from a forest clearing to a bustling business center, now resided high in the hills, with a breathtaking vista of their beloved Portland. It was a warm and gracious house for both the adults and children of the family.

 

Georgiana died in 1918 at the age of 72, and Henry in 1919 at 84. The Pittock family remained in residence at the mansion until 1958, when Peter Gantenbein, a Pittock grandson who had been born in the house, put the estate on the market.

 

The threat of demolition at the hands of land developers, and the extensive damage caused by a storm in 1962, brought concerned citizens together to raise funds to preserve the site. Seeing this popular support, and agreeing that the house had tremendous value as a unique historic resource, the City of Portland purchased the estate in 1964 for $225,000. Fifteen months were spent restoring it. The mansion opened to the public in 1965, and has been a community landmark ever since.

 

A house of historical significance and visual magnificence, the Pittock Mansion today offers us a uniquely personal opportunity to peek into the past, and study our world as it was - from the viewpoint of one Portland family

for more

pittockmansion.org

 

Lyme Park is a large estate located south of Disley, Cheshire. The estate is managed by the National Trust and consists of a mansion house surrounded by formal gardens, in a deer park in the Peak District National Park.[1] The house is the largest in Cheshire,[2] and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.[3]

 

The estate was granted to Sir Thomas Danyers in 1346 and passed to the Leghs of Lyme by marriage in 1388. It remained in the possession of the Legh family until 1946 when it was given to the National Trust. The house dates from the latter part of the 16th century. Modifications were made to it in the 1720s by Giacomo Leoni, who retained some of the Elizabethan features and added others, particularly the courtyard and the south range. It is difficult to classify Leoni's work at Lyme, as it contains elements of both Palladian and Baroque styles.[a] Further modifications were made by Lewis Wyatt in the 19th century, especially to the interior. Formal gardens were created and developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The house, gardens and park have been used as locations for filming and they are open to the public. The Lyme Caxton Missal is on display in the Library.

 

The land now occupied by Lyme Park was granted to Piers Legh and his wife Margaret D'anyers, by letters patent dated January 4, 1398, by Richard II, son of the Black Prince. Margaret D'anyers' grandfather, Sir Thomas D'anyers, had taken part in retrieving the standard of the Black Prince at the Battle of Crécy in 1346, and was rewarded with annuity of 40 marks a year by the Black Prince, drawn on his Cheshire estate, and which could be exchanged for land of that value belonging to the Black Prince. Sir Thomas died in 1354, and the annuity passed to his nearest surviving kin, his granddaughter Margaret, who in 1388 married the first Piers Legh (Piers Legh I). Richard II favoured Piers and granted his family a coat of arms in 1397, and the estate of Lyme Handley in 1398 redeeming the annuity. However, Piers was executed two years later by Richard's rival for the throne, Henry Bolingbroke.[6]

 

When in 1415 Sir Piers Legh II was wounded in the Battle of Agincourt, his mastiff stood over and protected him for many hours through the battle. The mastiff was later returned to Legh's home and was the foundation of the Lyme Hall Mastiffs. They were bred at the hall and kept separate from other strains, figuring prominently in founding the modern breed. The strain died out around the beginning of the 20th century.[7][8]

 

The first record of a house on the site is in a manuscript folio dated 1465, but that house was demolished when construction of the present building began during the life of Piers Legh VII, in the middle of the 16th century.[5] This house, by an unknown designer, was L-shaped in plan with east and north ranges; piecemeal additions were made to it during the 17th century. In the 1720s Giacomo Leoni, an architect from Venice, added a south range to the house creating a courtyard plan, and made other changes.[3] While he retained some of its Elizabethan features, many of his changes were in a mixture of Palladian and Baroque styles.[2] During the latter part of the 18th century Piers Legh XIII bought most of the furniture which is in the house today. However, the family fortunes declined and the house began to deteriorate. In the early 19th century the estate was owned by Thomas Legh, who commissioned Lewis Wyatt to restore the house between 1816 and 1822. Wyatt's alterations were mainly to the interior, where he remodelled every room.[9] Leoni had intended to add a cupola to the south range but this never materialised.[10] Instead, Wyatt added a tower-like structure (a hamper) to provide bedrooms for the servants. He also added a one-storey block to the east range, containing a dining-room.[2] Later in the century William Legh, 1st Baron Newton, added stables and other buildings to the estate, and created the Dutch Garden.[9] Further alterations were made to the gardens by Thomas Legh, 2nd Baron Newton and his wife during the early 20th century.[11] In 1946 Richard Legh, 3rd Baron Newton, gave Lyme Park to the National Trust.wikipedia

with Fujica ST701 and Eastman double-x 5222 @200

D76 stock

Epson V600 scan

In the kitchen.

Alice's chap

The final iteration of the P5 appeared in September 1967. Now powered by the 3,528-cubic-centimetre (215.3 cu in) Rover V8 engine also used in the 3500, the car was badged as the "3.5 Litre", and commonly known as the 3½ Litre. The final letter in the "P5B" model name came from Buick, the engine's originator. Rover did not have the budget to develop a new engine, hence they chose to redevelop the lightweight aluminium engine available from Buick.

 

Output of 160 hp (120 kW) was claimed along with improved torque. When introduced in 1967 the Buick designed V8 produced 160 PS (118 kW; 158 hp) at 5,200 rpm and 210 lb⋅ft (280 N⋅m) of torque at 2,600 rpm.

 

The exterior was mostly unchanged, apart from bold '3.5 Litre' badging, a pair of fog lights which were added below the head lights, creating a striking 4 light array, and the fitting of chrome Rostyle wheels with black painted inserts. The P5B existed as both the 4-door coupé and saloon body style until end of production. Production ended in 1973, by when 9,099 coupés and 11,501 saloons had been built.

 

The 3½ Litre saloon variant was a favourite of high-ranking Government Ministers, and served as Prime Ministerial transport for Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher. As testament to their suitability, the last batch of P5Bs to roll off the Rover line in June 1973 was purchased by the British government and placed in storage, to be released for government use as required.

 

As for most of the models built his November, the Rover P5B 3.5 Litre is a major redesign of a previously created model. In LUGNuts there was a build challenge named 'Redo or Redemption' just for this type of build.

Processed with VSCOcam with m3 preset

darkroom developed 35mm

check out the color edited version on deviantart (its pretty rad)

www.deviantart.com/deviation/44736954/

original on deviantart

www.deviantart.com/deviation/43885989/

 

Promising clouds late afternoon did develop into a fine sunset.

Developing heat changing hair dyes!

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