+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

In 1932, the United States Navy contracted the Curtiss-Wright Corporation to produce a modern, two-seat fighter design for use on its growing family of aircraft carriers. Curtiss responded by putting forth their Model 73 - a two-seat monoplane design featuring a single set of parasol wings fitted high atop the fuselage, and the US Navy designated the prototype as XF12C-1.

The Model 73 was powered by a single Wright R-1510-92 Whirlwind 14 series radial piston engine and sported a modern retractable undercarriage. The Curtiss product achieved first flight in 1933 though, by the end of the year, the US Navy had revamped their requirement and categorized the XF12C-1 prototype as the "XS4C-1 scout plane". Once again, this time in early 1934, the US Navy reorganized their needs and labeled the XS4C-1 as the "XSBC-1 dual-role scout-bomber". Curtiss fitted a Wright R-1820 Cyclone series radial piston engine to the design and testing of the prototype ensued.

To ensure something of a legacy, the SBC Helldiver was in fact the last biplane aircraft to be purchased by the United States Navy. The longest Curtiss SBCs to survive were 12 aircraft at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, which were stricken off-charge on 31st October 1944.

General characteristics:

Crew: two; pilot and observer gunner

Length: 28 ft 1⅝ in (8.57 m)

Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)

Height: 10 ft 5 in (3.17 m)

Wing area: 317 ft² (29.4 m²)

Empty weight: 4,552 lb (2,065 kg)

Loaded weight: 7,080 lb (3,211 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 7,632 lb (3,462 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Wright R-1820-34 radial engine, rated at 850 hp (634 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 234 mph (203 knots, 377 km/h) at 15,200 ft (4,600 m)

Cruise speed: 175 mph (152 knots, 282 km/h)

Range with internal fuel: 405 mi (352 nmi, 652 km)

Service ceiling: 24,000 ft (7,320 m)

Rate of climb: 1,630 ft/min (8.28 m/s)

Armament:

1× 0.30 in (7.62 mm) forward-firing M1919 Browning machine gun

1× 0.30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun firing rearward on a flexible mount in the rear cockpit

1× underfuselage hardpoint for a bomb of up to 1.000 lb (454 kg)

or a 45-U.S.-gallon (170-liter) fuel tank

2× underwing hardpoints for 100 lb (45 kg) bombs or flares

The kit and its assembly:

The Curtiss SBC is a kind of ugly duckling and certainly not an aircraft that left any serious impression in history. Nevertheless, its odd mix of modern and vintage design features makes it an interesting subject, and I wanted to build one for a long time. The extended timeframe for the “Old Kit Group Build” at whatifmodelers.com was a welcome motivation to finally dig out a Heller SBC kit (moulds date back from 1979, Matchbox countered with another SBC only one year later) from the stash and build it.

The kit did not see any whiffy mod, was built basically OOB, but received some detail changes and additions. These include a machine gun dummy in the observer’s station, a scratched bomb displacement swing as well as underwing hardpoints, some superficial cockpit and landing gear opening details, as well as lowered flaps and the wiring between the wings – thankfully, only little work of the latter was necessary on the relatively modern biplane design, even though may of the wing wirings are double, so that the work was still challenging. As per usual, I reverted to heated sprues, glued to the kit before painting. The crew (Hobby Master soft vinyl figures) was only added for the beauty pics – in order to make this possible the long greenhouse canopy was cut into four pieces and the sliding parts left unglued to the fuselage.

Otherwise, the kit itself is an easy build with good detail (raised panel lines, though), just the plastic is a bit thin and wobbly, making a good fit not easy. This was not made easier by the fact that the part with the struts for the upper wings had been squashed and bent through other sprues in the box. Getting them back into shape and place for a proper fit was not easy, but with patience and some trial-and-error I was able to save the situation.

Painting and markings:

AFAIK, the SBCs in US Navy service were initially either left in bare metal (with some colorful pre-war squadron markings and the characteristic yellow wings), and, later, some machines operated in the Pacific TO received the early USN Blue Grey/Light Gull Grey livery, and, alternatively, some were painted all-over light-grey (FS 36440?).

I could not find any proof concerning SBCs being operated on carriers in the Atlantic TO, in fact it seems that the SBC was only carried on board of a single carrier, USS Lexington (CV-2). But I deemed the compact aircraft to be pretty suited for smaller escort ships - similar to the Grumman F4F Wildcat, which soldiered on, too, for a long time despite being a pre-war design.

This idea was the basis for my what-if model, and resulted in a machine painted accordingly in the “Atlantic ASW Scheme” with Dark Gull Grey (FS 36231) on the upper surfaces and off-white undersides, with a high waterline. Rather simple and unspectacular, but it suits the SBC well and is rarely seen on USN model kits, most tend to end up in Pacific TO colors.

For painting I used Humbrol 106 (RAF Ocean Grey) and 147 (FS 36495) – both are darker than the authentic tones, but the latter were used for shading (Humbrol 140 and 34, respectively). Reason behind this is that I deemed esp. pure white to be too bright as basic color, leaving no room for post-shading on panels and details. Effectively, it’s a kind of overall pre-shading procedure.

The cockpit became US Interior Green (Humbrol 226), while the visible interior of the landing gear and the cowling became zinc chromate yellow (Humbrol 81), a nice, colorful detail.

The kit was lightly weathered with black ink, too, and received only minimal markings in the form of “Stars & Bars” and a tactical code – another typical feature of machines operated in the Atlantic. As a little (yet authentic) design twist I applied American roundels with a red border, which were mandatory only for a short period in mid-1943 – for the built, fictional SBC they would fit well, and AFAIK this insignia variant lingered on for some time, so that even in late 1943 these must still have been a frequent sight.

After simulating some soot and oil stains as well as flaked paint on the fuselage and leading edges, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Again, a relatively simple but subtle whif version of a rather unpopular and forgotten aircraft – but I must say that the Atlantic scheme suits the anachronistic SBC well. With the other colorful details (green cockpit, yellow engine parts, red roundel edges) I was able to make the simple kit look more interesting than expected.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The history of the Swiss Air Force began in 1914 with the establishment of an ad hoc force consisting of a handful of men in outdated and largely civilian aircraft. It was only in the 1930s the military and civilian leadership decided to establish an effective air force. On 13 December 1929, in what was in retrospect referred to as the "bill to create an air force", the Federal Council asked the Swiss Federal Assembly to approve the spending of 20 million francs for the purchase of 65 French Dewoitine D.27 fighters and the manufacture of 40 Dutch (Fokker C.V-E) reconnaissance planes under license.

Although the opposition Social Democratic Party collected 42,000 signatures in a petition opposing the bill, Parliament passed it handily and declined to allow a referendum on the issue, optional at that time for spending bills. This was the start of a massive armament program that would consume more than a billion francs over the next ten years, but after Hitler's rise to power in Germany, the Social Democrats added their support to the efforts.

When enough monoplane fighters had widely become available for the Swiss Air Force in 1943, the C-3400/-3401 biplanes were quickly removed from front-line service. They served on in second-line surveillance and aerial patrol units, or they were transferred to training units, where most of the type (a total of 119 were built) survived the hostilities. The last C-3400/-3401 was finally withdrawn from service in 1954, and only a single specimen survived in the collection of the Aviation Museum (Flieger Flab Museum) in Dübendorf, Switzerland.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)

Wingspan: 10.02 m (32 ft 10 in)

Height: 3 m (9 ft 10 in)

Wing area: 23 m2 (250 sq ft)

Airfoil: NACA M-12

Empty weight: 1,360 kg (2,998 lb)

Gross weight: 1,740 kg (3,836 lb)

Powerplant:

1× BMW VI 7.3 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 634 kW (850 hp),

driving a three-bladed variable pitch metal propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 400 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn) at 3,000 m (9,843 ft)

Service ceiling: 11,500 m (37,700 ft)

Rate of climb: 16.67 m/s (3,281 ft/min)

Time to altitude: 5,000 m (16,404 ft) in 5 minutes 30 seconds

Wing loading: 75.7 kg/m2 (15.5 lb/sq ft)

Power/mass: 0.36 kW/kg (0.22 hp/lb)

Armament:

2× fixed, forward-firing 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934 machine guns with 600 RPG

4× underwing hardpoints for 20 lb (9.1 kg) bombs (rarely used)

The kit and its assembly:

This whiffy biplane was/is just a kit travesty – the fictional EKW C-34 is a Kawasaki Ki-10 (the ICM kit) with mild mods and Swiss pre-WWII markings. I had an eye on the quite elegant Japanese fighter for a while, and due to its engine with German roots (its Kawasaki Ha9-IIa was a license-built water-cooled BMW VI V12 engine) I thought about a European operator – and eventually I decided to make it a Swiss aircraft.

The ICM kit was built almost OOB, the only changes I made were the spatted wheels (IIRC left over from an ICM Polikarpov I-15 biplane), which needed some tweaks on the OOB struts, and the different, closed canopy (from a Hobby Boss A6M Zero), because I wanted a relatively modern look, comparable with the contemporary Avia B-534 biplane. Mounting it was tricky, because of the “step” under the windscreen, so that I had to add a console under it, and some PSR was necessary to blend the canopy, which was cut into three parts for open display, into the rounded back of the Ki-10. A scratched antenna mast was added, too, to fill the respective opening in the rear part of the dorsal glazing. Thanks to the many braces of the A6M canopy, the implant looks quite organic.

The ICM Ki-10 went together quite well, it’s a rather simple kit with only a single sprue and few parts. The biggest challenge was the upper wing, though, which is only carried by the struts. The locator pins are only marginal, and finding a proper position took some time and superglue.

I furthermore modified the propeller with a long metal axis and a tube adapter inside if the fuselage, so that it could spin freely.

Painting and markings:

The reason why the Ki-10 became a Swiss aircraft was the paint scheme – a quite attractive tricolor splinter pattern (apparently inspired by the similar German camouflage in RLM 61,62 and 63?) was the Swiss Air Force’s standard at the breakout of WWII, and I adopted it for the C-3401, too.

The pattern is vaguely based on a real C-35 biplane (presented at the Dübendorf Aviation Museum), which I deem to look authentic, and I tried to emulate its colors as good as possible. I settled on Desert Yellow (Humbrol 94, the tone is officially called “Ochre” but appears to be quite yellowish), French Khaki Green (ModelMaster 2106) and Chestnut Brown (ModelMaster 2107, another French WWII aircraft tone), with light grey (Humbrol 64) undersides. Painting the splinter scheme with a brush on a biplane like this was tricky, though. The cockpit interior was painted with a grey-green tone similar to RLM 02 (Humbrol 45), the wing struts became black.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, plus some post-panel shading and dry-brushing to emphasize details and to weather it, but only lightly, because the aircraft would not have been involved in fights.

The roundels on the upper wings came from a generic TL-Modellbau national markings sheet, while the red bands for the national insignia under the lower wings and on the rudder were painted. The white cross on the fin comes from a Swiss BAe Hawk trainer (Italeri), while the slightly bigger white cross under the lower wings was scratched from white decal stripes. The tactical code comes from a Croatian MiG-21UM trainer (KP kit), the unit badge is fictional and came from a Spanish Heinkel He 70.

The model was sealed overall with matt acrylic varnish, and as a final step the rigging was applied, made from heated black sprue material, using the real Ki-10 as benchmark for the connections/positions.

A pretty result, and the simple travesty of the elegant Ki-10 into a late interwar biplane from Continental Europe works surprisingly well. The spats and the closed canopy might not have been necessary, but they modernize and change the aircraft, so that its use during WWII – even though not in any offensive role – becomes even more believable. The splinter scheme suits the aircraft well, too, even though its application was a bit tricky, as well as the Swiss roundels.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The history of the Swiss Air Force began in 1914 with the establishment of an ad hoc force consisting of a handful of men in outdated and largely civilian aircraft. It was only in the 1930s the military and civilian leadership decided to establish an effective air force. On 13 December 1929, in what was in retrospect referred to as the "bill to create an air force", the Federal Council asked the Swiss Federal Assembly to approve the spending of 20 million francs for the purchase of 65 French Dewoitine D.27 fighters and the manufacture of 40 Dutch (Fokker C.V-E) reconnaissance planes under license.

Although the opposition Social Democratic Party collected 42,000 signatures in a petition opposing the bill, Parliament passed it handily and declined to allow a referendum on the issue, optional at that time for spending bills. This was the start of a massive armament program that would consume more than a billion francs over the next ten years, but after Hitler's rise to power in Germany, the Social Democrats added their support to the efforts.

When enough monoplane fighters had widely become available for the Swiss Air Force in 1943, the C-3400/-3401 biplanes were quickly removed from front-line service. They served on in second-line surveillance and aerial patrol units, or they were transferred to training units, where most of the type (a total of 119 were built) survived the hostilities. The last C-3400/-3401 was finally withdrawn from service in 1954, and only a single specimen survived in the collection of the Aviation Museum (Flieger Flab Museum) in Dübendorf, Switzerland.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)

Wingspan: 10.02 m (32 ft 10 in)

Height: 3 m (9 ft 10 in)

Wing area: 23 m2 (250 sq ft)

Airfoil: NACA M-12

Empty weight: 1,360 kg (2,998 lb)

Gross weight: 1,740 kg (3,836 lb)

Powerplant:

1× BMW VI 7.3 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 634 kW (850 hp),

driving a three-bladed variable pitch metal propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 400 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn) at 3,000 m (9,843 ft)

Service ceiling: 11,500 m (37,700 ft)

Rate of climb: 16.67 m/s (3,281 ft/min)

Time to altitude: 5,000 m (16,404 ft) in 5 minutes 30 seconds

Wing loading: 75.7 kg/m2 (15.5 lb/sq ft)

Power/mass: 0.36 kW/kg (0.22 hp/lb)

Armament:

2× fixed, forward-firing 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934 machine guns with 600 RPG

4× underwing hardpoints for 20 lb (9.1 kg) bombs (rarely used)

The kit and its assembly:

This whiffy biplane was/is just a kit travesty – the fictional EKW C-34 is a Kawasaki Ki-10 (the ICM kit) with mild mods and Swiss pre-WWII markings. I had an eye on the quite elegant Japanese fighter for a while, and due to its engine with German roots (its Kawasaki Ha9-IIa was a license-built water-cooled BMW VI V12 engine) I thought about a European operator – and eventually I decided to make it a Swiss aircraft.

The ICM kit was built almost OOB, the only changes I made were the spatted wheels (IIRC left over from an ICM Polikarpov I-15 biplane), which needed some tweaks on the OOB struts, and the different, closed canopy (from a Hobby Boss A6M Zero), because I wanted a relatively modern look, comparable with the contemporary Avia B-534 biplane. Mounting it was tricky, because of the “step” under the windscreen, so that I had to add a console under it, and some PSR was necessary to blend the canopy, which was cut into three parts for open display, into the rounded back of the Ki-10. A scratched antenna mast was added, too, to fill the respective opening in the rear part of the dorsal glazing. Thanks to the many braces of the A6M canopy, the implant looks quite organic.

The ICM Ki-10 went together quite well, it’s a rather simple kit with only a single sprue and few parts. The biggest challenge was the upper wing, though, which is only carried by the struts. The locator pins are only marginal, and finding a proper position took some time and superglue.

I furthermore modified the propeller with a long metal axis and a tube adapter inside if the fuselage, so that it could spin freely.

Painting and markings:

The reason why the Ki-10 became a Swiss aircraft was the paint scheme – a quite attractive tricolor splinter pattern (apparently inspired by the similar German camouflage in RLM 61,62 and 63?) was the Swiss Air Force’s standard at the breakout of WWII, and I adopted it for the C-3401, too.

The pattern is vaguely based on a real C-35 biplane (presented at the Dübendorf Aviation Museum), which I deem to look authentic, and I tried to emulate its colors as good as possible. I settled on Desert Yellow (Humbrol 94, the tone is officially called “Ochre” but appears to be quite yellowish), French Khaki Green (ModelMaster 2106) and Chestnut Brown (ModelMaster 2107, another French WWII aircraft tone), with light grey (Humbrol 64) undersides. Painting the splinter scheme with a brush on a biplane like this was tricky, though. The cockpit interior was painted with a grey-green tone similar to RLM 02 (Humbrol 45), the wing struts became black.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, plus some post-panel shading and dry-brushing to emphasize details and to weather it, but only lightly, because the aircraft would not have been involved in fights.

The roundels on the upper wings came from a generic TL-Modellbau national markings sheet, while the red bands for the national insignia under the lower wings and on the rudder were painted. The white cross on the fin comes from a Swiss BAe Hawk trainer (Italeri), while the slightly bigger white cross under the lower wings was scratched from white decal stripes. The tactical code comes from a Croatian MiG-21UM trainer (KP kit), the unit badge is fictional and came from a Spanish Heinkel He 70.

The model was sealed overall with matt acrylic varnish, and as a final step the rigging was applied, made from heated black sprue material, using the real Ki-10 as benchmark for the connections/positions.

A pretty result, and the simple travesty of the elegant Ki-10 into a late interwar biplane from Continental Europe works surprisingly well. The spats and the closed canopy might not have been necessary, but they modernize and change the aircraft, so that its use during WWII – even though not in any offensive role – becomes even more believable. The splinter scheme suits the aircraft well, too, even though its application was a bit tricky, as well as the Swiss roundels.

outdated ISO 400 black and white film in 1997 Pentax 645n camera with 45mm f/2.8 lens. Rodinal developer. Scanned with Canon 9950f scanner.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The history of the Swiss Air Force began in 1914 with the establishment of an ad hoc force consisting of a handful of men in outdated and largely civilian aircraft. It was only in the 1930s the military and civilian leadership decided to establish an effective air force. On 13 December 1929, in what was in retrospect referred to as the "bill to create an air force", the Federal Council asked the Swiss Federal Assembly to approve the spending of 20 million francs for the purchase of 65 French Dewoitine D.27 fighters and the manufacture of 40 Dutch (Fokker C.V-E) reconnaissance planes under license.

Although the opposition Social Democratic Party collected 42,000 signatures in a petition opposing the bill, Parliament passed it handily and declined to allow a referendum on the issue, optional at that time for spending bills. This was the start of a massive armament program that would consume more than a billion francs over the next ten years, but after Hitler's rise to power in Germany, the Social Democrats added their support to the efforts.

When enough monoplane fighters had widely become available for the Swiss Air Force in 1943, the C-3400/-3401 biplanes were quickly removed from front-line service. They served on in second-line surveillance and aerial patrol units, or they were transferred to training units, where most of the type (a total of 119 were built) survived the hostilities. The last C-3400/-3401 was finally withdrawn from service in 1954, and only a single specimen survived in the collection of the Aviation Museum (Flieger Flab Museum) in Dübendorf, Switzerland.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)

Wingspan: 10.02 m (32 ft 10 in)

Height: 3 m (9 ft 10 in)

Wing area: 23 m2 (250 sq ft)

Airfoil: NACA M-12

Empty weight: 1,360 kg (2,998 lb)

Gross weight: 1,740 kg (3,836 lb)

Powerplant:

1× BMW VI 7.3 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 634 kW (850 hp),

driving a three-bladed variable pitch metal propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 400 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn) at 3,000 m (9,843 ft)

Service ceiling: 11,500 m (37,700 ft)

Rate of climb: 16.67 m/s (3,281 ft/min)

Time to altitude: 5,000 m (16,404 ft) in 5 minutes 30 seconds

Wing loading: 75.7 kg/m2 (15.5 lb/sq ft)

Power/mass: 0.36 kW/kg (0.22 hp/lb)

Armament:

2× fixed, forward-firing 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934 machine guns with 600 RPG

4× underwing hardpoints for 20 lb (9.1 kg) bombs (rarely used)

The kit and its assembly:

This whiffy biplane was/is just a kit travesty – the fictional EKW C-34 is a Kawasaki Ki-10 (the ICM kit) with mild mods and Swiss pre-WWII markings. I had an eye on the quite elegant Japanese fighter for a while, and due to its engine with German roots (its Kawasaki Ha9-IIa was a license-built water-cooled BMW VI V12 engine) I thought about a European operator – and eventually I decided to make it a Swiss aircraft.

The ICM kit was built almost OOB, the only changes I made were the spatted wheels (IIRC left over from an ICM Polikarpov I-15 biplane), which needed some tweaks on the OOB struts, and the different, closed canopy (from a Hobby Boss A6M Zero), because I wanted a relatively modern look, comparable with the contemporary Avia B-534 biplane. Mounting it was tricky, because of the “step” under the windscreen, so that I had to add a console under it, and some PSR was necessary to blend the canopy, which was cut into three parts for open display, into the rounded back of the Ki-10. A scratched antenna mast was added, too, to fill the respective opening in the rear part of the dorsal glazing. Thanks to the many braces of the A6M canopy, the implant looks quite organic.

The ICM Ki-10 went together quite well, it’s a rather simple kit with only a single sprue and few parts. The biggest challenge was the upper wing, though, which is only carried by the struts. The locator pins are only marginal, and finding a proper position took some time and superglue.

I furthermore modified the propeller with a long metal axis and a tube adapter inside if the fuselage, so that it could spin freely.

Painting and markings:

The reason why the Ki-10 became a Swiss aircraft was the paint scheme – a quite attractive tricolor splinter pattern (apparently inspired by the similar German camouflage in RLM 61,62 and 63?) was the Swiss Air Force’s standard at the breakout of WWII, and I adopted it for the C-3401, too.

The pattern is vaguely based on a real C-35 biplane (presented at the Dübendorf Aviation Museum), which I deem to look authentic, and I tried to emulate its colors as good as possible. I settled on Desert Yellow (Humbrol 94, the tone is officially called “Ochre” but appears to be quite yellowish), French Khaki Green (ModelMaster 2106) and Chestnut Brown (ModelMaster 2107, another French WWII aircraft tone), with light grey (Humbrol 64) undersides. Painting the splinter scheme with a brush on a biplane like this was tricky, though. The cockpit interior was painted with a grey-green tone similar to RLM 02 (Humbrol 45), the wing struts became black.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, plus some post-panel shading and dry-brushing to emphasize details and to weather it, but only lightly, because the aircraft would not have been involved in fights.

The roundels on the upper wings came from a generic TL-Modellbau national markings sheet, while the red bands for the national insignia under the lower wings and on the rudder were painted. The white cross on the fin comes from a Swiss BAe Hawk trainer (Italeri), while the slightly bigger white cross under the lower wings was scratched from white decal stripes. The tactical code comes from a Croatian MiG-21UM trainer (KP kit), the unit badge is fictional and came from a Spanish Heinkel He 70.

The model was sealed overall with matt acrylic varnish, and as a final step the rigging was applied, made from heated black sprue material, using the real Ki-10 as benchmark for the connections/positions.

A pretty result, and the simple travesty of the elegant Ki-10 into a late interwar biplane from Continental Europe works surprisingly well. The spats and the closed canopy might not have been necessary, but they modernize and change the aircraft, so that its use during WWII – even though not in any offensive role – becomes even more believable. The splinter scheme suits the aircraft well, too, even though its application was a bit tricky, as well as the Swiss roundels.

Due to that New Jersey was the slowest on phasing out the bad old outdated red trapezoid Children slow crossing warning blades that word IF-SAFE STOP THEN-GO because of some mean teachers at school forcing some ice cream trucks to keep their red trapezoid and made a bad and mean-spirited law of ice cream trucks requiring those bad old outdated red trapezoid children slow crossing warning blades that word IF-SAFE STOP THEN-GO which is extremely confusing to people who are death, color blind, can't read or don't speak English in some of New Jersey, I hereby MOST Amazon warehouses in New Jersey to all be converted into Blue's Clues Handy Dandy Notebook prop replica manufacturing plants, Corbeil School Bus manufacturing plants, Chalkboard Manufacturing Plants to bring back the good friendly schools with green chalkboards and electric mechanical wall bells FOREVER and convert most Amazon prime trucks in New Jersey into better and safe updated ice cream trucks with the good awesome current updated yellow trapezoid children slow crossing warning blades that word CHILDREN SLOW CROSSING and School bus stop signs which are octagon shape for the state of New Jersey to also include disabled people in the future too and tear apart the last remaining of the ice cream trucks with the bad old outdated red trapezoid children slow crossing warning blades that word IF-SAFE STOP THEN-GO and recycle all of them into brand new Blue's Clues Handy Dandy notebook prop replicas and reuse the arm the bad old outdated red trapezoid Children Slow crossing warning blades that word IF-SAFE STOP THEN-GO for the brand new stop signs of the new school buses of the future. And for this Schools will also bring back green chalkboards and electric mechanical wall bells and Corbeil school buses and adding in more Disney Snow White and Pinocchio stuff, Corduroy the Bear with two buttons on his green corduroy overalls, Blue's Clues Steve Notebooks, Little Golden Books and other kind-spirited stuff FOREVER quickly and also for schools to get rid of mean teachers, that mean scary looking grumpy face with the freaky spikey eyelashes, triangular eyes and razor blade forehead wrinkles they used to have on Gordon in the old live action model version of Thomas and Friends, Bogen Multicom 2000 systems, mean-spirited angers like Frankie Foster's anger in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and Chief Wiggums meanly aiming his guy in modern Simpsons, and other mean-spirited stuff FOREVER quickly.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

In 1932, the United States Navy contracted the Curtiss-Wright Corporation to produce a modern, two-seat fighter design for use on its growing family of aircraft carriers. Curtiss responded by putting forth their Model 73 - a two-seat monoplane design featuring a single set of parasol wings fitted high atop the fuselage, and the US Navy designated the prototype as XF12C-1.

The Model 73 was powered by a single Wright R-1510-92 Whirlwind 14 series radial piston engine and sported a modern retractable undercarriage. The Curtiss product achieved first flight in 1933 though, by the end of the year, the US Navy had revamped their requirement and categorized the XF12C-1 prototype as the "XS4C-1 scout plane". Once again, this time in early 1934, the US Navy reorganized their needs and labeled the XS4C-1 as the "XSBC-1 dual-role scout-bomber". Curtiss fitted a Wright R-1820 Cyclone series radial piston engine to the design and testing of the prototype ensued.

To ensure something of a legacy, the SBC Helldiver was in fact the last biplane aircraft to be purchased by the United States Navy. The longest Curtiss SBCs to survive were 12 aircraft at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, which were stricken off-charge on 31st October 1944.

General characteristics:

Crew: two; pilot and observer gunner

Length: 28 ft 1⅝ in (8.57 m)

Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)

Height: 10 ft 5 in (3.17 m)

Wing area: 317 ft² (29.4 m²)

Empty weight: 4,552 lb (2,065 kg)

Loaded weight: 7,080 lb (3,211 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 7,632 lb (3,462 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Wright R-1820-34 radial engine, rated at 850 hp (634 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 234 mph (203 knots, 377 km/h) at 15,200 ft (4,600 m)

Cruise speed: 175 mph (152 knots, 282 km/h)

Range with internal fuel: 405 mi (352 nmi, 652 km)

Service ceiling: 24,000 ft (7,320 m)

Rate of climb: 1,630 ft/min (8.28 m/s)

Armament:

1× 0.30 in (7.62 mm) forward-firing M1919 Browning machine gun

1× 0.30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun firing rearward on a flexible mount in the rear cockpit

1× underfuselage hardpoint for a bomb of up to 1.000 lb (454 kg)

or a 45-U.S.-gallon (170-liter) fuel tank

2× underwing hardpoints for 100 lb (45 kg) bombs or flares

The kit and its assembly:

The Curtiss SBC is a kind of ugly duckling and certainly not an aircraft that left any serious impression in history. Nevertheless, its odd mix of modern and vintage design features makes it an interesting subject, and I wanted to build one for a long time. The extended timeframe for the “Old Kit Group Build” at whatifmodelers.com was a welcome motivation to finally dig out a Heller SBC kit (moulds date back from 1979, Matchbox countered with another SBC only one year later) from the stash and build it.

The kit did not see any whiffy mod, was built basically OOB, but received some detail changes and additions. These include a machine gun dummy in the observer’s station, a scratched bomb displacement swing as well as underwing hardpoints, some superficial cockpit and landing gear opening details, as well as lowered flaps and the wiring between the wings – thankfully, only little work of the latter was necessary on the relatively modern biplane design, even though may of the wing wirings are double, so that the work was still challenging. As per usual, I reverted to heated sprues, glued to the kit before painting. The crew (Hobby Master soft vinyl figures) was only added for the beauty pics – in order to make this possible the long greenhouse canopy was cut into four pieces and the sliding parts left unglued to the fuselage.

Otherwise, the kit itself is an easy build with good detail (raised panel lines, though), just the plastic is a bit thin and wobbly, making a good fit not easy. This was not made easier by the fact that the part with the struts for the upper wings had been squashed and bent through other sprues in the box. Getting them back into shape and place for a proper fit was not easy, but with patience and some trial-and-error I was able to save the situation.

Painting and markings:

AFAIK, the SBCs in US Navy service were initially either left in bare metal (with some colorful pre-war squadron markings and the characteristic yellow wings), and, later, some machines operated in the Pacific TO received the early USN Blue Grey/Light Gull Grey livery, and, alternatively, some were painted all-over light-grey (FS 36440?).

I could not find any proof concerning SBCs being operated on carriers in the Atlantic TO, in fact it seems that the SBC was only carried on board of a single carrier, USS Lexington (CV-2). But I deemed the compact aircraft to be pretty suited for smaller escort ships - similar to the Grumman F4F Wildcat, which soldiered on, too, for a long time despite being a pre-war design.

This idea was the basis for my what-if model, and resulted in a machine painted accordingly in the “Atlantic ASW Scheme” with Dark Gull Grey (FS 36231) on the upper surfaces and off-white undersides, with a high waterline. Rather simple and unspectacular, but it suits the SBC well and is rarely seen on USN model kits, most tend to end up in Pacific TO colors.

For painting I used Humbrol 106 (RAF Ocean Grey) and 147 (FS 36495) – both are darker than the authentic tones, but the latter were used for shading (Humbrol 140 and 34, respectively). Reason behind this is that I deemed esp. pure white to be too bright as basic color, leaving no room for post-shading on panels and details. Effectively, it’s a kind of overall pre-shading procedure.

The cockpit became US Interior Green (Humbrol 226), while the visible interior of the landing gear and the cowling became zinc chromate yellow (Humbrol 81), a nice, colorful detail.

The kit was lightly weathered with black ink, too, and received only minimal markings in the form of “Stars & Bars” and a tactical code – another typical feature of machines operated in the Atlantic. As a little (yet authentic) design twist I applied American roundels with a red border, which were mandatory only for a short period in mid-1943 – for the built, fictional SBC they would fit well, and AFAIK this insignia variant lingered on for some time, so that even in late 1943 these must still have been a frequent sight.

After simulating some soot and oil stains as well as flaked paint on the fuselage and leading edges, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Again, a relatively simple but subtle whif version of a rather unpopular and forgotten aircraft – but I must say that the Atlantic scheme suits the anachronistic SBC well. With the other colorful details (green cockpit, yellow engine parts, red roundel edges) I was able to make the simple kit look more interesting than expected.

Though the A-4 Skyhawk was by no means outdated by 1962, the US Navy began work on a replacement with better range and heavier payload. The designs submitted would be necessarily heavier than the A-4, but this was not seen as much of a problem, nor was a lack of speed: the Navy was willing to trade subsonic performance for increased range and more bombs. Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) submitted a design based loosely on its successful F-8 Crusader fighter, which was enough to beat out three other designs, and it was ordered into production as the A-7A Corsair II, named for the successful Chance-Vought fighter of World War II.

Though the A-7 was based on the F-8, the two shared very little other than basic configuration: the A-7 was stubby and wide, and definitely subsonic as intended, though it initially used the same powerplant as the F-111 Aardvark. Turn performance was excellent, if acceleration was indifferent, but the centerpiece of the Corsair II was its integrated bomb delivery system. This included the APQ-116 radar, a heads-up display, traveling map display below the radarscope, and a digital computer. Ease of maintenance was also emphasized. With no problems encountered in flight testing, the A-7A entered fleet service in 1967.

It was immediately committed to fighting in Vietnam. Though A-7s would only see action in the tail end of Operation Rolling Thunder, they were to be used extensively in South Vietnam, due to their accuracy: A-7s were capable of putting ordnance within sixty feet of friendly troops, making it well-liked. The Navy liked the USAF's A-7D variant, and subsequently adopted it, with changes for naval operations, as the A-7E. This was to be the definitive model of the Corsair II, and surviving A-7As and A-7Bs were converted to E standard.

It was a mixed batch of A-7 models that finished the war in Vietnam: A-7Bs were mostly used in the suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) Wild Weasel role, and increasingly Corsair IIs were armed with precision weapons such as the AGM-62 Walleye, which proved capable enough to destroy the infamous Thanh Hoa Bridge—albeit temporarily—in 1972. The workhorse A-7 also struck targets in the Hanoi area extensively, making it second only to the B-52 in amount of ordnance dropped on the North Vietnamese capital. Navy A-7s from USS Coral Sea participated in the last combat missions of the Vietnam War, the Mayaguez rescue mission in May 1975. 98 Navy A-7s were shot down during the conflict.

Following the end of the Vietnam War, the A-7 replaced the A-4 in Navy light attack squadrons, standardizing on the A-7E. Aside from minor upgrades, this would remain the type used by Navy units for the duration of the Corsair II’s career. A-7s would go on to participate in every military operation undertaken by the United States in the 1980s—attacks on Lebanon and the invasion of Grenada in 1983, operations against Libya in 1985, during the “Tanker War” in the Persian Gulf in 1987, and finally in the First Gulf War in 1991. In these operations, the A-7 was able to use its pinpoint bombing ability to good use; in Libya and the Persian Gulf, Corsair IIs attacked and sank numerous Libyan and Iranian patrol boats with unguided bombs. It also was the Navy’s Wild Weasel of choice during the 1980s, using the Vietnam-era Shrike before upgrading to the far superior HARM.

In Operation Desert Storm, two A-7 squadrons from John F. Kennedy were used both to attack fixed targets with “iron” bombs and Walleyes in “tank plinking”—knocking out Iraqi tanks with precision weapons. Despite there being less than 30 A-7s in theater, these aircraft were able supplements to the USAF’s A-10s and F-111s.

The First Gulf War was the A-7’s swan song. The last squadrons gave up their Corsair IIs for F/A-18 Hornets by May 1991, ending nearly thirty years of operations. Some ex-Navy A-7s were passed on to Greece, Portugal, and Thailand, and some still remain in service with Thailand and Greece. Of the 1569 A-7s built, about half were Navy types, and today 20 former US Navy A-7s are on display as gate guards and museum pieces.

This TA-7C was built as Bureau Number 154544, an A-7B; it was delivered in 1971 to VA-56 ("Champions") and immediately saw combat over Vietnam during Operation Linebacker while assigned to the USS Midway (CVA-41). After a stint with VA-215 ("Barn Owls") aboard the USS Oriskany (CVA-34), 154544 was converted to a TA-7C two-seater and served out the rest of its career with the Naval Air Test Center and Pacific Missile Test Range at NAS Point Mugu, California. It was retired in 1991 and went into storage, before being obtained by one of the museums in Chino, California (either Yanks or Planes of Fame). Sometime recently, 154544 was sold to the Inde Motorsports Ranch, where it is today.

Though its gray camouflage has faded quite a bit under the Southwest sun, 154544 is very much intact and will probably get refurbished before long. We saw it in June 2023.

Autumn 2015 / new scan; not all the processing marks have been removed ...

Konica FC-1

Konica Hexanon AR 50mm f/1.4

Outdated Kodak Color Plus 200

Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV scan + LR adjustments and removal of blemishes

The Ticonderogas were designed to be the state-of-the-art replacements of the outdated Cold War Spruance Class. 27 Ticonderogas have been completed. The first 5 of the class, including the Ticonderoga, were decommissioned early. Their lack of a VLS (vertical launch system), made them obsolete. The 22 active vessels are slated to serve until they each reach the end of their individual life expectancies. Although, with the proposed dry docking and overhaul, they would be able to serve longer.

Length - 567ft

Displacement - 9,600-9,800 tons

Propulsion - 4 GE gas turbine engines, 2 rudders, 2 reversible-pitch propellers

Range - 6,000 nmi

Performance - 32.5 knots

Compliment - 30 officers, 300 enlisted

Armament - 2x61-cell Mk 41 VLS, 8 Harpoon launchers, 2x5in Mark 45 guns, 2x25mm Mark 38 guns, 2 Phalanx CIWS, 2 Mark 32 triple torpedo launchers

Deployable Vehicles - 2 SH-60 Seahawks, inflatable dinghies

Well, one more down. This one was pretty fun to revisit. I fixed a bunch of issues from my first version, and the only thing still bothering me is that main mast. Other than that, I’m quite happy with this design. Next, I will be moving on to the Whidbey Island Class dock landing ship.

Outdated transit bus

Minolta Dynax 9 and Tamron 28-300 AF zoom / outdated (2010) Agfaphoto APX 400 film / lab develop and scan

star

autumn 2006

On the night of June 21, 1942 the Japanese submarine I-25 commanded by Capt Tagami Meiji surfaced near the mouth of the Columbia River, having followed American fishing boats to evade the minefields in the area. It had previously patrolled the Oregon Coast and grounded the SS Connecticut. Now it aimed to attack the harbor defenses at Fort Stevens, which still retained its old Endicott Batteries, which were now 40 years outdated. Surfacing about 16km from shore, I-25 opened fire at Battery Russell, the nearest defenses at Fort Stevens, with 144mm shells, jarring awake the artillery garrison. Immediately the commander of the fort ordered the lights cut out of the fort, plunging the entire area into darkness. The gun crews were quickly ready, but permission to fire was denied, mostly because I-25 was firing wide and the commander did not want a reply to allow the submarine to pinpoint the positions to either fire at or triangulate for more serious attacks. After firing 17 shots, I-25 was attacked by a A-29 Hudson. Successfully evading the attacks, the Japanese submarine submerged and disappeared. Though two of the shells landed near Battery Russell, seen here, the only damage the Japanese shells did was sever several large telephone cables and destroy a baseball backstop.

The Bombardment of Fort Stevens was the first military fortification to come under attack on US soil since the War of 1812 and the only time the Axis powers would attack a military installation on the continental United States during WWII. It was also the second attack on US soil since I-17 bombarded the oil refinery at Ellwood four months earlier.

I-25 would have one more role to play in attacks on the US during WWII. On August 15, Warrant Officer Nubuo Fujita flew a Yokosuka E14Y floatplane stored on I-25 to launch incendiary attacks on the Pacific Northwest, hoping to burn a large part of the Oregon forest. Light wind, wet weather and sharp lookouts quickly foiled the attack near Brookings Oregon, which caused no damage. On September 29 Fujita tried again near Port Orford, but to this day there has been no evidence of the bombing recovered in Oregon. Nevertheless the two air attacks Fujita performed would be the only time the United States has been subjected to an aerial attack by a foreign power. Unsuccessful, I-25 then crippled the SS Camden and sank the SS Larry Doheny as well as the Soviet L-16 (which was technically neutral, being mistaken for an American submarine) before returning to Japan. I-25 would be sunk a year later.

In November 1944 facing the threat of defeat, the Japanese began launching what would eventually number some 9400 fire balloons, hydrogen balloons carrying antipersonnel bombs or incendiaries to the United States. Carried by the jet stream, the bombs were the first intercontinental weapon ever used. The attack was dramatic but largely ineffectual; at least 300 made it to the United States, some landing as far East as Texas and Michigan. Interestingly on March 10, 1945, one balloon landed at the Hanford Site in Washington, site of the Manhattan Project's nuclear production facility; the balloon short-circuited electricity to the nuclear reactor cooling pumps, but power was restored almost immediately by backups. Only one caused fatalities; on May 5, 1945 Pastor Archie Mitchell and his pregnant wife Elsie and five of his Sunday school children went to picnic in the forest of Gearhart Mountain in Southern Oregon. While Archie parked the car, Elsie and the kids looked for a picnic spot. Two rapid explosions then killed all six. Investigators guessed that an incendiary bomb had landed weeks before and that the bomb had been set off when kicked. Elsie Mitchell, Edward Engen, Jay Gifford, Joan Patzke, Dick Patzke, and Sherman Shoemaker were the only known deaths in US soil as a result of enemy action during WWII.

Along with the Bombardment of Ellwood and the German sabotage attempt Operation Pastorius, these would constitute the only Axis attacks on the United States during WWII (both Alaska and Hawaii, as well as the Philippines, Midway, Wake and American Samoa were territories). Oregon, being one of the closest locations in the continental United States to Japan, would thus be the unlucky state to bear to brunt of the pinprick Axis attacks on the home front.

In 1962, Nubuo Fujita, who survived WWII, was invited to Bookings, Oregon by the Brookings Junior Chamber of Commerce, to great local controversy. Nevertheless, Fujita arrived with his family and in a well-regarded ceremony, presented his family samurai sword to the city. Treated with respect and affection, he would return to Brookings several times, planting a tree in 1992 at his bombing site 50 years earlier. He died in 1997 having received an honorary citizenship of Bookings. In his obituary in the New York Times it was revealed that in the 1962 visit, Fujita had actually planned on using his ceremonial sword to commit seppuku if he faced a hostile reception at the hands of his former enemies. As it is Fujita's samurai sword remains in a place of honor at the Bookings Oregon library.

Fort Stevens State Park, Lewis and Clark National and State Historic Parks, Warrenton, Oregon

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The history of the Swiss Air Force began in 1914 with the establishment of an ad hoc force consisting of a handful of men in outdated and largely civilian aircraft. It was only in the 1930s the military and civilian leadership decided to establish an effective air force. On 13 December 1929, in what was in retrospect referred to as the "bill to create an air force", the Federal Council asked the Swiss Federal Assembly to approve the spending of 20 million francs for the purchase of 65 French Dewoitine D.27 fighters and the manufacture of 40 Dutch (Fokker C.V-E) reconnaissance planes under license.

Although the opposition Social Democratic Party collected 42,000 signatures in a petition opposing the bill, Parliament passed it handily and declined to allow a referendum on the issue, optional at that time for spending bills. This was the start of a massive armament program that would consume more than a billion francs over the next ten years, but after Hitler's rise to power in Germany, the Social Democrats added their support to the efforts.

When enough monoplane fighters had widely become available for the Swiss Air Force in 1943, the C-3400/-3401 biplanes were quickly removed from front-line service. They served on in second-line surveillance and aerial patrol units, or they were transferred to training units, where most of the type (a total of 119 were built) survived the hostilities. The last C-3400/-3401 was finally withdrawn from service in 1954, and only a single specimen survived in the collection of the Aviation Museum (Flieger Flab Museum) in Dübendorf, Switzerland.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)

Wingspan: 10.02 m (32 ft 10 in)

Height: 3 m (9 ft 10 in)

Wing area: 23 m2 (250 sq ft)

Airfoil: NACA M-12

Empty weight: 1,360 kg (2,998 lb)

Gross weight: 1,740 kg (3,836 lb)

Powerplant:

1× BMW VI 7.3 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 634 kW (850 hp),

driving a three-bladed variable pitch metal propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 400 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn) at 3,000 m (9,843 ft)

Service ceiling: 11,500 m (37,700 ft)

Rate of climb: 16.67 m/s (3,281 ft/min)

Time to altitude: 5,000 m (16,404 ft) in 5 minutes 30 seconds

Wing loading: 75.7 kg/m2 (15.5 lb/sq ft)

Power/mass: 0.36 kW/kg (0.22 hp/lb)

Armament:

2× fixed, forward-firing 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934 machine guns with 600 RPG

4× underwing hardpoints for 20 lb (9.1 kg) bombs (rarely used)

The kit and its assembly:

This whiffy biplane was/is just a kit travesty – the fictional EKW C-34 is a Kawasaki Ki-10 (the ICM kit) with mild mods and Swiss pre-WWII markings. I had an eye on the quite elegant Japanese fighter for a while, and due to its engine with German roots (its Kawasaki Ha9-IIa was a license-built water-cooled BMW VI V12 engine) I thought about a European operator – and eventually I decided to make it a Swiss aircraft.

The ICM kit was built almost OOB, the only changes I made were the spatted wheels (IIRC left over from an ICM Polikarpov I-15 biplane), which needed some tweaks on the OOB struts, and the different, closed canopy (from a Hobby Boss A6M Zero), because I wanted a relatively modern look, comparable with the contemporary Avia B-534 biplane. Mounting it was tricky, because of the “step” under the windscreen, so that I had to add a console under it, and some PSR was necessary to blend the canopy, which was cut into three parts for open display, into the rounded back of the Ki-10. A scratched antenna mast was added, too, to fill the respective opening in the rear part of the dorsal glazing. Thanks to the many braces of the A6M canopy, the implant looks quite organic.

The ICM Ki-10 went together quite well, it’s a rather simple kit with only a single sprue and few parts. The biggest challenge was the upper wing, though, which is only carried by the struts. The locator pins are only marginal, and finding a proper position took some time and superglue.

I furthermore modified the propeller with a long metal axis and a tube adapter inside if the fuselage, so that it could spin freely.

Painting and markings:

The reason why the Ki-10 became a Swiss aircraft was the paint scheme – a quite attractive tricolor splinter pattern (apparently inspired by the similar German camouflage in RLM 61,62 and 63?) was the Swiss Air Force’s standard at the breakout of WWII, and I adopted it for the C-3401, too.

The pattern is vaguely based on a real C-35 biplane (presented at the Dübendorf Aviation Museum), which I deem to look authentic, and I tried to emulate its colors as good as possible. I settled on Desert Yellow (Humbrol 94, the tone is officially called “Ochre” but appears to be quite yellowish), French Khaki Green (ModelMaster 2106) and Chestnut Brown (ModelMaster 2107, another French WWII aircraft tone), with light grey (Humbrol 64) undersides. Painting the splinter scheme with a brush on a biplane like this was tricky, though. The cockpit interior was painted with a grey-green tone similar to RLM 02 (Humbrol 45), the wing struts became black.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, plus some post-panel shading and dry-brushing to emphasize details and to weather it, but only lightly, because the aircraft would not have been involved in fights.

The roundels on the upper wings came from a generic TL-Modellbau national markings sheet, while the red bands for the national insignia under the lower wings and on the rudder were painted. The white cross on the fin comes from a Swiss BAe Hawk trainer (Italeri), while the slightly bigger white cross under the lower wings was scratched from white decal stripes. The tactical code comes from a Croatian MiG-21UM trainer (KP kit), the unit badge is fictional and came from a Spanish Heinkel He 70.

The model was sealed overall with matt acrylic varnish, and as a final step the rigging was applied, made from heated black sprue material, using the real Ki-10 as benchmark for the connections/positions.

A pretty result, and the simple travesty of the elegant Ki-10 into a late interwar biplane from Continental Europe works surprisingly well. The spats and the closed canopy might not have been necessary, but they modernize and change the aircraft, so that its use during WWII – even though not in any offensive role – becomes even more believable. The splinter scheme suits the aircraft well, too, even though its application was a bit tricky, as well as the Swiss roundels.

Cimetière notre dame de Belmont / Notre dame de Belmont cemetary Québec / Quebec city 2016/02

Nikon F100

Nikkor 50mm

Ilford delta 3200 (outdated)

Kodak D76 (stock)

Silverfast

Nikon LS5000

CS5 : Contrast

This outdated plane has become a staple as a Close Air Support fighter. Cheap, and available, it's a convenient anti-tank weapon.

It might be an outdated term nowadays but this lovely couple just adore saying they are in a Boston marriage, it makes them happy. A Boston marriage is a term used in the the late 19th and early 20th centuries to describe two women living together, independent of financial support from a man. This was back when such things were frowned upon. Nowadays we're a lot more liberated. Just like these two...

Cheers

id-iom

Title: Happy in a Boston Marriage

Materials: Pencil, acrylic and spray paint

Size: A4 Framed

Oxford

Konica FC-1

Konica Hexanon AR 50mm f/1.4

Outdated Kodak Color Plus 200

Boots scan + LR adjustments

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Austrian Air Force in its current form was created in May 1955 by the victorious Allied powers, subject to restrictions on its use of guided missiles. The Austrian State Treaty of 1955 committed Austria to permanent neutrality. Pilot training started out with a four Yak-11 Moose and four Yak-18 Max aircraft donated by the Soviet Union, and Austria purchased further light trainer types under the Military Assistance Program. Until 1960 Austria purchased training and support aircraft under the MAP, but no modern fighter aircraft; the role of a fighter was rather inadequately filled by thirty already outdated Saab 29 Tunnan, bought second-hand from the Swedish Air Force in the early 1960s which equipped two fighter bomber squadrons.

The Austrian Lightnings’ planned service period of 10 years was almost doubled, though, due to massive delays with the Eurofighter’s development: In 2002, Austria had already selected the Typhoon as its new “Phase II” air defense aircraft, having beaten the F-16 and the Saab Gripen in competition, and its introduction had been expected to occur from early 2005 on, so that the Lightnings could be gradually phased out. The purchase of 18 Typhoons was agreed on 1 July 2003, but it would take until 12 July 2007 that the first Typhoon would eventually be delivered to Zeltweg Air Base and formally enter service with the Austrian Air Force. This operational gap had to be bridged with twelve F-5E leased from Switzerland for EUR 75 mio., so that Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties for the Austrian airspace could be continued.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 55 ft 3 in (16.84 m)

Wingspan: 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)

Height: 19 ft 7 in (5.97 m)

Wing area: 474.5 sq ft (44.08 m²)

Empty weight: 31,068 lb (14,092 kg) with armament and no fuel

Gross weight: 41,076 lb (18,632 kg) with two AIM-9B, cannon, ammunition, and internal fuel

Max takeoff weight: 45,750 lb (20,752 kg)

Powerplant:

2× Rolls-Royce Avon 301R afterburning turbojet engines,

12,690 lbf (56.4 kN) thrust each dry, 16,360 lbf (72.8 kN) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: Mach 2.27 (1,500 mph+ at 40,000 ft)

Range: 738 nmi (849 mi, 1,367 km)

Combat range: 135 nmi (155 mi, 250 km) supersonic intercept radius

Range: 800 nmi (920 mi, 1,500 km) with internal fuel

1,100 nmi (1,300 mi; 2,000 km) with external overwing tanks

Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)

Zoom ceiling: 70,000 ft (21,000 m)

Rate of climb: 20,000 ft/min (100 m/s) sustained to 30,000 ft (9,100 m)

Zoom climb: 50,000 ft/min

Time to altitude: 2.8 min to 36,000 ft (11,000 m)

Wing loading: 76 lb/sq ft (370 kg/m²) with two AIM-9 and 1/2 fuel

Thrust/weight: 0.78 (1.03 empty)

Armament:

2× 30 mm (1.181 in) ADEN cannon with 120 RPG in the lower fuselage

2× forward fuselage hardpoints for a single AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM each

2× underwing hardpoints for 1.000 lb (454 kg) each

2× overwing pylon stations for 2.000 lb (907 kg each),

typically occupied with 260 imp gal (310 US gal; 1,200 l) ferry tanks

The kit and its assembly:

This was another submission to the “Hunter, Lightning and Canberra” group build at whatifmodellers.com in 2022 and intended as a rather simple build since it was based on an alternate reality plot: the weird story that Austria was offered a revamped fleet of ex-Saudi Arabian Lightnings is true(!), but the decision eventually fell in favor of revamped Saab J 35Ds from Sweden. For this what-if build I used the real historic timeline, replaced the aircraft, and built both story and model around this – and the result became the BAC Lightning F.56 in Austrian Air Force service.

Initially I wanted to use an Airfix BAC Lightning in The Stash™, a really nice model kit and a relatively new mold, but it turned out to be the kit’s F.2A variant. While very similar to the F.6, changing it into a F.53 analogue with the OOB parts turned out to be too complex for my taste. For instance, the F.2A kit lacks the ventral gun bay (it just comes with the auxiliary tank option since the guns are already located in front of the cockpit) and the cable conduits on the lower flanks. Procuring a suitable and priceworthy Airfix F.6 turned out to be impossible, but then I remembered a Hasegawa Lightning F.6 in The Stash™ that I had shot at ev!lbay many moons ago for a laughable price and without a concrete plan. However, this kit is pretty old: it has raised (yet quite fine, less robust than the Matchbox kit) panel lines and even comes with a pilot figure, but also many weak spots like the air intake and the jet exhausts that end in flat walls after some millimeters depth and a very basic cockpit. But for this rather simple what-if project the kit appeared to be a suitable basis, and it would eventually find a good use.

The Hasegawa Lightning was basically built OOB, even though I made some cosmetic amendments like a better seat for the pilot, hydraulic fluid lines on the landing gear made from wire or opening the flat walls inside of the air intake opening and the jet nozzles. Behind the radome, a simple splitter plate was added as well as a recessed bulkhead in front of an implanted Me 262 cockpit tub (the Hasegawa kit just offers a bare floor panel, nothing else!), the afterburners were extended inwards with parts from a Matchbox A.W. Meteor night fighter.

The Red Top AAMs and the in-flight refueling probe were omitted. Instead, I added extra F.53-style forward-swept pylons under the outer wings, scratched from 1.5 mm styrene sheet due to their odd, raked shape, and I added Sidewinder launch rails plus suitable missiles from a Hasegawa air-to-air weapons set to all four stations. After long consideration I also retained the ‘overburger’ tanks, partly because of the unique layout on the Lightning, and also because of operational considerations.

Chaff dispensers were scratched from styrene profiles and placed at the fin’s base. A fairing for the retrofitted radar warning sensor was added to the fin tip, created from 1.5 mm styrene sheet.

Painting and markings:

To reflect the “alternate reality” role of the Lightning I gave the model a livery similar to the Saab J 35Ö that were actually procured: an adaptation of the USAF “Egypt One” scheme, carried primarily by the USAF F-16s. Adapting this simple three-tone camouflage from the flat F-16 to the Draken was easy and straightforward, but applying it to a Lightning with its many vertical surfaces turned out to be a tough challenge. I eventually came up with a paint scheme that reminds of the late RAF low-viz Lightning liveries, which existed in a wide range of patterns and graduations of grey.

The colors were authentic, FS 36118, 36270 and 36375 (using Humbrol 125, 126 and 127), and I decided to emphasize the camouflage of the flanks against the horizon, so that the vertical surfaces and the fin became FS 36270. The undersides of wings, stabilizers and fuselage became FS 36375. The dark FS 36118 was only applied to the upper sides of the wings and the stabilizer, and to a high dorsal section, starting at the wing roots. As a small contrast, the tank area on the spine was painted in light grey, simulating unpainted fiber glass. The radome was painted with a streaky mix of Humbrol 155 and 56.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, some post-panel-shading in lighter tones, and, due to the raised panel lines, was very lightly rubbed with graphite. The cockpit interior was painted in medium grey (Revell 47) with an olive drab fabric fairing behind the black pilot seat, which received ejection handles made from thin wire as eye candy. The landing gear and the respective wells were painted in Humbrol 56 (Aluminum Dope).

The decals are a wild mix: The fuselage roundels are actually wing markings from a Hasegawa J 35OE, as well as the huge orange "06" on the wings (I could not resist; they will later be partly obscured by the overwing tanks, but the heck with it!). The roundels on the wings come from a generic TL Modellbau sheet - I found that I needed larger markings than those on the Draken.

Both unit and individual aircraft identifiers are single black DIN font digits, also from TL Modellbau. The unit badges on the fin are authentic, even though from an earlier era: they came from an Austrian J 29 of Fliegerregiment 2 from a PrintScale sheet, and all stencils were taken from the OOB low-viz RAF markings sheet, plus four small warning triangles for the underwing pylons.

A ‘what-if’ model in the purest sense, since this model depicts what could really have been: ex Saudi-Arabian export BAC Lightnings over the Austrian Alps! However, refurbished Saab J 35D Draken made the race (and later followed by the Eurofighter Typhoon at ‘Stage 2’), so that this Lightning remains fictional. It does not look bad in the ‘Egypt One’ paint scheme, though, better than expected!

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Sd.Kfz. 124 Wespe (German for "wasp", also known as Leichte Feldhaubitze 18/2 auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen II (Sf.), "Light field howitzer 18 on Panzer II chassis (self-propelled)"), was a German self-propelled gun developed and used during the Second World War. During the Battle of France in 1940 it became apparent that the intermediate tank of the German forces, the Panzer II, had become unsuitable as a main battle tank and outdated. Though mechanically sound, it was both under-gunned and under-armored, and its small size prevented heavier armament and armor so that its development potential was limited. The chassis, however, proved serviceable for providing mobility to the 10.5 cm field howitzer, and important artillery weapon.

Operationally, the Jagdwespe was best employed in defensive or overwatch roles. They were neither assault vehicles nor tank substitutes, and the open-top compartment meant operations in crowded areas such as urban environments or other close-combat situations weren't a valid tactical option. But despite their weaknesses, they were more effective than the towed antitank guns they replaced, and the 7.5 cm Pak 42 with the extended barrel meant a significant improvement in firepower. The vehicle was small, easy to conceal for an ambush and relatively agile, so that it could quickly change position after a shot, and the Panzer II chassis was mechanically reliable, what made it popular with its crews.

Specifications:

Crew: Four (commander, gunner, loader/radio operator, driver)

Weight: 12.5 tonnes (27,533 lb)

Length: 4.81 m (15 ft 9 in)

6.44 m (21 ft 1 1/2 in) overall

Width: 2.28 m (7 ft 6 in)

Height: 2.21 m (7 ft 3 in)

Suspension: Leaf spring

Fuel capacity: 170 L (45 US gal)

Armor:

5 - 30 mm (.19 - 1.18 in)

Performance:

Maximum road speed: 40 km/h (25 mph)

Operational range: 220 km (137 mi) on roads

100 km (62 mi) cross-country

Power/weight: 12.7 PS/tonne

Engine & transmission:

6-cyl petrol Maybach HL62 TR with 140 PS (138 hp, 103 kW)

Armament:

1× 7.5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 42/L 70 (7.5 cm Pak 42) with 51 rounds

1× 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun with 2.000 rounds

The kit and its assembly:

This relatively simple German WWII what-if SPG was spawned from the thought that the light Wespe artillery SPG might also have been used for an anti-tank SPG, with relatively few modifications. The long-barreled 7.5 cm KwK 42/L70 appeared to be a suitable weapon for this kind of vehicle around 1944, so I tried to build a respective model.

The basis became the Italeri 1:72 “Wespe” kit, which is in fact a re-boxed ESCI kit. It goes together well, and you can build upper and lower hull separately for a final “marriage”. To change the Wespe’s look a little I exchanged the solid OOB wheels with those from a Panzer III, left over from a Revell/Mako kit. They are perfect in size, but due a lack of depth of their attachment openings (I only used the outer half of the Panzer III wheels) I glued them onto the hull before painting, normally I finish them separately and mount them in a final assembly step.

For the gun I had to improvise a little, because the open casemate would allow a good look at it. I settled for a straightforward solution in the form of a Zvezda 1:72 PaK 40. The gun was taken OOB, I just removed the wheel attachment points from its chassis and replaced the short gun barrel with a muzzle brake with a aluminum 1:72 L70 barrel for a Panther Ausf. F (with a Schmalturm) from Aber. Both elements were relatively easy to combine, and the gun shield could be taken over, too. Once the gun mount’s position in the Wespe hull was defined I narrowed the front opening a little with styrene wedges, added a deflector at its base, and reduced the height of the side walls for a coherent look. All in all the transplant looks very plausible!

Since the kit provides the option I decided to leave the driver’s hatch open and install the OOB driver figure on a raised seat. For the long barrel I scratched a support that was mounted to the front hull. Looks a bit awkward, though, because it obscures the driver’s field of view – but I could not find a better solution.

The only real trouble I had with the Italeri Wespe were the tracks: they were made from a really strange (and effectively horrible) vinyl material. This material repelled EVERYTHING with a kind of lotus effect – paints of any kind, even superglue! My usual method of mounting such tracks on the main wheels did not work at all, because the track would not hold at all. During these trials I also recognized that the tracks were too long – rather unusual, because 1:72 vinyl tracks tend to be too short so that some tension is needed to lengthen them properly. Two molded “links” had to be cut away, and on the kit’s box art you can see the overlength problem when you are aware of it! I guess that the ESCI designers once assumed that the tracks would be closed into a loop (= closing the track and using heat to literally weld it together) first and then forced onto/over the wheels. I was eventually able to outsmart the tracks through the massive use of superglue under the mudguards – while the tracks still do not really stick to the glue, the large surface of the dried instant adhesive keeps the tracks in place and under light tension. Not perfect, but the tracks remain in place…

Painting and markings:

Conservative, once more a variation of the Hinterhalt scheme. Once completed, the still separate hull, gun and shield received an overall base coat with RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb (TS-3 from a rattle can). On top of that I added vertical fields with Olivgrün (RAL 6003, Humbrol 86), and finally I applied branch-like thin stripes with a dark brown (Humbrol 98, which is darker and less reddish than the authentic RAL 8012, for a stronger contrast). The idea was to mimic dense brushes during spring and summertime, and to break up the vehicle’s outlines esp. through the brown lines. Following official camouflage practice the running gear area remained uniform Dunkelgelb, as a counter-shading measure against the upper hull, and to avoid “rotating” and therefore attention-catching color patches on the wheels when the vehicle moved.

Once the camouflage was completed the main wheels received rubber rims (with Revell 09 Anthracite) and the model received a dark red-brown washing. After that, the few decals were applied and overall dry-brushing with a mix of light grey and earth brown acrylic paint was done to emphasize edges and surface details, also on the gun and in the interior. Before their tedious fitting, the vinyl tracks (which came OOB in a metallic grey finish that looked really nice) had received a washing with black and brown acrylic paint as well as dry-brushing with medium grey, too.

A relatively simple and quick project, realized in a couple of days. The concept was quite clear, and thanks to good ingredients the result looks surprisingly plausible, with relatively few and little modifications. The different Panzer III wheels were not a necessary mod, but I like their look, and painting them while being already attached to the hull posed less problems than expected. The only real trouble came through the kit’s vinyl tracks, which I’d call rubbish and recommend a replacement. If they’d be made from a less repellant material, they’d be much easier to mount (and usable). However, the small Jagdwespe really looks like a juvenile Nashorn SPG!

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The history of the Swiss Air Force began in 1914 with the establishment of an ad hoc force consisting of a handful of men in outdated and largely civilian aircraft. It was only in the 1930s the military and civilian leadership decided to establish an effective air force. On 13 December 1929, in what was in retrospect referred to as the "bill to create an air force", the Federal Council asked the Swiss Federal Assembly to approve the spending of 20 million francs for the purchase of 65 French Dewoitine D.27 fighters and the manufacture of 40 Dutch (Fokker C.V-E) reconnaissance planes under license.

Although the opposition Social Democratic Party collected 42,000 signatures in a petition opposing the bill, Parliament passed it handily and declined to allow a referendum on the issue, optional at that time for spending bills. This was the start of a massive armament program that would consume more than a billion francs over the next ten years, but after Hitler's rise to power in Germany, the Social Democrats added their support to the efforts.

When enough monoplane fighters had widely become available for the Swiss Air Force in 1943, the C-3400/-3401 biplanes were quickly removed from front-line service. They served on in second-line surveillance and aerial patrol units, or they were transferred to training units, where most of the type (a total of 119 were built) survived the hostilities. The last C-3400/-3401 was finally withdrawn from service in 1954, and only a single specimen survived in the collection of the Aviation Museum (Flieger Flab Museum) in Dübendorf, Switzerland.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in)

Wingspan: 10.02 m (32 ft 10 in)

Height: 3 m (9 ft 10 in)

Wing area: 23 m2 (250 sq ft)

Airfoil: NACA M-12

Empty weight: 1,360 kg (2,998 lb)

Gross weight: 1,740 kg (3,836 lb)

Powerplant:

1× BMW VI 7.3 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 634 kW (850 hp),

driving a three-bladed variable pitch metal propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 400 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn) at 3,000 m (9,843 ft)

Service ceiling: 11,500 m (37,700 ft)

Rate of climb: 16.67 m/s (3,281 ft/min)

Time to altitude: 5,000 m (16,404 ft) in 5 minutes 30 seconds

Wing loading: 75.7 kg/m2 (15.5 lb/sq ft)

Power/mass: 0.36 kW/kg (0.22 hp/lb)

Armament:

2× fixed, forward-firing 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934 machine guns with 600 RPG

4× underwing hardpoints for 20 lb (9.1 kg) bombs (rarely used)

The kit and its assembly:

This whiffy biplane was/is just a kit travesty – the fictional EKW C-34 is a Kawasaki Ki-10 (the ICM kit) with mild mods and Swiss pre-WWII markings. I had an eye on the quite elegant Japanese fighter for a while, and due to its engine with German roots (its Kawasaki Ha9-IIa was a license-built water-cooled BMW VI V12 engine) I thought about a European operator – and eventually I decided to make it a Swiss aircraft.

The ICM kit was built almost OOB, the only changes I made were the spatted wheels (IIRC left over from an ICM Polikarpov I-15 biplane), which needed some tweaks on the OOB struts, and the different, closed canopy (from a Hobby Boss A6M Zero), because I wanted a relatively modern look, comparable with the contemporary Avia B-534 biplane. Mounting it was tricky, because of the “step” under the windscreen, so that I had to add a console under it, and some PSR was necessary to blend the canopy, which was cut into three parts for open display, into the rounded back of the Ki-10. A scratched antenna mast was added, too, to fill the respective opening in the rear part of the dorsal glazing. Thanks to the many braces of the A6M canopy, the implant looks quite organic.

The ICM Ki-10 went together quite well, it’s a rather simple kit with only a single sprue and few parts. The biggest challenge was the upper wing, though, which is only carried by the struts. The locator pins are only marginal, and finding a proper position took some time and superglue.

I furthermore modified the propeller with a long metal axis and a tube adapter inside if the fuselage, so that it could spin freely.

Painting and markings:

The reason why the Ki-10 became a Swiss aircraft was the paint scheme – a quite attractive tricolor splinter pattern (apparently inspired by the similar German camouflage in RLM 61,62 and 63?) was the Swiss Air Force’s standard at the breakout of WWII, and I adopted it for the C-3401, too.

The pattern is vaguely based on a real C-35 biplane (presented at the Dübendorf Aviation Museum), which I deem to look authentic, and I tried to emulate its colors as good as possible. I settled on Desert Yellow (Humbrol 94, the tone is officially called “Ochre” but appears to be quite yellowish), French Khaki Green (ModelMaster 2106) and Chestnut Brown (ModelMaster 2107, another French WWII aircraft tone), with light grey (Humbrol 64) undersides. Painting the splinter scheme with a brush on a biplane like this was tricky, though. The cockpit interior was painted with a grey-green tone similar to RLM 02 (Humbrol 45), the wing struts became black.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, plus some post-panel shading and dry-brushing to emphasize details and to weather it, but only lightly, because the aircraft would not have been involved in fights.

The roundels on the upper wings came from a generic TL-Modellbau national markings sheet, while the red bands for the national insignia under the lower wings and on the rudder were painted. The white cross on the fin comes from a Swiss BAe Hawk trainer (Italeri), while the slightly bigger white cross under the lower wings was scratched from white decal stripes. The tactical code comes from a Croatian MiG-21UM trainer (KP kit), the unit badge is fictional and came from a Spanish Heinkel He 70.

The model was sealed overall with matt acrylic varnish, and as a final step the rigging was applied, made from heated black sprue material, using the real Ki-10 as benchmark for the connections/positions.

A pretty result, and the simple travesty of the elegant Ki-10 into a late interwar biplane from Continental Europe works surprisingly well. The spats and the closed canopy might not have been necessary, but they modernize and change the aircraft, so that its use during WWII – even though not in any offensive role – becomes even more believable. The splinter scheme suits the aircraft well, too, even though its application was a bit tricky, as well as the Swiss roundels.

Outdated Fuji Superia 100 in my Mamiya C330 f Professional. I am still 'Getting Used ' to it ! I clicked off shutter by mistake and LOST frame 1 !! .

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The FVM JF-22 ("JF" for Jaktflygplan = fighter aircraft) was a Swedish biplane fighter. It had been designed as a private venture by Gösta von Porat and Henry Kjellson at Flygcompaniets Verkstäder at Malmen (FVM) as a potential replacement for to the Swedish Air Force’s contemporary main fighter aircraft, the J1. This was the Austro-Hungarian Phönix D.III, a design dating back to WWI. A total of 10 J1s were operated since 1920, but the type was already outdated upon arrival, and the fleet’s small size was not sufficient, either.

Instead of the FVM JF-22, the Swedish Air Force adopted the J2 and J3 for service, even though these were rather observation aircraft than pure fighters. Eventually, the indigenous J5/6 was chosen as Sweden’s new single seat fighter in 1930 – and by that time the technical development had advanced so far that the JF-22 had become obsolete.

General characteristics:

Crew: One

Length: 6.87 m (22 ft 6 in)

Wingspan: 8.90 m (29 ft 2 in)

Height: 2.74 m (9 ft 0 in)

Wing area: 21 m² (240 sq ft)

Empty weight: 765 kg (1,687 lb)

Gross weight: 1,075 kg (2,370 lb)

Fuel capacity: 140 kg (310 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Hispano-Suiza 8Fb V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 224 kW (300 hp) at 1,850rpm,

driving a 2-bladed wooden propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 250 km/h (160 mph, 130 kn)

Stall speed: 90 km/h (56 mph, 49 kn)

Range: 600–650 km (370–400 mi, 320–350 nmi)

Time to altitude: 7,000 m (23,000 ft) in 35 min

Armament:

2× m/22 fixed 8 mm (0.315 in) machine guns (license built .30 AN/M2's) with 500 rounds each,

fitted with synchronization gear and firing through the propeller.

The kit and its assembly:

This relatively simple whif was actually inspired by a decal set for a Swedish J1 biplane. In order to have a “canvas” to put this scheme onto, a suitable aircraft had to be found – and it became the vintage (and dirty cheap) KP kit of the Avia H-21.

The kit turned out to be much better than expected. It has some flash, but the surface and interior details are nice, the kit comes with anything you’d ask for. It’s really good except for a mediocre fit, but that’s acceptable for the molds’ age and, thanks to the simple shapes, PSR is an easy task.

Even though the model depicts a fictional Swedish fighter, the kit was built almost OOB and stays close to the Avia H-21, which is IMHO quite elegant. I just reduced the lower wings’ span (which are on the H-21 wider than the upper wing!) for a slightly more conventional look. The propeller was replaced with a better one from the scrap box (IIRC from a Revell SPAD XIII), together with a metal axis and a respective styrene tube adapter. A small fin was added in front of the free-standing rudder (from a Revell Sopwith Triplane), and I added a set of spats that I had found in the spares bin, too. Rigging was done post-painting with heated/stretched black sprue material.

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme is based on a Swedish J1 around 1925, with a pretty three-tone camouflage consisting of two green tones and a sand brown. According to the cource, the undersides were light blue, but I have doubts because unpainted linen ("Duk") was more common on the J1s.

With this basis I did some legwork in trustworthy literature and found the following guesstimates for the respective colors: Ljusbrun: Humbrol 234 (Dark Skin Tone, for a pale reddish earth tone), Mellangrön: Revell 363 (Fern Green) and Mörkgron (I used Modelmaster’s RAF Dark Green, similar to USAF Forest Green FS 34079). Instead of the contemporary standard lacquered fabric underneath I painted the undersides in Humbrol 23 (RAF Duck Egg Green).

The engine cover was painted with Humbrol 56, the cockpit interior in Tamiya 57 (Light Buff), simulating unpainted but lacquered fabric. The wing struts as well as the propeller blades were painted in a streaky wet-in-wet mix of Humbrol 62 and 71, simulating wood grain on lacquered wood. The rudder flash was painted with Humbrol 99 and 104.

The model was lightly weathered with a thin black ink washing and some dry-brushing, emphasizing the fabric structures and the model's fine raised surface details. Graphite was used for some exhaust stains.

Markings/decals were minimal: The 1927-style roundels came from a Swedish pre-WWII D.H. Tiger Moth trainer (AZ Models aftermarket sheet), the tactical code was created with single digits in a proper Swedish 1927 font (Flying Colors Aerodecals). Everything was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and the rigging was done as the final step.

A small and quick project, building was done in just two days plus final rigging on day three. While not spectacular, the modified Avia H-21 in Swedish markings looks quite convincing, even more so because it depicts a prototype that never made it into service. And it’s colorful, too! ^^

F3HP | 105 2.5 | fuji 200 outdated

NPS / Jacob W. Frank

Nikon FM

Outdated Kodak Max 400 Film

Outdated, cross processed slide film

I had retired my 35mm Mamiya camera in January 2010 but I was given two roles of 35mm colour film (Blacks) recently that had an expiry date of 2002.

Needless to say I had to try it out so I got my Mamiya camera (purchased in 1984) and shot one roll on Nov. 22 of a few waterfalls.

This is one of the pictures of Progreston Falls which was taken at f22 at either 2 seconds or 4 seconds exposure.

The film had been stored at room temperature by this person and I am surprised that the pictures turned out okay!

Due to that New Jersey was the slowest on phasing out the bad old outdated red trapezoid Children slow crossing warning blades that word IF-SAFE STOP THEN-GO because of some mean teachers at school forcing some ice cream trucks to keep their red trapezoid and made a bad and mean-spirited law of ice cream trucks requiring those bad old outdated red trapezoid children slow crossing warning blades that word IF-SAFE STOP THEN-GO which is extremely confusing to people who are death, color blind, can't read or don't speak English in some of New Jersey, I hereby MOST Amazon warehouses in New Jersey to all be converted into Blue's Clues Handy Dandy Notebook prop replica manufacturing plants, Corbeil School Bus manufacturing plants, Chalkboard Manufacturing Plants to bring back the good friendly schools with green chalkboards and electric mechanical wall bells FOREVER and convert most Amazon prime trucks in New Jersey into better and safe updated ice cream trucks with the good awesome current updated yellow trapezoid children slow crossing warning blades that word CHILDREN SLOW CROSSING and School bus stop signs which are octagon shape for the state of New Jersey to also include disabled people in the future too and tear apart the last remaining of the ice cream trucks with the bad old outdated red trapezoid children slow crossing warning blades that word IF-SAFE STOP THEN-GO and recycle all of them into brand new Blue's Clues Handy Dandy notebook prop replicas and reuse the arm the bad old outdated red trapezoid Children Slow crossing warning blades that word IF-SAFE STOP THEN-GO for the brand new stop signs of the new school buses of the future. And for this Schools will also bring back green chalkboards and electric mechanical wall bells and Corbeil school buses and adding in more Disney Snow White and Pinocchio stuff, Corduroy the Bear with two buttons on his green corduroy overalls, Blue's Clues Steve Notebooks, Little Golden Books and other kind-spirited stuff FOREVER quickly and also for schools to get rid of mean teachers, that mean scary looking grumpy face with the freaky spikey eyelashes, triangular eyes and razor blade forehead wrinkles they used to have on Gordon in the old live action model version of Thomas and Friends, Bogen Multicom 2000 systems, mean-spirited angers like Frankie Foster's anger in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and Chief Wiggums meanly aiming his guy in modern Simpsons, and other mean-spirited stuff FOREVER quickly.

Pictured left to right, top to bottom:

Bricked or outdated iPod Touches; blue Nokia 2280; silver Nokia 6225n - one of the first pxt (mms) CDMA phones, released 2003; silver and black Nokia Asha 203, my first phone once we were advised New Zealand’s Telecom CDMA network was to be deactivated and shuffled over to WCDMA Telecom XT – having qualms with the XT network I simply bought a new phone on their new competitor’s network, 2 Degrees; and on the right, CD-ROMs that came free with magazines.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Austrian Air Force in its current form was created in May 1955 by the victorious Allied powers, subject to restrictions on its use of guided missiles. The Austrian State Treaty of 1955 committed Austria to permanent neutrality. Pilot training started out with a four Yak-11 Moose and four Yak-18 Max aircraft donated by the Soviet Union, and Austria purchased further light trainer types under the Military Assistance Program. Until 1960 Austria purchased training and support aircraft under the MAP, but no modern fighter aircraft; the role of a fighter was rather inadequately filled by thirty already outdated Saab 29 Tunnan, bought second-hand from the Swedish Air Force in the early 1960s which equipped two fighter bomber squadrons.

The Austrian Lightnings’ planned service period of 10 years was almost doubled, though, due to massive delays with the Eurofighter’s development: In 2002, Austria had already selected the Typhoon as its new “Phase II” air defense aircraft, having beaten the F-16 and the Saab Gripen in competition, and its introduction had been expected to occur from early 2005 on, so that the Lightnings could be gradually phased out. The purchase of 18 Typhoons was agreed on 1 July 2003, but it would take until 12 July 2007 that the first Typhoon would eventually be delivered to Zeltweg Air Base and formally enter service with the Austrian Air Force. This operational gap had to be bridged with twelve F-5E leased from Switzerland for EUR 75 mio., so that Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties for the Austrian airspace could be continued.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 55 ft 3 in (16.84 m)

Wingspan: 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)

Height: 19 ft 7 in (5.97 m)

Wing area: 474.5 sq ft (44.08 m²)

Empty weight: 31,068 lb (14,092 kg) with armament and no fuel

Gross weight: 41,076 lb (18,632 kg) with two AIM-9B, cannon, ammunition, and internal fuel

Max takeoff weight: 45,750 lb (20,752 kg)

Powerplant:

2× Rolls-Royce Avon 301R afterburning turbojet engines,

12,690 lbf (56.4 kN) thrust each dry, 16,360 lbf (72.8 kN) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: Mach 2.27 (1,500 mph+ at 40,000 ft)

Range: 738 nmi (849 mi, 1,367 km)

Combat range: 135 nmi (155 mi, 250 km) supersonic intercept radius

Range: 800 nmi (920 mi, 1,500 km) with internal fuel

1,100 nmi (1,300 mi; 2,000 km) with external overwing tanks

Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)

Zoom ceiling: 70,000 ft (21,000 m)

Rate of climb: 20,000 ft/min (100 m/s) sustained to 30,000 ft (9,100 m)

Zoom climb: 50,000 ft/min

Time to altitude: 2.8 min to 36,000 ft (11,000 m)

Wing loading: 76 lb/sq ft (370 kg/m²) with two AIM-9 and 1/2 fuel

Thrust/weight: 0.78 (1.03 empty)

Armament:

2× 30 mm (1.181 in) ADEN cannon with 120 RPG in the lower fuselage

2× forward fuselage hardpoints for a single AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM each

2× underwing hardpoints for 1.000 lb (454 kg) each

2× overwing pylon stations for 2.000 lb (907 kg each),

typically occupied with 260 imp gal (310 US gal; 1,200 l) ferry tanks

The kit and its assembly:

This was another submission to the “Hunter, Lightning and Canberra” group build at whatifmodellers.com in 2022 and intended as a rather simple build since it was based on an alternate reality plot: the weird story that Austria was offered a revamped fleet of ex-Saudi Arabian Lightnings is true(!), but the decision eventually fell in favor of revamped Saab J 35Ds from Sweden. For this what-if build I used the real historic timeline, replaced the aircraft, and built both story and model around this – and the result became the BAC Lightning F.56 in Austrian Air Force service.

Initially I wanted to use an Airfix BAC Lightning in The Stash™, a really nice model kit and a relatively new mold, but it turned out to be the kit’s F.2A variant. While very similar to the F.6, changing it into a F.53 analogue with the OOB parts turned out to be too complex for my taste. For instance, the F.2A kit lacks the ventral gun bay (it just comes with the auxiliary tank option since the guns are already located in front of the cockpit) and the cable conduits on the lower flanks. Procuring a suitable and priceworthy Airfix F.6 turned out to be impossible, but then I remembered a Hasegawa Lightning F.6 in The Stash™ that I had shot at ev!lbay many moons ago for a laughable price and without a concrete plan. However, this kit is pretty old: it has raised (yet quite fine, less robust than the Matchbox kit) panel lines and even comes with a pilot figure, but also many weak spots like the air intake and the jet exhausts that end in flat walls after some millimeters depth and a very basic cockpit. But for this rather simple what-if project the kit appeared to be a suitable basis, and it would eventually find a good use.

The Hasegawa Lightning was basically built OOB, even though I made some cosmetic amendments like a better seat for the pilot, hydraulic fluid lines on the landing gear made from wire or opening the flat walls inside of the air intake opening and the jet nozzles. Behind the radome, a simple splitter plate was added as well as a recessed bulkhead in front of an implanted Me 262 cockpit tub (the Hasegawa kit just offers a bare floor panel, nothing else!), the afterburners were extended inwards with parts from a Matchbox A.W. Meteor night fighter.

The Red Top AAMs and the in-flight refueling probe were omitted. Instead, I added extra F.53-style forward-swept pylons under the outer wings, scratched from 1.5 mm styrene sheet due to their odd, raked shape, and I added Sidewinder launch rails plus suitable missiles from a Hasegawa air-to-air weapons set to all four stations. After long consideration I also retained the ‘overburger’ tanks, partly because of the unique layout on the Lightning, and also because of operational considerations.

Chaff dispensers were scratched from styrene profiles and placed at the fin’s base. A fairing for the retrofitted radar warning sensor was added to the fin tip, created from 1.5 mm styrene sheet.

Painting and markings:

To reflect the “alternate reality” role of the Lightning I gave the model a livery similar to the Saab J 35Ö that were actually procured: an adaptation of the USAF “Egypt One” scheme, carried primarily by the USAF F-16s. Adapting this simple three-tone camouflage from the flat F-16 to the Draken was easy and straightforward, but applying it to a Lightning with its many vertical surfaces turned out to be a tough challenge. I eventually came up with a paint scheme that reminds of the late RAF low-viz Lightning liveries, which existed in a wide range of patterns and graduations of grey.

The colors were authentic, FS 36118, 36270 and 36375 (using Humbrol 125, 126 and 127), and I decided to emphasize the camouflage of the flanks against the horizon, so that the vertical surfaces and the fin became FS 36270. The undersides of wings, stabilizers and fuselage became FS 36375. The dark FS 36118 was only applied to the upper sides of the wings and the stabilizer, and to a high dorsal section, starting at the wing roots. As a small contrast, the tank area on the spine was painted in light grey, simulating unpainted fiber glass. The radome was painted with a streaky mix of Humbrol 155 and 56.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, some post-panel-shading in lighter tones, and, due to the raised panel lines, was very lightly rubbed with graphite. The cockpit interior was painted in medium grey (Revell 47) with an olive drab fabric fairing behind the black pilot seat, which received ejection handles made from thin wire as eye candy. The landing gear and the respective wells were painted in Humbrol 56 (Aluminum Dope).

The decals are a wild mix: The fuselage roundels are actually wing markings from a Hasegawa J 35OE, as well as the huge orange "06" on the wings (I could not resist; they will later be partly obscured by the overwing tanks, but the heck with it!). The roundels on the wings come from a generic TL Modellbau sheet - I found that I needed larger markings than those on the Draken.

Both unit and individual aircraft identifiers are single black DIN font digits, also from TL Modellbau. The unit badges on the fin are authentic, even though from an earlier era: they came from an Austrian J 29 of Fliegerregiment 2 from a PrintScale sheet, and all stencils were taken from the OOB low-viz RAF markings sheet, plus four small warning triangles for the underwing pylons.

A ‘what-if’ model in the purest sense, since this model depicts what could really have been: ex Saudi-Arabian export BAC Lightnings over the Austrian Alps! However, refurbished Saab J 35D Draken made the race (and later followed by the Eurofighter Typhoon at ‘Stage 2’), so that this Lightning remains fictional. It does not look bad in the ‘Egypt One’ paint scheme, though, better than expected!

Outdated picture of my collection a few years ago. There are additions and they have much more room now.

Outdated PX 70

Because someone has to be the asshole that literally snaps photos during their breakup.

as above, I finally worked out how to integrate outdated pics into PaD stream,

this one got shelved to give way to Vain Shelly but having a second look at it I recon it deserved an outing.

basically if anybody needed a proof that god exists and that humans are not a product of evolution from ameba you have it on your screen, take it from me, a devout god fearing atheist.

If you wanna tell me that humans who are making this device featured there evolved from the same root as the couple having sex there I will just go "la la la la .."

to accompany this one we really need two soundtracks, one steamy, saucy and another one computery:

and as luck would have it there is a tune which combines saucy with computery and by the way mere existence of the featured artist is another proof of God's existence:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2SklZ5mNpg

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Austrian Air Force in its current form was created in May 1955 by the victorious Allied powers, subject to restrictions on its use of guided missiles. The Austrian State Treaty of 1955 committed Austria to permanent neutrality. Pilot training started out with a four Yak-11 Moose and four Yak-18 Max aircraft donated by the Soviet Union, and Austria purchased further light trainer types under the Military Assistance Program. Until 1960 Austria purchased training and support aircraft under the MAP, but no modern fighter aircraft; the role of a fighter was rather inadequately filled by thirty already outdated Saab 29 Tunnan, bought second-hand from the Swedish Air Force in the early 1960s which equipped two fighter bomber squadrons.

The Austrian Lightnings’ planned service period of 10 years was almost doubled, though, due to massive delays with the Eurofighter’s development: In 2002, Austria had already selected the Typhoon as its new “Phase II” air defense aircraft, having beaten the F-16 and the Saab Gripen in competition, and its introduction had been expected to occur from early 2005 on, so that the Lightnings could be gradually phased out. The purchase of 18 Typhoons was agreed on 1 July 2003, but it would take until 12 July 2007 that the first Typhoon would eventually be delivered to Zeltweg Air Base and formally enter service with the Austrian Air Force. This operational gap had to be bridged with twelve F-5E leased from Switzerland for EUR 75 mio., so that Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties for the Austrian airspace could be continued.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 55 ft 3 in (16.84 m)

Wingspan: 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)

Height: 19 ft 7 in (5.97 m)

Wing area: 474.5 sq ft (44.08 m²)

Empty weight: 31,068 lb (14,092 kg) with armament and no fuel

Gross weight: 41,076 lb (18,632 kg) with two AIM-9B, cannon, ammunition, and internal fuel

Max takeoff weight: 45,750 lb (20,752 kg)

Powerplant:

2× Rolls-Royce Avon 301R afterburning turbojet engines,

12,690 lbf (56.4 kN) thrust each dry, 16,360 lbf (72.8 kN) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: Mach 2.27 (1,500 mph+ at 40,000 ft)

Range: 738 nmi (849 mi, 1,367 km)

Combat range: 135 nmi (155 mi, 250 km) supersonic intercept radius

Range: 800 nmi (920 mi, 1,500 km) with internal fuel

1,100 nmi (1,300 mi; 2,000 km) with external overwing tanks

Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)

Zoom ceiling: 70,000 ft (21,000 m)

Rate of climb: 20,000 ft/min (100 m/s) sustained to 30,000 ft (9,100 m)

Zoom climb: 50,000 ft/min

Time to altitude: 2.8 min to 36,000 ft (11,000 m)

Wing loading: 76 lb/sq ft (370 kg/m²) with two AIM-9 and 1/2 fuel

Thrust/weight: 0.78 (1.03 empty)

Armament:

2× 30 mm (1.181 in) ADEN cannon with 120 RPG in the lower fuselage

2× forward fuselage hardpoints for a single AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM each

2× underwing hardpoints for 1.000 lb (454 kg) each

2× overwing pylon stations for 2.000 lb (907 kg each),

typically occupied with 260 imp gal (310 US gal; 1,200 l) ferry tanks

The kit and its assembly:

This was another submission to the “Hunter, Lightning and Canberra” group build at whatifmodellers.com in 2022 and intended as a rather simple build since it was based on an alternate reality plot: the weird story that Austria was offered a revamped fleet of ex-Saudi Arabian Lightnings is true(!), but the decision eventually fell in favor of revamped Saab J 35Ds from Sweden. For this what-if build I used the real historic timeline, replaced the aircraft, and built both story and model around this – and the result became the BAC Lightning F.56 in Austrian Air Force service.

Initially I wanted to use an Airfix BAC Lightning in The Stash™, a really nice model kit and a relatively new mold, but it turned out to be the kit’s F.2A variant. While very similar to the F.6, changing it into a F.53 analogue with the OOB parts turned out to be too complex for my taste. For instance, the F.2A kit lacks the ventral gun bay (it just comes with the auxiliary tank option since the guns are already located in front of the cockpit) and the cable conduits on the lower flanks. Procuring a suitable and priceworthy Airfix F.6 turned out to be impossible, but then I remembered a Hasegawa Lightning F.6 in The Stash™ that I had shot at ev!lbay many moons ago for a laughable price and without a concrete plan. However, this kit is pretty old: it has raised (yet quite fine, less robust than the Matchbox kit) panel lines and even comes with a pilot figure, but also many weak spots like the air intake and the jet exhausts that end in flat walls after some millimeters depth and a very basic cockpit. But for this rather simple what-if project the kit appeared to be a suitable basis, and it would eventually find a good use.

The Hasegawa Lightning was basically built OOB, even though I made some cosmetic amendments like a better seat for the pilot, hydraulic fluid lines on the landing gear made from wire or opening the flat walls inside of the air intake opening and the jet nozzles. Behind the radome, a simple splitter plate was added as well as a recessed bulkhead in front of an implanted Me 262 cockpit tub (the Hasegawa kit just offers a bare floor panel, nothing else!), the afterburners were extended inwards with parts from a Matchbox A.W. Meteor night fighter.

The Red Top AAMs and the in-flight refueling probe were omitted. Instead, I added extra F.53-style forward-swept pylons under the outer wings, scratched from 1.5 mm styrene sheet due to their odd, raked shape, and I added Sidewinder launch rails plus suitable missiles from a Hasegawa air-to-air weapons set to all four stations. After long consideration I also retained the ‘overburger’ tanks, partly because of the unique layout on the Lightning, and also because of operational considerations.

Chaff dispensers were scratched from styrene profiles and placed at the fin’s base. A fairing for the retrofitted radar warning sensor was added to the fin tip, created from 1.5 mm styrene sheet.

Painting and markings:

To reflect the “alternate reality” role of the Lightning I gave the model a livery similar to the Saab J 35Ö that were actually procured: an adaptation of the USAF “Egypt One” scheme, carried primarily by the USAF F-16s. Adapting this simple three-tone camouflage from the flat F-16 to the Draken was easy and straightforward, but applying it to a Lightning with its many vertical surfaces turned out to be a tough challenge. I eventually came up with a paint scheme that reminds of the late RAF low-viz Lightning liveries, which existed in a wide range of patterns and graduations of grey.

The colors were authentic, FS 36118, 36270 and 36375 (using Humbrol 125, 126 and 127), and I decided to emphasize the camouflage of the flanks against the horizon, so that the vertical surfaces and the fin became FS 36270. The undersides of wings, stabilizers and fuselage became FS 36375. The dark FS 36118 was only applied to the upper sides of the wings and the stabilizer, and to a high dorsal section, starting at the wing roots. As a small contrast, the tank area on the spine was painted in light grey, simulating unpainted fiber glass. The radome was painted with a streaky mix of Humbrol 155 and 56.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, some post-panel-shading in lighter tones, and, due to the raised panel lines, was very lightly rubbed with graphite. The cockpit interior was painted in medium grey (Revell 47) with an olive drab fabric fairing behind the black pilot seat, which received ejection handles made from thin wire as eye candy. The landing gear and the respective wells were painted in Humbrol 56 (Aluminum Dope).

The decals are a wild mix: The fuselage roundels are actually wing markings from a Hasegawa J 35OE, as well as the huge orange "06" on the wings (I could not resist; they will later be partly obscured by the overwing tanks, but the heck with it!). The roundels on the wings come from a generic TL Modellbau sheet - I found that I needed larger markings than those on the Draken.

Both unit and individual aircraft identifiers are single black DIN font digits, also from TL Modellbau. The unit badges on the fin are authentic, even though from an earlier era: they came from an Austrian J 29 of Fliegerregiment 2 from a PrintScale sheet, and all stencils were taken from the OOB low-viz RAF markings sheet, plus four small warning triangles for the underwing pylons.

A ‘what-if’ model in the purest sense, since this model depicts what could really have been: ex Saudi-Arabian export BAC Lightnings over the Austrian Alps! However, refurbished Saab J 35D Draken made the race (and later followed by the Eurofighter Typhoon at ‘Stage 2’), so that this Lightning remains fictional. It does not look bad in the ‘Egypt One’ paint scheme, though, better than expected!

I thought it would be cool to take a group photo; 1 or 2 character from every LEGO licensed theme.

It gives you a visual of how many brands LEGO has adapted.

I update my photo every now and then, when I have the time.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Austrian Air Force in its current form was created in May 1955 by the victorious Allied powers, subject to restrictions on its use of guided missiles. The Austrian State Treaty of 1955 committed Austria to permanent neutrality. Pilot training started out with a four Yak-11 Moose and four Yak-18 Max aircraft donated by the Soviet Union, and Austria purchased further light trainer types under the Military Assistance Program. Until 1960 Austria purchased training and support aircraft under the MAP, but no modern fighter aircraft; the role of a fighter was rather inadequately filled by thirty already outdated Saab 29 Tunnan, bought second-hand from the Swedish Air Force in the early 1960s which equipped two fighter bomber squadrons.

The Austrian Lightnings’ planned service period of 10 years was almost doubled, though, due to massive delays with the Eurofighter’s development: In 2002, Austria had already selected the Typhoon as its new “Phase II” air defense aircraft, having beaten the F-16 and the Saab Gripen in competition, and its introduction had been expected to occur from early 2005 on, so that the Lightnings could be gradually phased out. The purchase of 18 Typhoons was agreed on 1 July 2003, but it would take until 12 July 2007 that the first Typhoon would eventually be delivered to Zeltweg Air Base and formally enter service with the Austrian Air Force. This operational gap had to be bridged with twelve F-5E leased from Switzerland for EUR 75 mio., so that Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties for the Austrian airspace could be continued.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 55 ft 3 in (16.84 m)

Wingspan: 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)

Height: 19 ft 7 in (5.97 m)

Wing area: 474.5 sq ft (44.08 m²)

Empty weight: 31,068 lb (14,092 kg) with armament and no fuel

Gross weight: 41,076 lb (18,632 kg) with two AIM-9B, cannon, ammunition, and internal fuel

Max takeoff weight: 45,750 lb (20,752 kg)

Powerplant:

2× Rolls-Royce Avon 301R afterburning turbojet engines,

12,690 lbf (56.4 kN) thrust each dry, 16,360 lbf (72.8 kN) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: Mach 2.27 (1,500 mph+ at 40,000 ft)

Range: 738 nmi (849 mi, 1,367 km)

Combat range: 135 nmi (155 mi, 250 km) supersonic intercept radius

Range: 800 nmi (920 mi, 1,500 km) with internal fuel

1,100 nmi (1,300 mi; 2,000 km) with external overwing tanks

Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)

Zoom ceiling: 70,000 ft (21,000 m)

Rate of climb: 20,000 ft/min (100 m/s) sustained to 30,000 ft (9,100 m)

Zoom climb: 50,000 ft/min

Time to altitude: 2.8 min to 36,000 ft (11,000 m)

Wing loading: 76 lb/sq ft (370 kg/m²) with two AIM-9 and 1/2 fuel

Thrust/weight: 0.78 (1.03 empty)

Armament:

2× 30 mm (1.181 in) ADEN cannon with 120 RPG in the lower fuselage

2× forward fuselage hardpoints for a single AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM each

2× underwing hardpoints for 1.000 lb (454 kg) each

2× overwing pylon stations for 2.000 lb (907 kg each),

typically occupied with 260 imp gal (310 US gal; 1,200 l) ferry tanks

The kit and its assembly:

This was another submission to the “Hunter, Lightning and Canberra” group build at whatifmodellers.com in 2022 and intended as a rather simple build since it was based on an alternate reality plot: the weird story that Austria was offered a revamped fleet of ex-Saudi Arabian Lightnings is true(!), but the decision eventually fell in favor of revamped Saab J 35Ds from Sweden. For this what-if build I used the real historic timeline, replaced the aircraft, and built both story and model around this – and the result became the BAC Lightning F.56 in Austrian Air Force service.

Initially I wanted to use an Airfix BAC Lightning in The Stash™, a really nice model kit and a relatively new mold, but it turned out to be the kit’s F.2A variant. While very similar to the F.6, changing it into a F.53 analogue with the OOB parts turned out to be too complex for my taste. For instance, the F.2A kit lacks the ventral gun bay (it just comes with the auxiliary tank option since the guns are already located in front of the cockpit) and the cable conduits on the lower flanks. Procuring a suitable and priceworthy Airfix F.6 turned out to be impossible, but then I remembered a Hasegawa Lightning F.6 in The Stash™ that I had shot at ev!lbay many moons ago for a laughable price and without a concrete plan. However, this kit is pretty old: it has raised (yet quite fine, less robust than the Matchbox kit) panel lines and even comes with a pilot figure, but also many weak spots like the air intake and the jet exhausts that end in flat walls after some millimeters depth and a very basic cockpit. But for this rather simple what-if project the kit appeared to be a suitable basis, and it would eventually find a good use.

The Hasegawa Lightning was basically built OOB, even though I made some cosmetic amendments like a better seat for the pilot, hydraulic fluid lines on the landing gear made from wire or opening the flat walls inside of the air intake opening and the jet nozzles. Behind the radome, a simple splitter plate was added as well as a recessed bulkhead in front of an implanted Me 262 cockpit tub (the Hasegawa kit just offers a bare floor panel, nothing else!), the afterburners were extended inwards with parts from a Matchbox A.W. Meteor night fighter.

The Red Top AAMs and the in-flight refueling probe were omitted. Instead, I added extra F.53-style forward-swept pylons under the outer wings, scratched from 1.5 mm styrene sheet due to their odd, raked shape, and I added Sidewinder launch rails plus suitable missiles from a Hasegawa air-to-air weapons set to all four stations. After long consideration I also retained the ‘overburger’ tanks, partly because of the unique layout on the Lightning, and also because of operational considerations.

Chaff dispensers were scratched from styrene profiles and placed at the fin’s base. A fairing for the retrofitted radar warning sensor was added to the fin tip, created from 1.5 mm styrene sheet.

Painting and markings:

To reflect the “alternate reality” role of the Lightning I gave the model a livery similar to the Saab J 35Ö that were actually procured: an adaptation of the USAF “Egypt One” scheme, carried primarily by the USAF F-16s. Adapting this simple three-tone camouflage from the flat F-16 to the Draken was easy and straightforward, but applying it to a Lightning with its many vertical surfaces turned out to be a tough challenge. I eventually came up with a paint scheme that reminds of the late RAF low-viz Lightning liveries, which existed in a wide range of patterns and graduations of grey.

The colors were authentic, FS 36118, 36270 and 36375 (using Humbrol 125, 126 and 127), and I decided to emphasize the camouflage of the flanks against the horizon, so that the vertical surfaces and the fin became FS 36270. The undersides of wings, stabilizers and fuselage became FS 36375. The dark FS 36118 was only applied to the upper sides of the wings and the stabilizer, and to a high dorsal section, starting at the wing roots. As a small contrast, the tank area on the spine was painted in light grey, simulating unpainted fiber glass. The radome was painted with a streaky mix of Humbrol 155 and 56.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, some post-panel-shading in lighter tones, and, due to the raised panel lines, was very lightly rubbed with graphite. The cockpit interior was painted in medium grey (Revell 47) with an olive drab fabric fairing behind the black pilot seat, which received ejection handles made from thin wire as eye candy. The landing gear and the respective wells were painted in Humbrol 56 (Aluminum Dope).

The decals are a wild mix: The fuselage roundels are actually wing markings from a Hasegawa J 35OE, as well as the huge orange "06" on the wings (I could not resist; they will later be partly obscured by the overwing tanks, but the heck with it!). The roundels on the wings come from a generic TL Modellbau sheet - I found that I needed larger markings than those on the Draken.

Both unit and individual aircraft identifiers are single black DIN font digits, also from TL Modellbau. The unit badges on the fin are authentic, even though from an earlier era: they came from an Austrian J 29 of Fliegerregiment 2 from a PrintScale sheet, and all stencils were taken from the OOB low-viz RAF markings sheet, plus four small warning triangles for the underwing pylons.

A ‘what-if’ model in the purest sense, since this model depicts what could really have been: ex Saudi-Arabian export BAC Lightnings over the Austrian Alps! However, refurbished Saab J 35D Draken made the race (and later followed by the Eurofighter Typhoon at ‘Stage 2’), so that this Lightning remains fictional. It does not look bad in the ‘Egypt One’ paint scheme, though, better than expected!

Oxford

Konica FC-1

Konica Hexanon AR 50mm f/1.4

Outdated Kodak Color Plus 200

Boots scan + LR adjustments

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Austrian Air Force in its current form was created in May 1955 by the victorious Allied powers, subject to restrictions on its use of guided missiles. The Austrian State Treaty of 1955 committed Austria to permanent neutrality. Pilot training started out with a four Yak-11 Moose and four Yak-18 Max aircraft donated by the Soviet Union, and Austria purchased further light trainer types under the Military Assistance Program. Until 1960 Austria purchased training and support aircraft under the MAP, but no modern fighter aircraft; the role of a fighter was rather inadequately filled by thirty already outdated Saab 29 Tunnan, bought second-hand from the Swedish Air Force in the early 1960s which equipped two fighter bomber squadrons.

The Austrian Lightnings’ planned service period of 10 years was almost doubled, though, due to massive delays with the Eurofighter’s development: In 2002, Austria had already selected the Typhoon as its new “Phase II” air defense aircraft, having beaten the F-16 and the Saab Gripen in competition, and its introduction had been expected to occur from early 2005 on, so that the Lightnings could be gradually phased out. The purchase of 18 Typhoons was agreed on 1 July 2003, but it would take until 12 July 2007 that the first Typhoon would eventually be delivered to Zeltweg Air Base and formally enter service with the Austrian Air Force. This operational gap had to be bridged with twelve F-5E leased from Switzerland for EUR 75 mio., so that Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties for the Austrian airspace could be continued.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 55 ft 3 in (16.84 m)

Wingspan: 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)

Height: 19 ft 7 in (5.97 m)

Wing area: 474.5 sq ft (44.08 m²)

Empty weight: 31,068 lb (14,092 kg) with armament and no fuel

Gross weight: 41,076 lb (18,632 kg) with two AIM-9B, cannon, ammunition, and internal fuel

Max takeoff weight: 45,750 lb (20,752 kg)

Powerplant:

2× Rolls-Royce Avon 301R afterburning turbojet engines,

12,690 lbf (56.4 kN) thrust each dry, 16,360 lbf (72.8 kN) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: Mach 2.27 (1,500 mph+ at 40,000 ft)

Range: 738 nmi (849 mi, 1,367 km)

Combat range: 135 nmi (155 mi, 250 km) supersonic intercept radius

Range: 800 nmi (920 mi, 1,500 km) with internal fuel

1,100 nmi (1,300 mi; 2,000 km) with external overwing tanks

Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)

Zoom ceiling: 70,000 ft (21,000 m)

Rate of climb: 20,000 ft/min (100 m/s) sustained to 30,000 ft (9,100 m)

Zoom climb: 50,000 ft/min

Time to altitude: 2.8 min to 36,000 ft (11,000 m)

Wing loading: 76 lb/sq ft (370 kg/m²) with two AIM-9 and 1/2 fuel

Thrust/weight: 0.78 (1.03 empty)

Armament:

2× 30 mm (1.181 in) ADEN cannon with 120 RPG in the lower fuselage

2× forward fuselage hardpoints for a single AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM each

2× underwing hardpoints for 1.000 lb (454 kg) each

2× overwing pylon stations for 2.000 lb (907 kg each),

typically occupied with 260 imp gal (310 US gal; 1,200 l) ferry tanks

The kit and its assembly:

This was another submission to the “Hunter, Lightning and Canberra” group build at whatifmodellers.com in 2022 and intended as a rather simple build since it was based on an alternate reality plot: the weird story that Austria was offered a revamped fleet of ex-Saudi Arabian Lightnings is true(!), but the decision eventually fell in favor of revamped Saab J 35Ds from Sweden. For this what-if build I used the real historic timeline, replaced the aircraft, and built both story and model around this – and the result became the BAC Lightning F.56 in Austrian Air Force service.

Initially I wanted to use an Airfix BAC Lightning in The Stash™, a really nice model kit and a relatively new mold, but it turned out to be the kit’s F.2A variant. While very similar to the F.6, changing it into a F.53 analogue with the OOB parts turned out to be too complex for my taste. For instance, the F.2A kit lacks the ventral gun bay (it just comes with the auxiliary tank option since the guns are already located in front of the cockpit) and the cable conduits on the lower flanks. Procuring a suitable and priceworthy Airfix F.6 turned out to be impossible, but then I remembered a Hasegawa Lightning F.6 in The Stash™ that I had shot at ev!lbay many moons ago for a laughable price and without a concrete plan. However, this kit is pretty old: it has raised (yet quite fine, less robust than the Matchbox kit) panel lines and even comes with a pilot figure, but also many weak spots like the air intake and the jet exhausts that end in flat walls after some millimeters depth and a very basic cockpit. But for this rather simple what-if project the kit appeared to be a suitable basis, and it would eventually find a good use.

The Hasegawa Lightning was basically built OOB, even though I made some cosmetic amendments like a better seat for the pilot, hydraulic fluid lines on the landing gear made from wire or opening the flat walls inside of the air intake opening and the jet nozzles. Behind the radome, a simple splitter plate was added as well as a recessed bulkhead in front of an implanted Me 262 cockpit tub (the Hasegawa kit just offers a bare floor panel, nothing else!), the afterburners were extended inwards with parts from a Matchbox A.W. Meteor night fighter.

The Red Top AAMs and the in-flight refueling probe were omitted. Instead, I added extra F.53-style forward-swept pylons under the outer wings, scratched from 1.5 mm styrene sheet due to their odd, raked shape, and I added Sidewinder launch rails plus suitable missiles from a Hasegawa air-to-air weapons set to all four stations. After long consideration I also retained the ‘overburger’ tanks, partly because of the unique layout on the Lightning, and also because of operational considerations.

Chaff dispensers were scratched from styrene profiles and placed at the fin’s base. A fairing for the retrofitted radar warning sensor was added to the fin tip, created from 1.5 mm styrene sheet.

Painting and markings:

To reflect the “alternate reality” role of the Lightning I gave the model a livery similar to the Saab J 35Ö that were actually procured: an adaptation of the USAF “Egypt One” scheme, carried primarily by the USAF F-16s. Adapting this simple three-tone camouflage from the flat F-16 to the Draken was easy and straightforward, but applying it to a Lightning with its many vertical surfaces turned out to be a tough challenge. I eventually came up with a paint scheme that reminds of the late RAF low-viz Lightning liveries, which existed in a wide range of patterns and graduations of grey.

The colors were authentic, FS 36118, 36270 and 36375 (using Humbrol 125, 126 and 127), and I decided to emphasize the camouflage of the flanks against the horizon, so that the vertical surfaces and the fin became FS 36270. The undersides of wings, stabilizers and fuselage became FS 36375. The dark FS 36118 was only applied to the upper sides of the wings and the stabilizer, and to a high dorsal section, starting at the wing roots. As a small contrast, the tank area on the spine was painted in light grey, simulating unpainted fiber glass. The radome was painted with a streaky mix of Humbrol 155 and 56.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, some post-panel-shading in lighter tones, and, due to the raised panel lines, was very lightly rubbed with graphite. The cockpit interior was painted in medium grey (Revell 47) with an olive drab fabric fairing behind the black pilot seat, which received ejection handles made from thin wire as eye candy. The landing gear and the respective wells were painted in Humbrol 56 (Aluminum Dope).

The decals are a wild mix: The fuselage roundels are actually wing markings from a Hasegawa J 35OE, as well as the huge orange "06" on the wings (I could not resist; they will later be partly obscured by the overwing tanks, but the heck with it!). The roundels on the wings come from a generic TL Modellbau sheet - I found that I needed larger markings than those on the Draken.

Both unit and individual aircraft identifiers are single black DIN font digits, also from TL Modellbau. The unit badges on the fin are authentic, even though from an earlier era: they came from an Austrian J 29 of Fliegerregiment 2 from a PrintScale sheet, and all stencils were taken from the OOB low-viz RAF markings sheet, plus four small warning triangles for the underwing pylons.

A ‘what-if’ model in the purest sense, since this model depicts what could really have been: ex Saudi-Arabian export BAC Lightnings over the Austrian Alps! However, refurbished Saab J 35D Draken made the race (and later followed by the Eurofighter Typhoon at ‘Stage 2’), so that this Lightning remains fictional. It does not look bad in the ‘Egypt One’ paint scheme, though, better than expected!

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Austrian Air Force in its current form was created in May 1955 by the victorious Allied powers, subject to restrictions on its use of guided missiles. The Austrian State Treaty of 1955 committed Austria to permanent neutrality. Pilot training started out with a four Yak-11 Moose and four Yak-18 Max aircraft donated by the Soviet Union, and Austria purchased further light trainer types under the Military Assistance Program. Until 1960 Austria purchased training and support aircraft under the MAP, but no modern fighter aircraft; the role of a fighter was rather inadequately filled by thirty already outdated Saab 29 Tunnan, bought second-hand from the Swedish Air Force in the early 1960s which equipped two fighter bomber squadrons.

The Austrian Lightnings’ planned service period of 10 years was almost doubled, though, due to massive delays with the Eurofighter’s development: In 2002, Austria had already selected the Typhoon as its new “Phase II” air defense aircraft, having beaten the F-16 and the Saab Gripen in competition, and its introduction had been expected to occur from early 2005 on, so that the Lightnings could be gradually phased out. The purchase of 18 Typhoons was agreed on 1 July 2003, but it would take until 12 July 2007 that the first Typhoon would eventually be delivered to Zeltweg Air Base and formally enter service with the Austrian Air Force. This operational gap had to be bridged with twelve F-5E leased from Switzerland for EUR 75 mio., so that Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties for the Austrian airspace could be continued.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 55 ft 3 in (16.84 m)

Wingspan: 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)

Height: 19 ft 7 in (5.97 m)

Wing area: 474.5 sq ft (44.08 m²)

Empty weight: 31,068 lb (14,092 kg) with armament and no fuel

Gross weight: 41,076 lb (18,632 kg) with two AIM-9B, cannon, ammunition, and internal fuel

Max takeoff weight: 45,750 lb (20,752 kg)

Powerplant:

2× Rolls-Royce Avon 301R afterburning turbojet engines,

12,690 lbf (56.4 kN) thrust each dry, 16,360 lbf (72.8 kN) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: Mach 2.27 (1,500 mph+ at 40,000 ft)

Range: 738 nmi (849 mi, 1,367 km)

Combat range: 135 nmi (155 mi, 250 km) supersonic intercept radius

Range: 800 nmi (920 mi, 1,500 km) with internal fuel

1,100 nmi (1,300 mi; 2,000 km) with external overwing tanks

Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)

Zoom ceiling: 70,000 ft (21,000 m)

Rate of climb: 20,000 ft/min (100 m/s) sustained to 30,000 ft (9,100 m)

Zoom climb: 50,000 ft/min

Time to altitude: 2.8 min to 36,000 ft (11,000 m)

Wing loading: 76 lb/sq ft (370 kg/m²) with two AIM-9 and 1/2 fuel

Thrust/weight: 0.78 (1.03 empty)

Armament:

2× 30 mm (1.181 in) ADEN cannon with 120 RPG in the lower fuselage

2× forward fuselage hardpoints for a single AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM each

2× underwing hardpoints for 1.000 lb (454 kg) each

2× overwing pylon stations for 2.000 lb (907 kg each),

typically occupied with 260 imp gal (310 US gal; 1,200 l) ferry tanks

The kit and its assembly:

This was another submission to the “Hunter, Lightning and Canberra” group build at whatifmodellers.com in 2022 and intended as a rather simple build since it was based on an alternate reality plot: the weird story that Austria was offered a revamped fleet of ex-Saudi Arabian Lightnings is true(!), but the decision eventually fell in favor of revamped Saab J 35Ds from Sweden. For this what-if build I used the real historic timeline, replaced the aircraft, and built both story and model around this – and the result became the BAC Lightning F.56 in Austrian Air Force service.

Initially I wanted to use an Airfix BAC Lightning in The Stash™, a really nice model kit and a relatively new mold, but it turned out to be the kit’s F.2A variant. While very similar to the F.6, changing it into a F.53 analogue with the OOB parts turned out to be too complex for my taste. For instance, the F.2A kit lacks the ventral gun bay (it just comes with the auxiliary tank option since the guns are already located in front of the cockpit) and the cable conduits on the lower flanks. Procuring a suitable and priceworthy Airfix F.6 turned out to be impossible, but then I remembered a Hasegawa Lightning F.6 in The Stash™ that I had shot at ev!lbay many moons ago for a laughable price and without a concrete plan. However, this kit is pretty old: it has raised (yet quite fine, less robust than the Matchbox kit) panel lines and even comes with a pilot figure, but also many weak spots like the air intake and the jet exhausts that end in flat walls after some millimeters depth and a very basic cockpit. But for this rather simple what-if project the kit appeared to be a suitable basis, and it would eventually find a good use.

The Hasegawa Lightning was basically built OOB, even though I made some cosmetic amendments like a better seat for the pilot, hydraulic fluid lines on the landing gear made from wire or opening the flat walls inside of the air intake opening and the jet nozzles. Behind the radome, a simple splitter plate was added as well as a recessed bulkhead in front of an implanted Me 262 cockpit tub (the Hasegawa kit just offers a bare floor panel, nothing else!), the afterburners were extended inwards with parts from a Matchbox A.W. Meteor night fighter.

The Red Top AAMs and the in-flight refueling probe were omitted. Instead, I added extra F.53-style forward-swept pylons under the outer wings, scratched from 1.5 mm styrene sheet due to their odd, raked shape, and I added Sidewinder launch rails plus suitable missiles from a Hasegawa air-to-air weapons set to all four stations. After long consideration I also retained the ‘overburger’ tanks, partly because of the unique layout on the Lightning, and also because of operational considerations.

Chaff dispensers were scratched from styrene profiles and placed at the fin’s base. A fairing for the retrofitted radar warning sensor was added to the fin tip, created from 1.5 mm styrene sheet.

Painting and markings:

To reflect the “alternate reality” role of the Lightning I gave the model a livery similar to the Saab J 35Ö that were actually procured: an adaptation of the USAF “Egypt One” scheme, carried primarily by the USAF F-16s. Adapting this simple three-tone camouflage from the flat F-16 to the Draken was easy and straightforward, but applying it to a Lightning with its many vertical surfaces turned out to be a tough challenge. I eventually came up with a paint scheme that reminds of the late RAF low-viz Lightning liveries, which existed in a wide range of patterns and graduations of grey.

The colors were authentic, FS 36118, 36270 and 36375 (using Humbrol 125, 126 and 127), and I decided to emphasize the camouflage of the flanks against the horizon, so that the vertical surfaces and the fin became FS 36270. The undersides of wings, stabilizers and fuselage became FS 36375. The dark FS 36118 was only applied to the upper sides of the wings and the stabilizer, and to a high dorsal section, starting at the wing roots. As a small contrast, the tank area on the spine was painted in light grey, simulating unpainted fiber glass. The radome was painted with a streaky mix of Humbrol 155 and 56.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, some post-panel-shading in lighter tones, and, due to the raised panel lines, was very lightly rubbed with graphite. The cockpit interior was painted in medium grey (Revell 47) with an olive drab fabric fairing behind the black pilot seat, which received ejection handles made from thin wire as eye candy. The landing gear and the respective wells were painted in Humbrol 56 (Aluminum Dope).

The decals are a wild mix: The fuselage roundels are actually wing markings from a Hasegawa J 35OE, as well as the huge orange "06" on the wings (I could not resist; they will later be partly obscured by the overwing tanks, but the heck with it!). The roundels on the wings come from a generic TL Modellbau sheet - I found that I needed larger markings than those on the Draken.

Both unit and individual aircraft identifiers are single black DIN font digits, also from TL Modellbau. The unit badges on the fin are authentic, even though from an earlier era: they came from an Austrian J 29 of Fliegerregiment 2 from a PrintScale sheet, and all stencils were taken from the OOB low-viz RAF markings sheet, plus four small warning triangles for the underwing pylons.

A ‘what-if’ model in the purest sense, since this model depicts what could really have been: ex Saudi-Arabian export BAC Lightnings over the Austrian Alps! However, refurbished Saab J 35D Draken made the race (and later followed by the Eurofighter Typhoon at ‘Stage 2’), so that this Lightning remains fictional. It does not look bad in the ‘Egypt One’ paint scheme, though, better than expected!

I was sent a load of outdated 35mm and 120 film by a member of Pentax User site so have been out on my 'Exercise' testing it. Here i used my 1962 ROLLEICORD Vb + 75mm f3.5 Schneider XENAR lens. I took a couple at the same landscape as I used my Werramatic for BW already shown but also went to Weald Country Park.

Bluebells still out in Weald Country Park . Although there was a Notice saying " Essex Country Parks are CLOSED to stop the spread of the Coronavirus" nobody took any notice as there was nobody checking up on us !

Rollei 35 S with Kodak Color Plus (200 ASA), outdated (02-2010). Process and scan, Snappy Snaps Oxford.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Austrian Air Force in its current form was created in May 1955 by the victorious Allied powers, subject to restrictions on its use of guided missiles. The Austrian State Treaty of 1955 committed Austria to permanent neutrality. Pilot training started out with a four Yak-11 Moose and four Yak-18 Max aircraft donated by the Soviet Union, and Austria purchased further light trainer types under the Military Assistance Program. Until 1960 Austria purchased training and support aircraft under the MAP, but no modern fighter aircraft; the role of a fighter was rather inadequately filled by thirty already outdated Saab 29 Tunnan, bought second-hand from the Swedish Air Force in the early 1960s which equipped two fighter bomber squadrons.

The Austrian Lightnings’ planned service period of 10 years was almost doubled, though, due to massive delays with the Eurofighter’s development: In 2002, Austria had already selected the Typhoon as its new “Phase II” air defense aircraft, having beaten the F-16 and the Saab Gripen in competition, and its introduction had been expected to occur from early 2005 on, so that the Lightnings could be gradually phased out. The purchase of 18 Typhoons was agreed on 1 July 2003, but it would take until 12 July 2007 that the first Typhoon would eventually be delivered to Zeltweg Air Base and formally enter service with the Austrian Air Force. This operational gap had to be bridged with twelve F-5E leased from Switzerland for EUR 75 mio., so that Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties for the Austrian airspace could be continued.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 55 ft 3 in (16.84 m)

Wingspan: 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)

Height: 19 ft 7 in (5.97 m)

Wing area: 474.5 sq ft (44.08 m²)

Empty weight: 31,068 lb (14,092 kg) with armament and no fuel

Gross weight: 41,076 lb (18,632 kg) with two AIM-9B, cannon, ammunition, and internal fuel

Max takeoff weight: 45,750 lb (20,752 kg)

Powerplant:

2× Rolls-Royce Avon 301R afterburning turbojet engines,

12,690 lbf (56.4 kN) thrust each dry, 16,360 lbf (72.8 kN) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: Mach 2.27 (1,500 mph+ at 40,000 ft)

Range: 738 nmi (849 mi, 1,367 km)

Combat range: 135 nmi (155 mi, 250 km) supersonic intercept radius

Range: 800 nmi (920 mi, 1,500 km) with internal fuel

1,100 nmi (1,300 mi; 2,000 km) with external overwing tanks

Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)

Zoom ceiling: 70,000 ft (21,000 m)

Rate of climb: 20,000 ft/min (100 m/s) sustained to 30,000 ft (9,100 m)

Zoom climb: 50,000 ft/min

Time to altitude: 2.8 min to 36,000 ft (11,000 m)

Wing loading: 76 lb/sq ft (370 kg/m²) with two AIM-9 and 1/2 fuel

Thrust/weight: 0.78 (1.03 empty)

Armament:

2× 30 mm (1.181 in) ADEN cannon with 120 RPG in the lower fuselage

2× forward fuselage hardpoints for a single AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM each

2× underwing hardpoints for 1.000 lb (454 kg) each

2× overwing pylon stations for 2.000 lb (907 kg each),

typically occupied with 260 imp gal (310 US gal; 1,200 l) ferry tanks

The kit and its assembly:

This was another submission to the “Hunter, Lightning and Canberra” group build at whatifmodellers.com in 2022 and intended as a rather simple build since it was based on an alternate reality plot: the weird story that Austria was offered a revamped fleet of ex-Saudi Arabian Lightnings is true(!), but the decision eventually fell in favor of revamped Saab J 35Ds from Sweden. For this what-if build I used the real historic timeline, replaced the aircraft, and built both story and model around this – and the result became the BAC Lightning F.56 in Austrian Air Force service.

Initially I wanted to use an Airfix BAC Lightning in The Stash™, a really nice model kit and a relatively new mold, but it turned out to be the kit’s F.2A variant. While very similar to the F.6, changing it into a F.53 analogue with the OOB parts turned out to be too complex for my taste. For instance, the F.2A kit lacks the ventral gun bay (it just comes with the auxiliary tank option since the guns are already located in front of the cockpit) and the cable conduits on the lower flanks. Procuring a suitable and priceworthy Airfix F.6 turned out to be impossible, but then I remembered a Hasegawa Lightning F.6 in The Stash™ that I had shot at ev!lbay many moons ago for a laughable price and without a concrete plan. However, this kit is pretty old: it has raised (yet quite fine, less robust than the Matchbox kit) panel lines and even comes with a pilot figure, but also many weak spots like the air intake and the jet exhausts that end in flat walls after some millimeters depth and a very basic cockpit. But for this rather simple what-if project the kit appeared to be a suitable basis, and it would eventually find a good use.

The Hasegawa Lightning was basically built OOB, even though I made some cosmetic amendments like a better seat for the pilot, hydraulic fluid lines on the landing gear made from wire or opening the flat walls inside of the air intake opening and the jet nozzles. Behind the radome, a simple splitter plate was added as well as a recessed bulkhead in front of an implanted Me 262 cockpit tub (the Hasegawa kit just offers a bare floor panel, nothing else!), the afterburners were extended inwards with parts from a Matchbox A.W. Meteor night fighter.

The Red Top AAMs and the in-flight refueling probe were omitted. Instead, I added extra F.53-style forward-swept pylons under the outer wings, scratched from 1.5 mm styrene sheet due to their odd, raked shape, and I added Sidewinder launch rails plus suitable missiles from a Hasegawa air-to-air weapons set to all four stations. After long consideration I also retained the ‘overburger’ tanks, partly because of the unique layout on the Lightning, and also because of operational considerations.

Chaff dispensers were scratched from styrene profiles and placed at the fin’s base. A fairing for the retrofitted radar warning sensor was added to the fin tip, created from 1.5 mm styrene sheet.

Painting and markings:

To reflect the “alternate reality” role of the Lightning I gave the model a livery similar to the Saab J 35Ö that were actually procured: an adaptation of the USAF “Egypt One” scheme, carried primarily by the USAF F-16s. Adapting this simple three-tone camouflage from the flat F-16 to the Draken was easy and straightforward, but applying it to a Lightning with its many vertical surfaces turned out to be a tough challenge. I eventually came up with a paint scheme that reminds of the late RAF low-viz Lightning liveries, which existed in a wide range of patterns and graduations of grey.

The colors were authentic, FS 36118, 36270 and 36375 (using Humbrol 125, 126 and 127), and I decided to emphasize the camouflage of the flanks against the horizon, so that the vertical surfaces and the fin became FS 36270. The undersides of wings, stabilizers and fuselage became FS 36375. The dark FS 36118 was only applied to the upper sides of the wings and the stabilizer, and to a high dorsal section, starting at the wing roots. As a small contrast, the tank area on the spine was painted in light grey, simulating unpainted fiber glass. The radome was painted with a streaky mix of Humbrol 155 and 56.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, some post-panel-shading in lighter tones, and, due to the raised panel lines, was very lightly rubbed with graphite. The cockpit interior was painted in medium grey (Revell 47) with an olive drab fabric fairing behind the black pilot seat, which received ejection handles made from thin wire as eye candy. The landing gear and the respective wells were painted in Humbrol 56 (Aluminum Dope).

The decals are a wild mix: The fuselage roundels are actually wing markings from a Hasegawa J 35OE, as well as the huge orange "06" on the wings (I could not resist; they will later be partly obscured by the overwing tanks, but the heck with it!). The roundels on the wings come from a generic TL Modellbau sheet - I found that I needed larger markings than those on the Draken.

Both unit and individual aircraft identifiers are single black DIN font digits, also from TL Modellbau. The unit badges on the fin are authentic, even though from an earlier era: they came from an Austrian J 29 of Fliegerregiment 2 from a PrintScale sheet, and all stencils were taken from the OOB low-viz RAF markings sheet, plus four small warning triangles for the underwing pylons.

A ‘what-if’ model in the purest sense, since this model depicts what could really have been: ex Saudi-Arabian export BAC Lightnings over the Austrian Alps! However, refurbished Saab J 35D Draken made the race (and later followed by the Eurofighter Typhoon at ‘Stage 2’), so that this Lightning remains fictional. It does not look bad in the ‘Egypt One’ paint scheme, though, better than expected!

Autumn 2015

A familiar Oxford corner

Konica FC-1

Konica Hexanon AR 50mm f/1.4

Outdated Kodak Color Plus 200

Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV scan + LR adjustments and removal of blemishes

** October 2010: This diffuser is very outdated but remains to show the progression of my setups through my Camera Gear set and also for demonstrative purposes for anyone wishing to make a similar diffuser. You can view my most current and often-used macro setup here.**

Flash diffuser mounted (with tape, for now...I spent a long time making an elaborate wire support, and it didn't work out. Oh well.) Looks rough, works great. I actually have to diffuse it further with paper for many subjects, it is so bright.

Can also see my rig with the kit lens (18-55) mounted in reverse in front of my 60mm macro with a 62-52mm step-down ring and a 52mm male-male reversing ring. I have to hold the aperture on the front lens open manually; ten staples happen to be the perfect size to do so (older SLR lenses had a ring, which made it much easier).

It's a crappy picture, just here for the tech aspect. Sorry for the poor quality, taken with an elderly Sony point-and-shoot.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Austrian Air Force in its current form was created in May 1955 by the victorious Allied powers, subject to restrictions on its use of guided missiles. The Austrian State Treaty of 1955 committed Austria to permanent neutrality. Pilot training started out with a four Yak-11 Moose and four Yak-18 Max aircraft donated by the Soviet Union, and Austria purchased further light trainer types under the Military Assistance Program. Until 1960 Austria purchased training and support aircraft under the MAP, but no modern fighter aircraft; the role of a fighter was rather inadequately filled by thirty already outdated Saab 29 Tunnan, bought second-hand from the Swedish Air Force in the early 1960s which equipped two fighter bomber squadrons.

The Austrian Lightnings’ planned service period of 10 years was almost doubled, though, due to massive delays with the Eurofighter’s development: In 2002, Austria had already selected the Typhoon as its new “Phase II” air defense aircraft, having beaten the F-16 and the Saab Gripen in competition, and its introduction had been expected to occur from early 2005 on, so that the Lightnings could be gradually phased out. The purchase of 18 Typhoons was agreed on 1 July 2003, but it would take until 12 July 2007 that the first Typhoon would eventually be delivered to Zeltweg Air Base and formally enter service with the Austrian Air Force. This operational gap had to be bridged with twelve F-5E leased from Switzerland for EUR 75 mio., so that Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties for the Austrian airspace could be continued.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 55 ft 3 in (16.84 m)

Wingspan: 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)

Height: 19 ft 7 in (5.97 m)

Wing area: 474.5 sq ft (44.08 m²)

Empty weight: 31,068 lb (14,092 kg) with armament and no fuel

Gross weight: 41,076 lb (18,632 kg) with two AIM-9B, cannon, ammunition, and internal fuel

Max takeoff weight: 45,750 lb (20,752 kg)

Powerplant:

2× Rolls-Royce Avon 301R afterburning turbojet engines,

12,690 lbf (56.4 kN) thrust each dry, 16,360 lbf (72.8 kN) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: Mach 2.27 (1,500 mph+ at 40,000 ft)

Range: 738 nmi (849 mi, 1,367 km)

Combat range: 135 nmi (155 mi, 250 km) supersonic intercept radius

Range: 800 nmi (920 mi, 1,500 km) with internal fuel

1,100 nmi (1,300 mi; 2,000 km) with external overwing tanks

Service ceiling: 60,000 ft (18,000 m)

Zoom ceiling: 70,000 ft (21,000 m)

Rate of climb: 20,000 ft/min (100 m/s) sustained to 30,000 ft (9,100 m)

Zoom climb: 50,000 ft/min

Time to altitude: 2.8 min to 36,000 ft (11,000 m)

Wing loading: 76 lb/sq ft (370 kg/m²) with two AIM-9 and 1/2 fuel

Thrust/weight: 0.78 (1.03 empty)

Armament:

2× 30 mm (1.181 in) ADEN cannon with 120 RPG in the lower fuselage

2× forward fuselage hardpoints for a single AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM each

2× underwing hardpoints for 1.000 lb (454 kg) each

2× overwing pylon stations for 2.000 lb (907 kg each),

typically occupied with 260 imp gal (310 US gal; 1,200 l) ferry tanks

The kit and its assembly:

This was another submission to the “Hunter, Lightning and Canberra” group build at whatifmodellers.com in 2022 and intended as a rather simple build since it was based on an alternate reality plot: the weird story that Austria was offered a revamped fleet of ex-Saudi Arabian Lightnings is true(!), but the decision eventually fell in favor of revamped Saab J 35Ds from Sweden. For this what-if build I used the real historic timeline, replaced the aircraft, and built both story and model around this – and the result became the BAC Lightning F.56 in Austrian Air Force service.

Initially I wanted to use an Airfix BAC Lightning in The Stash™, a really nice model kit and a relatively new mold, but it turned out to be the kit’s F.2A variant. While very similar to the F.6, changing it into a F.53 analogue with the OOB parts turned out to be too complex for my taste. For instance, the F.2A kit lacks the ventral gun bay (it just comes with the auxiliary tank option since the guns are already located in front of the cockpit) and the cable conduits on the lower flanks. Procuring a suitable and priceworthy Airfix F.6 turned out to be impossible, but then I remembered a Hasegawa Lightning F.6 in The Stash™ that I had shot at ev!lbay many moons ago for a laughable price and without a concrete plan. However, this kit is pretty old: it has raised (yet quite fine, less robust than the Matchbox kit) panel lines and even comes with a pilot figure, but also many weak spots like the air intake and the jet exhausts that end in flat walls after some millimeters depth and a very basic cockpit. But for this rather simple what-if project the kit appeared to be a suitable basis, and it would eventually find a good use.

The Hasegawa Lightning was basically built OOB, even though I made some cosmetic amendments like a better seat for the pilot, hydraulic fluid lines on the landing gear made from wire or opening the flat walls inside of the air intake opening and the jet nozzles. Behind the radome, a simple splitter plate was added as well as a recessed bulkhead in front of an implanted Me 262 cockpit tub (the Hasegawa kit just offers a bare floor panel, nothing else!), the afterburners were extended inwards with parts from a Matchbox A.W. Meteor night fighter.

The Red Top AAMs and the in-flight refueling probe were omitted. Instead, I added extra F.53-style forward-swept pylons under the outer wings, scratched from 1.5 mm styrene sheet due to their odd, raked shape, and I added Sidewinder launch rails plus suitable missiles from a Hasegawa air-to-air weapons set to all four stations. After long consideration I also retained the ‘overburger’ tanks, partly because of the unique layout on the Lightning, and also because of operational considerations.

Chaff dispensers were scratched from styrene profiles and placed at the fin’s base. A fairing for the retrofitted radar warning sensor was added to the fin tip, created from 1.5 mm styrene sheet.

Painting and markings:

To reflect the “alternate reality” role of the Lightning I gave the model a livery similar to the Saab J 35Ö that were actually procured: an adaptation of the USAF “Egypt One” scheme, carried primarily by the USAF F-16s. Adapting this simple three-tone camouflage from the flat F-16 to the Draken was easy and straightforward, but applying it to a Lightning with its many vertical surfaces turned out to be a tough challenge. I eventually came up with a paint scheme that reminds of the late RAF low-viz Lightning liveries, which existed in a wide range of patterns and graduations of grey.

The colors were authentic, FS 36118, 36270 and 36375 (using Humbrol 125, 126 and 127), and I decided to emphasize the camouflage of the flanks against the horizon, so that the vertical surfaces and the fin became FS 36270. The undersides of wings, stabilizers and fuselage became FS 36375. The dark FS 36118 was only applied to the upper sides of the wings and the stabilizer, and to a high dorsal section, starting at the wing roots. As a small contrast, the tank area on the spine was painted in light grey, simulating unpainted fiber glass. The radome was painted with a streaky mix of Humbrol 155 and 56.

As usual, the model received a light black ink washing, some post-panel-shading in lighter tones, and, due to the raised panel lines, was very lightly rubbed with graphite. The cockpit interior was painted in medium grey (Revell 47) with an olive drab fabric fairing behind the black pilot seat, which received ejection handles made from thin wire as eye candy. The landing gear and the respective wells were painted in Humbrol 56 (Aluminum Dope).

The decals are a wild mix: The fuselage roundels are actually wing markings from a Hasegawa J 35OE, as well as the huge orange "06" on the wings (I could not resist; they will later be partly obscured by the overwing tanks, but the heck with it!). The roundels on the wings come from a generic TL Modellbau sheet - I found that I needed larger markings than those on the Draken.

Both unit and individual aircraft identifiers are single black DIN font digits, also from TL Modellbau. The unit badges on the fin are authentic, even though from an earlier era: they came from an Austrian J 29 of Fliegerregiment 2 from a PrintScale sheet, and all stencils were taken from the OOB low-viz RAF markings sheet, plus four small warning triangles for the underwing pylons.

A ‘what-if’ model in the purest sense, since this model depicts what could really have been: ex Saudi-Arabian export BAC Lightnings over the Austrian Alps! However, refurbished Saab J 35D Draken made the race (and later followed by the Eurofighter Typhoon at ‘Stage 2’), so that this Lightning remains fictional. It does not look bad in the ‘Egypt One’ paint scheme, though, better than expected!