View allAll Photos Tagged Refinance
01 Oil Studies, No. 32
Objective: Refine hue-chroma-values in autumn bright daylight.
Painted in 4 sessions: 15 to 23 July 2024
Pigments (Winsor & Newton Artists' oil colour unless otherwise noted): Permalba white (Weber), yellow ochre, Naples yellow, cadmium yellow, French ultramarine, burnt sienna, warm gray (Rembrandt artist), sap green, viridian. Mediums: Gamsol, linseed oil.
Centurion OP DLX oil primed linen, 30.5 x 22.9 cm (12 x 9 inches)
Process: I expanded on my initial objective above and added many birds with the intent of showing more their motion than their detail.
After Action Evaluation: (1) Pay attention to drying during the process. Sometimes and element needs to dry (such as the blue sky) before working around it. Sometimes elements need to blend; here cadmium yellow was added to tree foliage after it had dried resulting in too much chroma. (2) Given the scale, I was happy with he birds.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MANIFESTO GLEITZEIT 2015
BY STELLY RIESLING
Featured below is another original art work of mine in homage to THE PIONEER OF INVISIBLE ART — PAUL JAISINI. Forget all the copycats that came after him — Master Paul Jaisini was the *FIRST* of a totally original concept and the *BEST*. My favorite thing about him is that he’s a voice, not an echo, which is quite rare.
DISCLAIMER: This is for anyone who is a hater OR wishes to better understand me, what I’m all about, so you can decide whether I’m weird or normal enough for you — a kind of very loose manifesto, rushed and unrevised, full of raw uncut emotion that I don’t like to be evident in my writing as lately I prefer a more professional, formal style, so we can consider this a rough draft of the more polished writing to come when I have extra time. I might return to this text later and clean it up or break it into separate parts. Right now it’s a long-winded hot mess, so if you manage to make any sense of it, BIG PROPS TO YOU. lol …and if you manage to read it ALL, you have my solemn respect!!! in a day when reading has been reduced to just catchy headliners and short captions of images once in a while. The consequence of this one-liner internet culture is non-linear, tunnel thinking, which is baaaaaad.
There lives among us a most enigmatic and charismatic creature named Paul Jaisini who led me into the wonderful world of art, not personally, but through descriptions of his artworks in essays written and published online by his friend, which painted the most fascinating images in my mind. Early on as a kiddo, I experimented with photography, simple point and shoot whatever looked attractive to me. Digital manipulation of my photographs with computer software followed… and somehow I learned useful drawing techniques along the way to combine existing elements with nonexistent ones, which allowed me to elevate the context for my ideas. Later, I started creating my own digital art from scratch for my friends and family as a favorite pastime. They would shower me with praise and repeatedly encouraged me to share my “different” vision with the rest of the world… it took a while and wasn’t easy to overcome the insecurity of not being good enough along with a gripping fear of being harshly criticized, but one day I woman-ed up and started publishing my work on the web, reminding myself that my livelihood didn’t depend on a positive reception.
Paul Jaisini’s role in all this has been to not disgrace myself, even if what I do is just a hobby. And I would never do him and other genius artists the disservice of calling myself a professional because I know I’ll never be as good as any of the GIANTS of pre-modern history. Be the best or be nothing, no middle ground.
People’s jealousy in the past, future and present over my obsessive love of Paul Jaisini, which they are well aware is purely plutonic, has caused them to despise the man and has made many relationships/friendships impossible for me. I refuse to have such people in my life because by harboring any negativity towards Paul, they unknowingly feel that way about me and express it to me. It’s their own problem for not realizing this. Paul’s new art movement, Gleitzeit, shaped me into the allegedly awesome girl I am today, giving my art more edge, more “sexy” because it refined my vision of the world and propelled me to attain the skills necessary to not dishonor my family name through tenacious pursuit of perfection. Since the beginning of my life, I attempted to depict what I saw in visual, musical and literal forms, but continuously failed without adequate training and determination. Paul Jaisini’s Gleitzeit was the answer to my prayers. Who I am today I owe mostly to him and his selfless ideals of the artverse that I’ve given unconditional loyalty to (he has this cool ability for hyper-vision to see whole universes, not itty bitty worlds, hence I call it an artverse instead of art world, with him in mind). So again, anyone who hates Paul Jaisini hates ME because, regardless of what he means to you, he is the most important person in my life for making me ME. The way a famous actor, dancer or singer inspires others to act, dance or sing, Paul inspired me to become a better artist, better writer, better everything. More people would understand if he was a household name because they’re wired to in society. But we’re inspiring each other all the time in our own little communities without being famous, so if someone has the ability to change even ONE person’s life immensely with creativity, it is a massive achievement. And passionate folks like myself are compelled to scream it from the cyber rooftops. So here I am. It’s whatever.
Furthermore, I’d like to address here a few pressing matters in light of some recent drama brought on by both strangers and former friends. To start, I never judge the passions, interests or likes of others, which are often in my face all over the place, so likewise they have no right to judge any of mine. It is quite unfortunate and frustrating how very little understanding and education the majority of people have or want to have. Their logic is as primitive as a chipmunk when it comes to promotion of fine art on the web: “spamming, advertising, report!” It’s their own problem that they fail to understand what it’s about due to the distorted lens through which they see the world or inability to think for themselves; an inherent lack of perception or inquisitiveness. Well, guess what? Every single image, every animation, every video, every post dedicated to Mr. Paul Jaisini and “Gleitziet” (to elaborate: a revolutionary new art movement Paul founded with his partner in crime and personal friend, EYKG, who discovered him and believed in him more than anyone) has an important purpose. Every one of those things you run across is a piece of a puzzle, a move in a game, an inch down a rabbit hole; the deeper you go, the more interesting it gets; the more levels you pass, the more clues unfold, the greater the suspense and nearer the conclusion (yet further). You earn awesome rewards like enlightenment, spiritual revelations, truths, knowledge, wisdom and the most profound reward of all: the drive to improve yourself to the absolute maximum, so an unending, unshakable drive. People often make a wrong turn in this cyber game and go back a few levels or get stuck. Those that keep on pushing, however, will come to find the effort has been worth it. And what awaits you in the end of it all? The greatest challenge to beating the game: YOUR OWN MIND. You will be forced to let go of every belief you held before you had reached the last level, to completely alter your mindset and perception of the world, of life, of yourself. But by the time you’ve gotten to that point, it will be as easy as falling off a cliff! (It is a kind of suicide after all — death and rebirth of spirit.)
Paul Jaisini does NOT, *I repeat* does NOT use mystery and obscurity to his advantage as a clever marketing ploy, no, he’s too next level for that with a consciousness so rich, he should wear a radioactive warning sign (he’ll melt your brain, best wear a tinfoil hat in his presence as I certainly would.) The statement he makes is loud and clear, hidden in plain site for those who take the time to connect the dots and have enough curiosity to fuel their journey into unknown territory (an open mind and flexible perception helps a lot). Actually, anyone with an IQ above 90 is sure to figure it out sooner or later. Hint: You don’t have to SEE an extraordinary thing with your eyes to know it exists, to understand it and realize its greatness — you can only feel it in your bone marrow, your spinal fluid, your heart and soul. The moment you do figure it out, as the skeleton key of the human soul, it will unlock the greatness and massive potential buried deep within, changing the doomed direction humanity is undoubtedly headed. I don’t speak in riddles, I speak in a clear direct way that intelligent humans will understand, so I’m counting on them.
GIG is an international group of artists and writers that support Paul Jaisini’s Gleitzeit. We started off as an unofficial fan club of Jaisini in 1996, comprised of only 6 individuals spanning 3 countries, and eventually escalated in status to an official fan group across the entire globe. A decade later it had grown to hundreds of fans. Nearly another decade later, there are thousands. Let’s not leave out another delightful group of vicious haters that have been around for nearly as long as us since the late 90s and have also grown in impressive numbers. Now, for the record (and please write this one down because I’m sick of repeating myself), Paul Jaisini himself is not part of our group and has nothing to do with us. He loves and hates us equally for butchering his name and making him appear as a narcissistic nut-job in his own words. He casts hexes on us for the blinding flash we layer over the art that members contribute to GIG — “disgusting-police-lights, seizure-inducing-laser-lightshow, bourgeois-myspace-effects retarded-raver shit” in Paul’s words. Ahh, how we love his sweet-talking us. In a desperate attempt to please him, those among us who make the art and animations have spent countless hours and sleepless nights trying to solve a crazy-complex quantum-physics type of equation = how to not create tacky or tasteless content. He does fancy some of it now, we got better, that’s something! In the reason stated below, our mission just got out of hand at some point.
What little is known about Paul Jaisini, even in all this time, is he’s a horrible perfectionist who slaughtered hundreds of innocent babies — I mean — artworks of remarkable beauty created by his own right hand (mostly paintings, some watercolors and drawings). He’s a fierce recluse who wants nothing to do with anyone or anything in life. But those few of us who know of an incredible talent he possesses (one could go as far as calling it a superpower), could not allow him to live his life without the recognition he FUCKING DESERVES more than any artist out there living today and, arguably, yesterday. We use whatever means necessary to reach more people, lots of flash and razzle-dazzle to lure them into our sinister trap of a higher awareness. Mwahaha! The visual boom you’ve witnessed in both cyber and real worlds, that is GIG’s doing — two damn decades of spreading an art virus — IVA. InVisibleArtitis… or a drug as in Intravenous Art. It’s whatever you want it to be, honey.
Our Gleitzeit International Group (GIG) started off innocently enough and gradually spiraled out of control to fight the haters, annoying the hell out of them as much as humanly possible. They don’t like what we do? WE DO MORE AND MORE OF IT. But never without purpose, without a carefully executed plan in mind collectively. If we have to tolerate an endless tidal wave of everyone’s vomit — e.g., idiotic memes and comics; dumbed-down one-liner quotes; selfies; so-called “art photography” passed through one-click app filters; mindless scribbles or random splatters by regular folks who have the nerve to call themselves serious/pro artists; primitive images of pets, babies, landscapes, random objects, etc… then people sure as shit are gonna tolerate what we put out, our animated and non-animated visual art designed for our beloved master, Paul Jaisini, who has shown us the light, the right path to follow, taught us great things and done so much for us — and so in our appreciation of him, we stamp his name on everything, for the sacrifices he has made in the name of art, to save our art verse, he’s a goddamn hero. There’s a book being written in his dedication where little will be left to the imagination about him.
If Paul Jaisini was as famous as Koons or Hirst, for example, people would know it’s not him posting stuff online with his name on it but fans creating fanart like myself among others. But noooooo, such a thing is unfathomable to most people - the promotion of another artist. Like, what’s in it for us? Uhh, nothing?? This is all NON-PROFIT bitches, the way art should be. It’s a passion FIRST, a commodity/commercial product/marketable item LAST and least. Its been that way for us since the early 90s to this day. Not a single member of GIG has sold an art work (neither has Paul Jaisini who’s a true professional) and we want to keep it that way. We do it for reasons far beyond ego. So advertising? Really? How the hell do you advertise or sell thin air, you know, invisible paintings, invisible anything? Ha ha, very funny indeed. The idea here is so simple, your neighbor’s dog can grasp it. Our motives: replace fast food for the mind with fine art, actual fine art. You know, creativity? Conscious thought? Talent? Skill? Knowledge? All that good stuff rolled into one to bring viewers more than a momentary ooohand aaahh reaction. Replace the recycled images ad nauseum; repetitious, worn-out ideas; disposable, gimmicky, money-driven fast art for simpletons. Stick with the highest of ideals and save the whole bloody planet.
Fine art is often confused with craft-making. This often creates bad blood between classically trained artists who put out paintings that leave a lasting impression, that make strong conversation pieces, that are thought-provoking and deep… and trained craftspeople whose skills are adequate to create decorative pieces for homely environments — landscapes, still lifes, animals, pretty fairies, common things of fantasy, and other simplicity. Skills alone are not enough for high art, you need a vision, a purpose, the ability to tell a story with every stroke of your brush that will both fascinate and terrify the viewers, arousing powerful emotions, illuminating. I have yet to see a visible painting in my generation that does anything at all for me, other than evoke sheer outrage and disgust. What a terrible waste of space and valuable resources it all is.
Paul Jaisini leads, we follow. He wishes to remain unknown - so do most of us. I’m next in line, slipping into recluse mode, no longer wanting to attach my face, my human image to my art stuff. I wish to be a nameless, faceless artist as well, invisible like P.J., and in his footsteps I too have destroyed thousands of my own artistic photography and digital art made with tedious, labor-intensive handwork. The whole point of this destruction is achieving the finest results possible by letting go of the imperfect, purging it on a regular basis, to make way for the perfect. I love what I do so it doesn’t matter, I know I’ll keep producing as much as I’m discarding, keeping the balance. Hoarding is an enemy of progress, especially the digital kind as there’s absolutely no limit to it. It’s like carrying a load of bricks on your back you’ll never use or need.
The watering down of creativity that digital pack ratting has caused as observed over the years is most tragic. For the creative individual, relying on terabytes of stock photos or OSFAP as I call them (Once Size Fits All Photos) instead of making your own as you used to when you had no choice, being 100% original, is a splinter in the conscience. It’s not evil to use stock of, say, things you don’t have access to (outer space, deep sea, Antarctica, etc.), but many digital artists I know today can’t take their own shot of a pencil ‘cause they “ain’t got no time for that!” How did they have time before? Did time get so compressed in only a decade?
Ohhhhh, and the edits, textures, filters, plug-ins and what-have-you available out there to everyone and their cats… are responsible for the tidal wave of rubbish that eclipses the magnificent light of the real talents.
I can tell you with utmost sincerity there is no better feeling on earth than knowing your creation is ALL yours, every pixel and dot, from the first to the last. It’s not always possible to make it so, but definitely the most rewarding endeavor. I’m most proud of myself when I can accomplish that.
Back to Paul Jaisini, from the start there have been a number of theories floating around on what his real story is. One of my own theories is that he stands for the unknowns of the world who can’t get representation, can’t get exhibited at a decent gallery because highly gifted/trained artists aren’t good enough - those kind of establishments prefer bananas, balloon dogs, feces, gigantic dicks/cunts, and all kinds of what-the-fucks…
So again, you don’t get the Paul Jaisini thing? That’s your problem. Don’t hate others for getting it. People are good, very good, at making baseless assumptions and impulsively spewing it as truth. They criticize and judge as if they’re high authorities on the subject yet they clearly lack education in fine art or art history and possess little to no talent or skill to back up their bullshit. My little “credibility radar” never fails. When they say I know this or I know that, I reply don’t say “I know” or state things as fact as a general rule of thumb - instead say “I assume/believe” and state the reasons you feel thus to appear less immature, especially about a controversial topic like invisible art. I have zero respect or tolerance for egomaniacs who think they know it all and act accordingly like arrogant pricks. Who can stand those, right? Once again, a good example would be: I, Stelly Riesling, believe everything I’ve written in this little manifesto to be correct based on personal experience and observation from multiple angles, thorough research and sufficient data collected from verifiable sources (and don’t go copying-pasting my own words back at me, be original). Just because you or I say so doesn’t make it so. Just because you or me think or believe so doesn’t make it true or right. I only ask that my opinions are regarded respectfully and whoever opposes them does so in a mature, civilized manner. We should only be entitled to opinions that don’t bring out the worst in us.
I don’t normally take such a position, but the time has come to stand up for what I believe in! It’s quite amusing and comical how haters think calling me names, attacking me or my interests or members of the project I’m part of for years is going to change something. It only makes more evident the importance of what I’m doing so I push on harder still.
Words of advise to those who can identify with me, with my frustrations over people’s reluctance to change their miserable ways, with our declining art world…
DON’T waste time on people who sweat the small stuff, whose actions are consistently inconsistent with their words. DO waste time on people who always keep their eye on the ball—the bigger picture of life.
Paul Jaisini’s invisible paintings are more than hype, more than your lame assumptions. Here’s one I got that’s pure gold: a cult! It started out as A JOKE OF MINE that was used against me. I told a then-good friend that he should come join our little “art cult” in a clearly lighthearted manner, and later he takes this idea I put in his head first and accuses me of being in an (imaginary) cult—the jokes on me eh?. But wait, aren’t cults religious? Our group consists of people around the world of different faiths (or none at all) so how could that ever work? If religion was about making fine (non-pop) art mainstream and bringing awesome, fresh, futuristic concepts to the collective consciousness, the world would not be so fucked up today because talent, creativity, originality and individuality would be the main focus, not superficial poppycock; those things would be praised and encouraged and supported in society by all institutions, not demonized and stigmatized.
Here is one thing I CAN state as solid fact: only one person close to Paul Jaisini knows the TRUE story, or at least some of it: EYKG. Everything else that has ever been said about him is myth, legend, gossip, speculation, the worst of which is said by jealous non-artists (wannabes, clones, posers, hang-ons, unoriginal ppl in general) and anti-artists (religious psychos, squares, losers and -duh- stupid ppl). Sadly, people are unable to see the bigger picture by letting their egos run their lives or repeating after others as parrots.
Commercial art, consumerism, and ignorance of the masses truly makes me want to curl up in a ball, not eat or drink or move until I die, just die in my sleep while dreaming of a better world, a world where real fine artists rule it with real fine art as they used to and life is beautiful once again….
Well I hope that settled THAT for now, or perhaps inadvertently made matters worse. I hope I didn’t sound too pissed from all these issues that keep popping up like penises on ChatRoulette… just got to me already! Can you tell? I had to put my foot down, stomp ‘em all!
To be continued, still lots more ignorance and pettiness to battle… Till then peace out my bambini. MWAH!
Place: Guangzhou, Guangdong Province
Chinese name: 江淮瑞风S2 (jiānghuái ruìfēng S2)
Year of launch: 2015
JAC Motors (Jianghuai Automobile) is a Chinese state-owned automobile and commercial vehicle producer and was established in 1964. JAC started producing the Starex in cooperation with Hyundai in the early 2000s (JAC Refine), but their relationship was soon terminated. Another company, Huatai (later renamed Hawtai in English translation) made the Terracan and Santa Fe under license, but in 2007 JAC came up with their own Santa Fe, the Rein, featuring a (not so) unique front and rear end (in Lexus RX-fashion). In the same year JAC finally gained rights to produce passenger cars. Its first car was the large and unsuccessful Binjoy (Binyue) sedan, which was immediately launched in 2007. It was followed by a couple of impressive new models: the Tojoy (Tongyue) in 2008 and Hojoy sedan (Heyue), Hojoy RS (Heyue RS) MPV and Joyjoy (Yueyue) small car in 2009. Their later launched have never quite reached this level anymore. The Hojoy RS was refreshed in 2013 and renamed Refine M2 in 2015.
JAC's SUV range consists of the S2, S3, S5 and new S7. The S3 was launched in 2013 and was a huge success for the brand, selling almost 200,000 units in both 2015 and 2016. However, demand has dried up and it has faded away so far this year.
The Refine S2 was launched in 2015 and is JAC's most compact SUV.
Sales figures: carsalesbase.com/china-car-sales-data/jac/jac-refine-s2/
Place: Guangzhou, Guangdong Province
Chinese name: 江淮瑞风S3 (jiānghuái ruìfēng S3)
Year of launch: 2013
JAC Motors (Jianghuai Automobile) is a Chinese state-owned automobile and commercial vehicle producer and was established in 1964. JAC started producing the Starex in cooperation with Hyundai in the early 2000s (JAC Refine), but their relationship was soon terminated. Another company, Huatai (later renamed Hawtai in English translation) made the Terracan and Santa Fe under license, but in 2007 JAC came up with their own Santa Fe, the Rein, featuring a (not so) unique front and rear end (in Lexus RX-fashion). In the same year JAC finally gained rights to produce passenger cars. Its first car was the large and unsuccessful Binjoy (Binyue) sedan, which was immediately launched in 2007. It was followed by a couple of impressive new models: the Tojoy (Tongyue) in 2008 and Hojoy sedan (Heyue), Hojoy RS (Heyue RS) MPV and Joyjoy (Yueyue) small car in 2009. Their later launched have never quite reached this level anymore. The Hojoy RS was refreshed in 2013 and renamed Refine M2 in 2015.
JAC's SUV range consists of the S2, S3, S5 and new S7. The S3 was launched in 2013 and was a huge success for the brand, selling almost 200,000 units in both 2015 and 2016. However, demand has dried up since last year.
Sales figures: carsalesbase.com/china-car-sales-data/jac/jac-refine-s3/
As usual no-one to take a photo of so I had to step into the breach...lighting practice as ever needs refining.
Lighting info:
YN560-III into 60cm softbox (CL) at 45 degrees pointing down allowing some spill onto background giving a two light feel to image.
Flash at ¼ power triggered with YN560-TX
The following is an account of Lake Hart published in 1947 -
Although for long it has been deserted, Lake Hart, on the lonely mulga plains, has Australia's Prize Salt Deposit.
Standing beside the transcontinental railway, 137 miles [219 kilometres] from Port Augusta, is a 7,000 tons dump of the best quality salt in Australia. Behind it, stretching far northwards, is Lake Hart, the place from which the salt was taken.
In 1931 this was the scene of a thriving industry. Today, it is forgotten in its isolation amid the mulga plains of the north-west. Lake Hart's importance as a salt deposit first became manifest in 1918 when surveyors investigated its entire area. They estimated the yield as three million tons, and defined the lake's area as 61 square miles.
Following these observations, the Sydney firm which owned the deposit - the Commonwealth Salt Refining Company - began preliminary operations with a few men.
Small quantities of salt were harvested and bagged for testing purposes. At this stage no refining plant had been installed, and the salt was sent to Adelaide for refining. The finished product proved so successful that the CSRC immediately launched large-scale operations. They installed a refining plant, and employed more than 50 men. The employees camped at the site and depended for their stores on the Commonwealth Railway's weekly food train.
Salt was harvested by day and refined continuously by shift workers.
Harvesting methods then were slow and cumbersome compared with present day methods. Sweepers first swept the water forward to the elevated catchment pens, each of which was 300 ft long by 150 ft wide.
When the salt had been deposited on the floor, the water was allowed to flow back into the lake, leaving the salt banked in and around the pens. The salt was then swept up and loaded into carrying carts, which were towed to the nearby refining plant.
Driving power for the plant was supplied by a gas producer engine. At first a Crossley type of 35 hp was used, but as production accelerated, a large Hornsby engine of 50 hp was added. These two engines may still be seen among the skeleton plant which remains at the lake.
The first phase of the salt's refining began when it entered the crushers. For Lake Hart salt, this was a very thorough process, due to the crude product's unusual hardness.
From the crushers it was carried into the washing troughs. Here it was scoured free of all foreign matter and, after a series of swillings was passed into the dehydrator.
When this machine had evaporated all water from the now whitened grain, the salt entered its final process - the drying oven.
This machine dried out all moisture and at the same time killed any remaining germ life, before discharging the finished product.
Such refineries were, of course, greatly inferior to present day establishments, such as those on Yorke Peninsula. Here, the sea water itself passes through several evaporation condensers before the salt is extricated for a complicated refining. But with Lake Hart's pure quality salt extensive refining was not necessary.
Few facilities existed to enable workers to negotiate the obstacles of outback industrial settlement. One employee crossed the lake in a flat-bottomed boat to ascertain the salt content on the opposite shore. He sailed across, but had to row 15 miles on the return trip. Today, people of the north-west give him the honour of being Lake Hart's conqueror.
Extreme difficulty was experienced from the late summer downpours which are prevalent in this area. During these storms the lake often became flooded, rendering harvesting impossible. However, the company had prepared for such emergencies. Huge reserve dumps had been heaped in readiness, and refining was not hampered.
For several years Lake Hart yielded 9,000 tons annually. Most of the salt was shipped to Sydney, where it was distributed for edible and industrial uses.
Commercial users throughout Australia were elated with the quality. Housewives discovered that, in actual saltiness, the Lake Hart product was twice as strong as any other.
The biggest asset that the salt had was its freedom from gypsum. This was, and still is, a very rare credential. All other main Australian sources are handicapped by gypsum content, which not only reduces quality, but enforces excessive work and cost during the refining process.
In 1921 the company amalgamated with the Australian Salt Company. The firm experienced great difficulties in obtaining water for refining purposes, its only supplies coming from occasional supply trains. Further, the isolated position created problems in the delivery of the refined product. These difficulties were the chief reasons for the cessation of harvesting in 1931.
Yorke Peninsula refineries were supplying more than enough salt for the State's use, and, although the quality was greatly inferior to that of Lake Hart, it was considered unpayable to continue work on the lake. To Australia, its closing meant a decrease in the quality of salt in use: but the quantity remains plentiful.
Salt is in enormous surplus, not only in Australia, but throughout the world. Our own refinery at Price on Yorke Peninsula, for instance, can supply enough salt in six months to last South Australia for five years.
Ever since closing the Lake Hart plant, the Australian Salt Company has employed a caretaker on the premises. The present caretaker has held his lonely job for seven years. His duties are simple. He records the rise and fall of the lake, and is responsible for the maintenance of the depleted plant.
Much of the plant was removed soon after the work ceased, but the catchment pens, crushers and engines remain in readiness for a reopening of the industry.
Last year it was intended to restart the enterprise, but fate ruled otherwise. Heavy rain swelled the lake to such an extent that plans had to be temporarily abandoned.
There is little opportunity for anyone to see Lake Hart. Train tourists can, but as both the East and West bound expresses pass this locality during the night, few see what is Australia's prize salt deposit.
Ref: Advertiser (Adelaide) 6-9-1947 Article by W J Watkins
I've been refining joints and limbs over the past two years and this guy is like a greatest hits so far. I'll make some instructions so if you want to give it a go, add guns etc I'd love to see it. Tried LDD but some of my link techniques confused it so I'll do some pics like the breakdown ones but more detailed.
Still refining my setup for copying my slides with a Canon 5DII
I misplaced my written notes so I will try to keep them here instead...
All advice and suggestions are appreciated =)
TBD: ISO, Jpeg settings...
CAMERA:
Canon 5D MkII
Best digital camera I have.
AWB seems to work fine
It is possible higher ISO settings pull more details out of shadows... more testing is needed to solve this...
Av (aperture priority) mode is used since the camera cannot control the lens iris. This way the camera selects the shutter speed automatically... 1/50 is common...
I sometimes re shoot with an adjustment to exposure compensation of +/- 1 before moving on to the next slide
JPG is preferred since the majority of the slides wont need further processing nor do they rate it.
JPG Settings: TBD...
For the best slides perhaps RAW would be better to get a fuller dynamic range...
SOFTWARE:
Canon EOS Utility
To tether the camera to my MacBook Pro.
Focusing can be done on the computer screen far more accurately than I can do it looking through the cameras prism viewfinder.
PROJECTOR:
Kodak Ektagraphic III
Replaced the original 4200 with an Ektagraphic III which has a brighter bulb, this helps with shadow details.
Like the later model Kodak Carousel projectors little to no heat reaches the slide so it retains a flat shape.
Older Kodak models generated enough heat to "pop" the slide curving it slightly. ( In fact earlier models came with lenses which took this curve into account and corrected for it.)
LENS:
Fuji Fujinon-EP 105mm 5.6 Enlarging Lens @ f8
f5.6 is not as sharp as f8 for the small details. f11 adds noise, probably from the back guts of the projector which are covered by a white piece of plastic...
This piece of plastic is from the local TAP plastics shop. I used the thinnest piece that was completely opaque, and had no visible grain or texture in it....
The 105mm lens is the best I have found for 1:1 copying at this distance. 75mm was too short and 135mm too long.
BELLOWS:
Leica R Bellows
A large and rugged bellows system it has the tripod mount on an adjustable rail so it can be refocused without adjusting the actual bellows extension.
A M39 --> Leica R adapter on the front to mount the enlarger lens, and a Leica R to EOS mount on the back for the 5DII
A quick microscale build inspired by Moctagon Jone's sweet little Mars Mining Colony. Looking at it now, I realize how much I was inspired by it...
Anyway, it was a fun little build, and it reminded me how long it's been since I built some good ol' microscale :)
Enjoy!
Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (1897-1935), aviator, was born on 9 February 1897 in Brisbane, fifth son and seventh child of William Charles Smith, banker, and his wife Catherine Mary, née Kingsford. The name Kingsford was added to the family surname in Canada; William went into real estate business there in 1903 and later became a clerk with the Canadian Pacific Railways. The family returned to Sydney in 1907. Charles was educated at Vancouver, Canada, at St Andrew's Cathedral Choir School, Sydney, and at Sydney Technical High School. At 16 he was apprenticed to the Colonial Sugar Refining Co. Ltd.
In February 1915 after three years with the Senior Cadets Kingsford Smith enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He embarked with the 4th Signal Troop, 2nd Division Signal Company, on 31 May as a sapper and served on Gallipoli and, as a dispatch rider, in Egypt and France. In October 1916, as sergeant, he transferred to the Australian Flying Corps. After training in England he was discharged from the A.I.F. and commissioned as second lieutenant, Royal Flying Corps, in March next year; he was appointed flying officer in May and in July joined No.23 Squadron in France. Wounded and shot down in August, he was awarded the Military Cross 'for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty'; he had brought down four machines during his first month at the front and done valuable work in attacking ground targets and hostile balloons. After promotion to lieutenant in April 1918 he served as an R.F.C. flying instructor.
Barred from participating in the 1919 England to Australia air race because of supposedly inadequate navigational experience, Kingsford Smith and his friend Cyril Maddocks piloted joy-flights in England as Kingsford Smith, Maddocks Aeros Ltd. 'Smithy' then went to the United States of America where he failed to attract sponsors for a trans-Pacific flight and was briefly a stunt flier in a flying circus. Back in Australia in January 1921 he worked first in Sydney with another joy-riding organization, the Diggers' Aviation Co., and then as a salaried pilot for Norman Brearley's Western Australian Airways Ltd. On 6 June 1923 at Marble Bar, Western Australia, he married Thelma Eileen Hope Corboy.
Realizing the great potential for air transport in Australia, Kingsford Smith formed a partnership in 1924 with fellow pilot Keith Anderson. They raised the capital to buy two Bristol Tourers by operating a trucking business from Carnarvon, the Gascoyne Transport Co., and in 1927 they returned to Sydney to operate with Charles Ulm as Interstate Flying Services. After tendering unsuccessfully for an Adelaide-Perth mail service, the partners launched a series of important demonstration flights.
On the first of these in June 1927 Kingsford Smith and Ulm completed a round-Australia circuit in 10 days, 5 hours, a notable achievement with minimal navigational aids. Kingsford Smith at once sought support for a trans-Pacific flight and obtained a grant of £9000 from the New South Wales government as well as backing from Sidney Myer and the Californian oil magnate G. Allan Hancock. In a three-engined Fokker plane, the Southern Cross, with Ulm and two American crewmen, Harry Lyon and Jim Warner, he took off from Oakland, California, on 31 May 1928 and flew via Hawaii and Suva to Brisbane, completing the historic crossing in 83 hours, 38 minutes, of flying time. The fliers received subscriptions of over £20,000; Kingsford Smith was awarded the Air Force Cross and appointed honorary squadron leader, Royal Australian Air Force. Anderson, no longer a partner, sued unsuccessfully for part of the prize-money.
In August Kingsford Smith flew the Southern Cross non-stop from Point Cook, Victoria, to Perth. In September-October with Ulm and an Australian crew he piloted the plane from Sydney to Christchurch, New Zealand, demonstrating the feasibility of regular passenger and mail services across the Tasman Sea. He then set out to fly the Southern Cross to England to place orders for a fleet of four aircraft with which he intended to begin an inter-capital air service in Australia. However, on 1 April 1929, losing radio contact with the ground and meeting bad weather over north-west Australia, he was forced to land on the flats of the Glenelg River estuary. Before help reached the stranded party on 13 April, Keith Anderson and Robert Hitchcock had perished in the search. After an official inquiry exonerated Kingsford Smith and Ulm from a charge of having staged the incident for publicity, the flight to England was resumed in June and completed in the record time of 12 days, 18 hours.
Kingsford Smith's airline, Australian National Airways, began operations in January 1930 with Kingsford Smith piloting one of the new Avro Ten planes, the Southern Cloud, on the Sydney-Melbourne route. But 'Smithy' was far from ready to settle down. Collecting his 'old bus', Southern Cross, from the Fokker Aircraft Co. in Holland where it had been overhauled, in June 1930 he achieved an east-west crossing of the Atlantic, from Ireland to Newfoundland, in 31½ hours. New York gave him a tumultuous welcome. He then returned to England to take delivery of an Avro Avian biplane, Southern Cross Junior, and attempt a record-breaking solo flight to Darwin in October. This he accomplished, within ten days, beating four competitors who had left England ahead of him and breaking Hinkler's time by 5½ days.
He was now 34 and world famous. Divorced in May 1929, he married Mary Powell on 10 December 1930 at Scots Church, Melbourne. A little later he joined Eric Campbell's New Guard. He had been made honorary air commodore in November, and the future of his airline appeared bright.
However, on 21 March 1931 the Southern Cloud, flying from Sydney to Melbourne with pilot, co-pilot and six passengers, was lost in severe storms over the Snowy Mountains. There were no survivors and the wreckage was not discovered until 1958. This loss and the deepening Depression crippled the airline. Yet to a man with Kingsford Smith's ambitions the pressure to continue flying was constant. In April 1931 he flew the Southern Cross on an emergency mission to pick up mail for Australia from a damaged Imperial Airways plane in Timor. In September he made a solo flight to England in a new Avro Avian biplane, Southern Cross Minor, intending to gain publicity with an immediate return flight. But his health was showing the strains of an arduous career and the return trip was abandoned on medical advice. In November, however, when one of his company planes under contract to fly Christmas mail to England was damaged in Malaya, he took off in another plane to collect the stranded mail, flew it to England in time for Christmas delivery, and returned with mail for Australia.
In 1932, when he was knighted for services to aviation, Kingsford Smith was almost back to where he had started, selling joy-flights at ten shillings a trip. A flight to New Zealand in 1933 added to this precarious income but failed to persuade the New Zealand government to give him a charter for passenger and mail services between Auckland and Singapore. That year he established a flying training school in Sydney, Kingsford Smith Air Service, but sold out at a loss in 1935.
Towards the end of 1933 prospects brightened. After travelling to England by sea in September, he achieved a brilliant success in October, flying solo from London to Wyndham, Western Australia, in a Percival Gull, Miss Southern Cross, in just over seven days. After the feat the Commonwealth government granted him £3000 and he was appointed aviation consultant to the Vacuum Oil Co.
Inevitably, he was attracted by the announcement that a London to Melbourne air race, sponsored by Sir Macpherson Robertson with a prize of £10,000, would be a feature of Victoria's centenary celebrations. With financial help from friends and sponsors, he bought a fast two-seater Lockheed Altair, which he named Lady Southern Cross, and invited (Sir) P. G. Taylor to accompany him in the race. The plan had to be dropped when modifications to the aircraft could not be completed in time. Kingsford Smith and Taylor then flew Lady Southern Cross from Brisbane to San Francisco in October-November 1934 in order to sell it and reimburse sponsors. This west-east trans-Pacific flight was another first in aviation history.
Leaving the Lady Southern Cross to find an American purchaser, Kingsford Smith and Taylor returned to Australia to the long-awaited authorization for a trans-Tasman airmail service. They began the inaugural flight on 15 May 1935. The result was failure in a setting of spectacular courage. Before dawn and some 500 miles (800 km) out over the Tasman, a damaged propeller blade had put one of the three motors out of action, and a second motor threatened to seize as it rapidly burned oil. Taylor, climbing out of the cockpit, succeeded at great hazard in collecting enough oil from the sump of the dead motor to replenish the other. By jettisoning cargo, and finally most of the mail-bags, Kingsford Smith nursed the Southern Cross back to Sydney.
He was a tired man of 38; but he was impelled to go on demonstrating that the future of world transport was in aviation. He arranged for the still unsold Lady Southern Cross to be shipped to England. From there, with J. T. Pethybridge, he took off on 6 November 1935, aiming to make one more record-breaking flight to Australia. It was the end of the long endeavour. The plane and both fliers were lost. It is assumed they crashed into the sea somewhere off the coast of Burma while flying at night towards Singapore. Kingsford Smith was survived by his wife and son and left an estate valued for probate at £12,875.
His contribution to civil aviation was an effort of faith and stamina and places him among the world's notable pioneers. Lean, with 'cool blue eyes', generous mouth and terse manner, he is featured on the Australian $20 note. Sydney's airport is named after him and there is a memorial to him, Taylor and Ulm at Anderson Park, Sydney. The Southern Cross is on view at Brisbane airport. Kingsford Smith was the author of The Old Bus (1932) and, with Ulm, Story of 'Southern Cross' Trans-Pacific Flight (1928). His autobiography My Flying Life was published posthumously in 1937 and the story of his life was filmed in Australia in 1946
Place: Zhaoxing, Liping County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province
Chinese name: 江淮瑞风M5 (jiānghuái ruìfēng M5)
Year of launch: 2010
JAC Motors (Jianghuai Automobile) is a Chinese state-owned automobile and commercial vehicle producer and was established in 1964. JAC started producing the Starex in cooperation with Hyundai in the early 2000s (JAC Refine), but their relationship was soon terminated. Another company, Huatai (later renamed Hawtai in English translation) made the Terracan and Santa Fe under license, but in 2007 JAC came up with their own Santa Fe, the Rein, featuring a (not so) unique front and rear end (in Lexus RX-fashion). In the same year JAC finally gained rights to produce passenger cars. Its first car was the large and unsuccessful Binjoy (Binyue) sedan, which was immediately launched in 2007. It was followed by a couple of impressive new models: the Tojoy (Tongyue) in 2008 and Hojoy sedan (Heyue), Hojoy RS (Heyue RS) MPV and Joyjoy (Yueyue) small car in 2009. Their later launched have never quite reached this level anymore. The Hojoy RS was refreshed in 2013 and renamed Refine M2 in 2015.
The Refine MPV range currently consists of the Refine M1 (similar to the old Starex), Refine M2 (previously Hojoy RS), Refine M3, Refine M4 (based on the old Starex, but with new body) and M5, the largest people carrier of the bunch.
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Sobhan Allah and Bhmdh .. Sobhan Allah Almighty
No God but God and Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah
Oh God, you should praise your greatness for Jalal
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ب نقدكم ارتقي ..
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سبحان الله وبحمدة .. سبحان الله العظيم
لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله
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تَمْتَمَاتُ مُحْتَضَرَهْ
تَوَجُّعٌ وَأَمْتَعَاضٍ ‘ وَتَأَلَّمَ أَلَمْا مُؤْلِمْ ، سَوَادِ تَحْتَ الْنَّظَرِ وُقُدَامَىْ تَسْهَرُ !
كُفْوَفِ كَاسِيْهَا الْفَرَاغِ غَابَ مَنَ يَمْلَئُهَا !
جُمِعَتْ تِلْكَ الْمَادِّهِ الَّتِيْ تُصْنَعُ مِنَ بَنِيَّ الْخَشَبِ بِ أَهْتِمَامٍ
فِيْ عُلَبِة أَشَبَّه مَاتَكُوْنُ لَأَصِلَ الْكَتَاكِيْتُ ‘
لِتَبْقَىَ ذِكْرَىْ مَاخَطَّتْه يَدَاهَا الْدَّافِئِة‘ أَزْفُرُهَا وَأَتَنَفِّسَ بِهَا
وَأَتَلَذَّذُ بِرَائِحِة عِطْرَهَا الْمَدْفُونِ هُنَا !
أَمْضِيَ وَأَعُوْدُ وَلَا إِنْتِظَارْ غَيْرِ سُوَرٍ مُهْتَرِئٌ يَجْمَعُنِيْ بِتَفَاصِيْلِهَا ‘
أُنْكِسَارَاتِ تَوَّجَنَّ وَهْبُوطٌ مُنْقَطِعٌ
أُطْفِئَتْ الْأَنْوَارِ وَبَدَأَتْ بِدَيْجُورَ الْظَّلامِ أَقُصُّ عَلَيَّه مَاتَبَقَّىْ مِنْ حُطَامِ الْأَمْسِ
ثُمَّ تَلَوَتُهَا بِمَقطوَعْه مِنْ لَحْنِ الْمَاضِيْ الْدَّفِيْنْ ‘
ثُمَّ تَوَسَّطْتَها بِنَظَرِه خَائِبٌه وَأُمْنِيَاتِ مَعْقِلِة !
وَخَتَمَتْهَا بدَمُعَتَينَ مَعَ أبْتِسَامِة مُزَيَّفٌة :/
وَهَكَذَا مُنْذُ أَنْ عَرَفْتُهَا ، هِيَ حُلوَتِيْ فِيْ صَبَاحِ الْدِّرَاسَة
مِنْ قَهْوَه مُرّه فِيْ خَيَالِيْ
وَقَطَعَة مَنَّ أَلْمَاسِ مُتَبَهْرِجَ فِيْ عَيِنَايِ
وَأَعْذَبَ مِنْ طَرَبٍ الْفَنَّانِينَ نَبْرَتَهَا ‘
هِه! هَذَا وَصْفَيْ فَلَا أَرْحَبَ بِحُبِّكُمْ الْمُسْتَهْتِرٌ
قُبَيّلَ الْنَّزْفِ وَفِيْ دَائِرِة الْحَنَانْ تَيَتَّمَتُّ وَهُوَ مَوْجُوْدٌ !
وَأُسْدِلَتِ رُغْمَا كُرْها وَبِقَدْرِه حُبّا ‘
لَمْ أَتَأَلَّمْ لَكِنْ أَحْتَضِرْ مُنْذُ تُجَسِّدِي بِ الْجَرْحِ !
كُنْتُ أَقْرَبَ جُبَيْرٍه وَأَجْمَلُ مُمْرِضٌه حَاوَلْتُ خِياطَتِه بِكَلِمَاتِ الْمُوَاسَاه‘
وَحَتَّىْ فِيْ تَارِيْخِ مُصْطَلَحٌ الْتَدَحْرُجٌ قَدْ تَكُوْنُ بِلَا وَقَدْ تَسْقُطُ سَهْوَا بِعَكْسِهَا !
بَدَأَتْ بِ السِّرْحَانِ وَالَعَوْمَانَ فِيْ بَحْرٍ الْجِبَالَ !
‘ أَجِدُ أَنَّكُمَا تَلْتَصِقَانَ بِ الْعُلُوِّ وَالْرُّقِيِّ وَتَنْعْدَمَانَ فِيْ الأَنْحِدَارٍ !
وَكِلَيْكَما تَتَمَيَزِّيْن بِ الّشُمُوُخ وأَرْتَقَاءً الْهَامَه !
وَبَيْنَ بَيَاضِ الْسُّحُبِ وَالْتِقَاءُ الْدِّيَمِ مَعَ سْوَهِيْمَاتِ الْمَطَرْ
أَتَقَدَّمُ بِكُلِّ هُدُوْءٍ وَبِخَجَلٍ يَا حَبِيْبَه كَوْمَه مِنْ الْجُوَّرِيِ أَنْثُرُهَا عَلَيْكَ
وَأَجْمَلُ عَنَاقُ كُفْوَفِ أُهْدِيْهَا لَكِ ، وَمَجْمُوْعُه مِنْ شَتَاتِ فَرْحَتِيْ !
وَبَقَايَا أبْتِسَامِه أُزُخْرُفَهَا بِخَيْطٍ أَحْمَرُ عَرِيْضٍ لَكِ !
وَهَلْ يَرُدُّ عَطَائِكَ بِهَذَا ! ‘ لَا وَأَلْفُ أُرَتِّبُهَا هُنَا
لَمْ يَبْقَىْ عَلَىَ أجْتِمَاعٍ الْقُلُوْبُ سِوَىْ فَتَرَه أَقُلْ مِنْ أَجْزَاءِ الْأَيَّامِ
وَسُمُوِّ الأُنْشُرَاحُ يُلَوِّحُ بِيَدِه وَيَقُظٌة الْتَّجَلِّيَ تَتَجَدَّدُ ،
وُأِنّفِتَاحٌ الْبَسَاتِيْنِ بِ أَخْضَرَارَ مُقْتَرِبٌ !
لَكِنْ وَعِنْدَ سَمَاعِ خَبَرِ الْغِيَابّ المُتمّددّ ‘
أَخَتُّفَّى كُلِّ شَئٍ وَأَقْسَمْتَ أَنَّ لَا نُوَرٌ سَيَأْتِيَ !
وَأَسْتَعِدتُ أُغْنِيَاتِيْ الْقَدِيْمِه
‘ تَمَنَّيْتَ لَوْ بَرِيْقُ رُؤْيَا أُجَدِّدُ بِه بَقَايَا عِطْرَكَ الَّذِيْ أَتَنَفَّسُ مِنْه !
وَعَذَابٌ الْشَّوْقِ مُسَيْطِرٍ يَنْبَغِيْ أسْتِئْصَالَه ،
وَحَتَّىْ ذَلِكَ الْغِيَابّ أسْتُهْلَكِنِيّ حَدَّ الْعَبَثُ فِيْ مَلَامِحِيْ
وَأَه مِنْ لَهِيْبِ مُتَوَاصِلُ يُحْرِقُ بَقَايَا جَسَدِيْ ،
لَيْسَ لِيَ الْأَنَ سِوَىْ قِطَعُ مِنْ وَرَقِ لَمْسَتِيْه هُوَ أُكْسَيجينِيّ
الْدَّائِمِ الَّذِيْ أَشْبَعَ بِه أَلَمِيْ عَنْ رَحِيْلِكَ
وَهَكَذَا لَا مُجِيْبُ لصَرَخَاتِيّ فِيْ الْعَتْمه بَعْدَ إِغْلَاقِ الْبَابَ
لَكِنْ كَانَتْ قِصَّتِيْ هَذَه الْمُرِّه عَنْ هَاوَيَه مُرْتَفِعٍه
أَرْمِيَ بِهَا نَفْسِيْ لِأَكُوْنَ مِنَ عَدَدَ الْغِيَابّ الْأَبَدِيِّ
وَّأَرْتَاحُ مِنْ صُدَفه أَشْقَتْنِيْ ‘
لَمْ تَدْمَعُ أَعْيُنَهُمْ عِنْدَ سَمَاعِهِمْ نُهَايَة الْأقْصُوصِه
بَلْ صَفِّقُوا لِيَ بِحْرَارٍه وَأَتْوَ يُوَدْعُونَنِيّ بِضَمِيْرٍ مُتَجَمِّدِ
وَ زَّوَّدُوْنِيْ بِجُرَعِه مِنْ الَا إِحَسَّاسْ وَنُفِّذَتْ أُمَنِيَّتُهُمْ وَسَقَطَتْ !
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أشكركمَ وأشكر كل من سـآعدني على نجـآح هذآ العملَ
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أعمآلي ملك للجميع دون انتساب الحقوق
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ـ[ سَوف ]ـ
تحذف الردود المرفقه بِ صوره
Otra cosa no, pero Aseas en Suecia... Das una patada a una piedra y te salen 5. Por este motivo se pueden ver diferentes esquema de pintura de antiguos operadores por los que ha pasado la maquina. Como es el caso de la Rc4 1164, fabricada en 1976 y aun con sus caracteristicos pantografos romboidales, la cual luce la primera decoracion de SJ, con los logos de Green Cargo a medio borrar, pero que en la actualidad pertenece a Nordic Re-Finance AB o lo que es lo mismo NRFAB. En la foto la vemos pasando por Kumla con un pequeño TECO, el cual sera acoplado a una composion en Hallsberg, para proseguir hasta Gotemburgo.
Kumla 16/08/18
Place: Liping, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province
Chinese name: 江淮瑞风S5 (jiānghuái ruìfēng S5)
Year of launch: 2012
JAC Motors (Jianghuai Automobile) is a Chinese state-owned automobile and commercial vehicle producer and was established in 1964. JAC started producing the Starex in cooperation with Hyundai in the early 2000s (JAC Refine), but their relationship was soon terminated. Another company, Huatai (later renamed Hawtai in English translation) made the Terracan and Santa Fe under license, but in 2007 JAC came up with their own Santa Fe, the Rein, featuring a (not so) unique front and rear end (in Lexus RX-fashion). In the same year JAC finally gained rights to produce passenger cars. Its first car was the large and unsuccessful Binjoy (Binyue) sedan, which was immediately launched in 2007. It was followed by a couple of impressive new models: the Tojoy (Tongyue) in 2008 and Hojoy sedan (Heyue), Hojoy RS (Heyue RS) MPV and Joyjoy (Yueyue) small car in 2009. Their later launched have never quite reached this level anymore. The Hojoy RS was refreshed in 2013 and renamed Refine M2 in 2015.
The Refine MPV range currently consists of the Refine M1 (similar to the old Starex), Refine M2 (previously Hojoy RS), Refine M3, Refine M4 (based on the old Starex, but with new body) and M5.
JAC's SUV range consists of the S2, S3, S5 and new S7. The S5, a copy of the Hyundai ix35/Tucson, succeeded the JAC Rein based on the first generation Santa Fe.
Mural Theme
To refine the theme for this mural, Fintan visited Barraba in early 2019 to inspect the site and to meet with the local community. After speaking to the locals he gained an understanding of the local area. He listened to their stories and the concept for the mural was conceived.
In 2019, NSW continued to be in the grip of one of the worst droughts Australia has ever faced, with over 90% of the state in drought. Large areas of NSW are currently facing severe water shortages, with supply being limited to critical water needs only.
Extract from Fintan Magee's Artist Statement
This mural depicts a local water diviner searching for groundwater, using a y-shaped twig or rod or two L-shaped ones. Diviners study the landscape of a farm and walk over areas where they suspect the water may be located. Ground minerals and magnetic forces force the sticks to cross or be pushed downwards when water is located. Despite many studies claiming the technique is pseudo-science, diviners continue to be used throughout Australia as a way of finding groundwater.
Work began on the silos on the 25 March 2019 and they were completed just 24 days later on the 19 of April. The Barraba Silos are officially the 28 silos to be included in the Australian Silo Art Trail Collection.
Meet the Artist
Fintan Magee is an internationally renowned artist known for his murals throughout the world. He obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2009 in Brisbane and then moved to Sydney to further his career.
Info source:
This is one of at least four places on my block were someone has written "Free Palestine" (or Gaza) and another person has followed with a more specific "From Hamas" message. I've seen one case where a third person painted over the "From Hamas." I don't know how long this has been going on, but I first saw them on January 26.
Vanderbilt Avenue, Prospect Heights. Brooklyn, NY
Trying to refine my HDR technique to get the best tonal range without making a super artificial-looking photo.
refining some of the Miskatonic University's build technique
Visit this location at Innsmouth, HP Lovecraft Tribute - early 1930s Massachusetts in Second Life
This is the area where that famous Canadian group of seven spent a lot of time painting and refining their skills I can see why they fell in love with this place. it's like being in side one of their canvas.
Refine your vision !
Photography Service 📷
.
Photo by @refinephoto.id
Product : @jts_id
Model : @handrikonaftali
From wikidedia: The Rodeo San Francisco Refinery is a oil refinery located in Rodeo, California, which is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The refinery is currently owned and operated by ConocoPhillips...The complex is capable of refining 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
John Fowler 4220027 of 1964 is seen outside North Eastern Iron Refining Co at Stillington, Co Durham on a rainy 5th Sept 1980.
This loco was originally supplied to British Steel, Hartlepool and moved here to replace a less powerful Ruston 88DS.
This is the Tate & Lyle Sugars factory in Silvertown in East London, which was sold in 2010 to American Sugar Refining, who have retained the name.
Henry Tate began refining sugar in the East End of London in 1878, initially focusing on cube sugar. His company was merged with that of Abram Lyle in 1921 to form Tate & Lyle, after both had died. Today the facility seen above is the largest in Western Europe and produces 12 million tonnes of sugar a year.
Tate used his fortune to found the Tate Gallery.
Sabil Abu Nabbut (Arabic: سبيل أبو نبوت) also known as Tabitha's Well is a public fountain ("sabil") in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, constructed during the Ottoman era in Palestine.[1][2] Its main purpose was to facilitate the journey between Jaffa and Jerusalem.
Contents
1 History and architecture
2 References
3 Bibliography
4 Further reading
History and architecture
Sabil Abu Nabbut, east face. The windows into the tombs are now blocked.
The sabil was built by the Governor of Jaffa, Muhammad Abu Nabbut in about 1815. It was intended to facilitate the journey between Jaffa and Jerusalem, and was part of Abu Nabbut's rehabilitation efforts in the city. It was seen by numerous travelers, merchants and pilgrims on their journey between the two cities.[1]
Despite the fame of the sabil, very little is known about its origin and design. During inquiries in Jaffa in the 1870s, Clermont-Ganneau encountered a master mason named Ali Sida of whom he wrote: "This man, now of advanced age, directed all the works that were set on foot at the beginning of the century by the legendary Abu Nabbut, Governor of Jaffa, the same that gave his name to the pretty fountain, or Sebil Abu Nabbut..."[3]
Detail of west face, with inscription over the fountain, and blocked-up windows
The building is a small rectangular stone structure with three domes consisting of two tombs with a sabil (fountain) in the middle. At each corner of the building is a cylindrical pier with projecting domed finials (now missing). The principal building material is kurkar stone, with some reused limestone blocks incorporated into the masonry, and marble used for decoration.[4]
The principal façade of the sabil is its western side, with the fountain contained within a large shallow niche framed with cyma reversa moulding. The fountain is surrounded by four white flat marble columns set against a background of red marble. Above the two central columns is a plaque commemorating the construction of the sabil in 1236 H (1820-1821 CE).[5] On either side of the sabil are windows which look into the tombs. These windows were blocked up in about 1960.[6] There are three-ridged domes that crown the building, as well as the multitude of finials on the domes and the small pinnacles that refine the building's silhouette.[1]
Detail of side, with blocked-up door to one of the tombs
The entrances to the tombs are at the north and south sides of the building. Although now blocked, each tomb had an open iwan facing outwards. The arches are decorated with a band containing diamond-shaped lozenges.[7]
The east side has a pair of windows into each tomb, now blocked. In the centre of the east side is a doorway opening into the domed room at the back of the sabil. The interior of this room is undecorated, and is now used as a park keeper's hut.[8]
In 2000 a sculpture garden by the Israeli painter and sculptor Yigal Tumarkin was established next to the sabil.
101 Oil Studies, No. 34
Objective: Refine life-size figure painting (applied with brush), experiment with dark but analogous abstract background (applied with palette knife).
Painted in 3 sessions: 30 July to 02 August 2024
Pigments (Winsor & Newton Artists' oil colour unless noted otherwise): yellow ochre, Naples yellow, transparent earth red (Gamblin), warm gray (Rembrandt), permalba white (Weber), ivory black, French ultramarine. Mediums: Gamsol, linseed oil.
Centurion OP DLX oil primed linen, 30.5 x 22.9 (12 x 9 inches)
Process: This moved from a photograph of my own hands to a pencil drawing. When satisfied with that, I transferred via charcoal pencil on tracing paper to the linen, which already had a wash of yellow ochre given time to dry. My river of skin-tone gradation came from the red, yellow ochre, white, and black. To the edge of this stream I added the ultramarine to desaturate where needed.
After Action Evaluation: Be mindful of how palette knives are changed and then stroked across the canvas. There is technique to be developed here.
Some windows from the British Columbia Sugar Refining Company
Find me on facebook @ Jeremy J. Saunders Photography
A quick microscale build inspired by Moctagon Jone's sweet little Mars Mining Colony. Looking at it now, I realize how much I was inspired by it...
Anyway, it was a fun little build, and it reminded me how long it's been since I built some good ol' microscale :)
Enjoy!
Work in progress: refining the eyes of the unfired porcelain face.
Рабочий процесс: деталировка глаз необожжённого фарфорового лица.
Fore/port angle view.
Name: S.S. Bessemer
Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)
Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.
Class Name: Bessemer class
Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship
Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict
Specifications:
Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)
Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)
Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)
Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.
Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.
Defensive systems:
Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.
Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.
Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.
Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.
Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.
Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.
Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.
Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.
Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.
Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.
Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.
Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)
He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.
Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.
David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:
1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.
2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.
3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.
But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.
The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.
Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.
But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.
Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.
But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.
Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.
What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.
The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.
IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.
The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.
If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils
Originally posted on Ipernity: Don't Wait for a Hearse to Take You to Church.
A rather macabre message on a National Refining Company "boy with slate" label that advertised En-Ar-Co Motor Oils and White Rose Gasoline.
The Boy Holding a Slate was evidently a popular advertising figure for the National Refining Company.
Aft angled view showing sublight engine and aft side armor panels.
Name: S.S. Bessemer
Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)
Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.
Class Name: Bessemer class
Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship
Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict
Specifications:
Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)
Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)
Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)
Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.
Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.
Defensive systems:
Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.
Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.
Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.
Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.
Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.
Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.
Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.
Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.
Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.
Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.
Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.
Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)
He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.
Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.
David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:
1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.
2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.
3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.
But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.
The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.
Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.
But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.
Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.
But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.
Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.
What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.
The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.
IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.
The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.
If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils
Starboard side profile view (better render for poster hopefully to follow.)
Name: S.S. Bessemer
Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)
Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.
Class Name: Bessemer class
Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship
Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict
Specifications:
Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)
Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)
Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)
Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.
Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.
Defensive systems:
Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.
Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.
Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.
Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.
Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.
Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.
Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.
Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.
Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.
Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.
Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.
Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)
He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.
Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.
David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:
1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.
2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.
3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.
But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.
The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.
Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.
But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.
Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.
But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.
Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.
What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.
The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.
IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.
The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.
If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils
ok, refining the technique by adding flash to illuminate the fly, a 5 image stack at f10, aligned and stacked in Photoshop.
Canon 6D, Canon MPE65 macro lens - approx 2x life size magnification, Canon macro twin flash - manual exposure 1/160 sec, F10 +2/3rds stop FEC.
A JAC Refine S7 photographed at a JAC dealer in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China.
This Refine S7 is the largest SUV in the JAC range.
Available in 5 or 7 seats version.
Powered by a 1.5 Turbo 174hp gas engine.
Sold for 99.800 to 168.800 RMB (about €12.800-21.600 or US $14.900-25.200).
It was launched in June 2017.
If sales were quite good in 2017 (14.539 units in 7 months), the 1st half-year 2018 wasn't : only 2.938 units.