+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

As the Egyptian border was threatened by an Italian and German invasion during the Second World War, the Royal Air Force established more airfields in Egypt. The Royal Egyptian Air Force was sometimes treated as a part of the Royal Air Force, at other times a strict policy of neutrality was followed as Egypt maintained its official neutrality until very late in the war. As a result, few additional aircraft were supplied by Britain, however the arm did receive its first modern fighters, Hawker Hurricanes and a small number of Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks. In the immediate post-war period, cheap war surplus aircraft, including a large number of Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXs were acquired.

Only about 15 HA-100s of REAF No. 2 Squadron were still in flying condition due to quickly worsening engine spares shortages, and the aircraft had, in the meantime, been hardwired to carry up to four “Sakr” unguided 122mm rockets on the underwing hardpoints. Due to their agility at low altitude, the HA-100s were primarily used for ground attacks and low-level reconnaissance duties. On their missions the aircraft still performed well, but at that time, all Egyptian aircraft had been stripped off of their camouflage and were operated in a bare metal finish – a poor decision, since the glinting airframes were highly visible both in the air and on the ground. Consequently, the vintage propeller aircraft became easy targets, resulting high losses, and the HA-100s were grounded. They were officially retired by April 1957, after the end of the Suez conflict, and scrapped.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 9,10 m (29 ft 10 in)

Wingspan: 10.01 m (32 ft 9½ in)

Height: 3.52 m (11 ft 6¼ in)

Wing area: 16.8 m² (181 sq ft)

Airfoil: root: NACA 23018 (modified); tip: NACA 23009 (modified)

Empty weight: 2.695 kg (5,936 lb)

Gross weight: 3.621 kg (7,975 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 4.100 kg (9,030 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Fiat RA.1050 R.C.58 Tifone (license-built Daimler Bent DB 605) V-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston

engine with 1,100 kW (1,500 hp), driving a 3-bladed constant-speed propeller#

Performance:

Maximum speed: 642 km/h (399 mph, 347 kn) at 7,200 m (23,600 ft)

Cruise speed: 400 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn)

Range: 950 km (590 mi, 510 nmi)

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

Time to altitude: 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 2 minutes 40 seconds

Wing loading: 202.9 kg/m2 (41.6 lb/sq ft)

Armament.

2× 12.7 mm (.5 in) Breda-SAFAT machine guns, 400 RPG, in the nose

2× 20 mm MG 151 cannon, 250 RPG, in the outer wings

2× underwing hardpoints for 160 kg (350 lb) each for bombs or four 122mm Sakr unguided rockets

The kit and its assembly:

This oddity was spawned from curiosity – when read about the lightweight Helwan HA-300 fighter from the early Sixties, I wondered when and how the Egyptian aircraft industry had started? I was even more curious because I had already attributed a what-if model, the purely fictional (and later) HA-410 fighter bomber, to Egyptian engineering. So, I researched Helwan’s origins, checked the time frame of its establishment and eventually came across the REAF’s post-WWII C.205 Veltros. What if there had been an indigenous update program…?

Consequently, this conversion’s basis is a C.205V kit from Delta 2. This kit is based upon a unique mold, quite similar to the later Italeri kit, but it is different and has some curious solutions. For instance, the landing gear struts are mounted into the wings with L-shaped attachment pegs – as if the landing gear is supposed to be retractable. Odd, but very stable. Another weird solution: the wing gun barrels are attached to the wings together with massive plastic wedges that fit into respective openings. Another quite rigid construction, even though it calls for trimming and PSR. Beyond these quirks, the kit is quite nice. It comes with a convincing mix of recessed panel lines and raised rivet heads. Some parts are a bit soft in shape, though, e. g. the cowling fairings, but overall I am positively surprised.

To change the aircraft’s look I did some conversions, though. The most obvious change is the new tail section, which was transplanted wholesale from a KP Yak-23 and had the C.205’s tail wheel attachment section transplanted from the Delta 2 kit. Originally, I wanted to move the whole cockpit forward, but then just replaced canopy and spine section with a clear part from a Hobby Boss MiG-15 and putty. Other, rather cosmetic changes include clipped wing tips to match the Yak-23’s square tail surfaces shape, and the C.205’s small elliptic stabilizers were replaced with tailored, slightly bigger parts from the scrap box. A bigger/deeper radiator and a different oil cooler replaced the original parts, and I placed them under the inner wings behind the landing gear wells. Both donors come from Spitfires, even though from different kits (IIRC, the oil cooler from an AZ Models Mk. V kit and the radiator from a FROG Mk. XIV). The flaps were lowered, too, because this detail was easy to realize with this kit.

Painting and markings:

The HA-100 received a contemporary camouflage, the RAF Tropical Paint Scheme consisting of Dark Earth and Middle Stone with Azure Blue undersides. The pattern was adapted from RAF Spitfires, and Modelmaster (2052 and 2054) and Humbrol (157) enamels were used, with a light overall black ink washing and some post panel shading. Being a former Italian aircraft, I painted the cockpit in a typical, Italian tone, a very light grayish green called “Verde Anticorrosione“, which was used during WWII on many interior surfaces – I used a mix of Revell 59 with some 45. The landing gear and the respective wells became aluminum (Humbrol 56), though.

One challenge became the characteristic black-and-white REAF ID bands on the wings. These were improvised with generic decal material from TL-Modellbau: on a 1 cm wide black band I simply added two white 2.5 mm stripes, for a very good result. Most other markings belong to an early REAF MiG-15, taken from a Microscale omnibus sheet for various MiG fighters. This provided the green-trimmed white fuselage band, the roundels and the fin flash, and a white spinner completed the REAF ID markings. Unfortunately the decals turned out to be brittle (ESCI-esque...) and disintegrated upon the first attempt to apply them, so I tried to save them with Microsol Decal Film, and this actually worked like a charm, even though the resurrected decals did not adhere well to the model's surface. The REAF 2 Squadron emblem comes from a vintage PrintScale Hawker Hurricane sheet, the white code letter on the fuselage came from an Xtradecal RAF codes sheet, and the black Arabic serials came from a Begemot sheet for MiG-29s.

The kit received some soot stains around the exhaust ports and the gun muzzles and was finally sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Even though it’s just a modded Macchi C.205, the result looks …different. From certain angles the aircraft reminds a lot of a P-51D Mustang, like one of the lightweight prototypes? The Egyptian markings add a confusing touch, though, and while the bodywork is not perfect, I am happy with the result. The Yak-23 tail fits perfectly, and with the narrow wings the HA-100 also reminds a bit of the two-engine Westland Whirlwind?

Refinement

After I made a pinhole camera "Pistachio", I did a lot of refinement.

I adjusted the focal lenght to the image circle I can get from my pinhole, and eliminated all light leaks.

Now I am very satisfied with the result.

Chassis n° V8C0L15040

Zoute Sale - Bonhams

Estimated : € 150.000 - 200.000

Sold for € 166.750

Zoute Grand Prix 2021

Knokke - Zoute

België - Belgium

October 2021

Aston Martin had always intended the DBS to house its new V8 engine, but production difficulties meant that the car first appeared with the DB6's 4.0-liter six. Bigger and more luxuriously appointed than the DB6, the heavyweight DBS disappointed some by virtue of its slightly reduced performance, but there were no complaints when the V8 finally arrived in 1969. With an estimated 315bhp available from its 5,340cc four-cam engine, the DBS V8 could reach 160km/h in under 14 seconds, running on to a top speed of 250km/h, a staggering performance in those days and one which fully justified the claim that it was the fastest production car in the world. After Aston Martin's acquisition by Company Developments in 1972, production resumed with the Series 2, now known as the Aston Martin V8 and distinguishable by a restyled front end recalling the looks of earlier Astons. The most successful Aston Martin ever, the V8 survived the changes of ownership and financial upheavals of the 1970s, enjoying a record-breaking production run lasting from 1969 to 1988, with 2,919 cars sold.

Described by former Aston Martin Chairman Victor Gauntlett as 'a stylish thoroughbred, beautifully built, luxurious, fast and immensely safe,' the V8 was built in several variants, one of the most exclusive being the Volante Convertible. Introduced in response to customer demand for such a car, the Volante first appeared in June 1978. Arguably the ultimate in soft-top luxury, the newcomer boasted a lined, power-operated top which, when erected, endowed the walnut embellished interior with all the solidity and refinement associated with the saloon version. Although its open-car aerodynamics meant that top speed suffered with the top down, the Volante's 240km/h maximum nevertheless ranked it among the world's fastest convertibles. V8 Volante and Vantage Volante chassis numbers ran from '15001' to '15849', a total of 849 cars.

The motorcar offered :

According to copies of Aston Martin's factory build records, this elegant V8 Volante was hand built at Aston Martin's Newport Pagnell plant during the fall of 1978 and is titled as 1979. The car received the final inspections in January 1979, and then shipped from the UK to its destination, the US. The car was equipped with left-hand-drive steering and the desirable 5-speed manual transmission. It was finished in Cambridge Blue over a Natural coloured leather interior, Onslow brown carpeting, just as it appears today. It was the 40th V8 Volante built and as such an early example it received the elegant chrome bumpers, neatly fitted tightly to the Volante body. It is believed that only a maximum of 10 of these 40 early cars were fitted with the desirable manual transmission.

The car's first owner was a FedEx executive and from the 1990s until 2016 the car was retained by Aston Martin enthusiast Mr. Jack Miller of Pittsburg, PA, who would display the beautiful V8 Volante at various Aston Martin gatherings. The car's extensive history and maintenance file includes much service work performed during Mr. Miller's ownership, including the installment of a new exhaust by renowned Aston Martin shop Steel Wings and a rebuilt braking system.

Today this well restored Aston Martin on a highly original basis shows less than 25,000 miles on the odometer, a figure that is indeed believed to be original and can be traced in the history file. Acquired by the vendor in 2017 the car was imported to Europe where restoration work for a total of approximately CHF100,000 was carried out on mechanicals, the body and paint, new trim and was recently fitted with a new convertible top in dark blue, with the work done to exacting factory standards. A solid and very well cared for car, close inspection of the V8 reveals many original finishes throughout. Complete with jack and tools, an owner's handbook with an original warranty booklet and a history file containing correspondence with Aston Martin and copies of the factory build records, this fine V8 Volante must be considered well-pedigreed. The car is EU duty paid and comes with its US title and EU duty paid import certificate. Bonhams recommends close inspection of this fine example of a true drophead V8 'British Bulldog'.

n° 57 of 100

Chassis n° ZA9H12EAYYSF76077

Bonhams

Les Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris

The Grand Palais Éphémère

Place Joffre

Parijs - Paris

Frankrijk - France

February 2023

Estimated : € 2.300.000 - 2.700.000

Unsold

"It's a car with its own personality – or rather its own split personality. Beyond refinement and ease of use is a demon with one eye open waiting for its turn, a car that is scintillatingly fast and hugely demanding, a car that can thrill and terrify in equal measure, a supercar in every sense of the word." – evo.

One of the more fascinating aspects of the modern motoring scene is the recent emergence of the small independent supercar manufacturer, many of which have gone from relative obscurity to the status of household names in just a few short years, usually on the back of a product range offering hitherto almost unimaginable levels of performance. Whereas at one time established manufacturers such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and Aston Martin only had one another to worry about, they now have to contend with the likes of Koenigsegg, De Tomaso and, of course, Pagani.

Succeeding the Zonda, Pagani's latest offering is the Huayra, a mid-engined coupé hailed by Top Gear magazine as 'Hypercar of the Year 2012'. Horacio Pagani was no newcomer to the world of automotive engineering when he built the first Zonda in 1999, for the Argentine-born industrial design graduate had been working with Lamborghini since the mid-1980s, developing the Countach and Diablo road cars and assisting with the Italian manufacturer's Formula 1 engine programme. The Zonda C12 debuted in coupé form at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show, its maker freely acknowledging that its styling had been inspired by the Mercedes-Benz Group C 'Silver Arrow' sports-racers. Mercedes-Benz's influence was more than just skin deep, for the German firm's AMG performance division was responsible for the Zonda's 6.0-litre V12 engine, which was mounted longitudinally amidships in the predominantly carbon fibre body tub. With some 408 horsepower on tap, the C12 was always going to be quick, but performance figures of 0-60mph in 4.2 seconds and 0-100 in 8.2 were simply staggering plus, of course, that all important 200mph (or thereabouts) top speed.

Seemingly small from the outside yet endowed with a comfortable cabin, the C12 provided the basis for a host of derivatives, which emerged from Pagani's factory at San Cesario sul Panaro near Modena (where else?) in strictly limited numbers over the next 11 years.

Its successor, the Huayra - named after a wind god of the South American Quechua people - made its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2011. Once again, AMG provided the engine, on this occasion a twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre V12 producing a mighty 620bhp and a titanic 737lb/ft of torque. A mind-boggling top speed of around 238mph (383km/h) was claimed for the Huayra, with the 0-60mph dash accomplished in a neck-snapping 2.8 seconds. Power reaches the road via a transversely-mounted Xtrac seven-speed sequential semi-automatic transmission, while the stupendous performance is kept in check by Brembo carbon ceramic disc brakes featuring four-pot callipers all round. It is worthwhile noting the Horacio Pagani chose to stick with a conventional single clutch rather than the more complex and heavier twin-clutch technology favoured by some rivals, reasoning that the considerable saving in weight would result in a better balanced car.

The most significant difference between the Huayra and its Zonda predecessor is the former's use of active aerodynamic aids. These consist of variable front ride height and moveable spoilers at front and rear, their deployment being managed by a dedicated control unit to minimise drag or maximise downforce as required. Under hard braking, the rear spoiler flaps function as an air brake, the front ride height being increased at the same time to counteract weight transfer to the front wheels and thus maintain stability. Cleverly, this system is also used to limit body roll when cornering by raising the 'inside' flaps to generate increased down force on that side only. As had been the case with the Zonda, an open roadster and various limited edition variants followed.

Testing a Huayra in 2013, evo magazine found that even before the ignition key had been turned, the experience of just sitting in the cockpit was almost overwhelming. 'Inside a leather, carbonfibre and aluminium cocoon of obsession, every detail agonised over and beautifully thought out, every material used sympathetically and expertly integrated into this stunning sculpture. The driving position is superb.' Needless to say, the driving experience did not disappoint: 'the engine is just phenomenally powerful and when it's delivering the full 737lb/ft of torque, it scrambles your brain. This is the sort of performance that doesn't dull even with prolonged exposure'.

Pagani's agreement with AMG limited the supply of engines to 100 units, restricting production to only 100 cars, thus guaranteeing the Huayra's instant exclusivity and future collectible status.

Number '57' of the 100 Huayra Roadsters built, this car was delivered new to Denmark and registered in July 2020. The car had been ordered and specified by a Danish car collector, who took delivery but never drove it. He then sold the car to another Danish collector, in whose hands it has covered fewer than 800 kilometres.

Land Rover and renowned Magnum photographer Jonas Bendiksen have revealed the first in a series of unique works entitled ‘Ultimate Vistas’, extraordinary landscape photographs captured with help from the world’s ultimate SUV: the Range Rover.

Bonhams : The Autumn Sale 2020

Estimated : € 90.000 - 130.000

Sold for € 92.000

Autoworld

www.autoworld.be

Brussels - Belgium

September 2020

"For 1955, Jaguar present a range of models incorporating not only added refinements, but mechanical advances directly derived from their many outstanding successes in international competitive events. All the wealth of experience gained on the race-tracks of the world and in record-breaking speed and endurance tests is built into every Jaguar to provide for discriminating motorists the highest degree of efficient performance allied to comfort and safety." - Jaguar Cars Ltd.

Launched in 1954, the Jaguar XK140 was broadly similar to, though more refined than, its sensational XK120 predecessor, major engineering changes being confined to the repositioning of the engine 3" (76mm) further forward and the adoption of rack-and-pinion steering as used on the racing C-Type. The suspension and brakes remained much as before, though with stiffer torsion bars at the front and telescopic shock absorbers replacing the previous lever type at the rear. Like its forbear, the XK140 was built in three model types: roadster, coupé and drophead coupé, the latter two offering usefully increased cabin space and occasional rear seats. Outwardly the newcomer was distinguishable by its revised radiator grille, rear lights incorporating flashing indicators, and larger bumpers - the latter adopted to withstand the cut and thrust of urban parking.

The power unit remained Jaguar's well-tried, 3.4-litre, twin-cam six, which now produced 190bhp in standard trim thanks to higher-lift camshafts and revised porting. To ensure reliability, steel bearing-caps replaced the previous cast-iron type. A close-ratio gearbox enabled better use to be made of the increased performance while Laycock-de Normanville overdrive became an option for the first time. Special Equipment (SE) XK140s came with wire wheels and Lucas fog lamps and could be ordered with an engine developing 210bhp courtesy of the C-type cylinder head. XK140 performance was well up to the standards set by its exemplary predecessor, contemporary magazine road-tests regularly recording top speed figures in excess of 120mph. Tested by Road & Track magazine, a USA-specification XK140 MC (as the C-type head-equipped SE version was known there) recorded a 0-60mph time of 8.4 seconds on the way to a top speed of 121.1mph (195km/h).

According to its accompanying Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Certificate, this beautifully restored XK 140 SE Roadster left the factory on 23rd November 1956 and was despatched to Jaguar Cars, New York on 6th December of that same year. Importantly, this is a Special Equipment model with the C-type cylinder head. The certificate also confirms the matching-number engine ('G 9611-8S') and lists centre-lock wire wheels and twin fog lamps as items of original equipment. The original colour combination was black with matching interior.

The first owner is not known, but the car later spent time in Englewood, Colorado with another owner (from 1975 to 1994). In 1996 the Jaguar was imported into Italy where it is believed to have remained, awaiting restoration, for some 18 years. In 2014 the car was purchased by the current owner, who commissioned a comprehensive, frame-off, bare metal restoration, which was finished in 2018. Judging the original all-black colour combination to be too sombre for his taste, he opted for a contrasting magnolia leather interior, while the wire wheels were painted black to match the body. Most importantly, this car retains not only retains its original engine block but also its original cylinder head, which both correspond correctly to the numbers on the Heritage Certificate.

The XK is offered with the aforementioned Heritage Certificate; photocopy of old US title; EU customs documentation; a German TüV certificate issued April 2019, classifying the car as sound; and German registration documents. Full weather equipment as well as sundry photographs documenting the restoration are present also. An unmissable opportunity to purchase a beautifully restored XK 140 SE Roadster that ticks all the boxes.

From Panoramio

Babylon

This booklet is the first in a series which has been published in 1982 by the Iraq Government on the preservation and restoration of the monuments of Babylon.

Some 90 kilometres to the south of modern Bagdhad lie the ruins of ancient Babylon, the original name of which, "bab-ili", may be translated as "the Gate of the Gods". For the world at large Babylon ranks as one of the most famous cities of antiquity, renowned alike for its refinement, beauty and magnificence. As a centre of culture and government it flourished for about fifteen centuries, from the arrival of the Amorites ca. 1850 B.C. down to Alexander the Great, who died there in 322 B.C. One of the best known of the city's early rulers was the great law-giver, Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.).

In classical times the city walls of Babylon were spoken of with admiration and astonishment, while her "Hanging Gardens" were accounted one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

During the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (605-563 B.C.) Babylon was extensively re-built on an altogether magnificent scale, the city becoming at this period both the most beautiful and the most prosperous of the ancient world. Bisected from north to south by the river Euphrates, the city was surrounded by a moat and by two massive walls, the outer being about 16 kilometres in length, the inner about 8 kilometres. Within the inner city wall were brick- and bitumen-paved Thoroughfares and imposing buildings, of which numerous traces and ruins may still be seen by the visitor today. In particular there is part of Babylon's great Procession Street which passes through the Ishtar Gate and on towards the site of the city's huge staged temple tower or "Ziggurat". On one side of the Procession Street are the ruins of the South Palace (300 x 190 metres) amongst which are to be found those of the famous "Hanging Gardens" mentioned above. To the north of the South Palace are the ruins of the Principal Gate, the broken walls of which consist of baked bricks laid with gypsum mortar. Also within the circuit of the inner wall and surrounded by residential buildings are the temples of Marduk, Ishtar, Gula and Ninurta.

For the past two thousand years the ancient buildings of Babylon have been extensively quarried for their excellent baked bricks. Thus, what survives today is generally only the lower courses of the walls or simply their foundations. Moreover, what survives is threatened by salt and the high local water table. Action is urgentls required to rescue these ruins.

Fotunately there already exist plans and reconstructed drawings on many of Babylon's principal buildings, even some of which little now remains but their foundations. These plans and drawings were made by German archaeologists who dedicated some seventeen years to the excavation of Babylon before the First World War.

As the product of fifteen centuries of human toil and endeavour Babylon belongs to all people and to all nations. Visitors from all over the world are anxious that something should be done to further the restorations and reconstruction of babylon's principal buildings, so that the city's former grandeur may be better appreciated. It is appropriate, we feel, that all countries should assist in this work, not only in recognition of Babylons' great place in history, but also in recognition of her great cultural importance for everyone.

Elegance and refinement for this straight tube dress reworked with a nice fur!

Accompanied by his hat, play the style of originality and class!

Available in 3 colors.

Slurl : maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Emerald%20Springs/235/99/26

See more photos of this, and the Wikipedia article.

Details, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird:

No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated globally in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the SR-71, the world's fastest jet-propelled aircraft. The Blackbird's performance and operational achievements placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technology developments during the Cold War.

This Blackbird accrued about 2,800 hours of flight time during 24 years of active service with the U.S. Air Force. On its last flight, March 6, 1990, Lt. Col. Ed Yielding and Lt. Col. Joseph Vida set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging 3,418 kilometers (2,124 miles) per hour. At the flight's conclusion, they landed at Washington-Dulles International Airport and turned the airplane over to the Smithsonian.

Transferred from the United States Air Force.

Manufacturer:

Lockheed Aircraft Corporation

Designer:

Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson

Date:

1964

Country of Origin:

United States of America

Dimensions:

Overall: 18ft 5 15/16in. x 55ft 7in. x 107ft 5in., 169998.5lb. (5.638m x 16.942m x 32.741m, 77110.8kg)

Other: 18ft 5 15/16in. x 107ft 5in. x 55ft 7in. (5.638m x 32.741m x 16.942m)

Materials:

Titanium

Physical Description:

Twin-engine, two-seat, supersonic strategic reconnaissance aircraft; airframe constructed largley of titanium and its alloys; vertical tail fins are constructed of a composite (laminated plastic-type material) to reduce radar cross-section; Pratt and Whitney J58 (JT11D-20B) turbojet engines feature large inlet shock cones.

Long Description:

No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated in more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the SR-71 Blackbird. It is the fastest aircraft propelled by air-breathing engines. The Blackbird's performance and operational achievements placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technology developments during the Cold War. The airplane was conceived when tensions with communist Eastern Europe reached levels approaching a full-blown crisis in the mid-1950s. U.S. military commanders desperately needed accurate assessments of Soviet worldwide military deployments, particularly near the Iron Curtain. Lockheed Aircraft Corporation's subsonic U-2 (see NASM collection) reconnaissance aircraft was an able platform but the U. S. Air Force recognized that this relatively slow aircraft was already vulnerable to Soviet interceptors. They also understood that the rapid development of surface-to-air missile systems could put U-2 pilots at grave risk. The danger proved reality when a U-2 was shot down by a surface to air missile over the Soviet Union in 1960.

Lockheed's first proposal for a new high speed, high altitude, reconnaissance aircraft, to be capable of avoiding interceptors and missiles, centered on a design propelled by liquid hydrogen. This proved to be impracticable because of considerable fuel consumption. Lockheed then reconfigured the design for conventional fuels. This was feasible and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), already flying the Lockheed U-2, issued a production contract for an aircraft designated the A-12. Lockheed's clandestine 'Skunk Works' division (headed by the gifted design engineer Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson) designed the A-12 to cruise at Mach 3.2 and fly well above 18,288 m (60,000 feet). To meet these challenging requirements, Lockheed engineers overcame many daunting technical challenges. Flying more than three times the speed of sound generates 316° C (600° F) temperatures on external aircraft surfaces, which are enough to melt conventional aluminum airframes. The design team chose to make the jet's external skin of titanium alloy to which shielded the internal aluminum airframe. Two conventional, but very powerful, afterburning turbine engines propelled this remarkable aircraft. These power plants had to operate across a huge speed envelope in flight, from a takeoff speed of 334 kph (207 mph) to more than 3,540 kph (2,200 mph). To prevent supersonic shock waves from moving inside the engine intake causing flameouts, Johnson's team had to design a complex air intake and bypass system for the engines.

Skunk Works engineers also optimized the A-12 cross-section design to exhibit a low radar profile. Lockheed hoped to achieve this by carefully shaping the airframe to reflect as little transmitted radar energy (radio waves) as possible, and by application of special paint designed to absorb, rather than reflect, those waves. This treatment became one of the first applications of stealth technology, but it never completely met the design goals.

Test pilot Lou Schalk flew the single-seat A-12 on April 24, 1962, after he became airborne accidentally during high-speed taxi trials. The airplane showed great promise but it needed considerable technical refinement before the CIA could fly the first operational sortie on May 31, 1967 - a surveillance flight over North Vietnam. A-12s, flown by CIA pilots, operated as part of the Air Force's 1129th Special Activities Squadron under the "Oxcart" program. While Lockheed continued to refine the A-12, the U. S. Air Force ordered an interceptor version of the aircraft designated the YF-12A. The Skunk Works, however, proposed a "specific mission" version configured to conduct post-nuclear strike reconnaissance. This system evolved into the USAF's familiar SR-71.

Lockheed built fifteen A-12s, including a special two-seat trainer version. Two A-12s were modified to carry a special reconnaissance drone, designated D-21. The modified A-12s were redesignated M-21s. These were designed to take off with the D-21 drone, powered by a Marquart ramjet engine mounted on a pylon between the rudders. The M-21 then hauled the drone aloft and launched it at speeds high enough to ignite the drone's ramjet motor. Lockheed also built three YF-12As but this type never went into production. Two of the YF-12As crashed during testing. Only one survives and is on display at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio. The aft section of one of the "written off" YF-12As which was later used along with an SR-71A static test airframe to manufacture the sole SR-71C trainer. One SR-71 was lent to NASA and designated YF-12C. Including the SR-71C and two SR-71B pilot trainers, Lockheed constructed thirty-two Blackbirds. The first SR-71 flew on December 22, 1964. Because of extreme operational costs, military strategists decided that the more capable USAF SR-71s should replace the CIA's A-12s. These were retired in 1968 after only one year of operational missions, mostly over southeast Asia. The Air Force's 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (part of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing) took over the missions, flying the SR-71 beginning in the spring of 1968.

After the Air Force began to operate the SR-71, it acquired the official name Blackbird-- for the special black paint that covered the airplane. This paint was formulated to absorb radar signals, to radiate some of the tremendous airframe heat generated by air friction, and to camouflage the aircraft against the dark sky at high altitudes.

Experience gained from the A-12 program convinced the Air Force that flying the SR-71 safely required two crew members, a pilot and a Reconnaissance Systems Officer (RSO). The RSO operated with the wide array of monitoring and defensive systems installed on the airplane. This equipment included a sophisticated Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) system that could jam most acquisition and targeting radar. In addition to an array of advanced, high-resolution cameras, the aircraft could also carry equipment designed to record the strength, frequency, and wavelength of signals emitted by communications and sensor devices such as radar. The SR-71 was designed to fly deep into hostile territory, avoiding interception with its tremendous speed and high altitude. It could operate safely at a maximum speed of Mach 3.3 at an altitude more than sixteen miles, or 25,908 m (85,000 ft), above the earth. The crew had to wear pressure suits similar to those worn by astronauts. These suits were required to protect the crew in the event of sudden cabin pressure loss while at operating altitudes.

To climb and cruise at supersonic speeds, the Blackbird's Pratt & Whitney J-58 engines were designed to operate continuously in afterburner. While this would appear to dictate high fuel flows, the Blackbird actually achieved its best "gas mileage," in terms of air nautical miles per pound of fuel burned, during the Mach 3+ cruise. A typical Blackbird reconnaissance flight might require several aerial refueling operations from an airborne tanker. Each time the SR-71 refueled, the crew had to descend to the tanker's altitude, usually about 6,000 m to 9,000 m (20,000 to 30,000 ft), and slow the airplane to subsonic speeds. As velocity decreased, so did frictional heat. This cooling effect caused the aircraft's skin panels to shrink considerably, and those covering the fuel tanks contracted so much that fuel leaked, forming a distinctive vapor trail as the tanker topped off the Blackbird. As soon as the tanks were filled, the jet's crew disconnected from the tanker, relit the afterburners, and again climbed to high altitude.

Air Force pilots flew the SR-71 from Kadena AB, Japan, throughout its operational career but other bases hosted Blackbird operations, too. The 9th SRW occasionally deployed from Beale AFB, California, to other locations to carryout operational missions. Cuban missions were flown directly from Beale. The SR-71 did not begin to operate in Europe until 1974, and then only temporarily. In 1982, when the U.S. Air Force based two aircraft at Royal Air Force Base Mildenhall to fly monitoring mission in Eastern Europe.

When the SR-71 became operational, orbiting reconnaissance satellites had already replaced manned aircraft to gather intelligence from sites deep within Soviet territory. Satellites could not cover every geopolitical hotspot so the Blackbird remained a vital tool for global intelligence gathering. On many occasions, pilots and RSOs flying the SR-71 provided information that proved vital in formulating successful U. S. foreign policy. Blackbird crews provided important intelligence about the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its aftermath, and pre- and post-strike imagery of the 1986 raid conducted by American air forces on Libya. In 1987, Kadena-based SR-71 crews flew a number of missions over the Persian Gulf, revealing Iranian Silkworm missile batteries that threatened commercial shipping and American escort vessels.

As the performance of space-based surveillance systems grew, along with the effectiveness of ground-based air defense networks, the Air Force started to lose enthusiasm for the expensive program and the 9th SRW ceased SR-71 operations in January 1990. Despite protests by military leaders, Congress revived the program in 1995. Continued wrangling over operating budgets, however, soon led to final termination. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration retained two SR-71As and the one SR-71B for high-speed research projects and flew these airplanes until 1999.

On March 6, 1990, the service career of one Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird ended with a record-setting flight. This special airplane bore Air Force serial number 64-17972. Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and his RSO, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Vida, flew this aircraft from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging a speed of 3,418 kph (2,124 mph). At the conclusion of the flight, '972 landed at Dulles International Airport and taxied into the custody of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. At that time, Lt. Col. Vida had logged 1,392.7 hours of flight time in Blackbirds, more than that of any other crewman.

This particular SR-71 was also flown by Tom Alison, a former National Air and Space Museum's Chief of Collections Management. Flying with Detachment 1 at Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Alison logged more than a dozen '972 operational sorties. The aircraft spent twenty-four years in active Air Force service and accrued a total of 2,801.1 hours of flight time.

Wingspan: 55'7"

Length: 107'5"

Height: 18'6"

Weight: 170,000 Lbs

Reference and Further Reading:

Crickmore, Paul F. Lockheed SR-71: The Secret Missions Exposed. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1996.

Francillon, Rene J. Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1987.

Johnson, Clarence L. Kelly: More Than My Share of It All. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985.

Miller, Jay. Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works. Leicester, U.K.: Midland Counties Publishing Ltd., 1995.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird curatorial file, Aeronautics Division, National Air and Space Museum.

DAD, 11-11-01

FA > Is anyone looking for Refinement Vanessa's shirt/skirt/coat? If so, please FM me.

Fits FR2013 Body

Refinement Vanessa (2015)

*sold*

Following 185's trials Edinburgh Corporation placed orders for 300 Leyland PD2/20 'Titan' buses, by the time 798 arrived in 1956 refinements had been made so here we see the end product. At first this was turned out in unpainted aluminium with a madder band between the decks before acquiring full traditional livery. These Titans had their ups and downs and weren't short of critics but longevity could never be held against them as most gave around 20 years of service.

If you'd stood at a bus stop in the late 1950's and 60's the chances were one of these would come along - on any route such was their dexterity. OFS 798 arrived at the end of a batch of 100, most carrying NFS letters and based at Leith depot, however this one spent long years at Central garage before eventual withdrawal and fortunately now preseved and kept in pristine condition with a memorable advert for Edinburgh Zoo.

Built in 1895-1896, this Chicago School-style thirteen-story skyscraper was designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler for the Guaranty Construction Company. It was initially commissioned by Hascal L. Taylor, whom approached Dankmar Adler to build "the largest and best office building in the city,” but Taylor, whom wanted to name the building after himself, died in 1894, just before the building was announced. Having already had the building designed and ready for construction, the Guaranty Construction Company of Chicago, which already had resources lined up to build the project, bought the property and had the building constructed, with the building instead being named after them. In 1898, the building was renamed after the Prudential Insurance Company, which had refinanced the project and became a major tenant in the building after it was completed. Prudential had the terra cotta panels above the main entrances to the building modified to display the company’s name in 1898, upon their acquisition of a partial share in the ownership of the tower. The building became the tallest building in Buffalo upon its completion, and was a further refinement of the ideas that Sullivan had developed with the Wainwright Building in St. Louis, which was built in 1890-92, and featured a design with more Classical overtones, which were dropped with the design of the Guaranty Building in favor of a more purified Art Nouveau and Chicago School aesthetic, and with more intricate visual detail, with the ornate terra cotta panels cladding the entire structure, leaving very few areas with sparse detail. The building is an early skyscraper with a steel frame supporting the terra cotta panel facade, a departure from earlier load bearing masonry structures that had previously been predominant in many of the same applications, and expresses this through large window openings at the base and a consistent wall thickness, as there was no need to make the exterior walls thicker at the base to support the load from the structure above. The building also contrasts with the more rigid historically-influenced Classical revivalism that was growing in popularity at the time, and follows Sullivan’s mantra of “form ever follows function” despite having a lot of unnecessary detail on the exterior cladding and interior elements. The building’s facade also emphasizes its verticality through continual vertical bands of windows separated by pilasters that are wider on the first two floors, with narrower pilasters above, with the entire composition of the building following the tripartite form influenced by classical columns, with distinct sections comprising the base, shaft, and capital, though being a radical and bold abstraction of the form compared to the historical literalism expressed by most of its contemporaries, more directly displaying the underlying steel structure of the building.

The building is clad in rusty terra cotta panels which feature extensive Sullivanesque ornament inspired by the Art Nouveau movement, which clad the entirety of the building’s facades along Church Street and Pearl Street, with simpler red brick and painted brick cladding on the facades that do not front public right-of-ways, which are visible when the building is viewed from the south and west. The white painted brick cladding on the south elevation marks the former location of the building’s light well, which was about 30 feet wide and 68 feet deep, and was infilled during a 1980s rehabilitation project, adding an additional 1,400 square feet of office space, and necessitating an artificial light source to be installed above the stained glass ceiling of the building’s lobby. The building’s windows are mostly one-over-one double-hung windows in vertical columns, with one window per bay, though this pattern is broken at the painted portions of the non-principal facades, which feature paired one-over-one windows, on the second floor of the principal facades, which features Chicago-style tripartite windows and arched transoms over the building’s two main entry doors, on the thirteenth floor of the principal facades, which features circular oxeye windows, and at the base, which features large storefront windows that include cantilevered sections with shed glass roofs that wrap around the columns at the base of the building. The building’s terra cotta panels feature many natural and geometric motifs based on plants and crystalline structures, the most common being a “seed pod” motif that symbolizes growth, with a wide variation of patterns, giving the facade a dynamic appearance, which is almost overwhelming, but helps to further grant the building a dignified and monumental appearance, and is a signature element of many of the significant works of Adler and Sullivan, as well as Sullivan’s later independent work. The building’s pilasters halve in number but double in thickness towards the base, with wide window openings underneath pairs of window bays above on the first and second floors, with the pilasters terminating at circular columns with large, decorative, ornate terra cotta capitals in the central bays, and thick rectilinear pilasters at the corners and flanking the entry door openings. The circular columns penetrate the extruded storefront windows and shed glass roofs below, which formed display cases for shops in the ground floor of the building when it first opened, and feature decorative copper trim and mullions framing the large expanses of plate glass. The base of the building is clad in medina sandstone panels, as well as medina sandstone bases on the circular columns. The major entry doors feature decorative copper trim surrounds, a spandrel panel with ornate cast copper detailing above and the name “Guaranty” emblazoned on the face of each of the two panels at the two entrances, decorative transoms above with decorative copper panels as headers, and arched transoms on the second floor with decorative terra cotta trim surrounds. Each of the two major entrance doors is flanked by two ornate Art Nouveau-style wall-mounted sconces mounted on the large pilasters, with smaller, partially recessed pilasters on either side. The building features two cornices with arched recesses, with the smaller cornice running as a belt around the transition between the base and the shaft portions of the building, with lightbulbs in each archway, and the larger cornice, which extends further out from the face of the building, running around the top of the building’s Swan Street and Pearl Street facades, with a circular oxeye window in each archway. The lower corner recessed into the facade at the ends, while the upper cornice runs around the entire top of the facade above, with geometric motifs in the central portions and a large cluster of leaves in a pattern that is often repeated in Sullivan’s other work at the corners. The spandrel panels between the windows on the shaft portion of the building feature a cluster of leaves at the base and geometric patterns above, with a repeat of the same recessed arch detail as the cornice at the sill line of each window. The pilasters feature almost strictly geometric motifs, with a few floral motifs thrown in at key points to balance the composition of the facade with the windows. A small and often overlooked feature of the ground floor is a set of stone steps up to an entrance at the northwest corner of the building, which features a decorative copper railing with Sullivanesque and Art Nouveau-inspired ornament, which sits next to a staircase to the building’s basement, which features a more utilitarian modern safety railing in the middle.

The interior of the building was heavily renovated over the years before being partially restored in 1980, with the lobby being reverted back to its circa 1896 appearance. The Swan Street vestibule has been fully restored, featuring a marble ceiling, decorative mosaics around the top of the walls, a decorative antique brass light fixture with Art Nouveau detailing and a ring of lightbulbs in the center, the remnant bronze stringer of a now-removed staircase to the second floor in a circular glass wall at the north end of the space, and a terazzo floor. The main lobby, located immediately to the west, features a Tiffany-esque stained glass ceiling with ellipsoid and circular panels set into a bronze frame that once sat below a skylight at the base of the building’s filled-in light well, marble cladding on the walls, mosaics on the ceiling and around the top of the walls, a bronze staircase with ornate railing at the west end of the space, which features a semi-circular landing, a basement staircase with a brass railing, a terrazzo floor, and multiple historic three-bulb wall sconces, as well as brass ceiling fixtures matching those in the vestibule. The building’s elevators, located in an alcove near the base of the staircase, features a decorative richly detailed brass screen on the exterior, with additional decorative screens above, with the elevator since having been enclosed with glass to accommodate modern safety standards and equipment, while preserving the visibility of the original details. Originally, when the building was built, the elevators descended open shafts into a screen wall in the lobby, with the elevators originally being manufactured by the Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Company, with these being exchanged in 1903 for water hydraulic elevators that remained until a renovation in the 1960s. Sadly, most of the historic interior detailing of the upper floors was lost during a series of renovations in the 20th Century, which led to them being fully modernized during the renovation in the 1980s, with multiple tenant finish projects since then further modifying the interiors of the upper floors.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975, owing to its architectural significance, and to help save the building, which had suffered a major fire in 1974 that led to the city of Buffalo seeking to demolish it. A renovation in the early 1980s managed to modernize the building while restoring the lobby and the exterior, which was carried out under the direction of the firm CannonDesign, and partial funding from federal historic tax credits. The building was purchased in 2002 by Hodgson Russ, a law firm, which subsequently further renovated the building to suit their needs, converting the building into their headquarters in 2008. This renovation was carried out under the direction of Gensler Architects and the local firm Flynn Battaglia Architects. The building today houses offices on the upper floors, with a visitor center, known as the Guaranty Interpretative Center, on the first floor, with historic tours offered of some of the building’s exterior and interior spaces run by Preservation Buffalo Niagara. The building was one of the most significant early skyscrapers, and set a precedent for the modern skyscrapers that began to be built half a century later.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The РТАК-30 attack vintoplan (also known as vintokryl) owed its existence to the Mil Mi-30 plane/helicopter project that originated in 1972. The Mil Mi-30 was conceived as a transport aircraft that could hold up to 19 passengers or two tons of cargo, and its purpose was to replace the Mi-8 and Mi-17 Helicopters in both civil and military roles. With vertical takeoff through a pair of tiltrotor engine pods on the wing tips (similar in layout to the later V-22 Osprey) and the ability to fly like a normal plane, the Mil Mi-30 had a clear advantage over the older models.

And this was just about to happen: Despite the РТАК-30’s development problems, the innovative attack vintoplan was included in the Soviet Union’s 5-year plan for 1989-1995, and the vehicle was eventually expected to enter service in 1996. However, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the dwindling economics, neither the РТАК-30 nor its civil Mil Mi-30 sister did soar out in the new age of technology. In 1990 the whole program was stopped and both surviving РТАК-30 prototypes were mothballed – one (the 3rd prototype) was disassembled and its components brought to the Rostov-na-Donu Mil plant, while the other, prototype No. 1, is rumored to be stored at the Central Russian Air Force Museum in Monino, to be restored to a public exhibition piece some day.

General characteristics:

Crew: Two (pilot, copilot/WSO) plus space for up to three passengers or cargo

Length: 45 ft 7 1/2 in (13,93 m)

Rotor diameter: 20 ft 9 in (6,33 m)

Wingspan incl. engine nacelles: 42 ft 8 1/4 in (13,03 m)

Total width with rotors: 58 ft 8 1/2 in (17,93 m)

Height: 17 ft (5,18 m) at top of tailfin

Disc area: 4x 297 ft² (27,65 m²)

Wing area: 342.2 ft² (36,72 m²)

Empty weight: 8,500 kg (18,740 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 12,000 kg (26,500 lb)

Powerplant:

4× Klimov VK-2500PS-03 turboshaft turbines, 2,400 hp (1.765 kW) each

Performance:

Maximum speed: 275 knots (509 km/h, 316 mph) at sea level

305 kn (565 km/h; 351 mph) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m)

Cruise speed: 241 kn (277 mph, 446 km/h) at sea level

Stall speed: 110 kn (126 mph, 204 km/h) in airplane mode

Range: 879 nmi (1,011 mi, 1,627 km)

Combat radius: 390 nmi (426 mi, 722 km)

Ferry range: 1,940 nmi (2,230 mi, 3,590 km) with auxiliary external fuel tanks

Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,620 m)

Rate of climb: 2,320–4,000 ft/min (11.8 m/s)

Glide ratio: 4.5:1

Disc loading: 20.9 lb/ft² at 47,500 lb GW (102.23 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.259 hp/lb (427 W/kg)

Armament:

1× 30 mm (1.18 in) 2A42 multi-purpose autocannon with 450 rounds

7 external hardpoints for a maximum ordnance of 2.500 kg (5.500 lb)

The kit and its assembly:

This exotic, fictional aircraft-thing is a contribution to the “The Flying Machines of Unconventional Means” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in early 2019. While the propulsion system itself is not that unconventional, I deemed the quadrocopter concept (which had already been on my agenda for a while) to be suitable for a worthy submission.

The Mil Mi-30 tiltrotor aircraft, mentioned in the background above, was a real project – but my alternative combat vintoplan design is purely speculative.

I had already stashed away some donor parts, primarily two sets of tiltrotor backpacks for 1:144 Gundam mecha from Bandai, which had been released recently. While these looked a little toy-like, these parts had the charm of coming with handed propellers and stub wings that would allow the engine nacelles to swivel.

The search for a suitable fuselage turned out to be a more complex safari than expected. My initial choice was the spoofy Italeri Mi-28 kit (I initially wanted a staggered tandem cockpit), but it turned out to be much too big for what I wanted to achieve. Then I tested a “real” Mi-28 (Dragon) and a Ka-50 (Italeri), but both failed for different reasons – the Mi-28 was too slender, while the Ka-50 had the right size – but converting it for my build would have been VERY complicated, because the engine nacelles would have to go and the fuselage shape between the cockpit and the fuselage section around the original engines and stub wings would be hard to adapt. I eventually bought an Italeri Ka-52 two-seater as fuselage donor.

In order to mount the four engines to the fuselage I’d need two pairs of wings of appropriate span – and I found a pair of 1:100 A-10 wings as well as the wings from an 1:72 PZL Iskra (not perfect, but the most suitable donor parts I could find in the junkyard). On the tips of these wings, the swiveling joints for the engine nacelles from the Bandai set were glued. While mounting the rear wings was not too difficult (just the Ka-52’s OOB stabilizers had to go), the front pair of wings was more complex. The reason: the Ka-52’s engines had to go and their attachment points, which are actually shallow recesses on the kit, had to be faired over first. Instead of filling everything with putty I decided to cover the areas with 0.5mm styrene sheet first, and then do cosmetic PSR work. This worked quite well and also included a cover for the Ka-52’s original rotor mast mount. Onto these new flanks the pair of front wings was attached, in a mid position – a conceptual mistake…

The cockpit was taken OOB and the aircraft’s nose received an additional thimble radome, reminiscent of the Mi-28’s arrangement. The radome itself was created from a German 500 kg WWII bomb.

At this stage, the mid-wing mistake reared its ugly head – it had two painful consequences which I had not fully thought through. Problem #1: the engine nacelles turned out to be too long. When rotated into a vertical position, they’d potentially hit the ground! Furthermore, the ground clearance was very low – and I decided to skip the Ka-52’s OOB landing gear in favor of a heavier and esp. longer alternative, a full landing gear set from an Italeri MiG-37 “Ferret E” stealth fighter, which itself resembles a MiG-23/27 landing gear. Due to the expected higher speeds of the vintoplan I gave the landing gear full covers (partly scratched, plus some donor parts from an Academy MiG-27). It took some trials to get the new landing gear into the right position and a suitable stance – but it worked. With this benchmark I was also able to modify the engine nacelles, shortening their rear ends. They were still very (too!) close to the ground, but at least the model would not sit on them!

However, the more complete the model became, the more design flaws turned up. Another mistake is that the front and rear rotors slightly overlap when in vertical position – something that would be unthinkable in real life…

With all major components in place, however, detail work could proceed. This included the completion of the cockpit and the sensor turrets, the Ka-52 cannon and finally the ordnance. Due to the large rotors, any armament had to be concentrated around the fuselage, outside of the propeller discs. For this reason (and in order to prevent the rear engines to ingest exhaust gases from the front engines in level flight), I gave the front wings a slightly larger span, so that four underwing pylons could be fitted, plus a pair of underfuselage hardpoints.

The ordnance was puzzled together from the Italeri Ka-52 and from an ESCI Ka-34 (the fake Ka-50) kit.

Painting and markings:

With such an exotic aircraft, I rather wanted a conservative livery and opted for a typical Soviet tactical four-tone scheme from the Eighties – the idea was to build a prototype aircraft from the state acceptance trials period, not a flashy demonstrator. The scheme and the (guesstimated) colors were transferred from a Soviet air force MiG-21bis of that era, and it consists of a reddish light brown (Humbrol 119, Light Earth), a light, yellowish green (Humbrol 159, Khaki Drab), a bluish dark green (Humbrol 195, Dark Satin Green, a.k.a. RAL 6020 Chromdioxidgrün) and a dark brown (Humbrol 170, Brown Bess). For the undersides’ typical bluish grey I chose Humbrol 145 (FS 35237, Gray Blue), which is slightly lighter and less greenish than the typical Soviet tones. A light black ink wash was applied and some light post-shading was done in order to create panels that are structurally not there, augmented by some pencil lines.

The cockpit became light blue (Humbrol 89), with medium gray dashboard and consoles. The ejection seats received bright yellow seatbelts and bright blue pads – a detail seen on a Mi-28 cockpit picture.

Some dielectric fairings like the fin tip were painted in bright medium green (Humbrol 101), while some other antenna fairings were painted in pale yellow (Humbrol 71).

The landing gear struts and the interior of the wells became Aluminum Metalic (Humbrol 56), the wheels dark green discs (Humbrol 30).

The decals were puzzled together from various sources, including some Begemot sheets. Most of the stencils came from the Ka-52 OOB sheet, and generic decal sheet material was used to mark the walkways or the rotor tips and leading edges.

Only some light weathering was done to the leading edges of the wings, and then the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

A complex kitbashing project, and it revealed some pitfalls in the course of making. However, the result looks menacing and still convincing, esp. in flight – even though the picture editing, with four artificially rotating proprotors, was probably more tedious than building the model itself!

1st attempt at this technique. Needs a little refinement but am quite pleased with this initial trial

Italian postcard by NMM, Milano, 1941. Caption: Joan Blondel (sic), actress endowed with all the refinements, with a serene face, but full of sweet femininity.

American actress Joan Blondell (1906–1979) performed in more than 100 films and on television for five decades, often as the wisecracking blonde.

After winning a beauty pageant, Joan Blondell embarked upon a film career. Establishing herself as a sexy wisecracking blonde, she was a pre-Code staple of Warner Brothers and appeared in more than 100 movies and television productions. She was most active in films during the 1930s, and during this time she co-starred with Glenda Farrell in nine films, in which the duo portrayed gold-diggers. Blondell continued acting for the rest of her life, often in small character roles or supporting television roles. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in The Blue Veil (1951). Blondell was seen in featured roles in two films released shortly before her death from leukemia, Grease (1978) and the remake of The Champ (1979).

Source: Wikipedia.

Chassis n° VF9SA25C18M795175

Bugatti Veyron 16.4

When luxury has no limits, MANSORY is in its element. On special customer request and using the highest quality refinements, the premium manufacturer once again transforms a Bugatti Veyron 16.4 into a high speed unique car: A Bugatti is already one of the most exclusive cars money can buy. MANSORY takes this as a base and transforms it with the lavish use of carbon fibre and the finest leather into the "MANSORY Vivere Diamond Edition by Moti".

MANSORY manufactures almost all bodywork components from ultra light, high strength carbon fibre. The hardening process employed, under high pressure and temperature in the autoclave radically improves the material quality. As a special feature, MANSORY uses a carbon fabric called Marble Collage in the "MANSORY Vivere Diamond Edition by Moti". This emphasizes the uniqueness of this one-off with its marble typical gloss effects.

Compared with the standard Veyron, the "MANSORY Vivere Diamond Edition by Moti" gets an extensive facelift at the front, consisting of modified wings, a shortened bonnet and striking front apron with a carbon fibre lip for extra downforce. The LED daytime running lights integrated in the front end and the new air intakes with eyebrow optics establish special accents. The newly developed side skirts act as a visual and aerodynamic link between both axles. Larger air outlets on the flanks of the vehicle and at the rear provide optimised motor cooling, and together with the new diffuser underline the design of this powerful car.

Other exclusive accents complete the "MANSORY Vivere Diamond Edition by Moti: Starting with the elegant, forged alloy wheels with slim spokes for optimised brake cooling, the arched grill with the stylized "Vivere-V" and the rear view mirror housings made of carbon fibre.

The interior presents itself as inimitably luxurious and yet functional. Also here, MANSORY understands how to combine harmoniously exclusive lifestyle and technology with the flawless demands of this unique product. Traditional craftsmanship, hand selected materials and a confident design come together and create a car interior in a class all of its own. In this regard, the LEDs of the ambient lighting system in the seats, door panels and the instrument panel are especially eye catching. The whole passenger compartment glows in the light of the courtesy lights, setting off beautifully the high quality carbon fibre applications and the skilfully quilted black and white leather.

For extra confidence when steering this unique car, MANSORY provides the driver with a redesigned airbag steering wheel with integrated paddle selectors. However, the new owner must take his own precautions for protecting against theft.

88th Geneva International Motor Show

Internationaler Auto-Salon Genf

Suisse - Schweiz - Switzerland

March 2018

Made some refinement on the layout today. More to come.

www.greenaqua.hu

from Egypt

A lady of refinement and well-acquainted with all the arts, but most of all an amazing grace in herself, like the perfection found in Mozart or the incomprehensible notebooks of Da Vinci and the alchemists. All science was at her fingertips, all magic, potions, artifacts, and the note-perfect language of the birds.

Chassis n° 16287

The Chantilly Sale

Bonhams

Sold for € 189.750

Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille

Château de Chantilly

Chantilly

France - Frankrijk

September 2017

'Each new Ferrari model brings some noteworthy advance over previous ones. The GTC/4's is mechanical refinement. Less mechanical thrash comes through from the engine room than in any previous Ferrari, and the controls are smoother and lighter than ever, making the car deliciously easy to drive well. And the lack of mechanical clatter does not deprive us of entertainment; there's just the right amount of purr from the four tailpipes, and when working hard in its upper rev range the engine sings the familiar and beautiful V12 song.' - Road & Track.

A short-lived interim model that bridged the gap between production of the 365GT 2+2 and 365GT4 2+2, the 365GTC/4 was first shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1971. A contemporary of the awe-inspiring Daytona, the 365GTC/4 used a similar chassis and a wet-sump version of the former's 4,390cc four-cam V12 in a slightly lower - 320bhp - state of tune, which was coupled to a conventional five-speed gearbox rather than the Daytona's transaxle. Cylinder heads revised to accommodate side-draught carburettors enabled stylist Pininfarina to achieve an elegant, low profile bonnet line. 'In all, a graceful, clean and understated design with subtleties one discovers only by looking it over carefully. One might say this model is a Ferrari for the mature enthusiast,' observed R&T.

Altogether more civilised and easy to drive than the heavy Daytona, the rapid 365GTC/4 came with ZF power steering and servo-assisted brakes as standard, the option of air conditioning, and an especially luxurious interior featuring individual reclining front seats and occasional rear seats. In spite of the increasing emphasis on refinement, the 365GTC/4 gave nothing away to its rivals in the performance stakes, racing through the standing quarter mile in under 16 seconds on its way to a top speed in excess of 150mph. By the time the model was withdrawn in October 1972, production had totalled only 500 units, making the 365GTC/4 eminently collectible today.

The example offered here, chassis number '16287', is one of the last Ferrari 365GTC/4s built out of a total of 500 cars. This car is the 495th in the production sequence, and caries Pininfarina body number '492'. It was delivered new to the official Ferrari importer, Charles Pozzi in Levallois-Perret, France together with '16289', they are said to be the two last cars of the series to be delivered. This is a desirable European version, manufactured in left-hand drive configuration with instruments in km/h. The first owner, Mr Parret of Val de Marne, France, took delivery on 24th April 1974. The history file contains a copy of the Ferrari Warranty Card confirming the car was finished in Blu Ribot and delivered new to Mr Parret via Pozzi; and a copy of the Pozzi 'fiche de contrôle', which shows that the car was delivered with yellow fog lamps (obligatory in France).

The Ferrari is believed to have stayed in France, passing through the hands of several careful owners in Saone et Loire, Haute-Loire, and later Haut-Rhin. This information and early history has been traced with the help of Mr Marc Rabineau, to whom Bonhams extends its sincere thanks. The car is believed to have stayed in France until the current owner bought it in Monaco in 2009. The beautiful Bleu Ribot colour has faded slightly over the years but still presents very well, while the beautifully preserved beige leather interior appears totally original and in good condition.

some more refinement and I think I can have him looking just the way I want him.

Quality rangefinder from Konica with all the refinements that were expected from a highly specified compact camera from the 60's: Top quality Hexanon 1.6 lens, a welcome difference from the usual 1,8 or 1,9 aperture for the competition. Classical it may be, but it ooozes class and quality, from the rangefinder with auto parallax correction to the meter placed on the lens barrel. Very nice camera in my opinion.

Original early Series 2.

Series 2, 2A and 3 have a devoted following all over the world as anyone who has ever used one will confirm.

Legendary capabilities off road and superior refinements all round compared to Series 1. Perfectly engineered longer and wider relative to S1. Iconic period styling by David Bache.

Owned and operated by Border Rovers.

Border Rovers can be contacted on:

07515899390

Series II 88-inch utilities (1958-1961)

The Series II Land Rover was introduced in April 1958, exactly 10 years after the original was shown in Amsterdam. Both “Regular” and “Long” models had the same wheelbases as the Series Is they replaced, but there were many important differences. Most obvious was the styling (by Rover’s David Bache), which was impressive enough to survive with only minor changes into the 21st century. It provided barrel-sides to cover axles with wider tracks, plus a sill panel to conceal the underpinnings, and a particularly neat truck cab option. Mechanical changes focussed on a new and much more powerful petrol engine, this time an OHV four-cylinder of 2286cc. However, the 88-inch models retained the old 2-litre engine until summer 1958. The existing 2052cc diesel, a close cousin of the new petrol engine, remained available. The usual range of body styles was on offer – soft top, truck cab, and Station Wagon (see below). Overseas buyers could also have a Window Hardtop model. Bronze Green was still the most popular colour, but there were six others: Beige, Dark Grey, Light Green, Light Grey, Marine Blue and Poppy Red, the latter for fire engines. There were 60,456 88-inch Series II models, of which just 9,539 were diesel-powered. The last five 1500-series chassis (from 1960) appear to have had Perkins diesel engines from new.

Tenerife.

Santa Cruz

Parque García Sanabria. (Rambla General Franco, Santa Cruz; admission free)

Set in the heart of Santa Cruz and known as ‘the lungs of the city’, Parque García Sanabria is an open air art gallery set amongst tropical landscaped gardens where Santacruceros come to relax and to play

Rose color symbolism ;))

Symbolizing gentility, femininity, elegance and refinement, the pink rose also carries additional meanings depending on its hue. A deep pink conveys gratitude and appreciation, while pale shades connote grace and gentleness, admiration and happiness.

Please no invites to mandatory comment/award groups.

And especially NO BIG GRAPHICS.

To admins of of those groups: I will just click OK add it if you take no notice and invite me anyway.

my most interesting on black: www.fluidr.com/photos/lindadevolder/interesting

This photo appears in the gallery Flowers 2

Added functional back hatch that opens to let a passenger in.

With his tall, lean body, long, narrow head, and silky coat, the Borzoi is the picture of refinement and elegance. Borzois carry themselves proudly, and it's easy to envision them lounging in the palaces of Russian Tsars or swiftly running down a wolf in the Russian countryside. But before you bring a Borzoi to your palace, you need to decide if a Borzoi is right for you.

Prized for their grace as well as their sweet dispositions, Borzoi are known for their speed, juxtaposed with a laidback personality. They prefer a quick sprint to long-distance running and are then satisfied to return indoors to relax on a favorite sofa. They're not what you'd call a high-energy dog. If you want to spend the day in bed or on the sofa, your Borzoi will be happy to spend it there with you.

Kildare

On a fabled hilltop in Kildare town, in a churchyard that has seen its great cathedral rise from ruin many times in its 1500 year history, sit two stone structures, the yin and yang of Irish architectural symbolism, or possibly the yoni and lingam. The restored foundation of St. Brigid’s Fire Temple recalls the most significant woman of Early Christian Ireland, or perhaps her pagan namesake. It still serves today as a pilgrimage destination for spiritual women from the ranks of Christians and neo-pagan alike. The adjacent—and better known—Kildare Round Tower was in the 19th century believed by some to also be an example of a pagan temple: its tall, ramrod-straight form, with its original conical cap, revealing its ancient use in homage of what one 1834 reviewer termed “a certain particular division of the [male] anatomy, which the refinement of modern civilization has excluded from decent language.

To view more of my images of aircraft and space craft, click "here" !

The BAC Jet Provost was a British jet-powered trainer aircraft that was in use with the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1955 to 1993. It was originally developed by Hunting Percival from the earlier piston engine-powered Percival Provost basic trainer, and later produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). In addition to the multiple orders that were placed for the RAF, the Jet Provost also attained several export deals with overseas operators, resulting in the type serving in many air forces worldwide. The design was also further developed into a more heavily-armed variant for ground attack mission, which was marketed as the BAC Strikemaster. In early 1951, Hunting Percival began work on the design studies that would ultimately lead to the Jet Provost. At the time, the company in the process of establishing mass production for the earlier piston-engined Percival Provost basic trainer, but had anticipated that demand for a jet-powered trainer aircraft would be on the horizon. The design team aimed to produce an aircraft capable of equaling the handling characteristics of operational jet fighters of the era while also possessing modest approach and stall speeds and remaining simple to handle, as opposed to aiming to obtain maximum performance. The prototype Jet Provost T.1 with the initial longer undercarriage at the Farnborough Air Show in 1954

During the early design process, a series of increasingly frequent liaisons with RAF Flying Training Command took place, helping to gauge the considerations required to succeed in aspects of the proposed aircraft's design, such as instructional processes and maintenance requirements. During development, Hunting Percival had intentionally reused as many existing components and subsystems of the Percival Provost as possible, including the tail surfaces, main planes and main undercarriage legs, to speed development through to the prototype stage. The initial design work was performed as a private venture, independent of any service requirement; in March 1953, sponsorship from the British Government to support the development was made available as a result of interest from the Ministry of Supply. That same month, an order for service-test quantity of Jet Provosts was received. On 16 June 1954, the prototype XD674 conducted its maiden flight from the factory at Luton Airport, flown by Dick Wheldon. A series of seven flights were flown in quick succession over the following three days. By early November 1954, a total of 123 flying hours had been accumulated by the prototype during Hunting Percival's own flight test program, after which the prototype was submitted for official trials at RAF Boscombe Down. While testing proved the overall performance of the Jet Provost to be satisfactory, refinements such as shortening the legs of the landing gear for a smoother ride when deployed at semi-prepared airstrips. On 19 February 1955, the first of ten pre-production aircraft, designated as the Jet Provost T1, performed its first flight. In May 1955, three of the pre-production aircraft were assigned for the first stage of service trials with the Central Flying School (CFS) of the RAF to determine the value of the Jet Provost in the ab initio training role and to develop a syllabus for the training program. During the second stage of CFS trials using the same three aircraft, actual students were introduced to the type for practical evaluation purposes, which was performed at RAF Hullavington until the successful completion of trials on 2 July 1956. According to feedback from CFS examiners, the Jet Provost had noticeably improved the performance of students during its trial deployment. As a result of the results and responses produced from the trials performed using the pre-production aircraft, Hunting Percival proceeded to develop and incorporate several different improvements upon the design. Amongst the changes made was an overall smoothening of the fuselage lines, hydraulic systems being substituted for pneumatic counterparts, and the addition of a dorsal fillet; the new model was designated as the Jet Provost T2. On 1 September 1955, the first Jet Provost T2 made its first flight. This variant was used only for development work; in addition to seeing use at Hullavington, three Jet Provost T2s were dispatched overseas for winterization trials in Scandinavia and a series of sales tours across Europe, Canada, the United States of America, and Latin America. In June 1957, an production order was placed for the first 40 of the developed Jet Provost T3, featuring a more powerful Armstrong Siddeley Viper jet engine, ejector seats, a redesign of the airframe, and a shortened and strengthened version of the retractable tricycle undercarriage. Percival built a single example, which was used purely for structural tests throughout the development stages, giving the designers valuable research into what could be achieved with the basic design. On 22 June 1958, the first Jet Provost T.3 conducted its first flight. In total, 201 T3s were delivered between 1958 and 1962. The T4 followed in 1960, fitted with a more powerful variant of the Viper engine and first flown on 15 July, and this was followed by the pressurised T5 in 1967. The T51 was an armed export version, sold to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Kuwait and Sudan. It was armed with two 7.7-mm (0.303-inch) machine guns. The T52 was another export version sold to Iraq, South Yemen, Sudan and Venezuela, with the same armament as the T51. The T55 was the final armed export version which was sold to Sudan. A more heavily armed variant of the airframe was developed as the BAC Strikemaster.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RUBBERBANDance Group

rubberbandance.com

HISTORY RBDG

Company Overview

Victor Quijada, choreographer and performer, founded the RUBBERBANDance Group (RBDG) to make it a channel for expressing and disseminating its choreographic identity by creating, among others, evocative and unpublished plays. The company, co-directed by interpreter Anne Plamondon, is responsible for creating, producing and distributing Quijada's work nationally and internationally in the form of shows, films and special events.

With RBDG, Victor Quijada reconciles the aesthetics of the two poles of the dance that inhabit him: the spontaneity, the risk, the temerity and the audacity of his youth, while he was bathing in hip-hop culture and refinement and the choreographic maturity of ballet and contemporary dance, where he evolved as a professional dancer. The revolutionary character of the aesthetic movement created by Quijada is illustrated by a dozen years of research that have led to more than twelve creations. Impressed by the inherent independence of the street and a keen sense of direction, Quijada's choreographies explore human relationships by capturing the ardor of obsession, the brutality of violence, the delicacy of tenderness , comedy and tragedy, not forgetting sincerity and courage.

Carrying the sensibility of street dancers, Victor Quijada seeks ways to integrate the spontaneity of hip-hop circles into the stage. He has explored various forums, made spontaneous representations and knocked down barriers between performers and the public in innumerable ways. All this with the same objective: to get rid of the format of the usual representations so that the public experiences the dance actively, rather than passively.

In addition to their stage and film creations, Victor Quijada and Anne Plamondon have developed a training program to prepare professional dancers for the demands of Quijada's choreographies. This program introduces the dancers to a hybrid movement influenced by the vocabularies of urban and contemporary dances, with emphasis on interpretation, decision-making, the use of rhythmic variations and accompaniment. Workshops, lecture-demonstrations, question and answer sessions and school performances are also regularly offered as part of the tours.

RBDG also helps young choreographers who want to express their own voice. The Post Hip Hop Project, born in 2009 at the Cinquième Salle, invites young artists to work their creations under the mentorship of Victor Quijada and then present them to the public.

Company History

Founded in Montreal in 2002, the company immediately delighted the public and critics with three creations presented at Espace Tangente over two seasons. At the same time, the company participates in mixed programs and organizes parties throughout the city to present smaller pieces. Tender Loving Care and Hasta La Próxima share a place in the top five dance productions of the newspaper Le Devoir, while Elastic Perspective begins in 2003 a series of more than 100 performances after winning the RIDEAU Prize at Festival Vue on the Relève. The RUBBERBANDance Group then obtains a residence at Usine C for the 2003-2004 season. The play Slicing Static was created, and later named the best dance production in 2004 by the Hour newspaper.

In 2005, Anne Plamondon joined Quijada as artistic director to assist with strategic planning. A second residency at Usine C was granted to them in 2006, followed by a four-year residency at Place des Arts. During this period, four new pieces were created, thanks to the support of multiple partners: Loan Sharking and AV Input / Output in 2008, Punto Ciego in 2009 and Gravity of Center in 2011.

RBDG also co-produced five films choreographed by Victor Quijada. The choreographer goes so far as to realize two: Secret Service and Small Explosions That Are Yours to Keep. Hasta La Próxima, shot in 2003, is a finalist in the short film category at the American Choreography Awards.

Now well established, the company embodies Canadian artistic innovation in the United States, Europe, Mexico and Japan. RBDG is at the forefront of the Montreal contemporary dance community and is recognized internationally for its unique vision of this form of dance.

In terms of peer recognition, Quijada received the Choreography Fellowship from the Princess Grace Foundation (USA), the Peter Darrell Choreography Award (England), the Bonnie Bird North American Award (England), the Choreography Media Honors (US) in addition to a second PGF award with the 2016 Work in Progress Residency Award.

via Instagram ift.tt/2asgKwn

On the left, Horseman 45HF (4x5 format, 1983-85) and on the right the Horseman VH (6x9 format, 1975-?). Despite the difference in formats and about 10 years in manufacture, the front standards are identical. Both use the same 80 x 80 mm lens boards, allowing the photographer to shoot multiple formats with only one set of lenses. I own a Horseman 6x12 roll film back which is how I normally shoot the 45HF.

The 45HF has several refinements lacking in the VH. One visible here is the bubble level, a nice feature.

I made this ruffled tulle skirt a while ago but I decided it needed some refinement so I added the beads around the basque and a front lacing closure. Curiously the last time this was worn it was also modelled by an Agnes. Devotion Agnes' dress makes a good base layer for different looks and the subtle shimmer is very nice.

The portrait in the background, which I use in a lot of my dioramas, is the portait of Lucrezia Panciatichi by Bronzino. It is actually a postcard I must have bought about 20 years ago in the Uffizi gallery in Florence.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Lucrezia_Panciatichi

Test shot with studio lights. This is kind of a mid-way shot to see where i am, what tweaks needed, how the photo angle and lights will look like on the final image. Based on the shot i will do some refinement in the next 2 months.

www.greenaqua.hu

10 Main Street

Cortland, New York

Phone Skyline 6-5441

"Renowned for Refinement and Good Food"

De Clercq Studio

Dexter Press

80315

CAPA-003807

A standalone chapter of "A Boy in a Cream Blouse"

St. Eulalia’s Academy for Girls’ annual Garden Soirée, for sixth formers, was meant to be an evening of refinement, hydrangeas, and headmistress-approved hemlines. That illusion wilted the moment she arrived, glossy, shimmering, grinning like a Cheshire cat, and hot enough to short-circuit the fairy lights.

Officially a chaperone... Unofficially?... The event’s main attraction.

While most chaperones clung to the canapé table and the moral high ground, one middle-aged stunner in a striking blue satin blouse and pink latex skirt left others trembling in her wake.

One eyewitness said, "She wasn’t even on the guest list," but who needs a formal invite when you’ve got legs that stay open for days, a blouse that gleams like liquid sin, and a smile that suggests she’s already broken every rule in the book... and set it ablaze!

Styled to perfection with a wink of vintage glamour and unapologetic va-va-voom, her shiny shimmering satin and latex ensemble left little to the imagination and nothing to chance.

The youth came to dance, but this chaperone came to dominate.

Scandalised murmurs included, "Isn’t that Samantha's mum?", but luckily, Samantha wasn't old enough to attend. "She’s got to be over 40 and not wearing any underwear", and a personal favourite: "I hope I look half that good when I’m claiming my pension."

By midnight, she was still dancing, when most of the young ladies were passed out on the floor in a pool of vomit. By 3 am, she was all that was being whispered about.

By morning?... Everyone young man who had attended had a story to tell, and lipstick to prove it... Whilst she left with all their phone numbers.

Tiara

C. 300-250 BC

Canosa, hypogeum Lagrasta

Gold, glass and enamel

The necropolis in Canosa has provided splendid examples of the refinement of women's jewelry in the Hellenistic period. This diadem features exuberant, richly inventive decoration typical of the floral style developed by Greek goldsmiths in southern Italy, especially Taranto, in the 3rd century BC. Palmettes, rosettes, and intertwining foliage form a tracery in gold and enamel, worthy of the finest lace. The piece is dotted with tiny colored glass beads.

A piece of women's jewelry -

The diadem is one of the oldest and most characteristic items of women's jewelry in the Greek world. Unlike coronets or wreaths, which were used by men as signs of political or social status, and as funerary objects, the diadem was worn by women only, often serving a purely decorative purpose. Numerous examples in gold have been found in necropolises in southern Italy, Macedonia, and on the Black Sea coast, testifying to the great refinement of Greek jewelry-making during the Hellenistic period, and to the widespread diffusion of decorative motifs throughout the Mediterranean basin. This example is from Canosa, in Apulia (southern Italy), where it was probably found in one of the Lacrasta tombs. It entered the Louvre in 1863 after Napoleon III purchased the collection of the marquis of Campana.

Exuberant flowers and foliage -

The diadem's decoration is extraordinarily inventive and technically accomplished, comprising an openwork tracery of luxuriant stems dotted with palmettes, rosettes, foliage, and a variety of flowers. The motifs are intertwined like fine lace, highlighted with gold filigree work, blue enamel, and berries made from green, white, and blue pâte de verre. The piece is clearly the work of a Greek goldsmith influenced by Oriental styles and jewelry created for the royal court of Macedonia in the 4th century BC. The diadem is typical of the naturalistic decorative style seen in northern Greek jewelry and precious metalwork from 375-350 BC.

Hellenistic jewelry and metalwork in southern Italy -

The diadem was made during the Hellenistic period, in the 3rd century BC, by a goldsmith active at Canosa in southern Italy, or possibly a workshop in Taranto. Greek metalworking flourished in Apulia during this period; women's jewelry based on northern Greek designs using abundant flowers and foliage was especially popular. Items made in Taranto were exported throughout the surrounding region, as well as to Campania and Etruria. The innovative workshops of Taranto pioneered the reduction of the base plate to a plain background, focusing our attention solely on the scrolling, openwork design.

Gerard ter Borch the Younger - The Suitor's Visit (c.1658)

Dutch seventeenth-century artists drew their subject matter from all elements of society. The refinement of the wealthy burghers in the second half of the century was best captured by Gerard ter Borch the Younger. His exquisite painting technique, which consisted of delicate touches with the brush and the use of thin glazes to suggest transparencies, allowed him to create realistic textural effects, whether of lace, satin, or the pile of an oriental tablecloth. His pictures’ calm moods and brilliant renditions of fabrics set a precedent for later painters such as Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) and Gabriel Metsu (1629–1667).

In this painting, an elegant gentleman bows gracefully as he enters the room. A young woman wearing a beautiful satin dress with an orange-red jacket stands to greet him while another woman plays a theorbo, a type of lute, at the table. Behind them a man warms his hands at the fireplace. The clothes, instruments, imposing mantelpiece, and gilded wallpaper all attest to the prosperity of the people. Ter Borch focused on the psychological interaction between the suitor and the standing woman, who communicate through glances and gestures.

Contemporary viewers would have greatly admired Ter Borch’s remarkable ability to render satins in The Suitor’s Visit, but they would also have been intrigued by the painting's subject matter. Does this scene depict an innocent social call, or does the graceful lady answering the door invite her suitor in for a sexual encounter? The answer is not easy to discern because the artist delighted in capturing the ambivalence of human relationships through his carefully considered renderings of gazes and gesture.

www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.65....

DISCLAIMER

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

The Chinese J-7FS was a direct descendant of the J-7E. The Chengdu J-7 itself has a long heritage of development, even though it is originally a Soviet design, a license-built MiG-21F, which has its roots in the mid 50ies.

The number of built specimen is uncertain, but it is supposed to be less than 100, probably even less than 50. It is rumored that the type had also been offered to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka around 2001, but was not bought.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 14.885 m (Overall) (48 ft 10 in)

Wingspan: 8.32 m (27 ft 3½ in)

Height: 4.11 m (13 ft 5½ in)

Wing area: 24.88 m² (267.8 ft²)

Aspect ratio: 2.8:1

Empty weight: 5,292 kg (11.667 lb)

Loaded weight: 7,540 kg (16.620 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 9.100 kg (20.062 lb)

Powerplant:

1 × Guizhou Liyang WP-13F(C) afterburning turbojet with 44.1 kN (9.914 lb) dry thrust and 66.7 kN (14.650 lb) with afterburner:

Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 2.0, 2,200 km/h (1.189 knots, 1.375 mph)

Stall speed: 210 km/h (114 knots, 131 mph) IAS

Combat radius: 850 km (459 nmi, 528 mi) (air superiority, two AAMs and three drop tanks)

Ferry range: 2,200 km (1.187 nmi, 1.367 mi)

Service ceiling: 17,500 m (57.420 ft)

Rate of climb: 195 m/s (38.386 ft/min)

Armament:

1× twin-barreled Type 23-III 23mm (0.9") cannon with 250 rounds under the fuselage;

5× hardpoints (4× under-wing, 1× centerline under-fuselage) with a capacity of 2,000 kg maximum (up to 500 kg each); Ordnance primarily comprises air-to-air missiles, including PL-2, PL-5, PL-7, PL-8, PL-9 and PL-11 AAMs, but in a secondary CAS role various rocket pods an unguided bombs of up to 500kg caliber could be carried

The kit and its assembly:

This whif is based on the real world J-7FS, which actually flew but never made it beyond the technical demonstrator stage. However, I found the air intake design with its raked shape and the pointed radome interesting, and since I had a crappy Matchbox MiG-21MF with misprinted decals in store I decided to use that kit for a whif conversion. There’s even a resin kit of the first J-7FS (still with the standard delta wing, though, and horribly expensive) available, but I wanted to create a more advanced what-if model, if the type had somehow entered service.

The kit saw major modification all around the fuselage: the wing tips were clipped and scratch-built ends for the J-7E double delta wing shape attached. The shape is certainly not correct, but it's IMHO the impression that counts. The MiG-21MF's deep fin was replaced by a donation part from an F-16 – the 2nd J-7FS already featured a distinctive kink at the fin’s top which made it already look rather F-16ish, and the taller and more slender fin suits the MiG-21 well.

A brake parachute housing with a disctinctive, blunt end was added just above the jet exhaust, and some antennae and pitots were added in order to enhance the bleak Matchbox kit a little. The Type 23-III cannon was sculpted from a piece of sprue, just like the brake parachute housing.

The nose section/radome is the front half of an F-18 drop tank. An oval, tapered piece of styrene was implanted as the raked intake lip, trying to copy the look of the real thing according to the few pictures I had at hand. I also added a central splitter in the air intake, which houses the front wheel bay.

Some putty work was necessary to blend the new nose into the front fuselage, as well as the dorsal spine into the new fin, but that turned out to be easier than expected.

The jet exhaust originally is just a vertical "plate" in the MiG-21's tail. I opened it and implanted a new cover inside of the fuselage, in a deeper position. For some more detail I also added a (simple) jet nozzle, IIRC it is a leftover part from a Matchbox Jaguar kit, probably 30 years old... Not much, but it defininitively enhances the rear view of the machine.

The original cockpit only consists of a bulky seat and the pilot figure, and the clear canopy is clear but horribly thick. Hence, I decided to keep the cockpit closed, but nevertheless I added a floor and some side panels, and used an Airfix pilot figure.

The missile ordnance comes from the scrap box, reflecting “modern” Chinese air-to-air weaponry: two PL-7 (Matra Magic AAMs from an Italeri NATO weapons kit) on the outer and two PL-11 (two Aspide missiles from the same set ) on the inner wing hardpoints. All wing hardpoints come from MiG-21F kits, one pair is from the Academy kit, the other from the vintage Hasegawa kit, both have the launch rails molded into the weapon pylon. The drop tank is a typical Chinese item - it resembles the Russian/soviet PTB-490 drop tank, but has a more blunt nose and smaller fins - it comes from a FC-1 kit from Trumpeter.

Paintings and markings:

Since it is an air superiority aircraft, I wanted an appropriate livery, but not the dull overall grey of contemporary PLAAF fighters. But I found some weird real life paint schemes which inspired the final camouflage.

Since the plane was not supposed to look too American through FS tones I rather used 'other' colors for a wraparound scheme. The basic tone is Testors 2123 (Russian Underside Blue), and from above a darker contrast color was added, Humbrol 230 (PRU Blue). Both tones have a greenish/teal hue, which complements each other well. Together they create a pretty distinctive look, though, esp. with the red and yellow insignia and codes. IMHO these colors suit the fighter well.

The kit received a light black ink wash and some dry painting with lighter blue-grey shades (Humbrol 87 and 128), but no weathering, since modern Chinese aircraft tend to look pretty clean and pristine.

The decals were puzzled together from the scrap box, IIRC the insignia originally they belong to a Il-28 Trumpeter kit. The 5 digit code comes from a Revell MiG-29 and the number itself is based on the information published in the 2010 book “Chinese Air Power” by Yefim Gordon und Dmitriy Komissarov, where the Chinese code system is explained – I hope that it is more or less authentic ;)

So, all in all a rather simple kit conversion, and certainly not a creative masterpiece. To be honest, the similarity with the real thing is just at first glance - but since it is whif world, I am fine with the outcome. ^^

C0001599

KIKUNOI-HONTEN KYOTO JAPAN / 菊乃井本店　京都

✎............Kikunoi is a ryotei or restaurant of fine Japanese cuisine located in the Gion-Maruyama district of Kyoto JAPAN.

From olden times, Gion-Maruyama has been a center of entertainment and pleasure enjoyed by visitors both day and night.

The Japanese-style spaces in KIKUNOI-RYOTEI exude a sense of graceful refinement.

Come and sample Kyoto style cuisine, which makes the most of Kyoto’s seasonal delights.

Kikunoi is located on extensive grounds at the foot of Higashiyama Mountain Range in Kyoto.

Legend has it that water from a local well called “Kikusui-no-i” was used by the first wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (a key figure in Japan’s feudal era) to make tea, causing spring water to burst forth in the pattern of a chrysanthemum (“kiku” in Japanese) in full bloom. The locals took care of this well for many generations, and eventually began to use its water in cooking. This was the origin of the name Kikunoi – literally meaning “chrysanthemum well.” The restaurant itself was established in 1912 and is currently headed by the third-generation owner-chef Yoshihiro Murata.

YOSHIHIRO MURATA,OWNER&CHEF OF KIKUNOI SAYS...

Kikunoi is known as a “ryotei” - a particular type of high-class Japanese restaurant. When people ask me to explain exactly what this means, I tell them that it is fundamentally just another kind of eatery. A ryotei is no different from a set-meal dining hall or any other Japanese eating house, insofar as the aim is to serve up good-tasting dishes to customers. The difference, however, lies in the fact that the food is just one part of the ryotei experience. Guests come to a ryotei to enjoy a combination of different experiences, including the establishment’s fine architecture, the luxury and elegance of its facilities, and the warm hospitality of its hostess. I consider a ryotei to be an “amusement park for adults.”

People tend to view ryotei as exclusive and slightly out-of-reach, but this is not a valid characterization at all. In Kyoto, ryotei are frequented by ordinary folk looking to enjoy a little luxury slightly removed from their everyday lives.

Taking pleasure in Japanese cuisine and appreciating the delights of the ryotei experience – this is what Kikunoi is all about. I hope that more people will come and experience all that Kikunoi has to offer.

THANKS,

IF THERE IS ANY CHANCE, TRY AND ENJOY OUR JAPANESE -You might already know-"WASHOKU" !

7FJ.

CHAO! BABE! ✌(◕‿-)✌

✏.........ADDITION: Kikunoi (main restaurant) has been awarded three Michelin stars on “MICHELIN GUIDE Kansai 2014”.

★★★ MICHELIN GUIDE Kansai 2014 ★★★

SHICHIFUKU JIN@KIKUNOI KYOTO JP 2014

第３代目、村田吉弘氏率いる菊乃井京都本店　

NPO法人　日本料理アカデミー

全日本食学会などその他関連

ぶらぶら京都でメシ食ったというお話。

****************************************************

東京と京都の料亭の違い；　水

東京の料亭；　接待場 - つねに仕事がつきまとう場所 - やっと終わった早く帰りたいと外へ出る - 何を食べたのか覚えていない、酒を飲んだのにまったく酔っていない、酒がおいしくない

京都の料亭；　お遊び場 - つねに遊びの延長にある場所 - もう少し居たいなあと外へ出る - 先付の何がおいしかったとか器が楽焼だったとか床の間の軸が本阿弥光悦もどきだったなとか（笑）細部までよく覚えている

ちがったらごめんね。個人的印象だから。****************************************************

平成２６年１月

七福神

Check out my works on Redbubble: www.redbubble.com/people/mulderography/shop/art-prints?re...

FR Refinement Vanessa Perrin

Marble, AD 50-70

Following Poppaea's death, Nero quickly remarried. Despite being in mourning, he needed an heir. Statilia Messalina, Nero's third wife, outlived him. Little is known about her. This portrait displays extraordinary craftsmanship, particularly in the rendering of the hairstyle, which reflects the luxury and refinement of the period. It may show Statilia Messalina, however the identification is not certain.

[British Museum]

Nero: the Man Behind the Myth

(May - Oct 2021)

Nero is known as one of Rome's most infamous rulers, notorious for his cruelty, debauchery and madness.

The last male descendant of the emperor Augustus, Nero succeeded to the throne in AD 54 aged just 16 and died a violent death at 30. His turbulent rule saw momentous events including the Great Fire of Rome, Boudicca's rebellion in Britain, the execution of his own mother and first wife, grand projects and extravagant excesses.

Drawing on the latest research, this major exhibition questions the traditional narrative of the ruthless tyrant and eccentric performer, revealing a different Nero, a populist leader at a time of great change in Roman society.

Through some 200 spectacular objects, from the imperial palace in Rome to the streets of Pompeii, follow the young emperor’s rise and fall and make up your own mind about Nero. Was he a young, inexperienced ruler trying his best in a divided society, or the merciless, matricidal megalomaniac history has painted him to be?

Nero was the 5th emperor of Rome and the last of Rome’s first dynasty, the Julio-Claudians, founded by Augustus (the adopted son of Julius Caesar). Nero is known as one of Rome’s most infamous rulers, notorious for his cruelty and debauchery. He ascended to power in AD 54 aged just 16 and died at 30. He ruled at a time of great social and political change, overseeing momentous events such as the Great Fire of Rome and Boudica’s rebellion in Britain. He allegedly killed his mother and two of his wives, only cared about his art and had very little interest in ruling the empire.

Most of what we know about Nero comes from the surviving works of three historians – Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio. All written decades after Nero’s death, their accounts have long shaped our understanding of this emperor’s rule. However, far from being impartial narrators presenting objective accounts of past events, these authors and their sources wrote with a very clear agenda in mind. Nero’s demise brought forward a period of chaos and civil war – one that ended only when a new dynasty seized power, the Flavians. Authors writing under the Flavians all had an interest in legitimising the new ruling family by portraying the last of the Julio-Claudians in the worst possible light, turning history into propaganda. These accounts became the ‘historical’ sources used by later historians, therefore perpetuating a fabricated image of Nero, which has survived all the way to the present.

Nero was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus on 15 December AD 37.

He was the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger. Both Gnaeus and Agrippina were the grandchildren of Augustus, making Nero Augustus’ great, great grandson with a strong claim to power.

Nero was only two years old when his mother was exiled and three when his father died. His inheritance was taken from him and he was sent to live with his aunt. However, Nero’s fate changed again when Claudius became emperor, restoring the boy’s property and recalling his mother Agrippina from exile.

In AD 49 the emperor Claudius married Agrippina, and adopted Nero the following year. It is at this point that Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus changed his name to Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus. In Roman times it was normal to change your name when adopted, abandoning your family name in favour of your adoptive father’s. Nero was a common name among members of the Claudian family, especially in Claudius’ branch.

Nero and Agrippina offered Claudius a politically useful link back to Augustus, strengthening his position.

Claudius appeared to favour Nero over his natural son, Britannicus, marking Nero as the designated heir.

When Claudius died in AD 54, Nero became emperor just two months before turning 17.

As he was supported by both the army and the senate, his rise to power was smooth. His mother Agrippina exerted a significant influence, especially at the beginning of his rule.

The Roman historians Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio all claim that Nero, fed up with Agrippina’s interference, decided to kill her.

Given the lack of eyewitnesses, there is no way of knowing if or how this happened. However, this did not stop historians from fabricating dramatic stories of Agrippina’s murder, asserting that Nero tried (and failed) to kill her with a boat engineered to sink, before sending his men to do the job.

Agrippina allegedly told them to stab her in the womb that bore Nero, her last words clearly borrowed from stage plays.

It is entirely possible, as claimed by Nero himself, that Agrippina chose (or was more likely forced) to take her own life after her plot against her son was discovered.

Early in his rule, Nero had to contend with a rebellion in the newly conquered province of Britain.

In AD 60–61, Queen Boudica of the Iceni tribe led a revolt against the Romans, attacking and laying waste to important Roman settlements. The possible causes of the rebellion were numerous – the greed of the Romans exploiting the newly conquered territories, the recalling of loans made to local leaders, ongoing conflict in Wales and, above all, violence against the family of Prasutagus, Boudica’s husband and king of the Iceni.

Boudica and the rebels destroyed Colchester, London and St Albans before being heavily defeated by Roman troops. After the uprising, the governor of Britain Suetonius Paulinus introduced harsher laws against the Britons, until Nero replaced him with the more conciliatory governor Publius Petronius Turpilianus.

The marriage between Nero and Octavia, aged 15 and 13/14 at the time, was arranged by their parents in order to further legitimise Nero’s claim to the throne. Octavia was the daughter of the emperor Claudius from a previous marriage, so when Claudius married Agrippina and adopted her son Nero, Nero and Octavia became brother and sister. In order to arrange their marriage, Octavia had to be adopted into another family.

Their marriage was not a happy one. According to ancient writers, Nero had various affairs until his lover Poppaea Sabina convinced him to divorce his wife. Octavia was first exiled then executed in AD 62 on adultery charges. According to ancient writers, her banishment and death caused great unrest among the public, who sympathised with the dutiful Octavia.

No further motives were offered for Octavia’s death other than Nero’s passion for Poppaea, and we will probably never know what transpired at court. The fact that Octavia couldn’t produce an heir while Poppaea was pregnant with Nero’s daughter likely played an important role in deciding Octavia’s fate.

On 19 July AD 64, a fire started close to the Circus Maximus. The flames soon encompassed the entire city of Rome and the fire raged for nine days. Only four of the 14 districts of the capital were spared, while three were completely destroyed.

Rome had already been razed by flames – and would be again in its long history – but this event was so severe it came to be known as the Great Fire of Rome.

Later historians blamed Nero for the event, claiming that he set the capital ablaze in order to clear land for the construction of a vast new palace. According to Suetonius and Cassius Dio, Nero took in the view of the burning city from the imperial residence while playing the lyre and singing about the fall of Troy. This story, however, is fictional.

Tacitus, the only historian who was actually alive at the time of the Great Fire of Rome (although only 8 years old), wrote that Nero was not even in Rome when the fire started, but returned to the capital and led the relief efforts.

Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio all describe Nero as being blinded by passion for his wife Poppaea, yet they accuse him of killing her, allegedly by kicking her in an outburst of rage while she was pregnant.

Interestingly, pregnant women being kicked to death by enraged husbands is a recurring theme in ancient literature, used to explore the (self) destructive tendencies of autocrats. The Greek writer Herodotus tells the story of how the Persian king Cambyses kicked his pregnant wife in the stomach, causing her death. A similar episode is told of Periander, tyrant of Corinth. Nero is just one of many allegedly ‘mad’ tyrants for which this literary convention was used.

Poppaea probably died from complications connected with her pregnancy and not at Nero’s hands. She was given a lavish funeral and was deified.

Centred on greater Iran, the Parthian empire was a major political and cultural power and a long-standing enemy of Rome. The two powers had long been contending for control over the buffer state of Armenia and open conflict sparked again during Nero’s rule. The Parthian War started in AD 58 and, after initial victories and following set-backs, ended in AD 63 when a diplomatic solution was reached between Nero and the Parthian king Vologases I.

According to this settlement Tiridates, brother of the Parthian king, would rule over Armenia, but only after having travelled all the way to Rome to be crowned by Nero.

The journey lasted 9 months, Tiridates’ retinue included 3,000 Parthian horsemen and many Roman soldiers. The coronation ceremony took place in the summer of AD 66 and the day was celebrated with much pomp: all the people of Rome saw the new king of Armenia kneeling in front of Nero. This was the Golden Day of Nero’s rule

In AD 68, Vindex, the governor of Gaul (France), rebelled against Nero and declared his support for Galba, the governor of Spain. Vindex was defeated in battle by troops loyal to Nero, yet Galba started gaining more military support.

It was at this point that Nero lost the support of Rome’s people due to a grain shortage, caused by a rebellious commander who cut the crucial food supply from Egypt to the capital. Abandoned by the people and declared an enemy of the state by the senate, Nero tried to flee Rome and eventually committed suicide.

Following his death, Nero’s memory was condemned (a practice called damnatio memoriae) and the images of the emperor were destroyed, removed or reworked. However, Nero was still given an expensive funeral and for a long time people decorated his tomb with flowers, some even believing he was still alive.

After Nero’s death, civil war ensued. At the end of the so-called ‘Year of the Four Emperors’ (AD 69), Vespasian became emperor and started a new dynasty: the Flavians.

[Francesca Bologna, curator, for British Museum]

Taken in the British Museum

Bonhams : the Zoute Sale

Estimated : € 70.000 - 90.000

Sold for € 55.200

Zoute Grand Prix 2018

Knokke - Zoute

België - Belgium

October 2018

'There are few who would argue - we included - that the 500 SL is one of the world's finest luxury sports cars; beautifully styled and superbly engineered. Its engine an automatic transmission set extremely high standards in terms of smoothness and refinement while in most conditions its handling and roadholding are of the highest order.' - Motor.

Introduced alongside the outwardly similar 380 SL roadster and SLC coupé models at the Geneva Salon in March 1980, the 500 SL and 500 SLC retained the Type 107 bodyshell first introduced in 1971/72 in virtually unchanged form, the most noticeable difference being the addition of a front spoiler. Built on a longer wheelbase, the coupé models accommodated two rear seat passengers and provided greater boot space than their open-topped siblings. The running gear followed Mercedes-Benz's established pattern, comprising all-independent suspension and four-wheel disc brakes, while a new four-speed automatic transmission was standard equipment.

The 500 SL and 500 SLC featured the all-alloy 4,973cc overhead-camshaft V8 engine that had debuted in the 450 SLC 5.0 of 1977. Lighter, more powerful and less thirsty than the old 4.5-litre iron-block V8, the 5.0-litre produced 240bhp at 5,000rpm, an output sufficient to propel the luxuriously equipped yet lightweight 500 SL/SLC to 225km/h. With approximately the same amount of power on tap as the legendary 300 SL sports car, the 500 SL/SLC was both lighter and slightly quicker off the mark, though a little down on top speed when compared to its illustrious cousin.

Although shorter in the wheelbase than the superseded 450, the newcomers retained their predecessors' successful and long-established body style, which now featured aerodynamic spoilers at front and rear. The running gear too remained unchanged in essence, though improvements were made to the all-independent suspension and to the brakes, which gained larger pads and anti-lock as an option. As on the smaller models, four-speed automatic transmission was standard. The previous auto 'box had disappointed some, but Motor magazine found the new version 'equal in the smoothness of its changes to anything achieved by Rolls-Royce or Chrysler in America'. Depending on the destination market, the inventory of standard equipment included central locking, electric windows, cruise control, headlamp wash/wipe, power steering, a limited-slip differential, and alloy wheels. The 500 SL/SLC was not officially sold in the USA, though that did not stop would-be owners importing them privately. In 1989, after 17 years in production, the elegant Type 107 family was retired to the enduring regret of many Mercedes-Benz enthusiasts.

Presented in outstandingly original condition – down to the smallest detail - this 107-series Mercedes-Benz 500 SL retains matching numbers and matching colours, and has the very desirable factory-optional rear seat (code 565). The car was registered in Berlin in January 1989 by its first owner, and remained in Berlin until 1990 when it travelled to Monaco, staying there for 27 years. It is currently in the hands of its third owner, who purchased the car in 2017, and has covered only 25,710 kilometres from new, as verified by the accompanying service records. Services have been carried out as follows:

- 1,132 km: 16/5/89

- 6,173 km: 4/3/92

- 7,506 km: 26/7/93

- 10,556 km: 5/2/97

- 16,745 km: 28/1/03

- 17,855 km: 11/2/05

- 17,855 km: 23/6/06

- 21,307 km: 7/4/09

- 23,424 km: 30/5/12

- 24,516 km: 8/6/15

- 24,642 km: 8/9/15

- 25,300 km: 19/4/17

This beautiful 500 SL has retained its full documentation: the sales brochure; original upholstery brochure; original datacard; user handbook, original service handbook; and other Mercedes-Benz paperwork. It also has its three keys and its full and original tool kit. Factory options include a hardtop in body colour with heated rear screen; front heated seats; graduated tinted windscreen; alloy wheels; air conditioning; central locking; electric windows; and the aforementioned rear seats (full specification listing available). It also comes with the fully lined factory hardtop that makes this SL usable no matter what the weather.

Recent maintenance has included new suspension silent block buses, cradles, and tie rods; brake pads; tyres (x4); cylinder head gaskets; ancillary drive belts; distributor cap; battery; air conditioning recharge; and airbag diagnosis (OK). This car also benefits from a transferable warranty (parts and labour, valid until February 2019) issued by a Mercedes-Benz Classic dealer located in Paris. Finished in its original colour combination of Arctic White with blue leather interior, this beautiful 500 SL is worthy of the closest inspection.

Edificio Acqua is a six-story luxury residential complex that faces the South Atlantic Ocean in Uruguay’s beachfront resort of Punta del Este. Located adjacent to the main oceanfront roadway, this L-shaped, thirty-four-unit building responds to an irregularly shaped site with dense, context-sensitive development, introducing an unprecedented level of construction quality and architectural refinement to the high end of the Uruguayan housing market.

The building features a terraced elevation that steps back floor by floor, resembling a large staircase leading residents directly to the water’s edge. These setbacks not only minimize the structure’s overall mass when viewed from the beach, but also enable the creation of four “manor” and two “penthouse” apartments—spacious, single-floor units that include private terraces and swimming pools, with a total living area ranging from 6750 to 9050 gross square feet (627 to 841 gross square meters). With the combination of infinity pools that seem to extend to the ocean, abundant glazing on the three ocean-view sides, and the building setbacks that obscure views of the other units, each “manor” seems like an isolated residence.

The building contains a variety of other living configurations as well, including five double-height lofts and twenty-four single-floor apartment units. Living and dining areas typically face the ocean, and bedrooms, bathrooms, and other private spaces are situated along the glass exterior wall toward the rear and sides of the building, though many of these rooms enjoy ocean views as well. Nearly every bedroom features a walk-in closet and private bathroom. A series of terraces, alternately cantilevered out or set back into the building volume, animates the exterior and provides outdoor space for the apartments.

Passing through both wings of the building at ground level, a vehicular road provides access to ground-level parking bays, located adjacent to the seven elevator cores. A fitness center, spa, and outdoor pool are available to all residents.

“For me, Edificio Acqua has a special meaning,” says Rafael Viñoly, “as it is the first project I have completed in my native country of Uruguay. Its design reflects the uniqueness and beauty of its fashionable surroundings. Spectacular views create a sense of openness and accessibility, and the innovative use of materials and space produces a timeless architectural message.”

Ref: www.rvapc.com/works/703-edificio-acqua

Camera: NIKON D810

Lens: Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 ZF.2

Focal Length: 135 mm

Exposure: ¹⁄₁₂₅₀ sec at f/4.0

ISO: 400

- Prestige Natalia Fatale

- The Camera Loves Her Poppy Parker

- Nyasha Lauder / Color Infusion

- Refinement Vanessa Perrin

Not my pics. All photos are property of Integrity Toys.