In loving memory of

Captain A D [sic] CALVERT

2nd Dragoon Guards

Also his son

Silver CALVERT

Killed during the Maori war

23rd July 1863

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXI, Issue 2485, 7 July 1865, Page 5

Augustus Bressan CALVERT “came to his death from a gunshot wound, accidentally discharged from his own fowling-piece, on Monday, the 3rd July, 1865, at his own residence, Fern Hill, Hunua, in the district of Papakura and colony aforesaid, and that the same happened accidentally, casually, and by misfortune, and not otherwise.” [full coroners report number 5 in references at bottom of page]

Appears that ‘Silver’ as written on headstone, is actually Sylvester. He died aged 18 after an attack by Maori’s. He was not actually a soldier in the war but died during the wars. See newspaper article just below.

Via Findmypast.co.uk

Harts Army list 1888 [Ordnance Store Department]

Commissioned Rank: Dep. Assist. Supdt. of stores

Name: Calvert, Augustus Bresson

First commissioned rank: 3 Apr 67

[date] Present rank: 23 Jan 81

App. To reorganiz’d O.S. Dept.: 31 Jan 80

Station: Gibraltar

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXII, 30 July 1863, Page 3

MURDERS BY NATIVES.

Yesterday, the natives attacked Captain Calvert's house, on the high ground near the Maori position, on Pukeki-weriki, and in the Wairoa district. They Gred into the house. Captain and Mrs. Calvert fled into the bed-room, it is stated and Sylvester [sic] Calvert, 18 years of age, son of Captain Calvert, was shot while endeavouring to get into a place of hiding. Captain Calvert then came out armed, and drove the natives away.

Yesterday, a party of Maoris shot at Mr. Charles Cooper, settler, Hunua, and killed him. They then lighted his clothes, and rotated the body. There is a refinement of savagery in this act, showing what the civilized and friendly Maoris will do when they once get the taste of blood. The details of both these tragedies are meagre. Captain Calvert and his family have removed to the vicinity of Papakura, on the Great South Road. Surely no one will now say there is no danger to be apprehended from the Kirikiri natives.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XIX, Issue 1881, 28 July 1863, Page 3

INQUEST AT PAPAKURA, ON THE BODY OF SYLVESTER CALVERT. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

An inquest, was held yesterday at Papakura, at 9 a.m., on the body of the late Sylvester Calvert, before C. Mellsop, J.P., acting as Coroner. Captain Calvert, the father of the deceased. stated on oath, that about half-past 7 on the morning of the 24th instant, he was aroused from sleep by the alarm of Maoris. His family all rushed into his room. He jumped out of bed and went to the door of the room, and saw a Maori entering the kitchen with a gun in his hand. The Maori, on seeing him, levelled and fired. He and his son then fired. Two more natives having come into the kitchen, two more shots were fired by the natives, one of which killed his son. He then drew his sword, on which the Maoris retired, and in a few minutes afterwards a volley of about thirty shots was fired into the house from a hill about 100 yards from the house. Captain Calvert identified tho man who shot his son as one William White, a native whom he has had frequent opportunities of knowing. The above evidence was corroborated in its leading facts by a boy in his employment, who was present at the time and by Mr. W. B. Smith, of the Travellers' Rest, Wairoa-road, who started to tho camp of the 18th, to bring up some troops. The jury brought in a verdict of Wilful Murder against William White, and other aboriginal natives unknown [3]

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXII, Issue 2654, 19 January 1866, Page 4

MARRIAGE.

On January 17, by the Rev. Mr. Norrie, at Glenmore Lodge the residence of the bridegroom's brother, Walter Richard McElwain, Esq to Charlotte, relict of the late Captain Calvert. [2]

[Charlotte MCELWAINs died 1908 aged 72 according to historic death index in Department of Internal Affairs]

Further information on the CALVERT family accessed online 23 March 2012 [4] [although note that it has Captain CALVERT who is buried in this plot listed as Augustus Bressau CALVERT whereas initials on grave are A D not A B. From information sighted during writing up this short bio, Bressan is the right name and the headstone letter D was either wrong from the beginning or weather may have deteriorated the lead lettering.

“Charles Augustus Calvert. M. R. C. V. S

Charles Calvert arrived in Auckland aboard RMS Cairngorm on the 6th January 1863.

A member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, (Diploma dated 1860) Charles opened a Veterinary establishment in Otahuhu, on the 9th March 1863.

In early April 1863, Charles Calvert was appointed Veterinary Surgeon to the Commissariat Transport Corps (Land Transport Corps). Serving in the West Coast campaigns under Generals Cameron and Chute. Charles Calvert is recorded to have done “good service in the Waikato and the Patea districts during the war.”

Calvert settled down to the practice of his profession in Wanganui until 1868 and then relocated to Auckland. During his residence there, he acted for some time as Secretary for the Auckland Racing Club, and achieved considerable success as an amateur horseman.

On the 6th June 1871, Charles Calvert was elected commanding officer of the Prince Alfred Troop Cavalry Volunteers. A month later, the election was overturned due to the troop not having enough members to warrant more than one officer.

On the 25th July 1873, Charles Calvert was gazetted Veterinary Surgeon to the Otahuhu Royal Cavalry.

In 1877 Charles moved to Ashburton, and remained there for two or three years, then relocating to Christchurch. He continued to take a keen interest in sport, and acted as assistant starter to the Canterbury Jockey Club, as well as Secretary to the Papanui Coursing Club.

At a meeting of the Council of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, held in London, in August 1885. Dr Fleming, F.R.C.S., and principal veterinary surgeon of the British army, proposed that Mr C. A. Calvert, M.R.C.V.S., of Christchurch, New Zealand, be elected an honorary associate of the Council, which was unanimously agreed to.

In 1887 Charles Calvert received an appointment in the Veterinary Department of the Queensland Government, and moved to the northern colony.

Queensland Defence Force General Orders dated 8th April 1889.

The following appointments, promotions, resignations, transfers, and other changes are announced-

Rockhampton Division -A Company, Rockhampton Charles Augustus Calvert is appointed to be a captain, and will take over command of the company.

(The Rockhampton Mounted Infantry consisted of. — A Company, Rockhampton; B Company, Mount Morgan; C Company, Queensland Scottish Volunteer Corps.)

It appears Captain Charles Augustus Calvert, was killed in September 1900, in an omnibus accident at Townsville.

Although I have been unable to corroborate the following information, it appears that Charles Calvert’s half brother, Sylvester Calvert aged 16, died from a bullet wound to the breast on the 24th July 1863, after an attack by around 20 to 25 Maoris’ at his Papakura home near the Wairoa ranges.

(About one and a half kilometres distance from the 18th Royal Irish Regiments camp at the time)

Charles Calvert’s Father, Captain Augustus Bressau [sic] Calvert who had served about 34 years in the 2nd Dragoon Guards and Ayrshire Yeomanry Cavalry, on drawing his sword was able to convince his sons killers to withdraw.

Captain Augustus Bressau [sic] Calvert died in a hunting accident on the 4th July 1865, at his own residence, at Fern Hill Papakura.”

Death notice for Charles Augustus CALVERT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 227, 24 September 1900, Page 4

SINGULAR FATALITY.

CAPTAIN CALVERT KILLED

TOWNSVILLE, this day,

Owing to a collision between two buses Captain Calvert was thrown to the ground, and a walking-stick entered his throat, severing the jugular vein. Deceased was for some time connected with the military in New Zealand. [1]

This site gives more on Augustus and Charlotte [nee PERCY] CALVERT and mentions him having a previous marriage:

genforum.genealogy.com/newzealand/messages/16809.html

Other Findmypast.co.uk information but may or may not be Augustus buried in this plot.

1841 English Census

Sheffield Barracks, Sheffield, Hallam, Nether

Augustus CALVERT aged 35 [born 1806, Ireland]. Regimental Sgt. Major

[possible father of the following Augustus CALVERT below?]

The following Augustus CALVERT may be a relation. Too young to be the Augustus in plot.

1881 English Census

TENDRING, Essex

Ordnance Stores

Officers Qrs

Augustus B CALVERT aged 35 [birth year 1846], Unm[arried], born Cahir, Ireland

Asst. Cont. Genl. O.S. Dept Active List

[Also present at this address were:

Francis A CARTER, married aged 28 domestic servant

Henry CARTER, Servant husband aged 31, tailor and

Annie L Carter, Servant daughter, aged 2]

Interesting article from 1863 on this page about "extraordinary charge of assault and ill treatment" in England on Amelia CALVERT [daughter of Augustus buried in this plot] by her uncle Sylvester Devenish CALVERT, brother of Augustus

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=OW...

REFERENCES:

[1]

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=s...

[2]

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=s...

[3]

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=DS...

[4]

www.nzmr.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=635

[5]

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=DS...

Korn

Ippodromo del Galoppo - Milano

24 Giugno 2013

Jonathan Davis – Vocals

James “Munky” Shaffer - Guitars

Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu – Bass

Ray Luzier - Drums

© Mairo Cinquetti

© All rights reserved. Do not use my photos without my written permission. If you would like to buy or use this photo PLEASE message me or email me at mairo.cinquetti@gmail.com

Immagine protetta da copyright © Mairo Cinquetti.

Tutti i diritti sono riservati. L'immagine non può essere usata in nessun caso senza autorizzazione scritta dell'autore.

Per contatti: mairo.cinquetti@gmail.com

Korn will never forget where they came from: a dark place where salvation arrives in the form of twisted, throbbing guitar riffs, syncopated chaotic funk beats, a schizophrenic bass thump and an unmistakable cathartic howl. Emerging from the depths of Bakersfield, California with a sound unlike any other in 1994, Korn have been able to cement themselves as one of the most important bands in rock n' roll history.

Over the course of eight full-length releases, Korn have sold in excess of 30 million albums and played countless sold-out shows worldwide. They've won two Grammys—one for Best Short Form Video for "Freak on a Leash" from 1998’s Follow the Leader and one for Best Metal Performance for "Here to Stay," from 2002’s Untouchables—and have launched a massively successful festival of their own, The Family Values Tour. However, despite all their massive success and accolades, Korn haven't lost hold of the savage, raw energy that made them such a crucial band for diehard rock and metal fans. Korn are one of the preeminent voices of this generation.

Their ninth offering, Korn III —Remember Who You Are, is their first effort for brand new label home, Roadrunner Records, and it bursts at the seams with that very feeling that defined the band from the get-go. Each song unleashes an uneasiness reminiscent of Korn's earliest and most unbridled material, but there’s also a modern refinement that's epic in its execution. Korn definitely don't lose sight of their roots on Remember Who You Are, but they also venture into uncharted darkness. All that truly matters is where they're going. The album strikes a balance between their past and their future, as it finds the band reuniting with producer Ross Robinson, who manned the boards for their first two records, all the while joining forces with Roadrunner Records, the world’s leading rock label.

With Korn III – Remember Who You Are, it's their time...

Korn bleed with unsettling and unpredictable aggression on Remember Who You Are's 10 tracks. "Oildale (Leave Me Alone)" buzzes with an eerie clean guitar that slowly gives way to a steamrolling bass and riff assault. "Move On" morphs from a myriad of creaking tones into an explosive vocal freak-out that's impossible not to connect with it on a visceral level. Then there's the neck-snapping "Fear Is A Place to Live" tempering deadly guitar dissonance with an unforgettable chorus. This is Korn reborn.

"This album is a reflection of us being a band since 1993," says vocalist Jonathan Davis. "We worked hard on the previous records, and we experimented a lot. For Remember Who You Are, the four of us got together in a small room with the intention of writing an old school Korn record. This album is a perfect mixture of everything we've done, and this version of the band is the best ever." It's as if Korn revisited their storied beginnings, but as a wiser, tighter and more precise outfit blessed with the benefit of experience.

In order to tap into the chaos that made their self-titled debut a modern classic, the band enlisted the help of the man who helmed Korn and Life is Peachy—producer Ross Robinson, whose goal was to bring Korn back to square one. He undoubtedly succeeded. Davis had an intense and invigorating recording session. "Ross helped us remember what we used to do this for," the singer says. "It was more psychological than anything. Ross was right there pushing me and he drove me insane. I sing about a lot of things that hit really close to my heart and he knew how to trigger that. I nearly fucking broke down at the end of almost every song, but I got it all out."

For guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer, the experience was no different. He elaborates, "Teaming up with Ross has brought that raw, emotional feeling back to the music. Ross is the only person in the world that's ever been able to draw us to that place. He reminds us why we're here, why these songs are important to our fans and why what we do as a band relates. He made us remember how our music saves lives, and he came into the picture at the perfect time. We had no record label and just wanted to make a great album. Ross stepped in at the right moment to hit the reset button."

Hitting that "reset button" involved stripping down the process. There would be no Pro-Tools, no tracking separately and no heavy post editing. In order to conjure Remember Who You Are's claustrophobic yet wholly organic chaos, Korn recorded on two-inch tape and locked themselves inside a 10x10 room buried within their Los Angeles studio, nicknamed "The Cat Box." Being in such close proximity to one another stirred up a torrent of explosive music. Bassist Reggie "Fieldy" Arvizu remembers, "In that room, even if I turned my bass head, it would hit somebody. Getting back in there was like a family reunion. We felt like brothers again. Being older and setting egos aside, we were able to focus on making the best record we could."

Davis dug deep for cuts like "The Past" and "Never Around." About "The Past," the singer says, "A lot of people dwell on the past, and they feel guilt. There's nothing you can do about the past because it's gone and it's blown up. We're here now." On Korn III – Remember Who You Are, Davis is fully present and at his most vitriolic, violent and vibrant on the likes of "Move On" and "Are You Ready to Live?"

He goes on, "I let everything flow, while I was coming up with lyrics. They're about me living my life for others when I shouldn't, people-pleasing all of the time, stress, guilt and all kinds of emotions we live with everyday that destroy us and tear us down. I write about all of the fake people around us and how I always try to fix other people's problems. I write what I feel, and it comes out naturally. I've got a lot of shit built up inside me; that doesn't go away."

Even though Korn went back to square one, they continue to break new ground. In a career marked by innovation, they still smash boundaries. Munky even fingerpicks certain instrumental passages, while trying out new tones on echo-y soundscapes. "The heavier I play, the more you can hear the aggression. The lighter I pick, the lighter the mood is,” he said. “I used vintage guitars, echos, long delays and reverbs. When we did the first two records, we broke the music down to a completely emotional beast. Through the years, we started to experiment with vocal harmonies and more orchestrated pieces. Recording this album, we brought that knowledge into the raw emotion of what we already knew. You hear the melodies and layers, but it still comes from a very primitive Korn."

That primitive Korn includes drummer Ray Luzier, who became Korn's touring drummer in late 2007 and was made an official member in 2009. On cuts like the deadly "Fear Is A Place To Live," he propels the aggression. Fieldy says, "Ray is like the missing Korn member we never had. He just fits so well. When we found him, it just clicked because his playing sounds like Korn. He plays with me, and the way that he plays is exactly what I needed. We know what we're doing on stage with each other, and everybody's on the same page. I've waited my whole career for Korn to sound like we do now."

Korn may have changed members with Brian "Head" Welch and David Silveria departing in 2005 and 2006 respectively, but Jonathan, Munky, Fieldy and Ray capture the feeling that was there in the beginning.

For Davis, the album name covers it all. "It comes down to one question: 'Who the fuck am I?' It's about remembering where we came from. The title sums up everything I'm talking about lyrically. During the first two records, we were kids, and we didn't have anything. We were making music, having fun and not worrying. I went back to that place where I wasn't worried. I wanted to be completely honest with my feelings, express myself and let them out. People get so wrapped up in social communities, the Internet and technology that they forget who they are and what life's really about. I fucking forgot who I was until I did this record. This album is just a bass, a guitar, drums and my vocals. I look at the records we've done as slots in time, and I believe Remember Who You Are is very special."

The album captures the band's legendary performance style that's ignited crowds worldwide on stages ranging from OZZfest and Projekt Revolution to Woodstock and Download. It's the same spirit that gave pop culture hits such as "Blind," "A.D.I.D.A.S.," "Got the Life," "Falling Away from Me" and "Twisted Transistor." It’s clear, however, that Korn III – Remember Who You Are is another thrilling chapter being etched into Korn’s already impressive history.

"There's that timeless space that we enter where nothing else matters on stage," says Munky. "It's us, the crowd and the music. We lose track of where we are and who we are, and it's just a timeless shared space between us and the audience. We lose ourselves in the music. I want fans to lose themselves in the new music by forgetting about any problems or anything going on in their minds and let their hearts hear it. It's the same experience that I get when I'm on stage."

The process brought them back to the beginning, but it also encouraged serious growth. Everyone is locked in like never before. Fieldy adds, "We want to take you on a rollercoaster with this record. There are spacey and weird parts where the bass can breathe and there are some heavy moments. On Remember Who You Are, I'm doing what I really wanted to do on our first record."

In the end, this is for the people that made Korn—the millions of kids worldwide that buy every record, wear every shirt and never miss a show. Davis concludes, "I love doing what I do. I love helping kids. I love hearing fans say, 'You got me through this or that.' It makes me feel like I've done something positive. I want kids to feel what I'm saying and really hear it. I'd love for the new songs to provoke them to think about what goes on around them. We're very fortunate to keep doing what we're doing, still be relevant and create music that invokes feelings from people."

With music this powerful, no one will ever forget who Korn are.

This is a reproduction Bombe situated at Beltchely Park.

The bombe was an electromechanical device used by British cryptologists to help decipher German Enigma-machine-encrypted signals during World War II.

The initial design of the bombe was produced in 1939 at the UK Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park by Alan Turing, with an important refinement devised in 1940 by Gordon Welchman. The engineering design and construction was the work of Harold Keen of the British Tabulating Machine Company

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombe

luxurious refinement & highest quality for those seeking elegant surroundings for their mini break, holiday or honeymoon.

Visit this location at The Ritz - SL - Hotel 5* Resort & Spa in Second Life

Made a bunch for friends and been using a few versions. Here's the latest - looks pretty much the same with the exception of the patterning and how it goes together.

www.44bikes.com

A lot of refinement left to go, but so far, so good!

NOVITEC has just changed the game and refines the sports cars from the McLaren automaker. NOVITEC is known for being the most internationally acclaimed refinement specialist for the world’s most exclusive cars. They have just changed the game and added a division to refine the sports cars f...

www.vividracing.com/blog/announcing-new-products-specials...

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Gloster Glaive was basically a modernized and re-engined variant of the successful, British-built Gloster Gladiator (or Gloster SS.37), the RAF’s final biplane fighter to enter service. The Gladiator was not only widely used by the RAF at the dawn of WWII and in almost every theatre of operations, but also by many other nations. Operators included Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania or Nationalist China, and while the RAF already opted for more modern monoplanes, Gloster saw the opportunity to sell an updated Gladiator to countries which were not as progressive.

Originally designated Gladiator Mk. IV, the machine received many aerodynamic refinements and the motor was changed from a draggy radial to a liquid-cooled inline engine. The latter was the new Rolls Royce Peregrine, a development of the Kestrel. It was, in its original form, a 21-litre (1,300 cu in) liquid-cooled V-12 aero engine ), delivering 885-horsepower (660 kW). The engine was housed under a streamlined cowling, driving a three blade metal propeller, and was coupled with a ventral radiator bath, reminiscent of the Hawker Fury biplane’s arrangement.

By April 1941, however, lack of spares and attrition had forced the Hellenic Air Force to merge the surviving seven Glaives with five leftover PZL.24s into one understrength squadron supported by five Gloster Gladiators Mk I & II and the two surviving MB.151s. These fought hopelessly against the Luftwaffe onslaught, and most aircraft were eventually lost on the ground. None of the Hellenic Gloster Glaives survived the conflict.

General characteristics:

Crew: two

Length: 8.92m (29 ft 3 in)

Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 317 ft² (29.4 m²)

Empty weight: 1,295 kg (2,855 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 1,700 kg (3,748 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls Royce Peregrine II liquid-cooled V12 inline engine, rated at 940 hp (700 kw)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 405 km/h (252 mph; 219 kn) at 4,400 m (14,436 ft)

Cruise speed: 345 km/h (214 mph; 186 kn)

Stall speed: 60 mph (52 knots, 96 km/h)

Range: 373 mi (600 km; 324 nmi)

Endurance: 2 hours

Service ceiling: 10,600 m (34,800 ft)

Rate of climb: 2,982 ft/min (15.15 m/s)

Time to altitude: 10.000 ft (3.050 m) in 3 minutes 20 seconds

Armament:

4× 0.303 calibre (7.7 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns in the fuselage

Provisions for 6× 10 kg (22 lb) or 4x 20 kg (44 lb) bombs under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

The fictional Gloster Glaive started quite simple with the idea of replacing the Gladiator’s radial with an inline engine. But this soon did not appear enough for an update – the Peregrine hardly delivered much more power than the former Mercury, so I considered some structural updates, too. Most of them comprised the replacement of former fabric-covered structures, and this led conceptually to a kitbash with only some Gladiator fuselage and tail parts left.

The basis is (once more) the very nice Matchbox Gloster Gladiator, but it was heavily modified. As an initial step, fuselage, fin and stabilizers (all OOB parts) lost their rib-and-fabric structure, simply sanded away. A minor detail, but it changes the overall look of the aircraft a lot, making it appear much more modern.

The fuselage was left without the OOB radial, and instead a leftover Merlin front end from an Airfix Hurricane (ca. 1cm long, left over from one of my first whif builds ever, a Hurricane with a radial engine!) was added. The lines match pretty well: the side profile looks sleek, if not elegant, but the Gladiator fuselage turned out to be wider than expected. Some major body work/PSR was necessary to integrate the new nose, but the result looks very good.

The liquid-cooled engine necessitated a radiator somewhere on the airframe…! Since I wanted the nose to remain slim and streamlined I eventually placed the radiator bath under the fuselage, much like the arrangement of the Hawker Fury biplane. The radiator itself comes from a late Spitfire (FROG kit).

The exhaust was taken from the Hurricane kit, too, and matching slits dug into the putty nose to take them. The three blade propeller is a mash-up, too: the spinner belongs, IIRC, to an early Spitfire (left over from an AZ Models kit) while the blades came from a damaged Matchbox Brewster Buffalo.

The Gladiator’s fuselage flank machine guns were kept and their “bullet channels” extrapolated along the new cowling, running under the new exhaust pipes. Another pair of machine guns were placed on top of the engine – for these, openings were carved into the upper hull and small fairings (similar to the Browning guns in the flanks) added. This arrangement appeared plausible to me, since the Gladiator’s oil cooler was not necessary anymore and the new lower wings (see below) were not big enough anymore to take the Gladiator’s underwing guns. Four MGs in the fuselage appears massive – but there were other types with such an arrangement, e.g. the Avia B-534 with four guns in the flanks and an inline engine.

The wings are complete replacements: the upper wing comes from a Heller Curtiss SBC4, while the lower wings as well as the spats (on shortened OOB Gladiator struts) come from an ICM Polikarpov I-153. All struts were scratched. Once the lower wings were in place and the relative position of the upper wing clear, the outer struts were carved from 1mm styrene sheet, using the I-153 design as benchmark. These were glued to the lower wing first, and, once totally dry after 24h, the upper wing was simply glued onto the top and the wing position adjusted. This was left to dry another 24h, and as a final step the four struts above the cowling (using the OOB struts, but as single parts and trimmed for proper fit) were placed. This way, a stable connection is guaranteed – and the result is surprisingly sturdy.

Rigging was done with heated sprue material – my personal favorite for this delicate task, and executed before painting the kit started so that the glue could cure and bond well.

Painting and markings:

The reason why this aircraft ended in Greek service is a color photograph of a crashed Hellenic Bloch M.B. 152 (coded ‘D 177’, to be specific). I guess that the picture was post-colored, though, because the aircraft of French origin sports rather weird colors: the picture shows a two-tone scheme in a deep, rather reddish chestnut brown and a light green that almost looks like teal. Unique, to say the least... Underside colors couldn’t be identified with certainty in the picture, but appeared like a pale but not too light blue grey.

Anyway, I assume that these colors are pure fiction and exaggerated Photoshop work, since the few M.B. 152s delivered to Greece carried AFAIK standard French camouflage (in French Khaki, Chestnut Brown and Blue-Grey on the upper surfaces, and a very light blue-grey from below). I’d assume that the contrast between the grey and green tones was not very obvious in the original photograph, so that the artist, not familiar with WWII paint schemes, replaced both colors with the strange teal tone and massively overmodulated the brown.

As weird as it looked, I liked this design and used it as an inspirational benchmark for my Hellenic Glaive build. After all, it’s a fictional aircraft… Upper basic colors are Humbrol 31 (RAF Slate Grey) and 160 (German Camouflage Red Brown), while the undersides became French Dark Blue Grey (ModelMaster Authentics 2105). The result looks rather odd…

Representing a combat-worn aircraft, I applied a thorough black ink wash and did heavier panel shading and dry-brushing on the leading edges, along with some visible touches of aluminum.

The Hellenic roundels come from a TL Modellbau aftermarket sheet. The tactical code was puzzled together from single letters, and the Greek “D” was created from single decal strips. For better contrast I used white decals – most Hellenic aircraft of the time had black codes, but the contrast is much better, and I found evidence that some machines actually carried white codes. The small fin flash is another free interpretation. Not every Hellenic aircraft carried these markings, and instead of painting the whole rudder in Greek colors I just applied a small fin flash. This was created with white and blue decal strips, closely matching the roundels’ colors.

Finally, after some soot stains around the guns and the exhausts, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

Modified beyond recognition, perhaps…? The fictional Gloster Glaive looks IMHO good and very modern, just like one of those final biplane designs that were about to be outrun by monoplanes at the brink of WWII.

This design concept was developed as a refinement of the previously developed design concept E2B. Four variations were developed as refinements of E2B. The SAG-recommended preferred alternative is referred to as E2B-v4. Variation E2B-v4 explored opening the Vernon Road cul-de-sac proposed in Concept E and keeps the current Vernon Road configuration. Concept E2B-V4 consists of the following elements:

-A tight diamond interchange that grade-separates SR 9 beneath SR 204.

-Improve capacity and operations at the SR 9/Market Place Northeast intersection by adding a through-lane on SR 9 in each direction.

-Improve access from/to northbound SR 9 at 4th Street Northeast.

-Modify the southbound SR 9/Vernon Road off-ramp as necessary for acceptable operations.

-Improve operations at the entrance to Frontier Village by closing 92nd Avenue Northeast.

-Improve the 7th Place Northeast, Vernon Road, and SR 204 intersection to enhance operations.

-Improve the intersection at Vernon Road and North Davies Road intersection to improve traffic flow.

-Provide bicycle and pedestrian pathway connectivity to businesses and transit.

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.

The Grand Tour incorporates decades of refinements in full road touring frame design, including stable handling at high speeds, a comfortable fit, rugged tubeset, generous chainstays and lots of creature features.Learn more . .

Definition of elegance and refinement. 1890s girl with Jumeau doll and small German bisque. Massachusetts.

Elevating Expectations.

Supra raises the standards of refinement with innovative interior amenities that create extreme luxury tempered by intuitive design. The new SC interior is the perfect example. Elegantly functional features like Supra's E-Boost equipped racing-style driver's seat marries comfort and convenience with high performance. Versatile passenger relaxation like Triple-up Seating with a flip-up lean back in the lounge, a rear-facing seat behind the driver that houses a trash receptacle and storage, an available Gap Seat in the walk-through and a 36-can relocatable stay-cold AO Cooler continue the usability without compromising interior look, capacity or comfort. The standard 10-speaker Polk Sound System can be controlled through the media screen of the VISION Touch, with a remote mounted in a lounge side panel or in the passenger-side glovebox. Easy-access tune control is an understatement. Supra furthers the interior feast for the senses with LED Mood Lighting, hand-cover color-match interior accents and the plush feel of Spradling's stain and abrasion resistant multi-textured SupraSkinTM vinyl. The Supra SC raises its standards to luxury, you should too.  

Vanessa Perrin Refinement models :)

Though the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau had put the excellent MiG-15 fighter in production, giving the Soviet Union one of the best fighters of the early 1950s, MiG felt it could further improve on the design. The MiG-15 had shown itself to be unstable as it neared the speed of sound, and it was anticipated that further refinement could be done to the aircraft.

As a result, MiG OKB began work on an improved MiG-15, referred to as the MiG-15-45 because of its primary characteristic, an improved swept wing. This new wing was thinner than that on the MiG-15, included wing fences for improved aerodynamics, and was swept at 45 degrees near the wingroot and to a slightly lesser degree at the wingtip, giving the new variant a distinctive “banana-wing” shape. The fuselage was extended to incorporate an afterburner on the VK-1F turbojet, while a small ventral fin was added beneath the tail to further improve stability. While the MiG-17 could not quite break the sound barrier, it was very stable in most respects and kept the heavy armament and good all-around visibility of the MiG-15. The design changes were enough to warrant a new designation, so it became the MiG-17.

The first MiG-17 flew in January 1950, and low-level production soon began—low-level due to the urgent need for MiG-15s to fight in the Korean War. Not until after the war had ended did full-scale production begin on the MiG-17. By then, it was considered somewhat obsolescent: the supersonic MiG-19 was placed in production alongside the MiG-17, while work had begun on the MiG-21. Nonetheless, it was kept in production for the rest of the decade as the MiG-19 proved to be a bit of a disappointment. The MiG-17 was updated in 1953 after the Soviet Union captured a F-86F Sabre, and copied elements of the Sabre’s ejection seat and gunsight into the new fighter. It was dubbed “Fresco” by NATO. Attempts were made to build all-weather versions of the MiG-17 with mixed results; the all-missile MiG-17PM was reviled by its pilots due to a poor radar and worse missiles. The most common version was the day fighter MiG-17F.

The MiG-17’s combat debut was not auspicious, seeing action in the 1956 Suez War and the 1958 Quemoy Crisis. In the former, Egypt’s few MiG-17s were outnumbered and outflown by French and Israeli Mystere IV and Super Mystere fighters, while over the Taiwan Straits, People’s Republic of China MiG-17s were ambushed by Republic of China F-86Fs equipped with Sidewinder missiles. By 1960, production had ended, and the Soviet Union sold off most of its stock to client states, reequipping with more modern MiG-21s.

In 1962, the Soviet Union supplied the nascent North Vietnamese People’s Air Force with 36 MiG-17Fs as the nucleus of a new air force, and to offset the American-supplied Thai and South Vietnamese air forces. By 1965, when Operation Rolling Thunder began, these aircraft were sent against US Air Force and Navy fighters attacking the Thanh Hoa bridge. On 4 April 1965, a force of four MiG-17s shot down two F-105 Thunderchiefs to score the VPAF’s first victories of the war, but paid a heavy price, losing three out of the four to escorting F-100 Super Sabres and their own antiaircraft fire. The MiG-17 would remain the primary VPAF aircraft throughout Rolling Thunder, though it was gradually supplemented by the MiG-21. Since the MiG-17 was subsonic and lacked radar, it depended on ground radar to guide the pilot to the target, but once in a dogfight, the small, very manueverable, cannon-armed MiG had a definite advantage over American aircraft; only the F-8 Crusader came remotely close to matching it. It came as a rude surprise to American pilots that semi-obsolete aircraft were still capable of destroying the latest word in military equipment, and it pointed up the deficiencies in American air combat training.

By 1972, the VPAF had largely withdrawn its MiG-17s to training units, preferring the more modern MiG-19 and MiG-21. While the MiG-17 did account for a few more kills, they mostly ended up being shot down by better trained US Navy pilots and USAF F-4E pilots, who now had internal guns themselves. In the right hands, a MiG-17 was still a formidable opponent, as US Navy aces Randy Cunningham and William Driscoll found out on 10 May 1972, when a MiG-17 dueled in the vertical with their F-4J for nearly ten minutes before it was finally shot down.

After Vietnam, the MiG-17 had outlived its usefulness, and though it would see limited service in African brushfire wars and in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, what few air forces retained them relegated them to second-line and training units. A few persisted in the Albanian and North Korean air forces until 2000. 10,603 MiG-17s were built by the Soviet Union, Poland, and China, serving in 40 air forces; today, several hundred still remain in museums and in flyable condition, including 27 in the United States alone.

Similar to my 1/144 scale MiG-17F, this is Dad's 1/72 kit, built from an Airfix kit. It displays a similar two shades of green over bare metal pattern, though with much softer edges. Aircraft 3020 was another rumored mount of the infamous "Colonel Toon" of the North Vietnamese VPAF. Toon turned out to be an invention of North Vietnamese propaganda, but 3020 was the aircraft that dueled US Navy aces Randy Cunningham and William Driscoll for several minutes before it became the Americans' fifth kill; to this day, it is not known who flew this aircraft on that day, 10 May 1972.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Gloster Glaive was basically a modernized and re-engined variant of the successful, British-built Gloster Gladiator (or Gloster SS.37), the RAF’s final biplane fighter to enter service. The Gladiator was not only widely used by the RAF at the dawn of WWII and in almost every theatre of operations, but also by many other nations. Operators included Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania or Nationalist China, and while the RAF already opted for more modern monoplanes, Gloster saw the opportunity to sell an updated Gladiator to countries which were not as progressive.

Originally designated Gladiator Mk. IV, the machine received many aerodynamic refinements and the motor was changed from a draggy radial to a liquid-cooled inline engine. The latter was the new Rolls Royce Peregrine, a development of the Kestrel. It was, in its original form, a 21-litre (1,300 cu in) liquid-cooled V-12 aero engine ), delivering 885-horsepower (660 kW). The engine was housed under a streamlined cowling, driving a three blade metal propeller, and was coupled with a ventral radiator bath, reminiscent of the Hawker Fury biplane’s arrangement.

By April 1941, however, lack of spares and attrition had forced the Hellenic Air Force to merge the surviving seven Glaives with five leftover PZL.24s into one understrength squadron supported by five Gloster Gladiators Mk I & II and the two surviving MB.151s. These fought hopelessly against the Luftwaffe onslaught, and most aircraft were eventually lost on the ground. None of the Hellenic Gloster Glaives survived the conflict.

General characteristics:

Crew: two

Length: 8.92m (29 ft 3 in)

Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 317 ft² (29.4 m²)

Empty weight: 1,295 kg (2,855 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 1,700 kg (3,748 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls Royce Peregrine II liquid-cooled V12 inline engine, rated at 940 hp (700 kw)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 405 km/h (252 mph; 219 kn) at 4,400 m (14,436 ft)

Cruise speed: 345 km/h (214 mph; 186 kn)

Stall speed: 60 mph (52 knots, 96 km/h)

Range: 373 mi (600 km; 324 nmi)

Endurance: 2 hours

Service ceiling: 10,600 m (34,800 ft)

Rate of climb: 2,982 ft/min (15.15 m/s)

Time to altitude: 10.000 ft (3.050 m) in 3 minutes 20 seconds

Armament:

4× 0.303 calibre (7.7 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns in the fuselage

Provisions for 6× 10 kg (22 lb) or 4x 20 kg (44 lb) bombs under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

The fictional Gloster Glaive started quite simple with the idea of replacing the Gladiator’s radial with an inline engine. But this soon did not appear enough for an update – the Peregrine hardly delivered much more power than the former Mercury, so I considered some structural updates, too. Most of them comprised the replacement of former fabric-covered structures, and this led conceptually to a kitbash with only some Gladiator fuselage and tail parts left.

The basis is (once more) the very nice Matchbox Gloster Gladiator, but it was heavily modified. As an initial step, fuselage, fin and stabilizers (all OOB parts) lost their rib-and-fabric structure, simply sanded away. A minor detail, but it changes the overall look of the aircraft a lot, making it appear much more modern.

The fuselage was left without the OOB radial, and instead a leftover Merlin front end from an Airfix Hurricane (ca. 1cm long, left over from one of my first whif builds ever, a Hurricane with a radial engine!) was added. The lines match pretty well: the side profile looks sleek, if not elegant, but the Gladiator fuselage turned out to be wider than expected. Some major body work/PSR was necessary to integrate the new nose, but the result looks very good.

The liquid-cooled engine necessitated a radiator somewhere on the airframe…! Since I wanted the nose to remain slim and streamlined I eventually placed the radiator bath under the fuselage, much like the arrangement of the Hawker Fury biplane. The radiator itself comes from a late Spitfire (FROG kit).

The exhaust was taken from the Hurricane kit, too, and matching slits dug into the putty nose to take them. The three blade propeller is a mash-up, too: the spinner belongs, IIRC, to an early Spitfire (left over from an AZ Models kit) while the blades came from a damaged Matchbox Brewster Buffalo.

The Gladiator’s fuselage flank machine guns were kept and their “bullet channels” extrapolated along the new cowling, running under the new exhaust pipes. Another pair of machine guns were placed on top of the engine – for these, openings were carved into the upper hull and small fairings (similar to the Browning guns in the flanks) added. This arrangement appeared plausible to me, since the Gladiator’s oil cooler was not necessary anymore and the new lower wings (see below) were not big enough anymore to take the Gladiator’s underwing guns. Four MGs in the fuselage appears massive – but there were other types with such an arrangement, e.g. the Avia B-534 with four guns in the flanks and an inline engine.

The wings are complete replacements: the upper wing comes from a Heller Curtiss SBC4, while the lower wings as well as the spats (on shortened OOB Gladiator struts) come from an ICM Polikarpov I-153. All struts were scratched. Once the lower wings were in place and the relative position of the upper wing clear, the outer struts were carved from 1mm styrene sheet, using the I-153 design as benchmark. These were glued to the lower wing first, and, once totally dry after 24h, the upper wing was simply glued onto the top and the wing position adjusted. This was left to dry another 24h, and as a final step the four struts above the cowling (using the OOB struts, but as single parts and trimmed for proper fit) were placed. This way, a stable connection is guaranteed – and the result is surprisingly sturdy.

Rigging was done with heated sprue material – my personal favorite for this delicate task, and executed before painting the kit started so that the glue could cure and bond well.

Painting and markings:

The reason why this aircraft ended in Greek service is a color photograph of a crashed Hellenic Bloch M.B. 152 (coded ‘D 177’, to be specific). I guess that the picture was post-colored, though, because the aircraft of French origin sports rather weird colors: the picture shows a two-tone scheme in a deep, rather reddish chestnut brown and a light green that almost looks like teal. Unique, to say the least... Underside colors couldn’t be identified with certainty in the picture, but appeared like a pale but not too light blue grey.

Anyway, I assume that these colors are pure fiction and exaggerated Photoshop work, since the few M.B. 152s delivered to Greece carried AFAIK standard French camouflage (in French Khaki, Chestnut Brown and Blue-Grey on the upper surfaces, and a very light blue-grey from below). I’d assume that the contrast between the grey and green tones was not very obvious in the original photograph, so that the artist, not familiar with WWII paint schemes, replaced both colors with the strange teal tone and massively overmodulated the brown.

As weird as it looked, I liked this design and used it as an inspirational benchmark for my Hellenic Glaive build. After all, it’s a fictional aircraft… Upper basic colors are Humbrol 31 (RAF Slate Grey) and 160 (German Camouflage Red Brown), while the undersides became French Dark Blue Grey (ModelMaster Authentics 2105). The result looks rather odd…

Representing a combat-worn aircraft, I applied a thorough black ink wash and did heavier panel shading and dry-brushing on the leading edges, along with some visible touches of aluminum.

The Hellenic roundels come from a TL Modellbau aftermarket sheet. The tactical code was puzzled together from single letters, and the Greek “D” was created from single decal strips. For better contrast I used white decals – most Hellenic aircraft of the time had black codes, but the contrast is much better, and I found evidence that some machines actually carried white codes. The small fin flash is another free interpretation. Not every Hellenic aircraft carried these markings, and instead of painting the whole rudder in Greek colors I just applied a small fin flash. This was created with white and blue decal strips, closely matching the roundels’ colors.

Finally, after some soot stains around the guns and the exhausts, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

Modified beyond recognition, perhaps…? The fictional Gloster Glaive looks IMHO good and very modern, just like one of those final biplane designs that were about to be outrun by monoplanes at the brink of WWII.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Gloster Glaive was basically a modernized and re-engined variant of the successful, British-built Gloster Gladiator (or Gloster SS.37), the RAF’s final biplane fighter to enter service. The Gladiator was not only widely used by the RAF at the dawn of WWII and in almost every theatre of operations, but also by many other nations. Operators included Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania or Nationalist China, and while the RAF already opted for more modern monoplanes, Gloster saw the opportunity to sell an updated Gladiator to countries which were not as progressive.

Originally designated Gladiator Mk. IV, the machine received many aerodynamic refinements and the motor was changed from a draggy radial to a liquid-cooled inline engine. The latter was the new Rolls Royce Peregrine, a development of the Kestrel. It was, in its original form, a 21-litre (1,300 cu in) liquid-cooled V-12 aero engine ), delivering 885-horsepower (660 kW). The engine was housed under a streamlined cowling, driving a three blade metal propeller, and was coupled with a ventral radiator bath, reminiscent of the Hawker Fury biplane’s arrangement.

By April 1941, however, lack of spares and attrition had forced the Hellenic Air Force to merge the surviving seven Glaives with five leftover PZL.24s into one understrength squadron supported by five Gloster Gladiators Mk I & II and the two surviving MB.151s. These fought hopelessly against the Luftwaffe onslaught, and most aircraft were eventually lost on the ground. None of the Hellenic Gloster Glaives survived the conflict.

General characteristics:

Crew: two

Length: 8.92m (29 ft 3 in)

Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 317 ft² (29.4 m²)

Empty weight: 1,295 kg (2,855 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 1,700 kg (3,748 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls Royce Peregrine II liquid-cooled V12 inline engine, rated at 940 hp (700 kw)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 405 km/h (252 mph; 219 kn) at 4,400 m (14,436 ft)

Cruise speed: 345 km/h (214 mph; 186 kn)

Stall speed: 60 mph (52 knots, 96 km/h)

Range: 373 mi (600 km; 324 nmi)

Endurance: 2 hours

Service ceiling: 10,600 m (34,800 ft)

Rate of climb: 2,982 ft/min (15.15 m/s)

Time to altitude: 10.000 ft (3.050 m) in 3 minutes 20 seconds

Armament:

4× 0.303 calibre (7.7 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns in the fuselage

Provisions for 6× 10 kg (22 lb) or 4x 20 kg (44 lb) bombs under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

The fictional Gloster Glaive started quite simple with the idea of replacing the Gladiator’s radial with an inline engine. But this soon did not appear enough for an update – the Peregrine hardly delivered much more power than the former Mercury, so I considered some structural updates, too. Most of them comprised the replacement of former fabric-covered structures, and this led conceptually to a kitbash with only some Gladiator fuselage and tail parts left.

The basis is (once more) the very nice Matchbox Gloster Gladiator, but it was heavily modified. As an initial step, fuselage, fin and stabilizers (all OOB parts) lost their rib-and-fabric structure, simply sanded away. A minor detail, but it changes the overall look of the aircraft a lot, making it appear much more modern.

The fuselage was left without the OOB radial, and instead a leftover Merlin front end from an Airfix Hurricane (ca. 1cm long, left over from one of my first whif builds ever, a Hurricane with a radial engine!) was added. The lines match pretty well: the side profile looks sleek, if not elegant, but the Gladiator fuselage turned out to be wider than expected. Some major body work/PSR was necessary to integrate the new nose, but the result looks very good.

The liquid-cooled engine necessitated a radiator somewhere on the airframe…! Since I wanted the nose to remain slim and streamlined I eventually placed the radiator bath under the fuselage, much like the arrangement of the Hawker Fury biplane. The radiator itself comes from a late Spitfire (FROG kit).

The exhaust was taken from the Hurricane kit, too, and matching slits dug into the putty nose to take them. The three blade propeller is a mash-up, too: the spinner belongs, IIRC, to an early Spitfire (left over from an AZ Models kit) while the blades came from a damaged Matchbox Brewster Buffalo.

The Gladiator’s fuselage flank machine guns were kept and their “bullet channels” extrapolated along the new cowling, running under the new exhaust pipes. Another pair of machine guns were placed on top of the engine – for these, openings were carved into the upper hull and small fairings (similar to the Browning guns in the flanks) added. This arrangement appeared plausible to me, since the Gladiator’s oil cooler was not necessary anymore and the new lower wings (see below) were not big enough anymore to take the Gladiator’s underwing guns. Four MGs in the fuselage appears massive – but there were other types with such an arrangement, e.g. the Avia B-534 with four guns in the flanks and an inline engine.

The wings are complete replacements: the upper wing comes from a Heller Curtiss SBC4, while the lower wings as well as the spats (on shortened OOB Gladiator struts) come from an ICM Polikarpov I-153. All struts were scratched. Once the lower wings were in place and the relative position of the upper wing clear, the outer struts were carved from 1mm styrene sheet, using the I-153 design as benchmark. These were glued to the lower wing first, and, once totally dry after 24h, the upper wing was simply glued onto the top and the wing position adjusted. This was left to dry another 24h, and as a final step the four struts above the cowling (using the OOB struts, but as single parts and trimmed for proper fit) were placed. This way, a stable connection is guaranteed – and the result is surprisingly sturdy.

Rigging was done with heated sprue material – my personal favorite for this delicate task, and executed before painting the kit started so that the glue could cure and bond well.

Painting and markings:

The reason why this aircraft ended in Greek service is a color photograph of a crashed Hellenic Bloch M.B. 152 (coded ‘D 177’, to be specific). I guess that the picture was post-colored, though, because the aircraft of French origin sports rather weird colors: the picture shows a two-tone scheme in a deep, rather reddish chestnut brown and a light green that almost looks like teal. Unique, to say the least... Underside colors couldn’t be identified with certainty in the picture, but appeared like a pale but not too light blue grey.

Anyway, I assume that these colors are pure fiction and exaggerated Photoshop work, since the few M.B. 152s delivered to Greece carried AFAIK standard French camouflage (in French Khaki, Chestnut Brown and Blue-Grey on the upper surfaces, and a very light blue-grey from below). I’d assume that the contrast between the grey and green tones was not very obvious in the original photograph, so that the artist, not familiar with WWII paint schemes, replaced both colors with the strange teal tone and massively overmodulated the brown.

As weird as it looked, I liked this design and used it as an inspirational benchmark for my Hellenic Glaive build. After all, it’s a fictional aircraft… Upper basic colors are Humbrol 31 (RAF Slate Grey) and 160 (German Camouflage Red Brown), while the undersides became French Dark Blue Grey (ModelMaster Authentics 2105). The result looks rather odd…

Representing a combat-worn aircraft, I applied a thorough black ink wash and did heavier panel shading and dry-brushing on the leading edges, along with some visible touches of aluminum.

The Hellenic roundels come from a TL Modellbau aftermarket sheet. The tactical code was puzzled together from single letters, and the Greek “D” was created from single decal strips. For better contrast I used white decals – most Hellenic aircraft of the time had black codes, but the contrast is much better, and I found evidence that some machines actually carried white codes. The small fin flash is another free interpretation. Not every Hellenic aircraft carried these markings, and instead of painting the whole rudder in Greek colors I just applied a small fin flash. This was created with white and blue decal strips, closely matching the roundels’ colors.

Finally, after some soot stains around the guns and the exhausts, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

Modified beyond recognition, perhaps…? The fictional Gloster Glaive looks IMHO good and very modern, just like one of those final biplane designs that were about to be outrun by monoplanes at the brink of WWII.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Gloster Glaive was basically a modernized and re-engined variant of the successful, British-built Gloster Gladiator (or Gloster SS.37), the RAF’s final biplane fighter to enter service. The Gladiator was not only widely used by the RAF at the dawn of WWII and in almost every theatre of operations, but also by many other nations. Operators included Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania or Nationalist China, and while the RAF already opted for more modern monoplanes, Gloster saw the opportunity to sell an updated Gladiator to countries which were not as progressive.

Originally designated Gladiator Mk. IV, the machine received many aerodynamic refinements and the motor was changed from a draggy radial to a liquid-cooled inline engine. The latter was the new Rolls Royce Peregrine, a development of the Kestrel. It was, in its original form, a 21-litre (1,300 cu in) liquid-cooled V-12 aero engine ), delivering 885-horsepower (660 kW). The engine was housed under a streamlined cowling, driving a three blade metal propeller, and was coupled with a ventral radiator bath, reminiscent of the Hawker Fury biplane’s arrangement.

By April 1941, however, lack of spares and attrition had forced the Hellenic Air Force to merge the surviving seven Glaives with five leftover PZL.24s into one understrength squadron supported by five Gloster Gladiators Mk I & II and the two surviving MB.151s. These fought hopelessly against the Luftwaffe onslaught, and most aircraft were eventually lost on the ground. None of the Hellenic Gloster Glaives survived the conflict.

General characteristics:

Crew: two

Length: 8.92m (29 ft 3 in)

Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 317 ft² (29.4 m²)

Empty weight: 1,295 kg (2,855 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 1,700 kg (3,748 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls Royce Peregrine II liquid-cooled V12 inline engine, rated at 940 hp (700 kw)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 405 km/h (252 mph; 219 kn) at 4,400 m (14,436 ft)

Cruise speed: 345 km/h (214 mph; 186 kn)

Stall speed: 60 mph (52 knots, 96 km/h)

Range: 373 mi (600 km; 324 nmi)

Endurance: 2 hours

Service ceiling: 10,600 m (34,800 ft)

Rate of climb: 2,982 ft/min (15.15 m/s)

Time to altitude: 10.000 ft (3.050 m) in 3 minutes 20 seconds

Armament:

4× 0.303 calibre (7.7 mm) M1919 Browning machine guns in the fuselage

Provisions for 6× 10 kg (22 lb) or 4x 20 kg (44 lb) bombs under the lower wings

The kit and its assembly:

The fictional Gloster Glaive started quite simple with the idea of replacing the Gladiator’s radial with an inline engine. But this soon did not appear enough for an update – the Peregrine hardly delivered much more power than the former Mercury, so I considered some structural updates, too. Most of them comprised the replacement of former fabric-covered structures, and this led conceptually to a kitbash with only some Gladiator fuselage and tail parts left.

The basis is (once more) the very nice Matchbox Gloster Gladiator, but it was heavily modified. As an initial step, fuselage, fin and stabilizers (all OOB parts) lost their rib-and-fabric structure, simply sanded away. A minor detail, but it changes the overall look of the aircraft a lot, making it appear much more modern.

The fuselage was left without the OOB radial, and instead a leftover Merlin front end from an Airfix Hurricane (ca. 1cm long, left over from one of my first whif builds ever, a Hurricane with a radial engine!) was added. The lines match pretty well: the side profile looks sleek, if not elegant, but the Gladiator fuselage turned out to be wider than expected. Some major body work/PSR was necessary to integrate the new nose, but the result looks very good.

The liquid-cooled engine necessitated a radiator somewhere on the airframe…! Since I wanted the nose to remain slim and streamlined I eventually placed the radiator bath under the fuselage, much like the arrangement of the Hawker Fury biplane. The radiator itself comes from a late Spitfire (FROG kit).

The exhaust was taken from the Hurricane kit, too, and matching slits dug into the putty nose to take them. The three blade propeller is a mash-up, too: the spinner belongs, IIRC, to an early Spitfire (left over from an AZ Models kit) while the blades came from a damaged Matchbox Brewster Buffalo.

The Gladiator’s fuselage flank machine guns were kept and their “bullet channels” extrapolated along the new cowling, running under the new exhaust pipes. Another pair of machine guns were placed on top of the engine – for these, openings were carved into the upper hull and small fairings (similar to the Browning guns in the flanks) added. This arrangement appeared plausible to me, since the Gladiator’s oil cooler was not necessary anymore and the new lower wings (see below) were not big enough anymore to take the Gladiator’s underwing guns. Four MGs in the fuselage appears massive – but there were other types with such an arrangement, e.g. the Avia B-534 with four guns in the flanks and an inline engine.

The wings are complete replacements: the upper wing comes from a Heller Curtiss SBC4, while the lower wings as well as the spats (on shortened OOB Gladiator struts) come from an ICM Polikarpov I-153. All struts were scratched. Once the lower wings were in place and the relative position of the upper wing clear, the outer struts were carved from 1mm styrene sheet, using the I-153 design as benchmark. These were glued to the lower wing first, and, once totally dry after 24h, the upper wing was simply glued onto the top and the wing position adjusted. This was left to dry another 24h, and as a final step the four struts above the cowling (using the OOB struts, but as single parts and trimmed for proper fit) were placed. This way, a stable connection is guaranteed – and the result is surprisingly sturdy.

Rigging was done with heated sprue material – my personal favorite for this delicate task, and executed before painting the kit started so that the glue could cure and bond well.

Painting and markings:

The reason why this aircraft ended in Greek service is a color photograph of a crashed Hellenic Bloch M.B. 152 (coded ‘D 177’, to be specific). I guess that the picture was post-colored, though, because the aircraft of French origin sports rather weird colors: the picture shows a two-tone scheme in a deep, rather reddish chestnut brown and a light green that almost looks like teal. Unique, to say the least... Underside colors couldn’t be identified with certainty in the picture, but appeared like a pale but not too light blue grey.

Anyway, I assume that these colors are pure fiction and exaggerated Photoshop work, since the few M.B. 152s delivered to Greece carried AFAIK standard French camouflage (in French Khaki, Chestnut Brown and Blue-Grey on the upper surfaces, and a very light blue-grey from below). I’d assume that the contrast between the grey and green tones was not very obvious in the original photograph, so that the artist, not familiar with WWII paint schemes, replaced both colors with the strange teal tone and massively overmodulated the brown.

As weird as it looked, I liked this design and used it as an inspirational benchmark for my Hellenic Glaive build. After all, it’s a fictional aircraft… Upper basic colors are Humbrol 31 (RAF Slate Grey) and 160 (German Camouflage Red Brown), while the undersides became French Dark Blue Grey (ModelMaster Authentics 2105). The result looks rather odd…

Representing a combat-worn aircraft, I applied a thorough black ink wash and did heavier panel shading and dry-brushing on the leading edges, along with some visible touches of aluminum.

The Hellenic roundels come from a TL Modellbau aftermarket sheet. The tactical code was puzzled together from single letters, and the Greek “D” was created from single decal strips. For better contrast I used white decals – most Hellenic aircraft of the time had black codes, but the contrast is much better, and I found evidence that some machines actually carried white codes. The small fin flash is another free interpretation. Not every Hellenic aircraft carried these markings, and instead of painting the whole rudder in Greek colors I just applied a small fin flash. This was created with white and blue decal strips, closely matching the roundels’ colors.

Finally, after some soot stains around the guns and the exhausts, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

Modified beyond recognition, perhaps…? The fictional Gloster Glaive looks IMHO good and very modern, just like one of those final biplane designs that were about to be outrun by monoplanes at the brink of WWII.

The department has been building up a library of design related reference books over the last few years. Pupils are encouraged to make use of these books on a regular basis. The photographs here demonstrate the tremendous wealth of content contained therein.

The sequence has been shot in such a way that the cover of the book is shown first and a few sample pages are included to give the student an idea of the content the book contains. Pupils may then approach staff and request a short term loan.

www.drivesection.com/reviews/2020-toyota-landcruiser-200-...

Built to withstand the harshest of Australian conditions, the 200 Series LandCruiser will go down as one of the all-time great off-roaders, even if it's feeling a bit long in the tooth after 12 years on sale.

It feels like every day I read a new rumour, report, or opinion piece about the fate of the V8-powered Toyota LandCruiser as the 200 Series model we know and love nears the end of its course.

The 200, I believe, is a vehicle that will truly go down as one of the greatest off-roaders of all time. A perfect blend of refinement and ruggedness, comfort and capability, and sheer V8 grunt, not only is it simply a timeless gem in general, but a car so perfectly suited to Aussie roads – and making a car like that is a hard task to complete.

But if the rumours are, indeed, to be believed, the supposed successor to this dying legend, presumably to be called the 300 Series, it’ll swap V8 grunt for more efficient V6 turbo-diesel and petrol-electric hybrid engines instead. Whether you think that’s a good or bad thing, though, it seemed like now was the opportune time to get behind the wheel of a V8 LandCruiser for what could be one of the very last times to prove why the 200 is so great, and that task was to be entrusted to this – the ultra-basic, stripped-out, no-frills, mine-spec GX model.

Now when I say that the LandCruiser GX is basic, it’s hard to overstate just how basic it is. Although the 200 Series was first launched for the 2008 model year, it’s benefitted from two facelifts since then which have not only given it some incredibly handsome new looks in the most recent incarnation, but plenty of additional kit as well in the higher-spec’d models that perform well in other places such as the USA and UAE.

By comparison to those upscale models, such as the Sahara, the GX couldn’t be more different if it tried – not least because the sheet metal itself is different. Not only are the third-row seat mounts deleted – it’s only available as a two-row five-seater, while other LC200 variants feature seven and eight-seat three-row configurations – but it features rear barn doors for its cavernous boot in place of the Range Rover-style split-folding tailgate most have become accustomed to now.

But when looked at side-to-side with even the GXL variant – one step up from the GX, and the 200 Series most Aussies opt for – this thing really does feel like it’s stuck in 2008 in some regards, while the rest of the range has moved on with the rest of the world.

There’s no carpet but instead a vinyl floor covering, there are no mirrors on either of the sun-visors, there’s no map lights up front, no trip computer, no audio controls on the cheap polyurethane steering wheel, the front seats are only manually adjustable aside from the powered lumbar support for the driver, you’ll have to put in and turn a key to start it up, there’s not a scrap of active safety technology, and it doesn’t even have a reverse camera or parking sensors which makes things challenging in a car this big.

The centre stack is completely different to that in other 200 Series variants as well, with a digital clock at the top that appears to be from the 1980s, a generic 6.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system – the same as what you’d find in even the Toyota 86 – with Bluetooth and sat nav that only replaced a basic CD player a couple of years ago, and a basic air conditioning unit that doesn’t even give you the temperature it’s set to as a number.

Outside, as well, the black plastic grille and door handles, steel wheels, deleted side skirts, and lopsided tailgate do detract slightly from the otherwise ruggedly handsome design of the LandCruiser, although at least the snorkel which is normally an option on other variants is fitted as standard on the GX.

And it’s the standardisation of the snorkel that tells you everything you need to know about the GX. This thing isn’t for parking with presence when going to sip lattes like a Sahara is – this thing is a rugged, bare-bones off-roader. Well, at least that’s the way its positioned for private buyers.

Don’t look at it as being under-equipped – look at it as being a blank canvas. Put a bull-bar on the front, some smaller wheels with chunkier tyres, and some rock sliders on the sides and you’ve got yourself a tough-looking off-road beast. That unfurnished and indented tailgate is the perfect place to mount a couple of extra spare tyres as well, for instance, while on the inside, that dated infotainment system can easily be swapped for a newer aftermarket unit with Apple CarPlay. Those rubber floors are ideal for hosing out after getting your muddy boots all over them, too, although I must admit it makes me surprised by the dust-gathering velour seat upholstery when vinyl would be much easier to clean.

And while that’s the position it takes for private buyers, the other key target of the GX is businesses and specialist fields. I’ve seen plenty of GXs driving around bearing decals for construction companies on the side, for instance, while my local constabulary uses them for its CSI division. Many will end up in mines, too, while other government divisions utilise them for tasks such as forestry.

With businesses wanting to spend as little as possible, the GX’s lack of luxuries is reflected in the price tag, which was bumped up for 2020 by a couple thousand to $80,190 before on-road costs. Yes, that’s overpriced for something this spartan, but stepping up to the GXL will set you back another $11,700. If you’re looking for the cheapest way into a new 200 Series, then, the GX is easily the way to do it.

And a lot of people I don’t doubt will be looking to get one as cheaply as possible, given those rumours of the V8 LandCruiser’s demise. According to many 200 Series owners have reportedly expressed interest in buying another bent-eight model before they likely disappear for good, so this thing could well take over from toilet paper as the new hot commodity that’s flying off the shelves.

Worth noting, though, is that there are other ways to get a V8 Cruiser without buying the 200 Series, as the V8 diesel-powered 70 Series models that trace all the way back to 1984 are still Euro 5 compliant and on sale in Australia, while at the other end of the scale, those after something more luxurious (and ugly) can opt for the Lexus LX. Factor the four-pot diesel LandCruiser Prado into the mix, and the LandCruiser family certainly is a big one.

On the topic of engines, the biggest change for the 200 Series in Australia for 2020 is the ditching of the 4.6-litre naturally aspirated petrol V8 that was available on the GXL, VX, and Sahara models, leaving the 5.7-litre Lexus LX 570 as the only petrol-powered 200 available Down Under now.

This change doesn’t matter for the GX, however, as it was only ever offered with the engine the vast majority went for across the range anyway – a 4.5-litre twin-turbocharged V8 diesel that puts out 200kW and an impressive 650Nm, which is channeled to all four wheels through a six-speed torque converter auto and a full-time four-wheel drive system.

While the 200 Series itself will go down as one of the all-time great off-roaders, this engine – the 1VD-FTV – will go down in the history books as well. Punchy, powerful, and muscular, it gets the 2.6-tonne beast moving along effortlessly, if not that quickly, while remaining relatively frugal at highway speeds for an engine of its size due to its low sixth gear that keeps it hovering at around 1400rpm at open-road speeds.

While 9.5L/100km is the claim, I calculated a return of 12.5L/100km after 950km and the better part of its 138 litre tank – not quite as close as I’d hoped, but impressive for an engine this size and enough to ensure you could indeed go over 1000km on a single tank even at that rate of consumption. Note that this is a verified number, too, as with no trip computer, doing it the old-fashioned but more accurate way of brimming the tank was required.

But more than just being powerful, it’s incredibly reliable, too – the 200 Series was recently revealed to be the new car most likely to reach 300,000km by iSeeCars in the US, and it should be noted that the LandCruiser is built with a 25 year lifespan in mind, as opposed to the average eight year lifespan of most modern cars. Furthermore, with this V8 oiler being deliberately under-stressed in stock form, simply tuning it and fitting an aftermarket exhaust can reveal insane power and torque gains, often of over 30 percent.

In its stock form, however, it’s brilliant. The power delivery is smooth and progressive, and while you can hustle it a bit – there’s a Power mode to sharpen the throttle response and make it feel a bit more aggressive, and you can lock out higher gears to ensure it doesn’t go into one of its overdrive ratios – it’s better to simply ride out the big wave of torque that it delivers as it’s an engine that better compliments a more relaxed driving style.

As such, it’s not going to give something like a Range Rover Sport a run for its money through the corners as the LandCruiser feels heavy and ponderous through the bends, while the steering is on the slower side and requires a fair amount of input, but that’s because it’s been designed to be smooth and comfortable – the perfect open-road tourer. And that, it certainly is.

My only real complaint about its on-road performance – as its corner-carving abilities, or rather slight lack thereof, are a non-issue for a vehicle like this – is the braking, as the pedal feel is spongey and the brakes quickly start to lose their bite. This, I suspect, is likely down to GX and GXL models having smaller 340mm front discs, while the VX and Sahara have larger 354mm units, although all other variants do weigh another 100kg more than the GX.

But the LandCruiser’s on-road performance is obviously only half of the story. Toyota markets this thing as the ‘king off the road’, and it’s abilities to deal with things getting rougher and tougher are even more impressive.

While the GX does lack a lot, it still features all of the off-roading kit the more expensive variants serve up – dual-range transfer case, a locking centre diff, five-speed crawl control, and off-road turn assist, just to name the highlights.

The gadgetry all works brilliantly – the crawl control system is absolute genius, handling the throttle and braking for you during low-speed off-roading leaving only the steering to you as it figures out exactly how to get you over or through whatever lies in your wake, while the off-road turn assist, which locks up the inside wheel during tight manoeuvres to reduce this behemoth’s turning circle, does exactly what it says on the tin.

With that said, while they work excellently, the constant juddering sound of the systems working away quickly becomes irritating, so it’s a good thing that if you aren’t a fan of them and would rather take the reigns yourself, it’s wondrously easy to command over even the most challenging of terrain thanks to its 225mm of ground clearance and a great amount of articulation to its four-link coil-sprung rear axle.

But where it shines most in my eyes away from the pavement is when it comes to its performance on unsealed gravel roads – something which abound here in Australia.

Centre diff locked or not, it feels remarkably tractable at higher speeds on roads like these, meaning you’re still able to explore the full potential of the big V8. The ride is excellent on roads like this, too, and I’d go so far as to say that it actually feels even smoother here than it does on sealed roads, meaning that as far as you’re aware from behind the wheel, the road simply changes colour every now and then.

On sand and through water, too, it performs similarly well, forever feeling solid, planted, and grounded, although on particularly loose sand chewed up by other beach-going off-roaders it did feel surprisingly tail-happy, it must be said, even with the centre diff locked.

Of course, some more dedicated off-road tyres would help here and only benefit its all-around capabilities even more, and changing parts and adding to it is the whole point of this mod-ready model, but even as it sits fresh out of the box, it’s a remarkably capable thing.

It’s a truly remarkable machine, the 200 Series. There’s little it doesn’t do well, and what it does do well, it truly does really very well indeed. Deftly capable both on-road and off, it still manages to impress 12 years on – even if the GX feels comparably equipped to a 2008 model.

What is undeniable, though, is that the burbling V8 under the bonnet is a huge part of its character. It gives it a certain effortlessness and charm, and while if you’re asking me, a smaller but more powerful twin-turbo V6 oiler like you’d find in the Land Rover Discovery would be perfectly fine, something would still be missing. Some things, to be more precise – namely, two cylinders, and an immeasurable amount of charisma.

It’ll be sad to see the 200 Series sent off to pasture when it does go, but I’m excited for the new LandCruiser to arrive as it’s certainly not every day that one comes along. Whether you’re worried the V8 will disappear for good, or you are simply a fan of the simplicity this LandCruiser brings to the table, now is definitely the time to buy.

2020 Toyota LandCruiser 200 GX List Price: $80,190

Performance - 8/10

Ride & Handling - 8/10

Tech & Features - 6.5/10

Practicality - 8/10

Value for Money - 7.5/10

7.6/10

Pros: Muscular twin-turbo V8 engine, smooth and relaxed feel on the open road, incredibly capable off-road with its excellent gadgetry, simple but handsome looks

Cons: No reverse camera or active safety tech in the GX, lack of basic interior features, feels as big and heavy as it is, undeniably expensive

In a nutshell: It’ll be sad to see the 200 Series – and, potentially, it’s wonderful V8 – eventually go, as it’s easy to see why it still sees such incredible popularity after so many years.

www.drivesection.com/reviews/2020-toyota-landcruiser-200-...

Built to withstand the harshest of Australian conditions, the 200 Series LandCruiser will go down as one of the all-time great off-roaders, even if it's feeling a bit long in the tooth after 12 years on sale.

It feels like every day I read a new rumour, report, or opinion piece about the fate of the V8-powered Toyota LandCruiser as the 200 Series model we know and love nears the end of its course.

The 200, I believe, is a vehicle that will truly go down as one of the greatest off-roaders of all time. A perfect blend of refinement and ruggedness, comfort and capability, and sheer V8 grunt, not only is it simply a timeless gem in general, but a car so perfectly suited to Aussie roads – and making a car like that is a hard task to complete.

But if the rumours are, indeed, to be believed, the supposed successor to this dying legend, presumably to be called the 300 Series, it’ll swap V8 grunt for more efficient V6 turbo-diesel and petrol-electric hybrid engines instead. Whether you think that’s a good or bad thing, though, it seemed like now was the opportune time to get behind the wheel of a V8 LandCruiser for what could be one of the very last times to prove why the 200 is so great, and that task was to be entrusted to this – the ultra-basic, stripped-out, no-frills, mine-spec GX model.

Now when I say that the LandCruiser GX is basic, it’s hard to overstate just how basic it is. Although the 200 Series was first launched for the 2008 model year, it’s benefitted from two facelifts since then which have not only given it some incredibly handsome new looks in the most recent incarnation, but plenty of additional kit as well in the higher-spec’d models that perform well in other places such as the USA and UAE.

By comparison to those upscale models, such as the Sahara, the GX couldn’t be more different if it tried – not least because the sheet metal itself is different. Not only are the third-row seat mounts deleted – it’s only available as a two-row five-seater, while other LC200 variants feature seven and eight-seat three-row configurations – but it features rear barn doors for its cavernous boot in place of the Range Rover-style split-folding tailgate most have become accustomed to now.

But when looked at side-to-side with even the GXL variant – one step up from the GX, and the 200 Series most Aussies opt for – this thing really does feel like it’s stuck in 2008 in some regards, while the rest of the range has moved on with the rest of the world.

There’s no carpet but instead a vinyl floor covering, there are no mirrors on either of the sun-visors, there’s no map lights up front, no trip computer, no audio controls on the cheap polyurethane steering wheel, the front seats are only manually adjustable aside from the powered lumbar support for the driver, you’ll have to put in and turn a key to start it up, there’s not a scrap of active safety technology, and it doesn’t even have a reverse camera or parking sensors which makes things challenging in a car this big.

The centre stack is completely different to that in other 200 Series variants as well, with a digital clock at the top that appears to be from the 1980s, a generic 6.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system – the same as what you’d find in even the Toyota 86 – with Bluetooth and sat nav that only replaced a basic CD player a couple of years ago, and a basic air conditioning unit that doesn’t even give you the temperature it’s set to as a number.

Outside, as well, the black plastic grille and door handles, steel wheels, deleted side skirts, and lopsided tailgate do detract slightly from the otherwise ruggedly handsome design of the LandCruiser, although at least the snorkel which is normally an option on other variants is fitted as standard on the GX.

And it’s the standardisation of the snorkel that tells you everything you need to know about the GX. This thing isn’t for parking with presence when going to sip lattes like a Sahara is – this thing is a rugged, bare-bones off-roader. Well, at least that’s the way its positioned for private buyers.

Don’t look at it as being under-equipped – look at it as being a blank canvas. Put a bull-bar on the front, some smaller wheels with chunkier tyres, and some rock sliders on the sides and you’ve got yourself a tough-looking off-road beast. That unfurnished and indented tailgate is the perfect place to mount a couple of extra spare tyres as well, for instance, while on the inside, that dated infotainment system can easily be swapped for a newer aftermarket unit with Apple CarPlay. Those rubber floors are ideal for hosing out after getting your muddy boots all over them, too, although I must admit it makes me surprised by the dust-gathering velour seat upholstery when vinyl would be much easier to clean.

And while that’s the position it takes for private buyers, the other key target of the GX is businesses and specialist fields. I’ve seen plenty of GXs driving around bearing decals for construction companies on the side, for instance, while my local constabulary uses them for its CSI division. Many will end up in mines, too, while other government divisions utilise them for tasks such as forestry.

With businesses wanting to spend as little as possible, the GX’s lack of luxuries is reflected in the price tag, which was bumped up for 2020 by a couple thousand to $80,190 before on-road costs. Yes, that’s overpriced for something this spartan, but stepping up to the GXL will set you back another $11,700. If you’re looking for the cheapest way into a new 200 Series, then, the GX is easily the way to do it.

And a lot of people I don’t doubt will be looking to get one as cheaply as possible, given those rumours of the V8 LandCruiser’s demise. According to many 200 Series owners have reportedly expressed interest in buying another bent-eight model before they likely disappear for good, so this thing could well take over from toilet paper as the new hot commodity that’s flying off the shelves.

Worth noting, though, is that there are other ways to get a V8 Cruiser without buying the 200 Series, as the V8 diesel-powered 70 Series models that trace all the way back to 1984 are still Euro 5 compliant and on sale in Australia, while at the other end of the scale, those after something more luxurious (and ugly) can opt for the Lexus LX. Factor the four-pot diesel LandCruiser Prado into the mix, and the LandCruiser family certainly is a big one.

On the topic of engines, the biggest change for the 200 Series in Australia for 2020 is the ditching of the 4.6-litre naturally aspirated petrol V8 that was available on the GXL, VX, and Sahara models, leaving the 5.7-litre Lexus LX 570 as the only petrol-powered 200 available Down Under now.

This change doesn’t matter for the GX, however, as it was only ever offered with the engine the vast majority went for across the range anyway – a 4.5-litre twin-turbocharged V8 diesel that puts out 200kW and an impressive 650Nm, which is channeled to all four wheels through a six-speed torque converter auto and a full-time four-wheel drive system.

While the 200 Series itself will go down as one of the all-time great off-roaders, this engine – the 1VD-FTV – will go down in the history books as well. Punchy, powerful, and muscular, it gets the 2.6-tonne beast moving along effortlessly, if not that quickly, while remaining relatively frugal at highway speeds for an engine of its size due to its low sixth gear that keeps it hovering at around 1400rpm at open-road speeds.

While 9.5L/100km is the claim, I calculated a return of 12.5L/100km after 950km and the better part of its 138 litre tank – not quite as close as I’d hoped, but impressive for an engine this size and enough to ensure you could indeed go over 1000km on a single tank even at that rate of consumption. Note that this is a verified number, too, as with no trip computer, doing it the old-fashioned but more accurate way of brimming the tank was required.

But more than just being powerful, it’s incredibly reliable, too – the 200 Series was recently revealed to be the new car most likely to reach 300,000km by iSeeCars in the US, and it should be noted that the LandCruiser is built with a 25 year lifespan in mind, as opposed to the average eight year lifespan of most modern cars. Furthermore, with this V8 oiler being deliberately under-stressed in stock form, simply tuning it and fitting an aftermarket exhaust can reveal insane power and torque gains, often of over 30 percent.

In its stock form, however, it’s brilliant. The power delivery is smooth and progressive, and while you can hustle it a bit – there’s a Power mode to sharpen the throttle response and make it feel a bit more aggressive, and you can lock out higher gears to ensure it doesn’t go into one of its overdrive ratios – it’s better to simply ride out the big wave of torque that it delivers as it’s an engine that better compliments a more relaxed driving style.

As such, it’s not going to give something like a Range Rover Sport a run for its money through the corners as the LandCruiser feels heavy and ponderous through the bends, while the steering is on the slower side and requires a fair amount of input, but that’s because it’s been designed to be smooth and comfortable – the perfect open-road tourer. And that, it certainly is.

My only real complaint about its on-road performance – as its corner-carving abilities, or rather slight lack thereof, are a non-issue for a vehicle like this – is the braking, as the pedal feel is spongey and the brakes quickly start to lose their bite. This, I suspect, is likely down to GX and GXL models having smaller 340mm front discs, while the VX and Sahara have larger 354mm units, although all other variants do weigh another 100kg more than the GX.

But the LandCruiser’s on-road performance is obviously only half of the story. Toyota markets this thing as the ‘king off the road’, and it’s abilities to deal with things getting rougher and tougher are even more impressive.

While the GX does lack a lot, it still features all of the off-roading kit the more expensive variants serve up – dual-range transfer case, a locking centre diff, five-speed crawl control, and off-road turn assist, just to name the highlights.

The gadgetry all works brilliantly – the crawl control system is absolute genius, handling the throttle and braking for you during low-speed off-roading leaving only the steering to you as it figures out exactly how to get you over or through whatever lies in your wake, while the off-road turn assist, which locks up the inside wheel during tight manoeuvres to reduce this behemoth’s turning circle, does exactly what it says on the tin.

With that said, while they work excellently, the constant juddering sound of the systems working away quickly becomes irritating, so it’s a good thing that if you aren’t a fan of them and would rather take the reigns yourself, it’s wondrously easy to command over even the most challenging of terrain thanks to its 225mm of ground clearance and a great amount of articulation to its four-link coil-sprung rear axle.

But where it shines most in my eyes away from the pavement is when it comes to its performance on unsealed gravel roads – something which abound here in Australia.

Centre diff locked or not, it feels remarkably tractable at higher speeds on roads like these, meaning you’re still able to explore the full potential of the big V8. The ride is excellent on roads like this, too, and I’d go so far as to say that it actually feels even smoother here than it does on sealed roads, meaning that as far as you’re aware from behind the wheel, the road simply changes colour every now and then.

On sand and through water, too, it performs similarly well, forever feeling solid, planted, and grounded, although on particularly loose sand chewed up by other beach-going off-roaders it did feel surprisingly tail-happy, it must be said, even with the centre diff locked.

Of course, some more dedicated off-road tyres would help here and only benefit its all-around capabilities even more, and changing parts and adding to it is the whole point of this mod-ready model, but even as it sits fresh out of the box, it’s a remarkably capable thing.

It’s a truly remarkable machine, the 200 Series. There’s little it doesn’t do well, and what it does do well, it truly does really very well indeed. Deftly capable both on-road and off, it still manages to impress 12 years on – even if the GX feels comparably equipped to a 2008 model.

What is undeniable, though, is that the burbling V8 under the bonnet is a huge part of its character. It gives it a certain effortlessness and charm, and while if you’re asking me, a smaller but more powerful twin-turbo V6 oiler like you’d find in the Land Rover Discovery would be perfectly fine, something would still be missing. Some things, to be more precise – namely, two cylinders, and an immeasurable amount of charisma.

It’ll be sad to see the 200 Series sent off to pasture when it does go, but I’m excited for the new LandCruiser to arrive as it’s certainly not every day that one comes along. Whether you’re worried the V8 will disappear for good, or you are simply a fan of the simplicity this LandCruiser brings to the table, now is definitely the time to buy.

2020 Toyota LandCruiser 200 GX List Price: $80,190

Performance - 8/10

Ride & Handling - 8/10

Tech & Features - 6.5/10

Practicality - 8/10

Value for Money - 7.5/10

7.6/10

Pros: Muscular twin-turbo V8 engine, smooth and relaxed feel on the open road, incredibly capable off-road with its excellent gadgetry, simple but handsome looks

Cons: No reverse camera or active safety tech in the GX, lack of basic interior features, feels as big and heavy as it is, undeniably expensive

In a nutshell: It’ll be sad to see the 200 Series – and, potentially, it’s wonderful V8 – eventually go, as it’s easy to see why it still sees such incredible popularity after so many years.

Fashion Royalty

1859 Concentrates. CO2 GSC sap and oils. Made with wax pulled from an Apeks Supercritical 1500-20L.

The black and white element offere the view if the basic elements or structure for appreciation, The color will add the refinement or wow element.

The Three Graces (c. 1501-1505) is a small picture by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. It is housed in the Musée Condé, Chantilly, France.

The figurative powers which Raphael developed in Florence led to a more synthetic conception of form and a refinement of intellectual expression, which is visible in the paintings of Knight's Dream and the Three Graces.

Critics believe that the two panels may have formed a single diptych presented to Scipione di Tommaso Borghese at his birth, in 1493 The theme of the paintings may by drawn from the Latin poem Punica by Silius Italicus, which was well known in antiquity and which humanistic culture restored to fame. In the first panel, Scipio, the sleeping knight, must choose between Venus (pleasure) and Minerva (virtue); in the second, the Graces reward his choice of virtue with the Golden Apples of the Hesperides. Classical themes were treasured by contemporary Florentine patrons. The composition is dominated by a sense of great harmony.

Three Graces are the personification of grace and beauty and the attendants of several goddesses. In art, they are often the handmaidens of Venus, sharing several of her attributes such as the rose, myrtle, apple and dice. Their names according to Hesiod (Theogony 905) were Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thalia. They are typically grouped so that the two outer figures face the spectator, and the one in the middle faces away. This was their antique form, known and copied by the Renaissance.

The group has been the subject of much allegorising in different ages. Seneca (De Beneficiis, l.3:2) described them as smiling maidens, nude or transparently clothed, who stood for the threefold aspect of generosity: the giving, receiving, and returning of gifts or benefits: ut una sit quae det beneficium, altera quae accipiat, tertia quae reddat. The Florentine humanist philosophers of the 15th century saw them as three phases of love: beauty, arousing desire, leading to fulfillment; alternatively, as the personification of Chastity, Beauty and Love, perhaps with the inscription "Castitas, Pulchritudo, Amor."

The Three Graces is Raphael's first study of the female nude in both front and back views. However, it was probably not based on living models, but either directly or indirectly on the classical sculpture group of the Three Graces in the Piccolomini Library of the Duomo of Siena.

Also see three other versions:

Francesco Cossa's panel in Allegory of April (c 1450)

Botticelli's classic evocation (1482) in Primavera

Jacopo Pontormo's later mid 16th century mannerist treatment

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Lavochkin La-7 (Russian: Лавочкин Ла-7) was a piston-engine Soviet fighter developed during World War II by the Lavochkin Design Bureau (OKB). It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin La-5, and the last in a family of aircraft that had begun with the LaGG-1 in 1938.

Even though a sub version of the La-7, the type received the separate Air Standardization Coordinating Committee (ASCC) code "Flake" as it was initially mistaken as a new Lavochkin type.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 8.89 m (29 ft 1 1/2 in)

Wingspan: 10,16 m (33 ft 3 in)

Height: 2.41 m (7 ft 11 in)

Wing area: 19.59 m2 (210.2 sq ft)

Gross weight: 3,315 kg (7,308 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Shvetsov ASh-82FN air-cooled 14 cylinder radial engine with a two-stage supercharger and

fuel injection, 1.380 kW (1.850 hp), driving a 4-bladed VISh-110V propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 680 km/h (422 mph; 367 kn) at 6.000 meters (19.685 ft)

Range: 665 km (413 mi; 359 nmi)

Service ceiling: 11.500 m (37.667 ft)

Rate of climb: 17.25 m/s (3.410 ft/min)

Time to altitude: 4.8 minutes to 5.000 meters (16.404 ft)

Armament:

2 × 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannons, 150 RPG, plus 200 kg (440 lb) of bombs

The kit and its assembly:

This whif was a bit of a spontaneous use of a Hobby Boss La-7 kit, part of a kit lot, for which I lacked any good idea. Anyway, I always had an eye on kits for the more streamlined La-9/11s – and then the idea was born to convert the leftover La-7 into something that would come close to the later types.

Biggest surgery concerned the aerodynamic surface; everything was modified:

• Outer wings from a Matchbox P-51D

• Stabilizers from a Heller P-51D

• Fin tip from an Academy Fw 190A

Wings were cut just outboard of the landing gear wells, while the Mustang wings were cut at the 2nd machine gun. Depth fits surprisingly well, only the La-7’s trailing edge had to be adapted, but that only a small effort.

Another mod is the new, for-bladed propeller, scratched from the spares box, and I added some cockpit details and a pilot torso (the canopy was to remain closed). I also removed the original tunnel oil cooler and moved this device into the wings’ leading edges, for a cleaner fuselage.

For the same clean look I left away any ordnance. Actually, when all major parts were in place, I even considered to make a race aircraft (Reno Unlimited?) from the kit, since the Lavochkin looks really fast, but then I reverted to the military use option. A North Korean whif was still missing!

Painting and markings:

When I started building there was no clear idea which country should use the La-7bis – I did not want Soviet markings, though. After some search in the decal stack I found spare North Korean markings, and from there things unfolded naturally.

The odd paint scheme was derived from real Korean La-11 fighters – a kind of tiger stripe pattern, dull green over a grey background with pale blue undersides. I used Humbrol 64 (light Sea Grey) and FS 34096 from Modelmaster, and FS 35414 from Modelmaster, too, for the undersides. Later, these colors were shaded with lighter tones. A yellow fin tip is the only color marking.

North Korean roundels come from a Print Scale MiG-15 decal sheet, the tactical code comes from the scrap box; the fine silver trim around the cowling and the black stripe under the yellow fin tip are decals, too, from generic TL Modellbau sheets.

All interior surfaces were painted with Humbrol 240 (RLM 02, plus a black ink wash), and to add some Soviet style the wheel discs were painted in dark green. The panels on the fuselage flanks were painted in a Metallizer Mix of Steel and Titanium.

The kit received a light black ink wash, plus some soot stains around the cannons and the exhaust shields. Finally, all was sealed with Revell’s acrylic matt varnish.

In the end, the La-7bis looks like less work than it actually was - one can argue if the effort has been worth it? The major transplantations are hard to discern and you have to look at least twice to recognize the differences between a La-7 and the later La-9 and -11. But that was intended – subtle and unspectacular.

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.

* Special wrinkle Joint for wagon hinges.

Wrinkle refinement passing trom 1 to 3 allowing anticlastic and sinclastic surface adaptation.

* Found: Metro Barcelona.

From the family of the S-Class, the highest-quality vehicle in the world, comes a new level of hand-crafted refinement, personalization and prestige: the all-new 2016 Mercedes-Maybach S600.

Coming in April 2015, the Mercedes-Maybach S600 takes the perfection of the S-Class and soars to new heights. The interior is eight inches longer than the standard S-Class, and rear passengers will especially enjoy the generous legroom. Unparalleled comfort and sophistication awaits throughout, highlighted by hand-stitched Nappa leather throughout the interior—including the headliner, pillars and entire seats—with optional seat buttons, pillows and pillow stitching on the dashboard. All in all, the Mercedes-Maybach will offer seven unique designo interior packages to choose from.

The broad spectrum of personalization options does not end there, though. In addition to a palette of 14 standard designo Manufaktur exterior paints developed using a special process, the Mercedes-Maybach S600 will feature eight additional exclusive paint colors.

Step into a world of unprecedented exclusivity and individuality—a world beyond superlatives.

www.wbayer.com/

www.flickr.com/wbayercom

www.facebook.com/wbayercom

A daring and sculptural creation, Citroën DS5 perfectly expresses the DS spirit, with bold choices on styling, architecture, sensations and refinement.

www.ds5.citroen.com/

A daring and sculptural creation, Citroën DS5 perfectly expresses the DS spirit, with bold choices on styling, architecture, sensations and refinement.

www.ds5.citroen.com/

Integrity Toys Erin Stalton Clash Control 2008, Natalia Fatale Elusive Creature 2014, Vanessa Perrin Shock Bonbon 2004, Natalia Fatale Bellissima 2013 OOAK and Vanessa Perrin Refinement 2015 at the flower shop. All miniature furniture handmade by myself except the plastic flowers/plants.

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.

Project: Inside

Intimo piacere - Canna indica

Choosing brass for your business cards immediately associates you with the refinement of more cultured times.

Metal business cards by PureMetalCards.com

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Lavochkin La-7 (Russian: Лавочкин Ла-7) was a piston-engine Soviet fighter developed during World War II by the Lavochkin Design Bureau (OKB). It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin La-5, and the last in a family of aircraft that had begun with the LaGG-1 in 1938.

Even though a sub version of the La-7, the type received the separate Air Standardization Coordinating Committee (ASCC) code "Flake" as it was initially mistaken as a new Lavochkin type.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 8.89 m (29 ft 1 1/2 in)

Wingspan: 10,16 m (33 ft 3 in)

Height: 2.41 m (7 ft 11 in)

Wing area: 19.59 m2 (210.2 sq ft)

Gross weight: 3,315 kg (7,308 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Shvetsov ASh-82FN air-cooled 14 cylinder radial engine with a two-stage supercharger and

fuel injection, 1.380 kW (1.850 hp), driving a 4-bladed VISh-110V propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 680 km/h (422 mph; 367 kn) at 6.000 meters (19.685 ft)

Range: 665 km (413 mi; 359 nmi)

Service ceiling: 11.500 m (37.667 ft)

Rate of climb: 17.25 m/s (3.410 ft/min)

Time to altitude: 4.8 minutes to 5.000 meters (16.404 ft)

Armament:

2 × 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannons, 150 RPG, plus 200 kg (440 lb) of bombs

The kit and its assembly:

This whif was a bit of a spontaneous use of a Hobby Boss La-7 kit, part of a kit lot, for which I lacked any good idea. Anyway, I always had an eye on kits for the more streamlined La-9/11s – and then the idea was born to convert the leftover La-7 into something that would come close to the later types.

Biggest surgery concerned the aerodynamic surface; everything was modified:

• Outer wings from a Matchbox P-51D

• Stabilizers from a Heller P-51D

• Fin tip from an Academy Fw 190A

Wings were cut just outboard of the landing gear wells, while the Mustang wings were cut at the 2nd machine gun. Depth fits surprisingly well, only the La-7’s trailing edge had to be adapted, but that only a small effort.

Another mod is the new, for-bladed propeller, scratched from the spares box, and I added some cockpit details and a pilot torso (the canopy was to remain closed). I also removed the original tunnel oil cooler and moved this device into the wings’ leading edges, for a cleaner fuselage.

For the same clean look I left away any ordnance. Actually, when all major parts were in place, I even considered to make a race aircraft (Reno Unlimited?) from the kit, since the Lavochkin looks really fast, but then I reverted to the military use option. A North Korean whif was still missing!

Painting and markings:

When I started building there was no clear idea which country should use the La-7bis – I did not want Soviet markings, though. After some search in the decal stack I found spare North Korean markings, and from there things unfolded naturally.

The odd paint scheme was derived from real Korean La-11 fighters – a kind of tiger stripe pattern, dull green over a grey background with pale blue undersides. I used Humbrol 64 (light Sea Grey) and FS 34096 from Modelmaster, and FS 35414 from Modelmaster, too, for the undersides. Later, these colors were shaded with lighter tones. A yellow fin tip is the only color marking.

North Korean roundels come from a Print Scale MiG-15 decal sheet, the tactical code comes from the scrap box; the fine silver trim around the cowling and the black stripe under the yellow fin tip are decals, too, from generic TL Modellbau sheets.

All interior surfaces were painted with Humbrol 240 (RLM 02, plus a black ink wash), and to add some Soviet style the wheel discs were painted in dark green. The panels on the fuselage flanks were painted in a Metallizer Mix of Steel and Titanium.

The kit received a light black ink wash, plus some soot stains around the cannons and the exhaust shields. Finally, all was sealed with Revell’s acrylic matt varnish.

In the end, the La-7bis looks like less work than it actually was - one can argue if the effort has been worth it? The major transplantations are hard to discern and you have to look at least twice to recognize the differences between a La-7 and the later La-9 and -11. But that was intended – subtle and unspectacular.

While rekindling the feeling of luxury, refinement, and indulgence from an era gone by, The Inn At Saratoga embraces today's modern world of convenience, efficiency, and kick-off-your-shoes-and-make-yourself-at-home hospitality.

Built in 1848 amidst the steady influx of tourists eager for recreation, horse racing, the arts, and the cures of the mineral baths and tonic waters, the Inn welcomed guests of wealth and cultivation. Today's guests come for these same attractions.

You can almost hear the whisper of gowns and the blowing of horses as you stand under the carriage port where drivers would pause their buggies for the fancy ladies and their beaus to enter The Inn. The careful Victorian decor inside, gently blended with state-of-the-art technology transports you to a place out of time where anything is possible. In addition to preserving the original Victorian architecture, other characteristics about The Inn remain unchanged: recognition for exquisite cuisine and extraordinary devotion to pleasing its guests

Though the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau had put the excellent MiG-15 fighter in production, giving the Soviet Union one of the best fighters of the early 1950s, MiG felt it could further improve on the design. The MiG-15 had shown itself to be unstable as it neared the speed of sound, and it was anticipated that further refinement could be done to the aircraft. As a result, MiG OKB began work on an improved MiG-15, referred to as the MiG-15-45 because of its primary characteristic, an improved swept wing. This new wing was thinner than that on the MiG-15, included wing fences for improved aerodynamics, and was swept at 45 degrees near the wingroot and to a slightly lesser degree at the wingtip, giving the new variant a distinctive “banana-wing” shape.

The fuselage was extended to incorporate an afterburner on the VK-1F turbojet, while a small ventral fin was added beneath the tail to further improve stability. While the MiG-17 could not quite break the sound barrier, it was very stable in most respects and kept the heavy armament and good all-around visibility of the MiG-15. The design changes were enough to warrant a new designation, so it became the MiG-17.

The first MiG-17 flew in January 1950, and despite the loss of the prototype to a fatal crash, low-level production soon began—low-level due to the urgent need for MiG-15s to fight in the Korean War. Not until after the war had ended did full-scale production begin on the MiG-17. By then, it was considered somewhat obsolescent: the supersonic MiG-19 was placed in production alongside the MiG-17, while work had begun on the MiG-21. Nonetheless, it was kept in production for the rest of the decade as the MiG-19 proved to be a bit of a disappointment. The MiG-17 was updated in 1953 after the Soviet Union captured a F-86F Sabre, and copied elements of the Sabre’s ejection seat and gunsight into the new fighter. It was dubbed “Fresco” by NATO. Attempts were made to build all-weather versions of the MiG-17 with mixed results; the all-missile MiG-17PM was reviled by its pilots due to a poor radar and worse missiles. The most common version was the day fighter MiG-17F.

The MiG-17’s combat debut was not auspicious, seeing action in the 1956 Suez War and the 1958 Quemoy Crisis. In the former, Egypt’s few MiG-17s were outnumbered and outflown by French and Israeli Mystere IV and Super Mystere fighters, while over the Taiwan Straits, People’s Republic of China MiG-17s were ambushed by Republic of China F-86Fs equipped with Sidewinder missiles. By 1960, production had ended, and the Soviet Union sold off most of its stock to client states, reequipping with more modern MiG-21s.

In 1962, the Soviet Union supplied the nascent North Vietnamese People’s Air Force with 36 MiG-17Fs as the nucleus of a new air force, and to offset the American-supplied Thai and South Vietnamese air forces. By 1965, when Operation Rolling Thunder began, these aircraft were sent against US Air Force and Navy fighters attacking the Thanh Hoa bridge. On 4 April 1965, a force of four MiG-17s shot down two F-105 Thunderchiefs to score the VPAF’s first victories of the war, but paid a heavy price, losing three out of the four to escorting F-100 Super Sabres and their own antiaircraft fire. The MiG-17 would remain the primary VPAF aircraft throughout Rolling Thunder, though it was gradually supplemented by the MiG-21. Since the MiG-17 was subsonic and lacked radar, it depended on ground radar to guide the pilot to the target, but once in a dogfight, the small, very manueverable, cannon-armed MiG had a definite advantage over American aircraft; only the F-8 Crusader came remotely close to matching it. A favorite tactic of MiG-17 pilots was to hide “in the grass” at low level and pick off any unwary American pilot, or attack during a bomb run when their opponents were at their weakest. It came as a rude surprise to American pilots that semi-obsolete aircraft were still capable of destroying the latest word in military equipment, and it pointed up the deficiencies in American air combat training.

MiG-17s accounted for about 50 USAF and Navy aircraft during Rolling Thunder, enough that when the Top Gun program was formed in 1969, A-4 Skyhawks were assigned specifically to simulate them. This was also secretly supplemented by two ex-Syrian MiG-17Fs captured by Israel in 1968 and given to the United States under Project Have Drill. One deficiency that was found in the MiG-17 was that, at high speeds and low altitudes, compressibility would set in and the aircraft became unresponsive to the controls. These lessons were put to good use when American strikes resumed in 1972. By this time, the VPAF had largely withdrawn its MiG-17s to training units, preferring the more modern MiG-19 and MiG-21. While the MiG-17 did account for a few more kills, they mostly ended up being shot down by better trained US Navy pilots and USAF F-4E pilots, who now had internal guns themselves. In the right hands, a MiG-17 was still a formidable opponent, as US Navy aces Randy Cunningham and William Driscoll found out on 10 May 1972, when a MiG-17 dueled in the vertical with their F-4J for nearly ten minutes before it was finally shot down.

After Vietnam, the MiG-17 had outlived its usefulness, and though it would see limited service in African brushfire wars and in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, what few air forces retained them relegated them to second-line and training units. A few persisted in the Albanian and North Korean air forces until 2000. 10,603 MiG-17s were built by the Soviet Union, Poland, and China, serving in 40 air forces; today, several hundred still remain in museums and in flyable condition, including 27 in the United States alone.

The MiG-17 in the Malmstrom Museum is a Vietnamese example, serial number 3020, assigned to the 923rd Fighter Regiment based at Kep airbase, North Vietnam. North Vietnamese MiG-17s received a dizzying amount of camouflage schemes or were left in bare metal; the most common was a jungle pattern of two shades of green over bare metal undersurfaces. Though some MiG-17s were also equipped with missiles, the VPAF rarely used them. This particular aircraft was flown by several pilots. 3020 was also piloted by an unknown, but highly skilled pilot on 10 May 1972 against Cunningham and Driscoll, in an epic dogfight that ended in the MiG-17 being shot down and destroyed.

Elevating Expectations.

Supra raises the standards of refinement with innovative interior amenities that create extreme luxury tempered by intuitive design. The new SC interior is the perfect example. Elegantly functional features like Supra's E-Boost equipped racing-style driver's seat marries comfort and convenience with high performance. Versatile passenger relaxation like Triple-up Seating with a flip-up lean back in the lounge, a rear-facing seat behind the driver that houses a trash receptacle and storage, an available Gap Seat in the walk-through and a 36-can relocatable stay-cold AO Cooler continue the usability without compromising interior look, capacity or comfort. The standard 10-speaker Polk Sound System can be controlled through the media screen of the VISION Touch, with a remote mounted in a lounge side panel or in the passenger-side glovebox. Easy-access tune control is an understatement. Supra furthers the interior feast for the senses with LED Mood Lighting, hand-cover color-match interior accents and the plush feel of Spradling's stain and abrasion resistant multi-textured SupraSkinTM vinyl. The Supra SC raises its standards to luxury, you should too.  

Built from 1953 to 1964, the 250 GT was Ferrari’s first production automobile and its most successful early line, with several variants that each established their own benchmarks of greatness. The collective mechanical refinements of Ferrari’s early post war cars were finally fully merged with Pinifarina’s design genius in the 250 GT series; beginning with the 1953 250 Europa and Europa GT, Pininfarina established the styling cues that would signify a generation of road and competition Ferraris: a long nose to accommodate the famous V-12 engine, an oval eggcrate grille, sweeping rear roof panels and smooth, unbroken contours.

As the 250 GT was growing in stature as the world’s finest Grand Touring car, sports car racing was approaching Grand Prix levels of performance, the dangers of which were made only too clear by the 1955 Le Mans accident. In 1956 the FIA responded by introducing a Grand Turismo class to emphasize the more sporting concept of a dual-purpose car suitable for both road and track. The 250 GT was a perfect fit for the new formula, which limited displacement to 3.0 liters, in which configuration the Colombo-designed Ferrari V-12 had been competing since 1952.

Ferrari had anticipated the FIA’s new rules in 1954 with the 250 Europa GT, which was built on a stronger twin-tube long wheelbase (102.3”) chassis using the first coil spring front suspension on a Ferrari. Competition versions also employed aluminum bodywork, plexiglass windows and other race-oriented refinements. The 250 GT competizione immediately became the dominant force in FIA GT racing, and when a factory entry driven by the Spanish Marquis Alfonso de Portago won the grueling Tour de France, another Ferrari legend was born.

Thereafter the name “Tour de France” signified the series of competition berlinetta 250 GT Ferraris built from 1956 to 1959, when chassis number 1321GT, flying the colors of Belgium’s Garage Francorchamps, dominated its class at the twin cathedrals of endurance racing, Le Mans and the Nürburgring. Driven by Jean Blaton (aka “Beurlys”) and Leon Dernier, the Red and Yellow coupe won 1st place in the GT class and 3rd overall at Le Mans as the No. 11 car. Earlier that same year, it took 1st place at the Nürburgring 1000 KM race. After its competition career, the Ferrari was privately owned by only a few collectors – the most recent owning the car since the 1970s – and was last seen in public in the early 1990s at Road America.

1321GT is distinguished by its single-vent sail panels, open headlights mandated by Italian regulations, and is powered by an “inside-plug” V-12 fitted with triple carburetors (Of special note is the unique oil filler door located on the engine cover to facilitate quicker pit stops - the only one to appear on a Tour de France).

Still resplendent in Red with Francorchamps Yellow stripe and Saddle interior upholstery, 1321GT represents the pinnacle of the 250 GT TdF series of 82 cars and serves as historical testament to the brilliant collaboration between the two Italian automotive giants of the 20th century.

Lower half of an A1 development sheet showing refinement of my ideas for each card's theme character, colour scheme and media use. The bottom row being the most successful has more media combinations and experiments such as clay, textiles, felting, paint effect, string , paper-cut, paper marbling painted characters, hand typography, relief and brusho inks. All features were required to be handmade so finding effective combinations and ways of producing relatively quick but effective and aesthetic combinations was a main focus for me with this sheet.

The MANSORY limited customization programme for Aston Martin DB9 / DBS

Get behind the wheel of one of the world's most spectacular vehicles

One of the most innovative chassis refinements produced by the noble manufacturer MANSORY is called CYRUS. Alternatively, it optimizes either model DB9 or DBS made by Aston Martin. Perfect workmanship and elaborate engineering are the hallmarks of these 15 limited edition vehicles, which are in a class of their own.

CYRUS aerodynamics components are made of extremely light "prepreg autoclave carbon" and do not only include wing extensions for the front and rear, but also side skirt attachments and trims. At the front axle, a redesigned front skirt with enlarged air intakes provides optimal ventilation for the 12-cylinder power pack. The CYRUS front is visually enhanced with the newly designed carbon bonnet. With its two slotted “power domes” additional fresh air is directed into the front engine. The masculine design of the newly developed rear skirt with integrated diffuser emphasises the superior look and provides space for four stainless steel end pipes of the sonorous sport exhaust system.

(www.mansory.com)

- - -

Mansory Cyrus auf Basis des Aston Martin DB9 order DBS.

Perfekte Verarbeitung und ausgereifte Technik kennzeichnen das maskuline Aerodynamikpaket. Ein Gewindefahrwerk sorgt für beste Straßenlage und setzt die markanten Felgen im XXL-Format optimal in Szene.

Haute Couture auf Rädern

Passgenaue Verarbeitung und perfekte Oberflächen dokumentieren den Qualitätsanspruch des MANSORY Designeroutfits.

Die CYRUS-Aerodynamikkomponenten bestehen aus dem extrem leichten „prepreg autoclav carbon“ und umfassen neben den vorderen und hinteren Kotflügelverbreiterungen auch neue Seitenschwelleraufsätze und Verblendungen. An der Vorderachse sorgt eine neu entwickelte Frontschürze mit größeren Lufteinlässen für die optimale Kühlung des Zwölfzylinderaggregats. Optisch vollendet wird die Vorderansicht des CYRUS mit der neu designten Karbonmotorhaube. Sie sorgt durch zwei geschlitzte „Powerdome“ für zusätzliche Frischluftversorgung des Frontmotors. Auch am Heck haben sich die Techniker des Veredlers etwas einfallen lassen, um der Optik des Frontmotors. Auch am Heck haben sich die Techniker des Veredlers etwas einfallen lassen, um der Optik des Aston Martin den letzten Schliff zu verpassen. Die neu gestaltete Heckschürze mit dem integrierten Diffusor rundet den souveränen Auftritt ab und schafft Platz für vier Edelstahlendrohre der klangvollen Sportauspuffanlage.

(www.mansory.com)

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Messerschmitt Me 362 was a derivative of the jet-powered Me 262 Schwalbe or Sturmvogel (English: "Swallow"/ "Storm Bird") fighter aircraft that was to bridge the gap between advanced aerodynamics and the lack of sufficient production jet engines as well as their poor reliability and performance.

Pilots who were accustimed to the Me 262 found the Me 362 easier to handle, even though its delicate balance and poor ground clearance called for constant attention. Nevertheless, in the hands of experienced pilots the Me 362 proved to be a very effective interceptor that could outrun and -dive any Allied escort fighter that protected the bomber groups over Germany. But the little nimber of aircraft and the few skilled pilots that could man these machines had only little impact.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length overall: 10.33 m (34 ft 1/2 in)

Wingspan: 12.60 m (41 ft 6 in)

Height: 3.85 m (12 ft 7 1/2 in)

Wing area: 21.7 m² (234 ft²)

Empty weight: 3,250 kg (7,165 lb)

Loaded weight: 4,150 kg (9,149 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 4,413 kg (9,730 lb)

Aspect ratio: 7.32

Powerplant:

1× Daimler Benz DB 603G liquid-cooled, inverted V12 engine, rated at 1900 PS (1874 hp, 1397 kW) max. power at 2700 rpm at sea level and 1560 PS (1539 hp, 1147 kW) combat power at 2700 rpm at sea level

Performance:

Maximum speed: 765 km/h (474 mph)

Cruising speed: 665 km/h (413 mph; 359 kn)

Rate of climb: 3,180 ft/min (16.15 m/s)

Range: 1,100 km (684 mi; 594 nmi)

Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,370 ft)

Armament:

4x 30mm MK108 cannon in the nose section with 80 RPG,

2x hardpoints under the forward fuselage, each able to carry up to 250kg (550lb), including bombs or 300l drop tanks (rarely used)

2x underwing hardpoints for two pairs of Bordrakete 21 unguided missiles or racks with a total of 24× 55 mm (2.2 in) R4M rockets

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional aircraft was inspired by the simple idea to retrograde the Me 262 jet fighter into a piston-engined 'Behelfsjäger' alternative. While considering options like wing-mounted nacelles I wondered if the triangular fuselage diameter could not be of use, and so the concept of a pusher aircraft was born - certainly inspired by the Do 335 and its tail construction.

Anyway, what sound simple took a lot of detail work and subsequent conversions:

#1 - Engine bay

While I wanted to implant a coupled engine like the DB606 I found it too big and heavy for a fighter, so a simple Daimler Benz V12 would have to suffice. But just sticking it behind the cockpit would not work - the center of gravity would move backwards considerably. Therefore I decided to move the cockpit forward, replacing the front tank behind the weapons bay, and then place the engine above the OOB main landing gear.

The fuselage was sliced up accoringly and the cockpit opening moved forward by ~0.5". Inside, a cockpit tub from a Revell Me 262 was inserted, as well as a new seat, a dashboard and other details, together with a pilot figure. The OOB canopy could be kept this way, and openings for the exhausts were cut into the fuselage flanks, with flare blockers.

Since the model was built with its wheels down, any space in the fuselage nose was crammed with lead - and the model barely keeps its stance with the nose down...

#2 - Clean wings

The wings were taken OOB, but the engine nacelles left away and the respective gaps filled with 2C putty.

#3 - New tail

This included a scrathed propeller, its mounting inside of the fuselage and a cruziform tail.

The original fin and rudder were cut away, shortening the fuselage. From a drop tank of appropriate size, a pointed spinner was made as well as a round 'adapter ring' of apporoproate diameter for the fuselage's end section. Inside, a styrene tube holds a metal axis with the spinner, so that it can run freely.

For the propeller blades I used four clipped, swept resin blades from a C-130J conversion kit. That appears futuristic, but such designs were actually on the drawing board (e. g. at Dornier) for heavy pusher aircraft with a top speed of 800km/h and more.

With the help of the adapter ring the tail section/shape was re-sculpted with putty. The four fins all belong to Me 262 kits: the horizontal stabilizers come from the Matchbox kit, while the vertical stabilizers were leftover pieces from a Revell kit.

#4 - Radiator

Since a liquid-cooled engine, especially when buried in the fuselage, needs a radiator I went for the ventral tunnel option. At first I considered a P-51 piece, but I found a different and more massive part, that perfectly matched the Me 262 outlines: an piece of an underwater ship hull (IIRC from a German mine sweeper model from Heller, built maybe 30 years ago)!

Wide and shallow, the opening (separated with styrene blades into three sections) is wide enough to house two radiator intakes as well as the carburetor scoop in the middle that would have had otherwise to be stuck onto the fuselage flank, breaking up the clean lines.

The ship hull was long enough to be extended up to the lower fin, so that the Me 262's profile and proportions changed considerably.

#5 - Landing gear

With the lower fin as propeller guard the OOB landing gear was too short, so I had to scratch/improvise a new one. Actually, the only things left from the Matchbox kit are the covers and the front wheel. The main landing gear wells were lengthened and the track widened in order to accomodate the longer struts.

The bomb pylons under the Matchbox kit's front fuselage were covered, but as an alternative extra armament I scratched two twin starters for 'BR21' unguided air-to-air missiles from styrene profiles and placed then under the outer wings.

Painting and markings:

This aircraft was to appear hastily camouflaged after delivery from factory in an overall RLM 76 finish, and I found a late war Fw 190 D-9 as design benchmark. This machine was even partly left in bare metal or grey primer and carried only RLM 83 (Dunkelgrün) on the wings' upper surfaces, with some additional RLM 82 (Hellgrün) on the fuselage only. Furthermore, the typical speckles on the fuselage flanks and the fin(s) was very light only on this aircraft, so that it appeared very light and 'clean'.

I tried to transplant this basic concept onto the Me 362, and I also incorporated the very light paint coat seen on many Me 262s that let the bare metal as well as the filler on the panel seams below shine through, due to the lack of paint and haste of production.

In order to simulate this, the kit received a primer coat with acrylic aluminum, on which the seams were highlighted with dark grey.

On top of that, a coat of thinned camouflage (Humbrol enamels 247, 252 + 253) was added. With the same thinned colors the few camouflage spots were created. Once the paint had dried, I wet-sanded the surface so that the lower aluminum/filler and RLM 76 coat could shine through here and there.

All rudders were painted with a slightly different blue-grey (FS 36320), and here and there some paint repair spots with different tones (RLM 02, 75 and even some Sky) added.

The cockpit interior became very dark grey (RLM 66), as well as the wheel discs, while the landing gear and the respective wells became RLM 02. The propeller blades were painted in RLM 70 (Schwarzgrün) while the spinner carries the Stab flight's color code, bright green (RLM 25, maybe?).

A light black ink wash emphasized panel lines and toned the light RLM 76 down a bit. Decals and markings were puzzled together, and as a typical Stab aircraft it received chevron symbols instead of a colored tactical code number. Most decals come from TL Modellbau aftermarket sheets, most stencils come from a Revell Me 262's sheet.

Some soot and oil stains were added, light, dry-brushed silver on the leading edges and around the canopy simulates chipped and worn paint. Finally, everything was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

What looks like a simple 'Me 262 with a tail prop' took more effort than one might think - one thing led to another, but the result is IMHO pretty plausible - and the layout is not too far-fetched: there were similar designs on the drawing boards of Dornier and Focke Wulf, with swept wings, pusher props and even two engines or with auxiliary jet engines in wing nacelles, but these were much bigger and heavier aircraft, though. Mounting a V12 engine in a Me 262 would certainly not have been easy, so this whiffy model remains pure fiction.

The department has been building up a library of design related reference books over the last few years. Pupils are encouraged to make use of these books on a regular basis. The photographs here demonstrate the tremendous wealth of content contained therein.

The sequence has been shot in such a way that the cover of the book is shown first and a few sample pages are included to give the student an idea of the content the book contains. Pupils may then approach staff and request a short term loan.

Elevating Expectations.

Supra raises the standards of refinement with innovative interior amenities that create extreme luxury tempered by intuitive design. The new SC interior is the perfect example. Elegantly functional features like Supra's E-Boost equipped racing-style driver's seat marries comfort and convenience with high performance. Versatile passenger relaxation like Triple-up Seating with a flip-up lean back in the lounge, a rear-facing seat behind the driver that houses a trash receptacle and storage, an available Gap Seat in the walk-through and a 36-can relocatable stay-cold AO Cooler continue the usability without compromising interior look, capacity or comfort. The standard 10-speaker Polk Sound System can be controlled through the media screen of the VISION Touch, with a remote mounted in a lounge side panel or in the passenger-side glovebox. Easy-access tune control is an understatement. Supra furthers the interior feast for the senses with LED Mood Lighting, hand-cover color-match interior accents and the plush feel of Spradling's stain and abrasion resistant multi-textured SupraSkinTM vinyl. The Supra SC raises its standards to luxury, you should too.