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Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico. Stick a table in your front doorway, add popcorn, corn chips, salsa and hot sauce and you are in business.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The MBR-04 series were the first combat-ready Destroids and the most successful land-combat weapon Destroids that were built with OverTechnology of Macross. The abbreviation MBR (Main Battle Robot) indicates the model was developed as a walking humanoid weapon emphasizing the heavy armor firepower of an artillery combat vehicle, designed to replace mainline battle tanks.
Despite inferior anti-aircraft abilities, the Tomahawk boasted firepower like no other biped vehicle from the Destroid series. Originally, the Tomahawk was just called "MBR Mk. I", but once its systems and structural elements became the basis for other models, its designation changed into the "Type 04" Destroid. The main frame from the waist down was common to the Type 04 series, which included the the Defender and the Phalanx, a module which consolidated the thermonuclear reactor and ambulatory OverTechnology system of the Destroids. Production line integration using this module was a key goal of Destroid development.
The Type 04 series was developed jointly by Viggers and Chrauler and became also the basis of the MBR-04 Tomahawk. Unlike the variable fighters (which had to be designed to accommodate transformation mechanisms), the MBR series featured a structure with a large capacity that allowed plenty of room for machinery and armor.
Projectile resistance was stressed in the design, but the Tomahawk did not have the armor strength to withstand a direct hit from a Zentraedi mobile weapon. However, the Tomahawk made use of heaviness to add firepower and versatility such that it came to symbolize those features of the Destroid.
First development began in May 2001 and trial production began in December 2003. The decision to formally introduce the MBR-04 series of Destroids was made in June 2006, mass production began and the MBR-04-Mk I rollout occurred in February 2007. The Mk VI Tomahawk's and Mk X Defender's rollouts were in November 2007 and March 2009, respectively.
The MBR-04-Mk. I's initial weaponry consisted of rocket launchers and two arms for use in close-quarters combat. Eventually, the Tomahawk's arms evolved into fixed armaments unsuitable for hand-to-hand combat and thus it was best fielded in a combined arms role with cooperating Destroid models and the VF-1.
The Type 04 design led to expansion of installed armaments and achieved improvement in productivity and serviceability which contributed to the rapid development of the Destroid variations. The Tomahawk itself underwent a rapid development. Earlier variants, which mainly differed in the design of the arms and the weapon package, were only produced in limited numbers. The Mk. III introduced the first heavy particle beam cannon to the Destroids, and the following Mk IV. achieved excellent results in maneuvers and an enhanced output. The Mk. VI became the eventual mass production type, and some of the earlier models were later brought to Mk. VI standard.
Eventually, a considerable number 440 units (initially, 500 were envisioned) were deployed aboard the SDF-1 Macross and operated by the U.N. Spacy as well as the U.N.S. Marine Corps. Most of the Destroid Tomahawks were deployed upon the surface of SDF-1 to perform close-range interception and also to operate as an immediate combat force. A small number - primarily from the early variants with full arms and articulated hands for bigger field versatility in small combat groups - was operated by the UNSMC for landing operations and special tasks.
The Tomahawk operated as a core ground combat unit during the Great Stellar War (Space War I) and - when paired with the VF-1 variable fighter - achieved impressive military gains against the Zentraedi army.
General characteristics:
Equipment Type: main battle robot, series 04
Government: U.N. Spacy
Manufacturer: Viggers/Chrauler
Introduction: February 2007
Accommodation: 1 pilot plus space for a second crew member
Dimensions:
Height 12.7 meters (overall)
11.27 meters (up to head unit)
Length 5.1 meters
Width 7.9 meters
Mass: 31.3 metric tons
Power Plant:
Kranss-Maffai MT808 thermonuclear reactor, developing 2800 bhp output;
Auxiliary GE EM9G fuel generator, rated at 450 kW
Propulsion:
2x thrust nozzles mounted in the lower back region, allowing the capability to perform jumps,
plus several vernier nozzles around the hull for Zero-G manoeuvers
Performance:
Maximum speed: 180 km/h
Design features:
- Detachable weapons bay (attaches to the main body via two main locks);
- Extending/retractable periscope telescope (in weapon bay directly above the cockpit);
- Option pack featuring missiles or searchlight (can be mounted on either side of the weapon bay);
- Coolant tank (installed within the upper left side of the back torso);
- Capable of performing jumps via 2 x thrust nozzles (mounted in the lower back torso);
- Radiators with exhaust ports in the rear on the left and right hips
- Cockpit can be separated from the body in an emergency (only the cockpit block is recovered);
- Head unit equipped with 2 camera eyes, upper eye moving along a slit,
the lower protected by a polarized light shield
Armament:
1x Mauler PBG-07 liquid-cooled electrically-charged twin particle beam gun
2x Bifors close-in self-guided rocket launchers in the shoulders
with 12 rockets per launcher (24 rockets total)
2x Astra TZ-III gun clusters in the lower chest with each cluster featuring:
- 1x laser gun
- 1x 25 mm heavy machine gun
- 1x 180 mm grenade launcher
- 1 x flamethrower
2x Ramington M-89 12.7 mm air-cooled machine guns, mounted within the head unit
Option packs:
1x Erlikon anti-aircraft self-guided missile launcher with 6 missiles (shoulder mount)
1x Rheinstahl 35 mm automatic rapid-fire cannon (lower arm pod)
1x Stonewell 20 mm six-barrel gatling gun (lower arm pod)
The kit and its assembly:
After a long time, a Macross mecha kit again. The idea behind this modified Tomahawk was that I always wondered about the clumsy "cannon arms" of the Mk. VI variant, and what an earlier version - with complete arms and hands - could have looked like? When I delved through my Macross donor parts bank I came across two lower arms from former VF-1 conversions (from different kits, though...), and I tested them on my authentic 1:100 Tomahawk Mk. VI model that I have built about 20 years ago: they seemed to work in size and volume!
An extensive spare parts and sprues safari followed and yielded two complete hands/fists from a VF-1 Gerwalk Arii kit (these appear to be totally outsized!), as well as lower arms/elbow sections, so that a transplantation to the Tomahawk’s arm stumps, which would later even allow a lengthwise axis mobility. And with some extra vinyl caps the transformation experiment could begin.
The basis is a Bandai re-issues of Imai’s 1982 1:100 Tomahawk kit, in specific from Macross' 30th anniversary merchandise. They seem to pop up every five years!?
However, having built and re-built several of the Imai/Arii Destroid kits, I made some changes beyond the arm transplantation, since there’s a lot of space for improvement, even though the kit as such is decent for its age. But you have to expect PSR almost everywhere, and the kit’s vintage “Matryoshka” construction of the model (build one element from two halves, place it between two more halves, etc.) does not make the assembly process easy – but there are ways to evade this inherent problem, see below.
One important improvement measure was a completely now hip joint arrangement. OOB, the Tomahawk's posture is pretty stiff, with the legs and feet straight forward - it's supposed to just stand upright, and with the model’s OOB joint options it is really hard to create a vivid poise. Furthermore, the bolts that hold the legs are prone to break off, even more so because the Tomahawk kit is from the 1st generation of mecha kits, without vinyl caps and just very tight joint fit.
My solution was the implantation of a new hip “bone” made from plastic-coated steel, which is stiff in itself but can be bent in two dimensions. The thighs had to be modified accordingly, since the wire is much thinner than the original bolts. As a convenient trick, the receptor holes in the thighs were simply filled with small vinyl rings - their outer AND inner diameter fit perfectly for the new arrangement. With this trick, a much more dynamic and "natural" leg position could be achieved, also thanks to the Tomahawk’s large feet and their joints. This tuning measure improves the model considerably.
Another change is the Tomahawk's weaponry, which is OOB pretty impressive. Since my fictional Mk. III lost its main arm weapons, I decided to give it at least a major cannon on the shoulder. A convenient donor came from a Dorvack 1:24 PA-36K "Berlon" kit, placed on a scratched mount on the right shoulder,. Which allows the weapon to be moved up and down. To make place for the new twin gun, the OOB sextuple missile launcher was moved to the left side, necessitating a modification of its holder, too.
As mentioned above, the arms use donor parts from the Arii VF-1 Gerwalk kit, but there are also less obvious changes. While the shoulder mounts and the upper arms were taken OOB from the Tomahawk kit, I modified their attachment system. Instead of the "put the arms between the fuselage halves" solution, I modified the arms so that they can be stuck independently into their respective hull openings. This has the benefit that they are actually movable (remember the tight fit of the model’s joints, add some paint and nothing will ever move), and they can be built and painted separately from the rest of the model. In order to stabilize the arms when in place and prevent them from falling out too easily, I added an interlaced styrene tube axis arrangement between them. Very simple and effective, and it works well.
The VF-1 Gerwalk lower arms were taken OOB. Upon test-fitting I found that the bulky Tomahawk could even take some more muscle on its new arms, so I added a pair of FAST packs from a Super Valkyrie kit to them (also found in the spares box…). These would, however, not contain AAMs, as on the VF-1, but rather more guns. I went for a medium machine cannon in the left arm and a gatling gun (scratched from syringe needles, fiddly affair...) against soft and aerial targets in the right arm.
In order to provide the model with some more details and depth I added a lot of small styrene bits everywhere – this is actually only necessary on the front sides of the lower legs for an authentic improvement, but all those other tiny bits and pieces just underline the mecha’s sturdiness and provide visual detail for the later painting process.
The machine guns above the cockpit were replaced with hollow steel needles; since these are thinner than the OOB barrels, I filled the gaps with paper tissues drenched in thinned white glue. Flexible cables (elastic braid) were added to the twin beam cannon and to the legs/hip joints.
Painting and markings:
Basically a simple affair, because I wanted to stay true to the original look of a typical Macross Destroid. These tend to carry a uniform livery, esp. the Tomahawk/Defender/Phalanx family is kept in murky/dull tones of green, brown and ochre: unpretentious "mud movers". Anything else or even complex camouflage patterns are rare. The OOB MBR-04-Mk. VI carries a reddish-brown livery, and Yamato also did an 1:60 Tomahawk action figure in an overall olive drab tone, which appears canonical.
However, for a personal touch I chose a greyish dark green as basic overall tone, Field Grey (Tamiya XF-65). The missile launcher covers on the shoulders were painted in NATO olive green (RAL 6014, Gelboliv, Revell 46), but the different tone became, after weathering, harder and harder to tell, so that the Tomahawk ended up with a relatively uniform livery.
Otherwise there's hardly any other color on the Tomahawk’s hull. The hands/fists were painted with Polished Steel metallizer, the bellows in the knees became anthracite (Revell 06). The characteristic white trim on the lower legs that many Destroids carry was painted with white - unfortunately none of the Destroid kits offers them as a decal. However, due to the legs' uneven underground, these would be difficult to apply, anyway. The lower camera visor was created with simple clear red paint on top of a basic coat with silver. The other small camera windows at the top and back are small decal squares in dayglo orange.
The model was thoroughly weathered with a heavier black ink wash and a total of three dry brushing turns: the first, generous treatment with acrylic Revell 67 (Grüngrau, RAL 7009), followed by the second, moer careful turn around the edges and other details with acrylic Revell 45 (Helloliv, a yellowish variant of RLM 02). The decals followed next, mostly taken from the OOB sheet, just with a few extra stencils, new tactical codes and the "Trixie” nose art (it actually belongs to a P-40F, piloted by Joseph A Bloomer Jr of the 318th FS/325th FG in the MTO) on the lower left leg – a typical detail of many Destroids.
The third dry brushing turn followed, this time with acrylic Revell 75 (a yellowish light grey), esp. on the edges and concentrated around the lower areas of the Tomahawk, simulating wear and dust/mud residue.
Finally, the model received an overall coat with acrylic matt varnish from the rattle can. Some bare metal showing through at a few edges was added, too, again through dry-brushing with silver. After final assembly of the elements, some mineral pigments were dusted onto the model with a soft, big brush. Around the feet, pigments were also applied into small patches of wet matt acrylic varnish, forming stable mud crusts.
In the end, I am quite happy with the outcome, even though the Field Grey turned out to be darker/more murky than expected, even though the color itself suits the Tomahawk well. The transplanted arms also blend well into this mecha which bristles with weapons: this fictional (I had no reference material for earlier Tomahawk versions except the official short texts from the Macross publications) result looks pretty plausible and complements the 20-years-old Mk. VI in my collection well.
Os atletas Sub-20 da SE Palmeiras, durante treinamento no Complejo Deportivo La Alpina, em La Serena, Coquimbo, Chile. (Foto: Fabio Menotti/Palmeiras/by Canon)
A competitor bicycles past a row of helicopters while laboring through the 11.1-mile bicycle course during the 2011 Sprint Triathlon outside Hangar 101 on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, May 22, 2011. Comprised of a 500-meter swim, 11.1-mile bike race and a 5-kilometer run, the triathlon was the first of two in the 2011 Commanding Officer’s Fitness Series. The event was hosted by Headquarters Battalion and Marine Corps Community Services Semper Fit division.
ALA-12 E.A. (C.15-59 / 12-17) / McDonnell Douglas EF-18M HORNET (c/n 840/A581) / SPOTTERS SKETCHERS DAY (ALA-23) / BASE AÉREA DE TALAVERA LA REAL (LEBZ) / SPANISH AIR FORCE
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan (Oct. 3, 2020) - U.S. Air Force 44th Fighter Squadron F-15C Eagles return from a deployment Oct. 3, 2020, at Kadena Air Base, Japan. While deployed to the U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility, Airmen conducted more than 1,000 sorties and 5,300 combat hours, which drove 13 phase inspections in six months. They’ll now share the skills they learned in combat with Team Kadena, joint partners and allies to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Peter Reft) 201003-F-YW474-0272
** Interested in following U.S. Indo-Pacific Command? Engage and connect with us at www.facebook.com/indopacom | twitter.com/INDOPACOM |
www.instagram.com/indopacom | www.flickr.com/photos/us-pacific-command; | www.youtube.com/user/USPacificCommand | www.pacom.mil/ **
+++ 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 Dassault MD.454 Mystère IV was a 1950s French fighter-bomber aircraft, the first transonic aircraft to enter service in French Air Force. The Mystère IV was an evolutionary development of the Mystère II aircraft and the straight-wing Ouragan. Although bearing an external resemblance to the earlier aircraft, the Mystère IV was in fact a new design with aerodynamic improvements for supersonic flight. The prototype first flew on 28 September 1952, and the aircraft entered service in April 1953.
The first 50 Mystère IVA production aircraft were powered by British Rolls-Royce Tay turbojets, while the remainder had the French-built Hispano-Suiza Verdon 350 version of that engine. In addition to production Mystère IVA, Dassault developed an upgraded Mystère IVB with either a Rolls-Royce Avon (first two prototypes) or a SNECMA Atar 101 (third prototype) afterburning engine and a radar ranging gunsight. Six pre-production aircraft were built but the project was abandoned in favor of the more promising Super Mystère.
Another development was the Mystère IVN. This aircraft was developed in parallel with the Mystère IVB as a night and all-weather interceptor. It differed from the single-seat fighter in several respects: a 1.4m section was added to the forward fuselage to accommodate a second crew member; internal fuel capacity was substantially increased and provision was made for an APG 33 intercept radar with the scanner above the engine air intake, not unlike the North American F-86D 'Sabre Dog' which already flew in 1949.
Powered by a Rolls-Royce Avon RA.7R, rated at 9.553 lbf (43.30 kN) with maximum afterburning, the Mystère IVN had provision for an armament of two 30mm cannons in the lower forward fuselage and a retractable rocket pack for 55 unguided air-air rockets of 68mm caliber.
The prototype was flown on 19 July 1954, but the development program was soon about to be abandoned owing to France's inability to finance the development of two night fighters (the other being the SNCASO Vautour) at the same time. Compared to the heavier Vautour, the Mystère IVN suffered from several shortcomings: endurance was considered insufficient and the proposed APG-33 radar, a Hughes-built Aircraft X band fire control radar originally developed for the USAF's F-89A and F-94A/B 1st generation jet interceptors, turned out to be unsuitable, too.
France decided to move on with the Vautour, but there was serious interest in the Mystère IVN from foreign markets: India, already being a taker of French combat aircraft like the Ouragan and the Mystère IVA, showed much interest, as well as smaller European countries like the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Belgium, where the limited range and loiter time were only of secondary importance. Israel also showed much interest. Most of them had to replace their outdated WWII Mosquito night fighters or were looking for a jet-powered, yet affordable solution for the all-weather interceptor role.
Eventually the Mystère IVN was developed further as a private venture, without official orders for the Armée de l’ Air. Several measures were taken to improve the type's endurance – the most significant was to omit the rocket belly tray in the fuselage and its complicated mechanics. Instead, the space was used for an auxiliary tank and some new avionics.
The IVA’s pair of 30mm DEFA cannons was retained. Unguided rockets – at the time of development the preferred air-to-air weapon against large bomber groups, coming in at high altitude and subsonic speed, could still be carried externally in up to four streamlined pods under the wings. A pair of 800l drop tanks could be carried on the wet inner pair of pylons, too.
Avionics were upgraded, too: the prototypes' AN/APG-33 was replaced by a more effective Hughes AN/APG-40 fire control radar (used in the F-89D and F-94C), together with an E-9 fire control system like that of the early F-102. This allowed the Mystère IVN (theoretically) to carry both types of the GAR-1/AIM-4 'Falcon' AAM. The GAR-1D (later re-coded AIM-4A) had semi-active radar homing (SARH), giving a range of about 5 mi (8.0 km). The GAR-2 (AIM-4B) was a heat-seeker, generally limited to rear-aspect engagements, but with the advantage of being a 'fire and forget' weapon. It had a similar range to the GAR-1.
The Mystère IVN could carry a maximum of four such missiles on launch rails under the wings. As would also be Soviet practice, it was common to fire the weapon in salvos of both types to increase the chances of a hit (a heat-seeking missile fired first, followed moments later by a radar-guided missile). The Falcon turned out to be rather unreliable and complicated in handling. It also had only a small 7.6 lb (3.4 kg) warhead, limiting their lethal radius, and it lacked a proximity fuze: the fuzing for the missile was in the leading edges of the wings, requiring a direct hit to detonate. Consequently, the missile was not introduced by any of the Mystère IVN’s users.
Alternatively, the French AA.20 air-to-air missile was tested, but it was deemed to be even less practical, as it relied on direct command guidance, using a similar system to that used by Nord's anti-tank missiles, with the missile being steered visually from the launching aircraft - at night or in adverse weather conditions not a suitable concept. The later, beam-riding AA.25 would have been a better option, but it was incompatible with the US-built APG-40 radar.
Belgium was the initial user of the type, initially buying 24 Mystery IVN (serialled AY-01 – 24) as replacements for the BAF's obsolete Mosquito NF.30 fleet in 1955, and later ordering 12 more as replacements for the Gloster Meteor NF.11 night fighter fleet. These were accompanied by 53 Avro CF-100 'Canuck', bought in 1957.
Both types served with No 11, 349 and 350 Squadron of the 1st "All Weather" Wing at Beauvechain and only saw a single, brief ‘hot’ mission: during “Operation Simba” in 1959, four BAF Mystère IVN, were, together with four more CF-100s, deployed to Kamina Air Base in Belgian Kongo, in order to suppress unrest and keep air control. The mission only lasted from 3rd to 16th of July 1959, though, and the transfer alone took four days, due to slow C-119G transporters which carried the technical support for the mission.
The Canuck was only used until 1964 when it was replaced by the Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, the Belgian Mystère IVNs would follow in 1975. None of these aircraft was preserved, as all remaining aircraft were sold to scrap dealer Van Heyghen and broken up at Gent.
Other users were Israel (20), India (42), Spain (16) and Australia (16) – many European countries rather settled for the license-built F-86K/L interceptors, sponsored by the USA (e. g. Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany), even though the Mystère IVN offered the benefit of a second crew member/WSO.
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 14.92 m (49 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 11.12 m (36 ft 5 ¾ in)
Height: 4.60 m (15 ft 1 in)
Wing area: 32.06 m² (345.1 ft²)
Empty weight: 7.140 kg (15.741 lb)
Max. take-off weight: 10.320 kg(22.752 lb)
Powerplant
1× Rolls-Royce Avon RA.7R rated at 7.350 lbf (32.69 kN) dry thrust and 9.553 lbf (43.30 kN) with afterburner
Performance
Maximum speed: 1.030 km/h (640 mph) at sea level
Range: 915 km (494 nmi, 570 mi) without external tanks,
Ferry range: 2.280 km (1.231 nmi, 1.417 mi) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 15.000 m (49.200 ft)
Rate of climb: 95 m/s (7.874 ft/min)
Armament
2× 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA cannons with 150 rounds per gun
1.000 kg (2.200 lb) of payload on four external hardpoints under the wings, including unguided rocket pods (for 19 x 68mm missiles each), drop tanks, iron bombs of up to 1.000 lb (454 kg) caliber or up to four GAR-1/2 (AIM-4) ‘Falcon’ AAMs.
The kit and its assembly:
A whiffy aircraft – even though it actually existed! This became a bigger project than originally intended – it started when I wondered what one could whif from a Matchbox Mystère IVA? When I browsed sources I stumbled across the real IVN prototype several times, a very attractive aircraft. An all-weather version sounded like a plan.
At first I just wanted to add a radome and a chin air intake to the basic kit, creating a fantasy single-seater, but then I decided to tackle the challenge and create something that could be called a IVN model – even though a later service aircraft, and certainly not 100% true to the real thing.
Another factor that spoke for the IVN was that there is no kit available. AFAIK there’s a short-run, mixed-media 1:48 scale kit from Fonderie Miniatures of this aircraft – but in 1:72?
In real life, only a single Mystère IVN was actually built and flown – the type became a victim to the Vautour, as mentioned above. The only prototype served as a radar and equipment test bed, and AFAIK it still exists today as an exhibit at the Conservatoire de l'Air et de l'Espace d'Aquitaine in Bordeaux–Merignac. As a side note: With this plane Jacqueline Auriol beat the women world speed record in May 1955, flying 1.151 km/h
Basis for my conversion is the simple Matchbox Mystère IVA kit. Good news is that you just need to modify the fuselage for an IVN – wings and tail surfaces can be taken OOB. But the fuselage…?
The easier part is the rear end, as the exhaust pipe needs to be widened and lengthened for the IVN’s bigger afterburner engine. I cut the original tail section under the fin away and replaced it with parts from 1:100 A-10 engine nacelles, with a new nozzle inside and 2C putty sculpting around the fin base in order to get some cleaner lines. Pretty straightforward.
The front end was another thing, though. Almost anything in front of the wings had to be re-designed. Initial step was to lengthen the fuselage by almost exactly 20mm, but then you need the chin air intake with the radome above (very F-86D-like), too, and a tandem seat cockpit has to be integrated. Complicated!
I found a suitable cockpit hood in the Matchbox Meteor NF.11/12/14 kit (Hannant’s Xtrakit re-boxing). It offers, as optional parts for a late NF.14, a strutless, relatively short canopy together with a matching fuselage part. A very convenient combo for the conversion, as the clear parts can be glued onto correct foundations, and even the dorsal radius of Meteor and Mystère is very similar.
After cutting the fuselage in front of the wings in half I also cut out a dorsal gap around the original cockpit opening and tried to insert the donation part, while filling the 20mm gaps on the fuselage flanks with styrene strips on the inside of the fuselage and 2C and finally NC putty on the outside.
In the same step I also had to improvise a new cockpit floor. The dashboard and radar screen for the WSO were taken from the Meteor. I also added cockpit side walls from styrene sheet and ejection seats.
A dorsal spine had to be scratched, too, as the Meteor NF.14 had a bubble canopy, while the Mystère IVN features a straight spine. The canopy was cut at its rear end, and a part of a vintage FROG Me 410 engine nacelle(!) was implanted to fill the spine gap. More messy putty work, but things started to look like the real aircraft!
With the cockpit and the glass parts in place I started sculpting the nose section next. The radome is a WWII drop tank front end, cut out to match the IVA’s nose shape. Then the air intake below was added, it comes from a Italeri F-16 but had to be considerably modified in order to fit into the new place (narrowed, shortened, and with cutout on top for the radome). Being flatter and wider I extended the new intake’s lines and shape into cheek fairings, up to the cannon muzzles.
During the same process I also blended the radome with the circular front end of the original Mystère IVA. Again, lots of putty sculpting, but worth the effort. It’s certainly not 100% like the real thing, but IMHO the impression counts in this case.
The landing gear was taken OOB. Under the wings four pylons were added (from two Revell G.91 kits, the inner pairs), the inner pair received drop tanks (also from a Revell Fiat G.91), the outer pair holds the IVA kit’s streamlined rocket pods, those that come OOB.
For those who quibble about the Matchbox kit’s small drop tanks: No, these 'blobs' are typical French air-to-air missile pods of the 50ies/60ies, with 19 68mm missiles inside. They have vertical front and back ends, but they carry aerodynamic caps on both ends. Looks wacky, but if you know what they are they make sense. They can also be seen on contemporary Vautour aircraft.
In a wake of terminal detailism I also decided to modify the wings with lowered flaps – this is easy to realize, since area under the wings is limited by wide and deep trenches, and the flaps are just “boards”. The respective areas were sanded away, and new flaps made from thin styrene sheet.
Several pitots from wire or styrene were added, the gun ports drilled open and filled witn short pieces of hollow steel needles.
Painting and markings:
A French service aircraft would have been the 1st choice, but all aircraft from that era were left bare metal – with the rough putty surface not the best choice, and it might have looked rather F-86D-style?
Camouflaged French aircraft came later, with the imported F-100s and the SMB2, and those were rather tactical schemes.
So, I looked for an alternative, also in foreign countries, and settled on Belgium. The real Belgian Air Force situation is described above, and one can only wonder why they settled for the huge and rather ineffective CF-100, as it only carried unguided air-to-air rockets on the wing tips, but no cannon at all. So, there would have been a place for a smaller and more agile night fighter in the BAF.
The paint scheme follows the BAF’s fashion of the late 1950ies: RAF-style, featuring a rather dark green/dark grey camouflage, with pale grey the lower surfaces, but not in BS colors, rather European NATO standard.
I settled for Revell 46 (RAL 6014, NATO olive green) and Modelmaster 2085 (actually RLM 75 - it is a tad lighter than Dark Sea Grey) as basic colors for the upper sides, and Modelmaster 2039 (FS 16515, Canadian Voodoo Grey) for the lower sides. This sounds like an odd combo, but after consulting real aircraft pics of that era the colors seemed to deteriorate quickly, esp. the green would bleach into even reddish hues and the grey turn very pale.
Consequently the aircraft was weathered thoroughly through dry-brushing the upper sides and the panel lines with several lighter tones. The green received a treatment with RLM 81(!) and Humbrol 155, esp. around the hot rear end of the afterburner extension, and the grey was lightened with Dark Sea Grey and FS 36231.
The kit also received a light black ink wash in order to emphasize contrasts - most details were painted onto the hull, as I didn't dare a new engraving on the mixed material underground.
After painting was done I could not help but consider the camouflaged Mystère IVN to look like a blown-up Fiat G.91T? Weird how a paint scheme affects perception! To be honest, I don’t find the paint scheme truly sexy, but together with the Belgian cockades and the red 350th Squadron markings the aircraft looks disturbing enough to make you look twice.
The cockpit interior was painted in dark grey, the landing gear wells and other interior surfaces were left in Aluminum.
The red and white wing tip pitots are a nice, colorful detail. I am not certain if these were unique to the IVN prototype, but I adopted them for my service version – and the stripes were taken from real world BAF CF-100s.
Tactical codes were improvised with single letters from TL Modellbau sheets. The squadron marking decals come from a Modeldecal aftermarket sheet (#100), they belong to a Belgian CF-100.
The roundels were partly taken from the same sheet, but also from a TL Modellbau roundels sheet, as the CF-100 insignia were much too large for the relatively compact Mystère IVN.
A messy project, since almost the whole fuselage had to be modified – but worth the effort. The Mystère IVN is a pretty aircraft that unfortunately did not get its chance.
The bright Belgian roundels (esp. those on the wings, with their blue, wide extra ring!) make the aircraft look a bit surreal? Anyway, the NATO camouflage makes the Mystère IVA heritage almost disappear, I guess that the aircraft will confuse a lot of people. ;)
End of day 3. New fence panels and posts fitted. Shuttering in place. More stone will be put in place before concrete
base truck model T1825 - KAMAZ-5325-1001-69 (G5)
engine Cummins-ISB 6.7E5250 turbocharged 6 cylinder Euro-5 diesel engine 6.67 liters with rated capacity of 242 hp
The colonization of the Moon is the proposed establishment of permanent human communities on the Moon. Advocates of space exploration have seen settlement of the Moon as a logical step in the expansion of humanity beyond the Earth. Recent indication that water might be present in noteworthy quantities at the Lunar poles has increased interest in the Moon. Polar colonies could also avoid the problem of long Lunar nights (about 354 hours, a little more than two weeks) and take advantage of the sun continuously.
Permanent human habitation on a planetary body other than the Earth is one of science fiction's most prevalent themes. As technology has advanced, and concerns about the future of humanity on Earth have increased, the argument that space colonization is an achievable and worthwhile goal has gained momentum. Because of its proximity to Earth, the Moon has been seen as a prime candidate for the location of humanity's first permanently occupied extraterrestrial base.
My new clone base on kashyyyk.Check out my youtube for the full video :) www.youtube.com/user/ilovelegostarwarsyo
Some of you may have noticed that, unfortunately, owing to the fact that a certain person based in Kent who sells truck photos on eBay commercially has been lifting my images from this album and selling them I have had to remove 2300 photos that didn't have a watermark. I have now run around 1700 through Lightroom and added a watermark with the intention of bulk uploading them again. Rather than watermark the existing (hidden) files in Flickr one at a time it will be easier to do it this way. I definitely won’t be adding individual tags with the make and model of each vehicle I will just add generic transport tags. Each photo is named after the vehicle and reg in any case. For anyone new to these images there is a chapter and verse explanation below. It is staggering how many times I get asked questions that a quick scan would answer or just as likely I can’t possibly answer – I didn’t take them but just to clarify-I do own the copyright- and I do pursue copyright theft.
This is a collection of scanned prints from a collection of photographs taken by the late Jim Taylor A number of years ago I was offered a large number of photographs taken by Jim Taylor, a transport photographer based in Huddersfield. The collection, 30,000 prints, 20,000 negatives – and copyright! – had been offered to me and one of the national transport magazines previously by a friend of Jim's, on behalf of Jim's wife. I initially turned them down, already having over 30,000 of my own prints filed away and taking space up. Several months later the prints were still for sale – at what was, apparently, the going rate. It was a lot of money and I deliberated for quite a while before deciding to buy them. I did however buy them directly from Jim’s wife and she delivered them personally – just to quash the occasional rumour from people who can’t mind their own business. Although some prints were sold elsewhere, particularly the popular big fleet stuff, I should have the negatives, unfortunately they came to me in a random mix, 1200 to a box, without any sort of indexing and as such it would be impossible to match negatives to prints, or, to even find a print of any particular vehicle. I have only ever looked at a handful myself unless I am scanning them. The prints are generally in excellent condition and I initially stored them in a bedroom without ever looking at any of them. In 2006 I built an extension and they had to be well protected from dust and moved a few times. Ultimately my former 6x7 box room office has become their (and my own work’s) permanent home.
I hope to avoid posting images that Jim had not taken his self, however should I inadvertently infringe another photographers copyright, please inform me by email and I will resolve the issue immediately. There are copyright issues with some of the photographs that were sold to me. A Flickr member from Scotland drew my attention to some of his own work amongst the first uploads of Jim’s work. I had a quick look through some of the 30 boxes of prints and decided that for the time being the safest thing for me to do was withdraw the majority of the earlier uploaded scans and deal with the problem – which I did. whilst the vast majority of the prints are Jims, there is a problem defining copyright of some of them, this is something that the seller did not make clear at the time. I am reasonably confident that I have since been successful in identifying Jims own work. His early work consists of many thousands of lustre 6x4 prints which are difficult to scan well, later work is almost entirely 7x5 glossy, much easier to scan. Not all of the prints are pin sharp but I can generally print successfully to A4 from a scan.
You may notice photographs being duplicated in this Album, unfortunately there are multiple copies of many prints (for swapping) and as I have to have a system of archiving and backing up I can only guess - using memory - if I have scanned a print before. The bigger fleets have so many similar vehicles and registration numbers that it is impossible to get it right all of the time. It is easier to scan and process a print than check my files - on three different PC’s - for duplicates. There has not been, nor will there ever be, any intention to knowingly breach anyone else's copyright. I have presented the Jim Taylor collection as exactly that-The Jim Taylor Collection- his work not mine, my own work is quite obviously mine.
Unfortunately, many truck spotters have swapped and traded their work without copyright marking it as theirs. These people never anticipated the ease with which images would be shared online in the future. I would guess that having swapped and traded photos for many years that it is almost impossible to control their future use. Anyone wanting to control the future use of their work would have been well advised to copyright mark their work (as many did) and would be well advised not to post them on photo sharing sites without a watermark as the whole point of these sites is to share the image, it is very easy for those that wish, to lift any image, despite security settings, indeed, Flickr itself, warns you that this is the case. It was this abuse and theft of my material that led me to watermark all of my later uploads. I may yet withdraw non-watermarked photos, I haven’t decided yet. (I did in the end)
To anyone reading the above it will be quite obvious that I can’t provide information regarding specific photos or potential future uploads – I didn’t take them! There are many vehicles that were well known to me as Jim only lived down the road from me (although I didn’t know him), however scanning, titling, tagging and uploading is laborious and time consuming enough, I do however provide a fair amount of information with my own transport (and other) photos. I am aware that there are requests from other Flickr users that are unanswered, I stumble across them months or years after they were posted, this isn’t deliberate. Some weekends one or two “enthusiasts” can add many hundreds of photos as favourites, this pushes requests that are in the comments section ten or twenty pages out of sight and I miss them. I also have notifications switched off, I receive around 50 emails a day through work and I don’t want even more from Flickr. Other requests, like many other things, I just plain forget – no excuses! Uploads of Jim’s photos will be infrequent as it is a boring pastime and I would much rather work on my own output.
Base B8301786
Camera 4 (X8111597)
Text 1: Two Pines Plot
Battery Level: 100%
Pics on camera: 0
camera4/p_001303.jpg: PIR Trigger
Since the Montana Snowbowl base is under 5,000 feet, it's known for being icy a lot of the time. But there was plenty of fresh powder this day.
+++ 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 Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries during and after the Second World War. The Spitfire was built in many variants, using several wing configurations, and was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft.
The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works (which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928). In accordance with its role as an interceptor, Mitchell designed the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing to have the thinnest possible cross-section; this thin wing enabled the Spitfire to have a higher top speed than several contemporary fighters, including the Hawker Hurricane.
It was the only British fighter to be in continuous production throughout World War II, and remained in service with several air forces around the world for several years. One of its post-war operators was the Lebanese Air Force, or Al Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Lubnaniyya (لقوات الجوية اللبنانية).
The Lebanese Air Force was established in 1949 under the command of then-Lieutenant Colonel Emile Boustany who later became commander of the army. Soon after its establishment, a number of planes were donated by the British, French, and Italian governments, with additional planes donated by Britain and Italy later that same year.
Britain donated 4 Percival Prentices, 2 World War II-era Percival Proctors and seven trpocailized Supermarine Spitfires (six Mk. XVIe and one TR.8 two-seater), while Italy donated 4 Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bombers which were mainly used for transportation.
The Mk XVI Spitfire was a WWII design, and the last variant powered by a Merlin engine and based on the original, sleek fuselage. It was basically the same as the Mk IX, except for the engine, a Merlin 266. The Merlin 266 was the Merlin 66 and was built under licence in the USA by the Packard Motor Company. The "2" was added as a prefix in order to avoid confusion with the engines, as they required different tooling.
All Mk XVI aircraft produced (a total of 1,054 Mk XVIs left Castle Bromwich) were of the Low-Altitude Fighter (LF) variety. This was not determined by the length of the wings (clipped wings were fitted to most LF Spitfires), but by the engine, which had been optimised for low-altitude operation. All production Mk XVIs had clipped wings for low altitude work and were fitted with the rear fuselage fuel tanks with a combined capacity of 75 gal. Many XVIs featured cut-down rear fuselages with bubble canopies. On these aircraft the rear fuselage tank capacity was limited to 66 gal.
Because of a slightly taller intercooler and rearranged accessories on the Packard Merlins a new, bulged upper cowling was introduced, a detail that also appeared on late production IXs. For the service in the Middel East region the Lebanese machines received dust filters which considerably changed the aircraft's silhouette.
Armament consisted of two 20 mm Hispano II cannons - each with 120 rpg - and two 0.50 calibre Browning machine guns - each with 250 rpg. 1 × 500 lb (227 kg) bomb could be carried underneath the centre rack, and 1 × 250 lb (114 kg) bomb could be slung under each wing. As a special feature, the wing hardpoints of the Lebanese Spitfires were "wet" so that slipper tanks with 24 gal. each could be carried, compensating for the reduces rear fuselage tank due to the bubble canopy's lowered dorsal spine.
The Lebanese Spitfires only saw a short service, since in 1953, jet fighters were introduced when 16 de Havilland Vampire jets were received, and the first Hawker Hunters arrived in 1959, which replaced the obsolete Spitfires. This initial Hunter batch was followed by more Hunters through 1977.
In 1968, 12 Mirage IIIELs were delivered from France but were grounded in the late 1970s due to lack of funds. In 2000, the grounded Mirages were sold to Pakistan, and four Hunters were even revived in 2008 and served until 2014.
General characteristics:
Crew: one pilot
Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)
Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m)
Wing area: 242.1 ft2 (22.48 m2)
Airfoil: NACA 2209.4(tip)
Empty weight: 5,065 lb (2,297 kg)
Loaded weight: 6,622 lb (3,000 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 6,700 lb (3,039 kg)
Powerplant:
1× Rolls-Royce Merlin 60 supercharged V12 engine,
rated at 1.470 hp (1.096 kW) at 9.250 ft (2.820 m)
Performance:
Maximum speed: 370 mph, (322 kn, 595 km/h)
Combat radius: 410 nmi (470 mi, 760 km)
Ferry range: 991 nmi (1,135 mi, 1,827 km)
Service ceiling: 36,500 ft (11,125 m)
Rate of climb: 2,600 ft/min (13.2 m/s)
Wing loading: 27.35 lb/ft2 (133.5 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)
Armament:
2x 20mm Hispano Mk II cannon (120 RPG)
2x .5 in Browning machine guns (250 RPG)
Three hardpoints (1 ventral, 1 under each outer wing) for up to 1.000 lb (454 kg).
The kit and its assembly:
This whif is based on a simple idea: how did Lebanon's Air Force start? Small countries make a good whif playground, and I guess that nobody has the Lebanon on his/her list...?
Another factor was that I had some Austrian roundels left in store that could, with a green dot, easily be turned into Lebanese markings. So the theme was quickly settled, but the details take some preparation time, so the idea lingered for some time.
After some legwork I deemed a simple Spitfire with a dust filter worthy as an initial aircraft, and the respective Hobby Boss kit of a Spitfire Mk. VB in the stash came handy.
But somehow this was a bit dull, and at the inception of the Lebanon Air Force there were better option available than an early Mk. V. I still wanted a sleek, Merlin-powered Spitfire variant, though, and eventually settled for the Mk. XVI - with its clipped wings and the bubble canopy it has a very distinctive look.
When a "1 Week group Build" at whatifmodelers.com in the Easter Week 2015 was announced, I took this occassion to build the Lebanese Spitfire.
By that time I already had a basis kit at hand (Heller's Spitfire XVI) as well as some donation parts and decals.
Work was strightforward, the Heller kit was built almost OOB. It's a rather old model kit, with raised panel lines, but good detail. The material is thin, so the built item lacks some structural stability! On the other side, this makes some minor mods really easy: I lowered the flaps and moved the tail rudders slightly off of neutral position. I also opened the cockpit "door" on the left side for later static display, even though the cockpit itself was left OOB. It's a bit "flat", but for the kit's age it's pretty good, and the injected canopy is crystal clear and fits perfectly.
I had some major woes concerning the fit for the forward fuselage, and even more when I tried to mate wings and fuselage: there was a 1mm gap(!) on both sides that had to be bridged with putty, and the thin and flexible material did help much...
Other mods concern the propeller (added a styrene tube and a metal axis for free spin), the radiators (these are molded into the lower wings - sounds horrible, but is made very well and thin, I just added some foamed styrene inside as protective mesh because OOB there's just a blank "box" inside) and the kit received a dust filter - a resin piece taken from a Pavla conversion set for Hawker Hurricanes.
Painting and markings:
While a donated RAF Spitfire would certainly have carried a desert paint scheme in Dark Earth/Mid Stone/Azure Blue or a late WWII Dark Green/Ocean Grey/Light Sea Grey livery I settled for something more individual and effective for the rugged Levantine terrain.
In this case I went for the rarely used RAF 'Tropical Scheme' in Mid Stone/Dark Green from above and with Mediterrenean Blue undersides.
The pattern itself is standard RAF, the upper cammo taken down onto the dust filter's flanks was taken over from RAAF Spitfires during WWII (RAF aircraft would carry a higher waterline, with the filter painted completely in the lower surface's tone). Basic paints are RAF Dark Green from Modelmaster and Humbrol 84 (RAF Mid Stone) - rather authentic. But I used Humbrol 87 (Steel Grey) for the undersides - it's rather intense and has a greenish hue, and by far not as dark as the typical RAF Azure Blue or PRU Blue.
Interior surfaces were painted in RAF Cockpit Green (Modelmaster Authentic), while the landing gear and its wells were kept in Aluminum Dope (Humbrol 56).
Decals/markings were puzzled together and improvised. The Lebanese roundels are actually Austrian national markings into which a dark green dot has ben added manually... the fin flash and the roman/arabic codes come from an Xtradecal aftermarket sheet.
Beyond these basic markings I did not add anything flashy - in 1951 things were rather simple,
The kit received a light shading and some dry painting with light grey, plus a light black ink wash. Soot/exhaust stains were created with grinded graphite and around the engine some leaked oil was added with Tamiya's "Smoke", and everything was sealed under a coat of matt acrylic varnish.
I'll admit it's not a spectacular whif, and overall rather simple concerning build and painting. But a proud addition to whatifmodelers.com's "! Week Group Build", even though this was already finished in just three days from sprues to beauty pics...
Scouts arriving at camp during the 2023 National Scout Jamboree at The Summit Bechtel Reserve in Mount Hope, West Virginia. (BSA Photo by Leo He)
**********Beginning of Shooting Data Section**********
20230719-07-59-43--LH date - 7/19/23 time - 07:59:43
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (Aug. 15, 2018) - U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirits, deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, land at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. B-2s regularly rotate through the Indo-Pacific to conduct routine air operations, which integrate capabilities with key regional partners and demonstrate U.S. commitment to peace and stability in the region. These operations are in support of the U.S. Strategic Command’s Bomber Task Force deployment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Danielle Quilla) 180815-F-OL040-1004
** Interested in following U.S. Indo-Pacific Command? Engage and connect with us at www.facebook.com/indopacom | twitter.com/PacificCommand |
www.instagram.com/indopacom | www.flickr.com/photos/us-pacific-command; | www.youtube.com/user/USPacificCommand | www.pacom.mil/ **
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Eagle Scout Ay Young performs during the 2023 National Scout Jamboree at The Summit Bechtel Reserve in Mount Hope, West Virginia. (BSA Photo by Leo He)
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20230726-21-20-58--LH date - 7/26/23 time - 21:20:58
During the Charlie Base Camp Bash during the 2023 National Scout Jamboree at The Summit Bechtel Reserve in Mount Hope, West Virginia. (BSA Photo by Tom Copeland)
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20230724-21-50-57-86-TC date - 7/24/23 time - 9:50:57 PM
Expecting and nursing mothers require social protection but workers in the informal economy are often not covered. Maternity protection has been a primary concern of the ILO since its creation in 1919. Workplace support for mothers who are breastfeeding has been a basic provision of maternity protection.
The Philippines expanded maternity leave benefits in 2019 to align with international labour standards. The ILO also promoted exclusive breastfeeding in the workplace to advance women’s rights to maternity protection and to improve nutrition security for Filipino children. Know more: www.ilo.org/manila/projects/WCMS_379090/lang--en/index.htm
Photo ©ILO / E. Tuyay
November 2011
Manila, Philippines
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License. To view a copy of this license, visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/deed.en_US.
Basecamp bash during the 2023 National Scout Jamboree at The Summit Bechtel Reserve in Mount Hope, West Virginia. (BSA Photo by Leo He)
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20230725-21-24-03--LH date - 7/25/23 time - 21:24:03