Scouts breaking down camp and getting ready to head home 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**********

20230728-08-01-17--LH date - 7/28/23 time - 08:01:17

+++ 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:

After the Ukrainian independence in 1991, the Ukrainian Air Force (Повітряні Сили України, Povitryani Syly Ukrayiny) was established on March 17, 1992, in accordance with a Directive of the General Staff Chief of the Armed Forces. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, many aircraft were left on Ukrainian territory, including a wide range of fighters and attack aircraft, helicopters and even strategic bombers, and these became the initial equipment. Ever since, the Ukrainian air force has been downsizing and upgrading its forces, but for many years the main inventory still consisted of Soviet-made aircraft.

Since their introduction, the Ukrainian F-16s have been fulfilling QRA duties and airspace patrol, and the corresponding maintenance infrastructure has been gradually built up, so that F-16 operations became independent from Poland in 2019. With the worsening relationship to Russia, more military hardware of Western origin is expected to enter Ukrainian service. If the tight Ukrainian defense budget allows it, twenty more 2nd hand F-16s are to be delivered in 2021 to replace more Soviet fighter types (primarily the rest of the Ukrainian MiG-29 “Fulcrum” single and two seater fleet), and the procurement of LANTIRN pods to expand the type’s capabilities is under consideration and negotiations, too.

General characteristics:

Length: 49 ft 5 in (15.06 m)

Wingspan: 32 ft 8 in (9.96 m)

Height: 16 ft (4.9 m)

Wing area: 300 sq ft (28 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 64A204

Empty weight: 18,900 lb (8,573 kg)

Gross weight: 26,500 lb (12,020 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 42,300 lb (19,187 kg)

Internal fuel capacity: 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg)

Powerplant:

1× General Electric F110-GE-100 afterburning turbofan

with 17,155 lbf (76.31 kN) dry and 28,600 lbf (127 kN) thrust with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: Mach 2.05 at altitude in clean configuration

Mach 1.2, 800 kn (921 mph; 1,482 km/h) at sea level

Combat range: 295 nmi (339 mi, 546 km) on a hi-lo-hi mission with 4x 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs

Ferry range: 2,277 nmi (2,620 mi, 4,217 km) with drop tanks

Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m) plus

g limits: +9.0 (limited by flight control system)

Rate of climb: +50,000 ft/min (250 m/s)

Wing loading: 88.3 lb/sq ft (431 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 1.095 (1.24 with loaded weight & 50% internal fuel)

Armament:

1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barrel rotary cannon with 511 rounds

2× wing-tip air-to-air missile launch rails plus 6× under-wing

and 3× under-fuselage pylon (2 of these for sensors) stations

with a capacity of up to 17,000 lb (7,700 kg) of a wide range of stores

The kit and its assembly:

I am not a big F-16 fan, but in some cases it’s an unavoidable canvas – just like in this case here. This fictional aircraft model (or better: this model of a [yet] fictional F-16 operator) was spawned by two ideas. One was the simple question: what if the Ukraine had after the USSR’s dissolution chosen a stronger attachment to (old) Western forces after the dissolution of the USSSR? And/or: what if the Ukraine had started to procure non-Russian equipment, esp. aircraft? So, what would an Ukrainian F-16 might have looked like, in general but esp. after the Crimea annexation in 2014 when such a scenario had become even more possible?

The other source of inspiration was a picture of an Ukrainian Su-24 with grey digital camouflage, a scheme that was/is also worn by some Su-25s. When I stumbled upon an Authentic Decals sheet for this unique paint scheme that allows to apply the complex and delicate pattern through water-slide transfers, I thought that the relatively “flat” F-16 surface would be an ideal basis to try this stunt?

What sounded like a very simple livery whif on an OOB model turned into a construction nightmare. Originally, this project provided me with a purpose for a dubious Trumpeter F-16 kit that I had bought some years ago – dead cheap, but righteously so. This kit is cruel, the model even has no concrete variant specification and is apparently the re-boxing of a kit from an obscure Chinese company called “Income”. Effectively, the Trumpeter F-16 is a rip-off of Italeri’s quite nice F-16C/D kit – but the Income/Trumpeter clone comes with MUCH deeper engravings esp. on the fuselage that remind a lot of the dreaded Matchbox “trenches”. Everything is rather “soft” and toylike, the clear parts are poor and the (few) decals look like toy stickers (!!!). I’d call it crude, even the instructions are apparently poor scans or photocopies from the Italeri kit, including hints for detail painting with no corresponding reference what colors should be used at all… All that could have been overlooked, but after starting with the kit I could not commit myself to use it any further. It’s rare that I give up because of a kit’s basis!

Next idea to “save” the project’s idea of an Ukrainian F-16 was to dig out a surplus Intech F-16 from the pile, also bought long ago because it was cheap, as conversion fodder. This kit has also been re-released in infinite variations under the Mister-/Mastercraft label. Upon closer inspection this kit turned out to have massive flaws, too, but in different areas from the Trumpeter thing. For instance, the Intech kit’s wings are utterly thick, certainly 1mm thicker than the Trumpeter model’s parts. This does not sound much, but on the really thin F-16 wings and stabilizers this looks really awful! Furthermore, the clear parts had not been fully molded, so I’d have needed a replacement canopy, anyway. Again, I gave up on building…

…until I decided to make the best of this mess and combine the “best” parts from both gimp models, trying to mend the worst flaws to an acceptable level. This led to the glorious kitbashing that this model eventually became! From the Intech kit I took the acceptable fuselage, including cockpit interior, air intake and landing gear, as well as the fin and the weapon pylons. The Trumpeter kit donated its thinner wings and the stabilizers, as well as the much better open exhaust nozzle (there’s an optional closed one, too; the Intech kit only offers an open nozzle, without ANY surface detail at all, it’s just a blank pipe!).

Beyond these basic ingredients, some more donors became necessary: All clear parts from both Intech and Trumpeter kit turned out to be rubbish for various reasons. The decision to build an F-16D two-seater was dictated by the fact that I had a leftover canopy from an Italeri F-16 kit in the donor bank – luckily it fitted well to the Intech kit’s body. Two crewmen from the spares box populate the cockpit and hide the rather basic interior, which was not improved at all. Furthermore, the ordnance came from external sources, too. The characteristic drop tanks with their cut-off tails were also leftover parts from the Italeri F-16, all AAMs come from a Hasegawa weapon set.

Some PSR was necessary to blend the parts from different kits together – thankfully, almost all F-16 kits are constructed in a similar fashion, even though there are small detail differences. In this case, the wings had to be slightly modified to fit onto the Intech fuselage. However, even those parts from the original kit(s) that are supposed to fit, e.g. the fin or the alternative cockpit opening frames for the optional single- and two-seater canopies, do hardly match at all. Horrible.

I rather focused on the model’s exterior, and a personal addition to improve the overall look of the otherwise rather basic/poor model, I added some small blade antennae that were totally missing on either model. Another extra detail are the small static dischargers on the trailing edges, created with thin, heated sprue material. Only small details, but they improve IMHO the model’s look considerably.

Painting and markings:

Until today, I never dared to apply decal camouflage to a model, but I expected that the flat/smooth F-16 surface would make this stunt relatively easy. This application method would also make painting the model easy, since only a single, uniform color had to be laid down from above and below.

To my surprise, the painting instructions of the Authentic Decals sheet for a number of Ukrainian Su-25 (which all carry the same standardized pixel camouflage) indicated RAL tones – a little surprising, but: why not? Since no other authentic color references were available, I cross-checked the paint suggestions with real life pictures of Su-24s and -25s in this striking paint scheme, and the indicated tones appear very plausible.

The problem: not every RAL tone is available as a model paint, so I had to make guesstimates. This eventually led to Modelmaster 2133 (Fulcrum Grey) as a light grey overall basis (suggested: RAL 7030 Achatgrau/Agate Grey, a tone with a brownish hue) from above and Humbrol 47 (Sea Blue Gloss) for a pale blue underside. The recommendation for the belly is RAL 7001 (Silbergrau/Silver Grey, very close to FS 36375), and this appears plausible, too, even though real-life pictures suggest a more bluish tone. But for a more dramatic look and some color contrast to the upper side’s all-grey I deliberately settled upon the Humbrol color, and this looks IMHO good.

The other suggested grey tones that make up the pixel patterns are RAL 7040 (Fenstergrau/Window Grey), RAL 7037 (Staubgrau/Dust Grey) and RAL 7043 (Verkehrsgrau B/Traffic Grey).

The cockpit interior was painted in medium grey (FS 36231, Humbrol 140), the air intake and the landing gear in white (Humbrol 22). The exhaust nozzle was painted externally with individual Metallizer mixes (with blue and gold added), while the inside was painted with Burnt Steel Metallizer towards the afterburner section while the ceramic nozzle petals were painted in a pale, almost white grey with darker lines, applied wet-in-wet. This looks pretty good – but does not withstand a closer inspection, just like the rest of this Franken-bashed F-16 thing.

Applying the digital camouflage pattern went better than expected. The decals turned out to be very thin and delicate, though, with almost no excessive clear film outside of the printed areas, so that application had to be executed swiftly and with lots of water to slide them into place. Nothing for modelers who are faint at heart! Because the single pixel clouds partly follow the Su-25 outlines, the decals had partly to be tailored to the rather different F-16 shape, and due to the different proportions I also had to improvise with the material at hand – fortunately the Su-25 sheet offered enough material to cover the F-16! Some small areas lacked decal material and had to be filled through painting, though, with replacement model paints for the aforementioned darker RAL greys, namely Humbrol 246 (RLM 75) and a 2:1 mix of Humbrol 125 and 67. The lightest grey on the prints turned out to be very close to the Fulcrum Grey, so there’s unfortunately very little contrast, and this only became clear after the decals had already dried. However, I left it that way, because lightening the Fulcrum Grey up further would have been a quite messy affair, ending in a rather dirty look that I wanted to avoid, and it had called for an almost white tone.

Another challenge became the weathering process, since I normally apply a black ink wash and some post-panel shading to the finished and painted model before I add the decals to a model. Fearing that the ink might creep under the decals’ clear sections, I left that step out completely. The delicate static dischargers were another complicating factor. So, I decided to finish the upper camouflage with the light grey base and the decals cammo first. This made trimming down excess decal material easier. After that had been roughly finished, the dischargers were added and the underside was painted blue. On top of that came the “normal” decals with national markings, codes and stencils. The latter were mostly taken from a vintage Microscale F-16 sheet, the tactical code came from a Begemot Ka-27 sheet. Since the bort number on the air intake was not well visible frame every angle, I added a white 77 to the fin, too. Thereafter I added some panel lines with the help of thinned black ink and a soft pencil. This way the model appears pretty clean, and I think that’s fine since many recent Ukrainian aircraft I know from pictures look well-tended. Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish overall.

A simple F-16 in alternative markings – that’s what this model was supposed to be. I did not expect that the building phase would become such a challenge, and I’d sincerely recommend to any modeler who wants to build a “serious” F-16 in 1:72 to stay away from the Trumpeter and the Intech/Mister-/Mastercraft kits. They might be cheap, but that does not outweigh their flaws and building troubles.

Beyond these technical issues, I like the look of this “Ukrainized” Viper, the digital camouflage looks very special and works well on the aircraft. The light grey base could have been lighter, though. In fact, the F-16 now looks like an exaggerated U.S. Aggressor on first sight, but with the Ukrainian markings the whole thing looks pretty different and conclusive - a “what if” in the best sense. 😉

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philae_temple_complex

The Philae temple complex (/ˈfaɪliː/; Greek: Φιλαί or Φιλή and Πιλάχ, Arabic: فيلة Egyptian Arabic: [fiːlæ], Egyptian: p3-jw-rķ' or 'pA-jw-rq; Coptic: ⲡⲓⲗⲁⲕ, ⲡⲓⲗⲁⲕϩ, Coptic pronunciation: [ˈpilɑk, ˈpilɑkh]) is an island-based temple complex in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam, downstream of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, Egypt.

Until the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the temple complex was located on Philae Island, near the expansive First Cataract of the Nile in Upper Egypt. These rapids and the surrounding area have been variously flooded since the initial construction of the Aswan Low Dam in 1902. The temple complex was dismantled and moved to nearby Agilkia Island as part of the UNESCO Nubia Campaign project, protecting this and other complexes before the 1970 completion of the Aswan High Dam. The hieroglyphic reliefs of the temple complex are being studied and published by the Philae Temple Text Project of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna (Institute OREA).

Geography

Philae is mentioned by numerous ancient writers, including Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, Ptolemy, Seneca, Pliny the Elder. It was, as the plural name indicates, the appellation of two small islands situated in latitude 24° north, just above the First Cataract near Aswan (Egyptian Swenet "Trade;" Ancient Greek: Συήνη). Groskurd computes the distance between these islands and Aswan at about 100 km (62 mi).

Despite being the smaller island, Philae proper was, from the numerous and picturesque ruins formerly there, the more interesting of the two. Before the inundation, it was not more than 380 metres (1,250 ft) long and about 120 metres (390 ft) broad. It is composed of syenite: its sides are steep and on their summits a lofty wall was built encompassing the island.

Since Philae was said to be one of the burying-places of Osiris, it was held in high reverence both by the Egyptians to the north and the Nubians (often referred to as "Ethiopians" in Greek) to the south. It was deemed profane for any but priests to dwell there and was accordingly sequestered and denominated "the Unapproachable" (Ancient Greek: ἄβατος). It was reported too that neither birds flew over it nor fish approached its shores. These indeed were the traditions of a remote period; since in the time of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, Philae was so much resorted to, partly by pilgrims to the tomb of Osiris, partly by persons on secular errands, that the priests petitioned Ptolemy VIII Physcon (170-117 BC) to prohibit public functionaries at least from coming there and living at their expense.

In the nineteenth century, William John Bankes took the Philae obelisk on which this petition was engraved to England. When its Egyptian hieroglyphs were compared with those of the Rosetta Stone, it threw great light upon the Egyptian consonantal alphabet.

The islands of Philae were not, however, merely sacerdotal abodes; they were the centres of commerce also between Meroë and Memphis. For the rapids of the cataracts were at most seasons impracticable, and the commodities exchanged between Egypt and Nubia were reciprocally landed and re-embarked at Syene and Philae.

The neighbouring granite quarries also attracted a numerous population of miners and stonemasons; and, for the convenience of this traffic, a gallery or road was formed in the rocks along the east bank of the Nile, portions of which are still extant.

Philae also was remarkable for the singular effects of light and shade resulting from its position near the Tropic of Cancer. As the sun approached its northern limit the shadows from the projecting cornices and moldings of the temples sink lower and lower down the plain surfaces of the walls, until, the sun having reached its highest altitude, the vertical walls are overspread with dark shadows, forming a striking contrast with the fierce light which illuminates all surrounding objects.

Construction

The most conspicuous feature of both islands was their architectural wealth. Monuments of various eras, extending from the Pharaohs to the Caesars, occupy nearly their whole area. The principal structures, however, lay at the south end of the smaller island.

The most ancient was a temple for Isis, built in the reign of Nectanebo I during 380-362 BC, which was approached from the river through a double colonnade. Nekhtnebef was his ancient Egyptian royal titulary and he became the founding pharaoh of the Thirtieth and last native dynasty when he deposed and killed Nepherites II.

For the most part, the other ruins date from the Ptolemaic Kingdom, more especially with the reigns of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Ptolemy V Epiphanes, and Ptolemy VI Philometor (282-145 BC), with many traces of Roman work in Philae dedicated to Ammon-Osiris.

In front of the propyla were two colossal lions in granite, behind which stood a pair of obelisks, each 13 metres (43 ft) high. The propyla were pyramidal in form and colossal in dimensions. One stood between the dromos and pronaos, another between the pronaos and the portico, while a smaller one led into the sekos or adyton. At each corner of the adytum stood a monolithic shrine, the cage of a sacred hawk. Of these shrines one is now in the Louvre, the other in the Museum at Florence.

Beyond the entrance into the principal court are small temples, one of which, dedicated to Isis, Hathor, and a wide range of deities related to midwifery, is covered with sculptures representing the birth of Ptolemy Philometor, under the figure of the god Horus. The story of Osiris is everywhere represented on the walls of this temple, and two of its inner chambers are particularly rich in symbolic imagery. Upon the two great propyla are Greek inscriptions intersected and partially destroyed by Egyptian figures cut across them.

The monuments in both islands indeed attested, beyond any others in the Nile valley, the survival of pure Egyptian art centuries after the last of the Pharaohs had ceased to reign. Great pains have been taken to mutilate the sculptures of this temple. The work of demolition is attributable, in the first instance, to the zeal of the early Christians, and afterward, to the policy of the Iconoclasts, who curried favour for themselves with the Byzantine court by the destruction of heathen images as well as Christian ones.[citation needed] Images/icons of Horus are often less mutilated than the other carvings. In some wall scenes, every figure and hieroglyphic text except that of Horus and his winged solar-disk representation have been meticulously scratched out by early Christians. This is presumably because the early Christians had some degree of respect for Horus or the legend of Horus - it may be because they saw parallels between the stories of Jesus and Horus (see Jesus in comparative mythology#Iconography and #Dying-and-rising god archetype).

The soil of Philae had been prepared carefully for the reception of its buildings–being leveled where it was uneven, and supported by masonry where it was crumbling or insecure. For example, the western wall of the Great Temple, and the corresponding wall of the dromos, were supported by very strong foundations, built below the pre-inundation level of the water, and rested on the granite which in this region forms the bed of the Nile. Here and there steps were hewn out from the wall to facilitate the communication between the temple and the river.

At the southern extremity of the dromos of the Great Temple was a smaller temple, apparently dedicated to Hathor; at least the few columns that remained of it are surmounted with the head of that goddess. Its portico consisted of twelve columns, four in front and three deep. Their capitals represented various forms and combinations of the palm branch, the doum palm branch, and the lotus flower. These, as well as the sculptures on the columns, the ceilings, and the walls were painted with the most vivid colors, which, owing to the dryness of the climate, have lost little of their original brilliance.

History

The ancient Egyptian name of the smaller island meant "boundary". As their southern frontier, the pharaohs of Egypt kept there a strong garrison, and it was also a barracks for Greek and Roman soldiers in their turn.

The first religious building on Philae was likely a shrine built by Pharaoh Taharqa of the 25th Dynasty, which was probably dedicated to Amun. However this structure is only known from a few blocks reused in later buildings, which Gerhard Haeny suspects may have been brought over for reuse from structures elsewhere.

The oldest temple to have undoubtedly stood on the island, as well as the first evidence of Isis-worship there, was a small kiosk built by Psamtik II of the 26th Dynasty.  This was followed by contributions from Amasis II (26th Dynasty) and Nectanebo I (30th Dynasty).  Of these early buildings, only two elements built by Nectanebo I survive– a kiosk that was originally the vestibule of the old Isis temple, and a gateway which was later incorporated into the first pylon of the current temple.

Ptolemaic era

More than two thirds of Philae's surviving structures were built in the Ptolemaic era, during which the island became a prominent site of pilgrimage not only for Egyptians and Nubians but for pilgrims from as far as Anatolia, Crete, and the Greek mainland. Some of these pilgrims marked their presence with inscriptions on the temple walls, including votive inscriptions known as proskynemata, as well as other types. Among these are inscriptions left by four Romans in 116 BC, which represent the oldest known Latin inscriptions in Egypt.

Along with the various contributions of Ptolemaic rulers, Philae also received additions from the Nubian king Arqamani, who contributed to the Temple of Arensnuphis and the mammisi, and his successor Adikhalamani, whose name has been found on a stela on the island. Some experts have interpreted these additions as signs of collaboration between the Nubian and Ptolemaic governments, but others consider them to represent a period of Nubian occupation of the region, likely enabled by the revolt of Hugronaphor in Upper Egypt. The cartouches of Arqamani were later erased by Ptolemy V, while the stela of Adikhalamani was eventually reused as filling under the floor of the pronaos.

Roman era

The Roman era saw an overall decline in pilgrimage to Philae, especially from Mediterranean regions, as evidenced by the reduced number of inscriptions. Nevertheless, it remained an important sacred site, especially for Nubians, who continued to visit both as individual pilgrims and in official delegations from their government in Meroë.

Several Roman emperors made artistic and architectural contributions to Philae. While most of the architectural additions date to the Julio-Claudian dynasty, the island continued to receive contributions to its temples up to the time of Caracalla as well as a triple arch built by Diocletian. In AD 298, Diocletian ceded Roman territory south of the First Cataract as part of an agreement made with the neighboring Nobades, withdrawing the border to about the area of Philae itself. The Kushite king Yesebokheamani made a pilgrimage to Philae in this period and may have taken over the Roman hegemony.

During the Roman era, Philae was the site of the last known inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs, written in AD 394, and the last known Demotic inscription, written in 452.

Christianization

Christianity seems to have been present at Philae by the fourth century, at which point it coexisted with traditional Egyptian religion. According to the Coptic hagiography Life of Aaron, the first bishop of Philae was Macedonius (attested in the early fourth century), who is said to have killed the sacred falcon kept on the island, though modern experts question the historicity of this account. By the mid fifth century, a petition from Bishop Appion of Syene to co-emperors Theodosius II and Valentinian III indicates the presence of multiple churches on the island functioning alongside the pagan temples.

Traditional worship at Philae appears to have survived into at least the fifth century, despite the anti-pagan persecutions of that time. In fact, the fifth-century historian Priscus mentions a treaty between the Roman commander Maximinus and the Blemmyes and Nobades in 452, which among other things ensured access to the cult image of Isis.

According to the sixth-century historian Procopius, the temple was closed down officially in AD 537 by the local commander Narses the Persarmenian in accordance with an order of Byzantine emperor Justinian I. This event is conventionally considered to mark the end of ancient Egyptian religion. However, its importance has recently come into question, following a major study by Jitse Dijkstra who argues that organized paganism at Philae ended in the fifth century, based on the fact that the last inscriptional evidence of an active pagan priesthood there dates to the 450s. Nevertheless, some adherence to traditional religion seems to have survived into the sixth century, based on a petition from Dioscorus of Aphrodito to the governor of the Thebaid dated to 567. The letter warns of an unnamed man (the text calls him "eater of raw meat") who, in addition to plundering houses and stealing tax revenue, is alleged to have restored paganism at "the sanctuaries," possibly referring to the temples at Philae.

Philae retained significance as a Christian center even after its closure as a pagan site. Five of its temples were converted into churches (including the Temple of Isis, which was dedicated to Saint Stephen), and two purpose built churches were constructed on the north side of the island.

1800s

The island of Philae attracted much attention in the 19th century. In the 1820s, Joseph Bonomi the Younger, a British Egyptologist and museum curator visited the island. So did Amelia Edwards, a British novelist in 1873–1874.

The approach by water is quite the most beautiful. Seen from the level of a small boat, the island, with its palms, its colonnades, its pylons, seems to rise out of the river like a mirage. Piled rocks frame it on either side, and the purple mountains close up the distance. As the boat glides nearer between glistening boulders, those sculptured towers rise higher and even higher against the sky. They show no sign of ruin or age. All looks solid, stately, perfect. One forgets for the moment that anything is changed. If a sound of antique chanting were to be borne along the quiet air–if a procession of white-robed priests bearing aloft the veiled ark of the God, were to come sweeping round between the palms and pylons–we should not think it strange.

— Amelia B. Edwards, A thousand miles up the Nile / by Amelia B. Edwards, 1831-1892, p. 207.

These visits are only a small sample of the great interest that Victorian-era Britain had for Egypt. Soon, tourism to Philae became common.

1900s

In 1902, the Aswan Low Dam was completed on the Nile River by the British. This threatened to submerge many ancient landmarks, including the temple complex of Philae. However, the British prioritized the advancement of Modern Egypt at the expense of the complex. The height of the dam was raised twice, from 1907 to 1912 and from 1929 to 1934, and the island of Philae was nearly always flooded. In fact, the only times that the complex was not underwater was when the dam's sluices were open from July to October.

It was proposed that the temples be relocated, piece by piece, to nearby islands, such as Bigeh or Elephantine. However, the temples' foundations and other architectural supporting structures were strengthened instead. Although the buildings were physically secure, the island's attractive vegetation and the colors of the temples' reliefs were washed away. Also, the bricks of the Philae temples soon became encrusted with silt and other debris carried by the Nile.

Rescue project

The temples had been practically intact since the ancient days, but with each inundation the situation worsened and in the 1960s the island was submerged up to a third of the buildings all year round.

In 1960 UNESCO started a project to try to save the buildings on the island from the destructive effect of the ever-increasing waters of the Nile. First, building three dams and creating a separate lake with lower water levels was considered.

First of all, a large coffer dam was built, constructed of two rows of steel plates between which a 1 million cubic metres (35 million cubic feet) of sand was tipped. Any water that seeped through was pumped away.

External images

Next the monuments were cleaned and measured, by using photogrammetry, a method that enables the exact reconstruction of the original size of the building blocks that were used by the ancients. Then every building was dismantled into about 40,000 units from 2 to 25 tons, and then transported to the nearby Island of Agilkia, situated on higher ground some 500 metres (1,600 ft) away. The transfer itself took place between 1977 and 1980.

Nearby locations of interest

Prior to the inundation, a little west of Philae lay a larger island, anciently called Snem or Senmut, but now Bigeh. It is very steep, and from its most elevated peak affords a fine view of the Nile, from its smooth surface south of the islands to its plunge over the shelves of rock that form the First Cataract. Philae, Bigeh and another lesser island divided the river into four principal streams, and north of them it took a rapid turn to the west and then to the north, where the cataract begins.

Bigeh, like Philae, was a holy island; its ruins and rocks are inscribed with the names and titles of Amenhotep III, Ramesses II, Psamtik II, Apries, and Amasis II, together with memorials of the later Macedonian and Roman rulers of Egypt. Its principal ruins consisted of the propylon and two columns of a temple, which was apparently of small dimensions, but of elegant proportions. Near them were the fragments of two colossal granite statues and also an excellent piece of masonry of much later date, having the aspect of an arch belonging to a church or mosque.

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

View On Black

"Hello!" from the flight deck.

Aircraft Mfr: Boeing,

Aircraft Type: KC-135-KC-A ‘Stratotanker',

Registration: 62-3556,

Serial Number: 18539,

Operator: U.S. Air Force,

Unit: 459 ARW,

Unit Base: Joint Base Andrews,

Event: Belgian Air Force Open Day 2018,

Location: Kleine Brogel, EBBL, Belgium,

KHA_7458

Matthew Mower of the visual media team filming the apex summit 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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20230726-21-18-41--LH date - 7/26/23 time - 21:18:41

Base

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)

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20230719-07-59-43--LH date - 7/19/23 time - 07:59:43

Scouts setting up camp 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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20230719-08-29-41--LH date - 7/19/23 time - 08:29:41

base images for photostory im working on

Asa and girlfriend Cordie

Pentax K-S2, SMC Pentax-A 70-210/4

At the Tigers v Royals game 6/18/2016 :-D

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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20230725-21-08-18--LH date - 7/25/23 time - 21:08:18

I built this MOC for Andromeda's Gates on Eurobricks. It shows a MANTIS mining base in full swing, there's even some little loader trucks carrying loads of Awesomnium. The building has a full interior as well.

Mont Valier

Couseran

Ariege

This is my clone base moc that i am using in my LEGO clone wars battle video i am working on.

Based on the 7778 Falcon model. Drew a lot of inspiration from one I saw on Flickr.

I wanted to make a base model of a modern military combat vest so that I could modify later for specific loadouts. Here's what I have as a base. Let me know if you have any idea of what should be changed, or what sorts of accessories I can add to it to make a specific kind of vest

Taken on April 29, 1973.

Grandstand seats on the third-base side of Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox were playing the visiting Chicago White Sox ("CHI" on the scoreboard). Lots of seats left because attendance was only 11,617, even though it was a Sunday afternoon game. Boston lost, 5-0.

PEARL HARBOR (Aug. 10, 2020) A B-25 Mitchell, a historic vintage military aircraft, a group known as the "Warbirds", arrive in Pearl Harbor aboard USS Essex (LHD 2) for the 75th Commemoration of the End of WWII. “Salute Their Service, Honor Their Hope” is the theme of the commemoration in Hawaii in recognition of the WWII veterans and civilians who contributed to the end of the war. The commemoration will include three Legacy of Peace Aerial Parades and will culminate with the official ceremony on USS Missouri (BB 63) on September 2. Flyovers of the warbirds will include: Around Oahu (August 29), Connecting the Military Bases (August 30) and Fly Over the Battleship Missouri Memorial, Pearl Harbor to Waikiki (September 2). To learn more about upcoming events please see www.75thwwiicommemoration.org/victory-in-the-pacific/hawa.... (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jessica O. Blackwell)

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Anthony Williamson, a radio maintainer assigned to the 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron, marks his shot target during live-fire sustainment training at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Sept. 28, 2017. During the live-fire training exercise the 3rd ASOS Airmen honed their marksmanship skills and practiced firing from various positions utilizing the M9 pistol and M4 carbine. Williamson is a native of Vista, Calif. (U.S. Air Force photo by Alejandro Peña)

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

JST Dan Chazin from Shomer Shabbat Contingent at the Jewish morning prayer 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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20230723-07-16-17--LH date - 7/23/23 time - 07:16:17

Please visit my youtube video on this diorama:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mIwts9nDi4

I always wanna make a Hong Kong building on fire diorama, finally I have done it! This diorama is relatively small, it is only (12Wx16Lx15H)cm, but it is a very busy diorama with lots of action happening.

This is a frictional diorama not based on actual scene. The scratch-built tenement building is based on common 1960-70s style residential buildings. Also the pedestrian flyover is based on a typical Hong Kong's style flyover.

The smoke was made of cotton, and the fire in the apartment was created by Daiso's LED candle lamp.

All vehicles are Hong Kong's '80M Bus Model shop' models but I further weathered and highlighted them by applying layers of brown & black wash. There are only two types of fire truck available from 80M, the Hydraulic Platform (white ladder) and the Turnable Ladder (highest silver ladder) respectively, therefore the fire major pump truck (far left, the one under the pedestrian bridge) was created by modifying a spare hydraulic platform truck model by a bit of scratch-building & repainting.

The policemen & firefighters are Tomytec figures that repainted to Hong Kong's uniform colours. They were all applied with layers of brown wash for high-lighting.

I added various details to make the scene as realistic as to an actual fire scene as much as possible, by adding the water pipes laid on the street by firemen which is common in a fire fighting scene. I also added some water on the street to show water spill from trucks & pipes. Burned debris dropped on the street directly under the burning apartment are also added.

Scription Chronodex Weekly Planner 2012 - free download with the cost of a prayer

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6364230271/in/photostream)

Finally made up my mind to create my own diary for 2012 a week ago, here I go sharing with you all! But first please give me a little support, my Dad recovered from prostate cancer but at the same time developed Parkinson's disease a few years ago. In the past week he has deteriorated a lot, bed bound finally, no more speech, I'm the last person he can recognize. It is so tough for Mom as a care taker. All I ask for is your sincere prayers, as you download this creation, for my Dad and Mom, so that he can go peacefully proud of his sons, and she can start to explore this new world with us. What a courageous woman she is.

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6361903821/in/photostream)

Thanks to my Dad's dedication to Chinese painting and art, I had my implicit training early in life and became a visual person yet unafraid to look deep into the subject matters. For years, I bought diaries but none of them satisfied my visual and creative needs.

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6335595394/in/photostream)

Since the beginning of the diary making business, every single diary is made by representing time in fixed grids. To challenge this right representation, after exploring in deep thoughts the essence of my own perfect diary, I present to you my Chronodex idea.

Come to think of it, the paper which makes up a diary originated from trees, when the sheets of paper are bound together in the middle, it is almost like foliages stemming from a tree's trunk. Each page is like a branch, each opened page is a week, each day is like a beautiful flower grew from that page, consist of petals of your day's time slices.

You may argue that this format is still slicing time into blocks and far from the fractal nature, but soon as you start using it, you will find that time is no longer right, instead you will find fluidity through free notations.

The more important time slices can be drawn larger, activities can be dots or pies (petals if you will) depending on duration or importance, space on a page is no longer limited to grids. Basically you can roam freely and be amazed how beautiful your week can be.

What's more is that your mind gradually deviate from the rigid format a typical diary imposes on you, reactivity soon flourishes. Imagine the effect happening in weeks! And I'm not kidding.

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6364164607/in/photostream)

Scription Chronodex Weekly Planner 2012 (Jan - Jun) Download

(just remember to pray for my Dad and Mom, sincerely)

It is done with the Midori Traveler's Notebook size in mind, even if you don't own a Traveler's Notebook, you can still use it without the leather cover.

Hong Kong Holiday version

Japanese Holiday version

Free of Holidays version

To grow your own diary, after downloading the PDF version of your choice, print it out double sided (duplex) in landscape mode on A4 papers. Be sure to print it out 100% without scale, left/right binding (try the first few pages on your printer and settings and you'll see what I mean). Check the sequence after the print out.

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6364170655/in/photostream)

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6364175293/in/photostream)

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6364180447/in/photostream)

Next, cut away the left and right portion of the A4 paper according to the cut line.

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6364185407/in/photostream)

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6364191991/in/photostream)

Now here's the interesting part of the binding. Use a chisel to punch holes on both ends of the spine and stitch the pages up. You can staple them together just the same. This method will get you a bound notebook but ready for a cool bookmark which I will mention in a moment.

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6364194541/in/photostream)

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6364200541/in/photostream)

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6364206651/in/photostream)

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6364210857/in/photostream)

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6364216463/in/photostream)

To create a bookmark, simple take a piece of hard paper, cut it the way I showed above. Slide it between the papers of the current week, the slide 90 degree up following the spine to have the tab exposed on top of the diary (I hope I'm describing it right). There you go! a bookmark with a tab extruding from the top of your diary.

This cool bookmark invention based on the way you bind your diary is so useful and flexible, you will find it amazing when you reach the 12th week of the year! Tell me about that in a few months.

(www.flickr.com/photos/moleskineart/6364223093/in/photostream)

The last part of my Chronodex journey was to make a cool diary cover. Thanks for my family's tolerance, I had a little free time in broad daylight having fun doing it, 2 cups of coffee, listening to audiobook through my iPhone/Jambox combo.

(www.flickr.com/photos/oxothuk/6352848866/)

Small features are infused into the diary, I hope you will enjoy the little tibits, do explore the "Boarding pass to success" idea. If you are interested, I will be sharing the July - December version, which is still in stage zero. Fellow Scription reader Boris from Russia already had a taste of the Chronodex, so go ahead and try yours. Your feedback and comment is what keeps me going, please do pray.

More on Scription blog: scription.typepad.com/blog/2011/11/scription-chronodex-we...

Hey CJ come on.. Note this thing like crazy.. lol C&C Wanted

Carnage handstyle series 2 featuring the works of Baser now available at

carnagenyc.bigcartel.com

Don't sleep..get some!!!

A Travis based KC-10 Extender at Eindhoven Airbase, on board a exchange pilot for the 334SQ.

Base Aérea El Bosque

abandoned navy fuel depot

Photo by Jim Raeder

2018/06/0/3 - The base pilllars holding up the road and rail sections.. sitting waiting for the steel sections going ontop. The old bridge in the background.. iconic and always appearing large now dwarfed by the new one.

Bare Island

Echo Base diorama on display at BrickxFest, at the CityWest hotel in Dublin.

Photo by Laurie Goossens

we play in three meters ccs ncs and xcs were that good lol

Visit this location at Spark City - XCS Combat Sim in Second Life

angular momentum

Q-Base festival, edition 2010, with the harder styles in dance music.

Airport Weeze, Germany.

Client: Q-Dance

© 2010 Fotograferen net

Helsinki365 is a photo project carried out by a Helsinki based freelance photographer Jussi Hellsten.

What does Helsinki look like? How does it feel – how do I feel it? Although I have lived in Helsinki for several years now, it still feels unfamiliar to me. This year-long project is my chance to explore the city in a new way and from a different perspective. The year 2012 is also a special year to be photographing Helsinki, when the city serves as the World Design Capital.

View it large at HELSINKI365 website

JUSSI HELLSTEN PHOTOGRAPHY Facebook Page

This Phicen figure is the first to come with heeled feet. Unfortunately, they kind of stink. They're too high to fit in just about any heeled shoe and they're really unstable. This shot was pretty much just to see what I could do with them.