At Liverpool dock peculiar van conversion into mobile Ice Cream palace!

Barrio Lavapies, Madrid

Norman M. Dean's 120 medium format film conversion for the iconic and beloved Polaroid Automatic Land Camera. Blog and discussion on today's Film Photography Podcast Ep. 241.

Please share the excitement!

filmphotographyproject.com/podcast/2020/01/podcast-episod...

Seen at Basler Turbo Conversions, Oshkosh, Wisconsin on 27th July 2022

+++ 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 Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of the design process, production models were flying, and two pre-production models did see very limited service in Italy just before the end of World War II.

Compared to the T-33/TV-2/F2V, the T2V was almost totally re-engineered and fully optimized for carrier landings and at-sea operations. This included a redesigned tail, naval standard avionics, a further strengthened undercarriage (with catapult fittings) and lower fuselage (with a retractable arrester hook), power-operated leading-edge flaps (to increase lift at low speeds) to allow carrier launches and recoveries, and an elevated rear (instructor's) seat for improved instructor vision, among other changes. The T2V eventually had a much higher ability to withstand sea water-related aircraft wear from higher humidity and salt exposure.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 34 ft 5 in (10.49 m)

Wingspan: 40 ft 9 1/2 in (12,45 m) incl. tip tanks

Height: 11 ft 3 in (3.43 m)

Wing area: 234.8 sq ft (21.81 m²)

Aspect ratio: 6.37

Airfoil: NACA 65-213

Empty weight: 9,273 lb (4,210 kg)

Gross weight: 14,392 lb (6,534 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 17,280 lb (7,846 kg)

Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0134

Frontal area: 32 sq ft (3.0 m²)

Powerplant:

1× Allison J33-A-35A centrifugal compressor turbojet with 4,900 lbf (22 kN) dry thrust

and 6,100 lbf (27.2 kN) with water injection'Allison J33-A-24/24A turbojet,

Performance:

Maximum speed: 590 mph (950 km/h, 513 kn) at sea level

Maximum speed: Mach 0.75

Cruise speed: 439 mph (707 km/h, 381 kn)

Range: 825 mi (1,328 km, 717 nmi)

Ferry range: 1,380 mi (2,220 km, 1,200 nmi)

Service ceiling: 46,800 ft (14,300 m)

Rate of climb: 6,870 ft/min (34.9 m/s)

Time to altitude: 20,000 ft (6,100 m) in 5 minutes 30 seconds

Lift-to-drag: 17.7

Wing loading: 51.3 lb/sq ft (250 kg/m²

Thrust/weight: 0.364

0.435 with water injection.

Armament:

No cannons installed

Underwing hardpoints for up to 2× 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs, but typically left empty or outfitted with photo flash

cartridge dispensers for night photography

The kit and its assembly:

This build is another submission the "In the Navy" group build at whatifmodellers.com in early 2020, and it was a spontaneous decision, following the discussions under a "F-80 in USN service" thread elsewhere in the forum (www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=33956.0).

I remembered that I had an Airfic F-80C in the stash, and the idea was born to build a kind of a missing link between the USN's purely land-based TO/TV-1 and the later, dedicated T2V-1 carrier-capable trainer.

I wanted the modified Shooting Star to stay close to the land-based original, but with some upgrades. These included foldable wings (hinted at with profiles on the upper wings surfaces, hiding the respective joints), a raised cockpit in the form of a new/bigger canopy (from a Hasegawa F9F Panther, with an added dorsal fairing) and a modified landing gear. For the latter, the main gear was taken over, but I raised the main legs by maybe 2mm - not much, but I wanted a rather stalky, Skyhawk-esque look that conveys the upgraded landing gear. For the same reason I replaced the front leg with a leftover donor piece from a Matchbox A-4M - it has a different construction and is also longer, so that the F2V now had a nose-up stance for a better angle of attack when launching from a carrier. I contemplated and actually tried a fin fillet, but found after hardware trials that this, together with the more bulbous canopy, totally ruined the F-80's elegant lines, so it went off again.

An extra of this conversion is the camera nose, taken from the Heller T-33/RT-33 kit, a straightforward mod because the same nose was also mounted onto the RF-80C photo recce variant of the Shooting Star. However, once again the challenges of body transplants on model kits should not be underestimated. While, in theory, the RT-33 nose should have been easy to graft onto the F-80 body, it was not. While the dorsal area would fit quite well, the lower shapes, esp. in front of the air intakes, differ considerably between the models. I assume that the Airfix F-80C is slightly too narrow/sleek at its front end. Integrating the different nose necessitated some serious PSR, and while the parts do not match as good as one might have suspected, the outcome looks fine and I am happy that I now have "something different", not just a standard fighter.

I also wanted to add wing tip tanks, but neither the early underwing tanks that come with the Airfix kit, nor the large tanks from the T-33 - I found them both to be too big for a carrier-borne aircraft. Finding suitable donor parts was not easy, though; initially I dug out a pair of leftover tip tanks from a Matchbox T-2 Buckeye. which are pretty slender, but they eventually looked too modern and streamlined for an aircraft from the early Fifties. I tried some further mods but eventually rejected them. The final choice became a pair of underwing drop tanks from a Hobby Boss MiG-15 that lost their fins.

Painting and markings:

Once more, a conservative approach. While the real TO/TV-1s of the US Navy retained their bare metal finish with black markings, I gave the T2V a classic all-blue livery, because I thought that it would suit the elegant lines of the F-80 well.

The F2V was painted overall in FS 35042 (from Modelmaster), later treated with a black ink wash and some post-shading. The interior surfaces of cockpit, air brakes and landing gear wells were painted with an individually mixed zinc chromate green, consisting of Humbrol 80 and 159 in a roughly 1:1 ratio. The silver wing leading edges were created with decal material, a more convenient solution than trying to mask and paint them. The landing gear struts and wheel discs were painted in aluminium (Humbrol 56).

Decals and markings were puzzled together. The "Stars and Bars" come from an Artmodel F8F Bearcat, as well as the "Navy" tag on the fuselage. The VC 61 markings come from a Hobby Boss F9F Panther, and I added some F-80/T-33-specific markings from various aftermarket sheets. The red highlights on nose and fin were done with paint (Revell 330), framed by thin white decal strips. The ranging radar was framed with similar material, just in silver.

Even though I considered opening the camera windows in the nose and glazing them, I left them closed, since a lot of lead had to be hidden inside for a proper stance. Instead, the windows were simply filled with black, clear paint, for a glossy finish. The rest of the aircraft was sealed with a mix of matt and semi-gloss Italeri acrylic varnish, which turned out duller than hoped for - but I left it that way.

A relatively simple project - or so I thought! The rhinoplasty was more complicated than expected, the wing tip tanks became a trial-and error odyssey and the different landing gear and the canopy were also not without trouble. The resulting fictional aircraft is very subtle, though - even more so through the standard USN livery, which suits the Shooting Star VERY well and might onlookers mislead to see a Fifties Banshee or a Panther. The F2V just blends right between these types.

+++ 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 Waffenträger (Weapon Carrier) VTS3 “Diana” was a prototype for a wheeled tank destroyer. It was developed by Thyssen-Henschel (later Rheinmetall) in Kassel, Germany, in the late Seventies, in response to a German Army requirement for a highly mobile tank destroyer with the firepower of the Leopard 1 main battle tank then in service and about to be replaced with the more capable Leopard 2 MBT, but less complex and costly. The main mission of the Diana was light to medium territorial defense, protection of infantry units and other, lighter, elements of the cavalry as well as tactical reconnaissance. Instead of heavy armor it would rather use its good power-to-weight ratio, excellent range and cross-country ability (despite the wheeled design) for defense and a computerized fire control system to accomplish this mission.

Since the tactical value of the vehicle was doubtful and other light anti-tank weapons in the form of the HOT anti-tank missile had reached operational status, so that very light vehicles and even small infantry groups could now effectively fight against full-fledged enemy battle tanks from a safe distance, the Diana’s development was stopped in 1988. Both VTS3 prototypes were mothballed, stored at the Bundeswehr Munster Training Area camp and are still waiting to be revamped as historic exhibits alongside other prototypes like the Kampfpanzer 70 in the German Tank Museum located there, too.

Specifications:

Crew: 4 (commander, driver, gunner, radio operator/second driver)

Weight: 22.6 t

Length: 7.74 m (25 ft 4 ¼ in)

Width: 2.98 m ( 9 ft 9 in)

Height: XXX

Ground clearance: 440 mm (1 ft 4 in)

Suspension: hydraulic all-wheel drive and steering

Armor:

Unknown, but sufficient to withstand 14.5 mm AP rounds

Performance:

Speed: 90 km/h (56 mph) on roads

Operational range: 720 km (445 mi)

Power/weight: 13,3 hp/ton with petrol, 17,3 hp/ton with diesel

Engine:

1× Daimler Benz OM 403A turbocharged 10-cylinder 4-stroke multi-fuel engine,

delivering 300 hp with petrol, 390 hp with diesel

Armament:

1× 105 mm L7 rifled gun with autoloader (8 rounds ready, plus 16 in reserve)

1× co-axial 7.92 mm M3 machine gun with 2.000 rounds

Two groups of four Wegmann 76 mm smoke mortars

The kit and its assembly:

I have been a big Luchs fan since I witnessed one in action during a public Bundeswehr demo day when I was around 10 years old: a huge, boxy and futuristic vehicle with strange proportions, gigantic wheels, water propellers, a mind-boggling mobility and all of this utterly silent. Today you’d assume that this vehicle had an electric engine – spooky! So I always had a soft spot for it, and now it was time and a neat occasion to build a what-if model around it.

This fictional wheeled tank prototype model was spawned by a leftover Revell 1:72 Luchs kit, which I had bought some time ago primarily for the turret, used in a fictional post-WWII SdKfz. 234 “Puma” conversion. With just the chassis left I wondered what other use or equipment it might take, and, after several weeks with the idea in the back of my mind, I stumbled at Silesian Models over an M1128 resin conversion set for the Trumpeter M1126 “Stryker” 8x8 APC model. From this set as potential donor for a conversion the prototype idea with an unmanned turret was born.

Originally I just planned to mount the new turret onto the OOB hull, but when playing with the parts I found the look with an overhanging gun barrel and the bigger turret placed well forward on the hull goofy and unbalanced. I was about to shelf the idea again, until I recognized that the Luchs’ hull is almost symmetrical – the upper hull half could be easily reversed on the chassis tub (at least on the kit…), and this would allow much better proportions. From this conceptual change the build went straightforward, reversing the upper hull only took some minor PSR. The resin turret was taken mostly OOB, it only needed a scratched adapter to fit into the respective hull opening. I just added a co-axial machine gun fairing, antenna bases (from the Luchs kit, since they could, due to the long gun barrel, not be attached to the hull anymore) and smoke grenade mortars (also taken from the Luchs).

An unnerving challenge became the Luchs kit’s suspension and drive train – it took two days to assemble the vehicle’s underside alone! While this area is very accurate and delicate, the fact that almost EVERY lever and stabilizer is a separate piece on four(!) axles made the assembly a very slow process. Just for reference: the kit comes with three and a half sprues. A full one for the wheels (each consists of three parts, and more than another one for suspension and drivetrain!

Furthermore, the many hull surface details like tools or handles – these are more than a dozen bits and pieces – are separate, very fragile and small (tiny!), too. Cutting all these wee parts out and cleaning them was a tedious affair, too, plus painting them separately.

Otherwise the model went together well, but it’s certainly not good for quick builders and those with big fingers and/or poor sight.

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme was a conservative choice; it is a faithful adaptation of the Bundeswehr’s NATO standard camouflage for the European theatre of operations that was introduced in the Eighties. It was adopted by many armies to confuse potential aggressors from the East, so that observers could not easily identify a vehicle and its nationality. It consists of a green base with red-brown and black blotches, in Germany it was executed with RAL tones, namely 6031 (Bronze Green), 8027 (Leather Brown) and 9021 (Tar Black). The pattern was standardized for each vehicle type and I stuck to the official Luchs pattern, trying to adapt it to the new/bigger turret. I used Revell acrylic paints, since the authentic RAL tones are readily available in this product range (namely the tones 06, 65 and 84). The big tires were painted with Revell 09 (Anthracite).

Next the model was treated with a highly thinned washing with black and red-brown acrylic paint, before decals were applied, taken from the OOB sheet and without unit markings, since the Diana would represent a test vehicle. After sealing them with a thin coat of clear varnish the model was furthermore treated with lightly dry-brushed Revell 45 and 75 to emphasize edges and surface details, and the separately painted hull equipment was mounted. The following step was a cloudy treatment with watercolors (from a typical school paintbox, it’s great stuff for weathering!), simulating dust residue all over the hull. After a final protective coat with matt acrylic varnish I finally added some mineral artist pigments to the lower hull areas and created mud crusts on the wheels through light wet varnish traces into which pigments were “dusted”.

Basically a simple project, but the complex Luchs kit with its zillion of wee bits and pieces took time and cost some nerves. However, the result looks pretty good, and the Stryker turret blends well into the overall package. Not certain how realistic the swap of the Luchs’ internal layout would have been, but I think that the turret moved to the rear makes more sense than the original forward position? After all, the model is supposed to be a prototype, so there’s certainly room for creative freedom. And in classic Bundeswehr colors, the whole thing even looks pretty convincing.

+++ 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 "Entwicklung" tank series (= "development"), more commonly known as the E-Series, was a late-World War II attempt by Germany to produce a standardized series of tank designs. There were to be six standard designs in different weight classes, from which several specialized variants were to be developed. This intended to reverse the trend of extremely complex tank designs that had resulted in poor production rates and mechanical unreliability.

Due to the ever-worsening situation, less than 100 E-25(P) hulls were completed and probably less than 50 combat-worthy vehicles arrived at front line units and were involved in battle until the end of hostilities. But the design work, with many radical and innovative ideas, did not get lost – many of the Fuchs’ design features like its hull layout and armor design or the Beuthen turret found their way into the highly successful German Leopard I MBT in the early 1960ies, which entered service with the German Bundeswehr in 1965 and still serves with several armies until today.

Specifications:

Crew: Five (commander, gunner, loader, radio operator, driver)

Weight: 38 tonnes (41.9 short tons)

Length: 7,02 metres (23 ft), hull only

9.77 metres (32 ft) overall, with the gun forward

Width: 3.96 metres (12 ft 11 1/2 in)

Height: 2.34 metres (7 ft 8 in)

Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)

Suspension: Conical spring

Fuel capacity: 450 litres (120 US gal)

Armor:

10–80 mm (0.4 – 3.15 in)

Performance:

Speed

- Maximum, road: 52 km/h (32 mph)

- Sustained, road: 42 km/h (26 mph)

- Cross country: 16 to 25 km/h (9.5 to 15.5 mph)

Operational range: 210 km (130 mi)

Power/weight: 14,47 PS/tonne (12,86 hp/ton)

Engine:

V12 Maybach HL 101 gasoline engine with 550 PS (539 hp, 341 kW)

Transmission:

ZF AK 7-200 with 7 forward 1 reverse gears

Armament:

1× 8.8 cm KwK 43/4 L/56 with 48 rounds

2× 7.92 mm MG 34 machine guns with a total of 5.200 rounds

(one co-axial with the main weapon, one manually operated on the commander's cupola)

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional Heer '46 is based on the fact that the famous German post-WWII MBT Leopard 1 – at least the Porsche prototype – was based on designs from the WWII era. So, why not spin this story further and retro-grade a Leopard 1 into a Heer ’46 tank, as a kind of grandfather design with then-state-of-the-art technologies…?

Well, that job could be easily done with a Leopard 1 kit built more or less OOB and just painted in typical WWII colors – I have actually seen such things in simulation games like World of Tanks, and it did not look bad at all. But for the ambitious modelers, this would be a bit too simple, wouldn’t it?

For instance, there are some features like the running gear on the Leopard that are very modern and would IMHO not fit into the late WWII timeframe. The general lack of high quality materials and design simplifications everywhere would certainly also take their toll. As a consequence the starting basis for this whiffy tank model actually became an 1:72 Leopard 1 (to be exact, it’s Revell’s Leopard 1A5 kit), but from this basis only a few parts were actually taken over.

Work started with the upper hull, which received the transplantation of the complete upper rear deck from a leftover Hasegawa Panther, including the turret’s attachment ring. Internally the whole affair was reinforced with styrene profiles along the seams. The basic idea behind this move was to get rid of the rather modernistic, raised engine cover of the Leopard, and the Panther’s armored cooling fan covers would add a very familiar, German touch. Furthermore, the Panther turret is set relatively further back than on the Leopard, resulting IMHO in a positive side effect for the vehicle’s proportions. The front with the driver’s hatch and the side walls of the Leopard hull were taken over, just the glacis plate was cleaned from the moulded snow claws for the modern Leopard track.

While I could have used the original, casted Leopard 1 turret without any extra armor, I rather reverted to a donor part: an aftermarket resin turret from the German short run producer Modell Trans. What spoke for this aftermarket piece is that this Heer ’46 turret piece was exactly that kind of add-on this kit would need: a retrograded Leopard 1 turret, with a simplified shape, a simple commander cupola, typical bulges for a late-war optical rangefinder in the turret sides and even a 8.8cm KwK barrel! The resin turret, which also comes with an AA machine gun, was taken OOB. Only the original resin gun barrel came slightly bent – this could have been corrected easily, but I replaced it with a more delicate white metal and brass piece, anyway. Additionally, an adapter for the hull opening had to be scratched.

So far, so good - but the running gear became the biggest challenge. The Leopard 1’s advanced torsion bar running gear with rubber-rimmed wheels would not make sense anymore, due to the special high quality materials needed for its construction. Since the Einheitspanzer family was to share as many components as possible, I decided to implant an E-50-style running gear with its typical cast standard wheels.

This sounds easy, but scratching a running gear is a real stunt! Work started with the attachment points for the driving and guide wheels at the hull’s ends, which were cut off of the Revell kit’s parts and glued into their respective places. The drive wheel was taken over from the Leopard, but the guide wheel at the front end was replaced by a simpler and smaller pair of wheels from a Russian IS-3 tank.

Using the E-50 as benchmark for the running wheels, I gathered twelve of them from the scrap box and from several Modellcollect kits in the stash (The 1:72 E-50 kits from Modelcollect and Trumpeter all come with the option to build an E-75, too, so that each kit offers two pairs of excess parts). Mounting these wheels to the hull, in a staggered fashion, became the kit’s true challenge, though, because I did not have a sufficient number of original wheel carriers/suspension packs. Improvisation resulted in the adaptation of twelve leftover suspension arms from a Modelcollect E-100 kit, even though they had to be tailored in depth and length to fit under the Leopard’s hull. It took some trial and error to find a proper position that would produce a plausible stance, but I think the effort of this transplantation really changes the tank’s look into something Heer ’46-ish?

The track was taken OOB from the Leopard 1 kit, and it is of the segmented IP type. It was mounted after most painting was done, starting with single track segments on the drive and guiding wheels, and then the gaps were filled with other track elements. A bit of a gamble, but the theory, that the track parts should match, was confirmed. Phew…

Painting and markings:

For some subtlety, the model received a classic German paint scheme with “Hinterhalt” colors (Dunkelgelb, Olivgrün and Rotbraun). Once the kit’s components were finished (hull, turret and the separate wheels), everything received an overall coat with matt RAL 7028 (Modelmaster Authentics).

On top of that, a dense pattern of red brown (Humbrol 160) and finally green (RAL 6003 from Modelmaster Authentics) mottles in 1 1:2 ratio was applied with a flat, narrow brush, for a somewhat square shape of the blotches. Pretty straightforward, seen on a late war Panther - and suitable for a summertime scenario as well as in line with common field practice, even though at the time where the model is placed, tanks might have looked more extraordinary or improvised due to the general material shortages.

Once the basic painting was done, the kit received a thin, water-based wash with dark brown, carefully swabbed with a soft cotton cloth in order to leave just a thin and cloudy film on the surfaces and more of the wash in recesses and corners. There were only a few decals to apply, namely three small German crosses and the tactical code on the turret’s flanks. Later some dry-brushing with light grey and hemp was done, emphasizing the edges and highlighting surface details.

The track segments were primed with a mix of acrylic iron, black and dark brown and received a final paint treatment after mounting them onto the wheels, hiding some glue stains and other blemishes.

Artist pigments (a mix of ochre, grey and brown) were dusted with a soft brush onto the lower kit areas, after having sealed the model with matt acrylic varnish beforehand.

Well, what could have been a simple paint job in order to achieve a time-warped Leopard 1 became a massive kitbashing project. However, I think this extra effort, esp. the adaptation of the E-50 running gear, and all the potential risks of mixing parts from different kits, was worthwhile? The paint scheme certainly suggest the WWII era, too. The resulting “new” tank looks IMHO pretty plausible, and both hull and turret shape remind of the Leopard 1 without looking like the real thing behind this build. In fact, from certain angles this one appears like the missing link between the Panther and the Leopard 1, and a lot like an inspiration for the Soviet T-54/55 or even the T-72?

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while in albay, bicol, philippines my son and i came across this old cemetery , which is always a lure for a taphophile like me. took photos of some niches and gravestones, some dating back to the 19th century. after some research and investigation i found out that the land of this cemetery had been sold and will be due for conversion and development into a mall or a shopping centre. well, i'm lucky i was able to take some photos for posterity. here are some images of this moment

of sunshine in the sky to sunshine out of the ground. :)

My wife spotted this yesterday.

an interesting conversion to a New Beetle🐞

+++ 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 Su-21 attack aircraft had its roots in the Su-15 interceptor, which itself was a development of Sukhoi's tailed-delta Su-9 and Su-11 interceptor fighters. Construction of the Su-15 (internal project designation T-58) began in mid-1960, state acceptance tests of the respective T-58-8M1 interception complex with radar and air-to-air missiles started in August 1963.

In 1966 series production at Novosibirsk began, the first pre-series Su-15 interceptor made its first flight from Novosibirsk on 6 March 1966. Once identified as a new service aircraft, NATO christened the type 'Flagon'. While the Su-15 was in series production, a number of improved design features were developed, tested and subsequently introduced with a new production series of the interceptor.

Eventually the MiG-27 and also the Su-17/22 family as well as the biggher Su-24 tactical bomber, thanks to their variable geometry wings, proved to be the more flexible aircraft for the ground attack/fighter bomber role. But the lessons learned from the Su-21 eventually found their way into the very successful, subsonic Su-25 ('Frogfoot') family. The last Su-21D was retired in January 1997, after a service career of 25 years.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length (with pitot): 17.57 m (57 ft 6 1/4 in)

Wingspan: 12.24 m (40 ft 1 in)

Height: 4.84 m (15 ft 10 in)

Empty weight: 11.225 kg (24.725 lb)

Loaded weight: 17.500 kg (38.580 lb)

Powerplant:

2× Tumansky R-13-300 turbojets,each rated at 40.21 kN (9,040 lbf) dry and at 70.0 kN (15,730 lbf) with afterburner

Performance

Maximum speed: 1.250km/h (777mph/674nm) at sea level

Range: 1.380 km (855 ml)

Ferry range: 1.850 km (1.146 mi)

Service ceiling: 17.000 m (55.665 ft)

Armament

1× GSh-30A gatling gun with 280 RPG in the lower fuselage

9× hardpoints (three under the fuselage, three under each wing) for a weapon load of up to 5.500kg (12.115lb),

including iron bombs, unguided missiles and rocket pods, guided weapons, napalm tanks or gun pods; two R-60 (AA-8 "Aphid") AAMs were typically carried for self-defense on the outer pylon pair

The kit and its assembly:

This whif actually has a real background, as outlined above - OKB Sukhoi actually worked in the late 60ies on a Su-15 derivate as a specialized attack aircraft, since the Soviet Forces lacked that type. The ground attack types then in service were the vintage MiG-17 and converted MiG-19 fighters, as well as the fast but very limited Su-7 - either outdated fighters or a fighter-bomber with insufficient range and payload.

Specifications for a ground attack aircraft were unclear at that time, though. Supersonic capability was still seen as a vital asset for any military aircraft, and WWII tactics were still the basis for close air support duties. The T-58Sh was eventually one design direction that would keep development time and costs low, starting with a proven basic airframe and adapting it to a new (and very different) role.

The Su-15, from which the T-58Sh was derived, originally was a Mach 2 interceptor, solely armed with missiles. Making THIS a ground attack aircraft surely was a huge step. The projected Su-15Sh, how the aircrfat was also called, was still to be supersonic, since this was seen as a vital asset at that time. This concept would eventually be a dead end, though, or, alternatively, result in the lighter and much cheaper MiG-27 tactical fighter in the 70ies. But it should still take some more years until a subsonic, simple and dedicated aircraft (the T-8, which made its maiden flight in 1975 and became later the Su-25 'Frogfoot') would be the 'right' direction for the new shturmovik. The Su-15Sh actually never left the drawing board, the swing-wing Su-17/20/22 more or less took its place in real life.

With that background my idea was to build a model of the ground attack Su-15 derivate in front line service in the mid 80ies, at the Cold War's peak and used by the Group of Soviet Forces in (Eastern) Germany. The Su-21 designation is fictional. But since the aircraft would be SO different from the Su-15 interceptor I can hardly imagine that it would have been called Su-15Sh in service. Since its cousin, the MiG-27, also received a new designation, I decided to apply the Su-21 code (which was never applied to a real aircraft - those Su-15 versions called Su-21 are just misnomers or speculations of Western 'experts' when the Iron Curtain was still up).

As a coincidence, I had all 'ingredients' at hand:

● Fuselage and fin from a PM Model Su-15

● Nose section from an Academy MiG-27 (leftover from the Q-6 kitbach)

● Wings and horizontal stabilizers from an ESCI A-7

The A-7 wings have slightly more sweep than what the drafted T-58Sh had (45° vs. 40°), as far as I can tell from profiles, but otherwise they fit in shape and size. I just cut the orginal leading edge away, sculpted a new front from putty, and the result looked very good.

What became tricky were the landing gear wells. Part of the Su-15 landing gear retracts into the lower fuselage, and mating this with the Corsair's wings and the potential space for the landing gear there did not match up properly -the wings would end up much too far behind.

After some trials I decided to cut out the landing gear wells on the lower side of the wings, relatively far forward, and cut out a part of the lower fuselage, reversed it, so that the landing gear wells woukd be placed about 5mm further forward, and the wings were finally attached to the fuselage so that these would match the respective openings on the fuselage's bottom. This was more or less the only major and unexpected surgery, and the original Su-15 landing gear could be retained.

Using the A-7's stabilizers was also a bit off the original concept (the T-58Sh appeared to keep the original parts), but I found that the more slender but wider A-7 parts just made the aircraft look more homogenous?

Grafting the MiG-27 cockpit (which was taken OOB) onto the fuselage was not a big problem, since the intersection is of simple shape and fits well by height and width. I made a vertical cut on the Su-15 fuselage in the middle of the air intake area, which would later be hidden through the air intakes. The latter were taken from the Su-15, but simplified: the intake became simple and "vertical", and the large, orginal splitter plates were replaced by the shorter speiceimen from the MiG-27 kit. The fit almost perfectly, are just a bit short, so that a small hole had to be filled with styrene strips on the lower side.

The fin was taken OOB, just as on the propsed real aircraft. The resulting side profile reminds VERY much of a Dassault Étendard on steroids...? The whole thing also looks a bit like the missing link between the Su-15 and the later Su-24 fighter bomber - esp. when you know the Fencer's fixed-wing T-6 prototype.

Externally, the gatling gun (also taken from the leftoevr MiG-27) and a total of nine hardpoints were added - three under the fuselage, flanking the gun, and six under the outer wings.

Since the Su 15 is a pretty large aircraft, I used the opportunity to equip the aircraft with serious air-to-ground ordnance, a pair of TV-guided Kh-29T (AS-14 "Kedge") missiles from an ICM USSR weapon set and a pair of R-60 AAMs, leftover from an ESCI Ka-34. Furthermore, chaff/flare dispensers were added to the rear upper fuselage, as well as some antennae and the pitots.

Actually, this kitbash was less complicated as expected. Needed lots of putty, sure, but this would also have been needed on the OOB Su-15 from PM Models, as it is a primitive and crude model kit. Here, it found a good use. One drawback is, though, that the surface lacks detail: the PM Model Su-15 is bleak (to put it mildly), and the re-used A-7 wings lost much of their engraved details to leftover paint or sanding - paint tricks would have to mend this.

Painting and markings:

As a frontline service aircraft, this one would receive a tactical camouflage pattern. The Soviet Air Force offers a wide range of options, ranging from boring to bizarre, and I settled for a typical four-color camouflage with light blue undersides:

● Humbrol 119 (Light Earth)

● Humbrol 159 (Khaki Drab)

● Humbrol 195 (Chrome Oxide Green, RAL 6020)

● Testors 2005 (Burnt Umber)

● Humbrol 115 (Russian Blue) for the lower surfaces

The paint scheme was inspired by a East Germany-based Su-17, the colors are guesstimates, based on pictures of real-life Soviet aircraft.

Cockpit interior was painted in typical, infamous Soviet/Russian turqoise (*Argh*), the complete landing gear was painted in Aluminum (Humbrol 56); the wheel discs became bright green (Humbrol 131), di-electric panels (e .g. the fin tip) received a coat in Forest Green (Humbrol 149, FS 34092).

The model was weathered through some counter-shading with lighter tones of the five basic colors, a wash with black ink and some additional stains and blotches with different shades of green and brown, including Humbrol 98 118, 128, 151 - even some RLM 82 from Testors found its way onto the aircraft!

Decals and markings were puzzled together from various aftermarket sheets, and are based on real life pictures of Soviet/Russian aircraft based in Eastern Germany.

I also added some bare metal stains at the leading edges and soot stains around the gun. Since the kitbashed model was pretty bleak, I tried to add painted panel lines - using a thin brush and a mix of matt varnish and black. The counter-shading applied before enhances this effect, and if you do not look too closely at the model, the result is O.K.

Finally, everything was sealed under a coat of matt acrylic varnish.

+++ 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:

With the end of the conflict in Africa in early 1974, the Portuguese Armed Forces went through a reorganization and shifted their focus back from counter-insurgency to honoring Portugal's commitments to NATO and preparing for a possible conflict in Europe against the Warsaw Pact. The Portuguese Air Force's F-86F Sabre and G.91 fighters were considered to be outdated in both the air defense and ground attack roles to face Soviet forces in the European operations theater. Furthermore, only a few Sabre fighters were actually in service due to problems with the engines and lack of spare parts.

The last Saab 35 in Swedish service was retired in 1999, the last Saab 35 Draken was withdrawn from military use in Austria in 2005 – 50 years after the type first flew. However, several aircraft still fly today in private operators’ service.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 15.35 m (50 ft 4 in)

Wingspan: 9.42 m (30 ft 11 in)

Height: 3.89 m (12 ft 9 in)

Wing area: 49.2 m2 (530 ft²)

Airfoil: 5%

Empty weight: 7,865 kg (17,339 lb)

Gross weight: 11,000 kg (24,251 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 11,914 kg (26,266 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Svenska Flygmotor RM6C (license-built Rolls Royce Avon with Swedish afterburner)

turbojet engine, 56.5 kN (12,700 lbf) thrust dry, 78.4 kN (17,600 lbf) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: 2,450 km/h (1,520 mph, 1,320 kn) at 11,000 m (36,089 ft)

Maximum speed: Mach 2

Range: 1.120 km (605 nmi; 696 mi); clean, internal fuel only

Ferry range: 2,750 km (1,480 nmi; 1,710 mi) with four external 500 l drop tanks

Service ceiling: 20,000 m (66,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 199 m/s (39,200 ft/min)

Wing loading: 231.6 kg/m² (47.4 lb/ft²)

Thrust/weight: 0.7

Takeoff roll: 800 m (2,625 ft)

Armament:

2× 30 mm AKAN M/55 ADEN cannon with 100 rounds per gun

4× hardpoints with a capacity of 2,900 kg (6,393 lb); typical interceptor ordnance:

2× 500 l ventral drop tanks and 2× AIM-9 Sidewinder under the wings

The kit and its assembly:

This what-if model came as a spontaneous idea when I browsed through the WWW for inspiration. I stumbled upon the history of the Portuguese Air Force and the fact that it did not operate any dedicated interceptor for 15 years – this task was taken over by the PAF’s A-7s(!) until the F-16 arrived in the Nineties This gap offered a lot of whiffing potential, and I had actually considered to build a whiffy FAP Mirage III for some time, since I knew that this was, together with the F-5, the favored type. However, there was also serious consideration of the Saab 35 as potential fighter alternative, too!

I found this idea so weird/exotic that I decided to build a Draken in FAP colors. The kit is the Hasegawa model, in a Revell re-boxing. I also considered the vintage Revell Saab 35 (a mold from 1957!), but after I saw the kit in a current re-boxing from Polish company Akkura, I took the chance of a reasonably priced Hasegawa kit instead. While the Akkura kit is crisply molded, it would take a lot of work to create a satisfactory “modern” Draken from it. I also had a Heller kit in store (my personal favorite), but I did not want to “sacrifice” it for this project.

The Hasegawa/Revell kit was basically built OOB. The kit is a simple, straightforward affair, with fine recessed engravings and good fit, but it’s IMHO far from extraordinary. It also has its flaws: the dashboard is totally blank, any instruments have to be created by yourself or taken from the decal sheet. There are ejection marks on the wheels and the landing gear covers, and the fit quality of some areas (e .g. the seam between the fuselage and the afterburner section) calls for PSR. The two-piece canopy is thin, very clear and fits well, the landing gear is sufficiently detailed – including the interior of the main landing gear wells.

For the FAP version I did not change much; I just replaced the seat (which OOB looks fine, I just wanted “something else”), added a radar warning antenna to the fin’s tip and chaff dispensers around the tail section, all carved from styrene profiles.

Unfortunately, the Revell re-boxing just comes with a pair of launch rails and underwing pylons, but no AA weapons at all. That’s acceptable for the anniversary machine that you can build from the kit, but leaves the other option, a grey, Swedish J35 H, without any ordnance.

The drop tanks on my build are OOB, together with their ventral hardpoints, and I added a pair of decent AIM-9J Sidewinders from a Hasegawa air-to-air weapon set for a suitable interceptor ordnance. The launch rails were recycled from the kit: they are actually missile rails with attachment points to mount them under the air intakes. The rails were separated and then attached to the OOB underwing pylons, this worked very well.

Painting and markings:

The livery was not an easy choice. Initially I favored a uniform pale grey livery with blue squadron markings, inspired by the late F-86s of FAP 51 squadron, but found this, despite being a plausible look for an interceptor, to look quite boring. For the same reason I rejected an Austria-style “Hill II” scheme or a light-grey USN-inspired “Compass Ghost” livery. The Hellenic “Ghost” wraparound scheme was another potential option, but I recently used something similar on another whif build (the Catalonian L-159 ALCA), and it would not have a typically Portuguese Cold War look.

Keeping in style with the FAP’s livery fashion during the Eighties, I rather settled upon a USAF SEA scheme, which was carried by many PAF aircraft during the Eighties, e .g. the A-7P, the G.91, and their replacement from 1993 onwards, the Alpha Jet. Instead of a wraparound version for ground attack aircraft, I rather gave the Draken light grey undersides.

The camouflage pattern itself was improvised, since I did not want to copy an existing delta wing aircraft (e.g. the USAF’s F-102 or F-106 SEA pattern, or the Belgian Mirage Vs). The basic colors are Humbrol 75 (Bronze Green; the authentic tone is FS 34079, but this lacks IMHO contrast to the lighter green), 117 (FS 34102) and 118 (FS 30219) from above, and Humbrol 28 (FS 36622) underneath.

A large ventral section was, typical for the J 35, left in bare metal, since leaking fuel and oil would frequently eat away any paint there. The section was painted with Steel Metallizer (ModelMaster) and later treated with Matt Aluminum Metallizer (Humbrol).

Internal details like the cockpit and the landing gear were painted with the help of Swedish and Austrian Saab 35 reference pictures. The cockpit tub was painted in a dark, bluish green (Humbrol 76) with grey-green (Revell 67) side walls. A piece of paper tissue covers the cockpit’s back wall, since the kit leaves a visible and rather ugly seam there, which is only partly hidden behind the seat.

The landing gear and its respective wells were painted with Humbrol 56 (Aluminum Dope), parts of the struts were painted in a bright turquoise (a mix of Humbrol 89 and 80; looks quite weird, but I like such details!). The front wheel received a dark green mudguard (Humbrol 30), the same color was also partially used on the extended emergency current generator. Missiles and launch rails were painted in gloss white (Humbrol 22).

As per usual, the model received a light black ink wash and some post-shading in order to emphasize the panels and dramatize the surface. Some extra weathering was done around the gun ports and the jet nozzle with graphite.

For markings I used the contemporary A-7Ps as benchmark: they were minimal, there were even no squadron markings or other decorations, and I think they even lacked roundels on their wings!

I gave the Draken slightly more markings: The small FAP roundels come from a PrintScale A/T-37 sheet, the fin flashes are from a TL Modellbai sheet and the tactical codes belong to a Japanese T-4 trainer. Most stencils were taken from the Revell OOB sheet, which also includes decals for the reddish sealer around the cockpit windows.

I didn’t want to leave the Draken without any squadron marking, though, so I gave it a blue band on top of the fin, as a reminiscence of the FAP 51 squadron’s markings, the former final F-86 operator which became 201 squadron in the early Eighties. These were simply done with layered white and blue decal stripes.

Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri), except for the black radome, which received a sheen varnish coat.

A relatively simple whif project, since the model was mostly built OOB with just minor cosmetic changes. However, despite its exotic operator, the USAF South East Asia scheme suits the Draken well, the whole thing looks disturbingly convincing!?

It’s also a kind of tribute build for “Sport16ing”, apparently a great fan of my what-if builds who frequently re-posts pictures and background stories (with kind permission to do so!) at deviantart.com.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was one of the largest and heaviest fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single piston engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to eight tons, and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack roles could carry five-inch rockets or a significant bomb load of 2,500 pounds; it could carry over half the payload of the B-17 bomber on long-range missions (although the B-17 had a far greater range).

Twelve P-47H were lost in operational crashes with the 358th Group resulting in 11 deaths, two after VE Day, and two (44-21134 on 13 April 1945 and 44-21230 on 16 April 1945) were shot down in combat, both by ground fire.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 39 ft 2 in (11.96 m)

Wingspan: 40 ft 9 in (12.42 m)

Height: 14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)

Wing area: 300 ft² (27.87 m²)

Empty weight: 10,000 lb (4,535 kg)

Loaded weight: 13,300 lb (6,032 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 17,500 lb (7,938 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Chrysler XIV-2220-2 sixteen-cylinder inverted Vee liquid-cooled engine, rated at 2.450 hp.

Performance:

Maximum speed: 503 mph at 30,000 ft (810 km/h at 9,145 m)

Range: 920 mi combat, 2.175 ml ferry (1.480 km / 3.500 km)

Service ceiling: 43,000 ft (13,100 m)

Rate of climb: 3,120 ft/min (15.9 m/s)

Wing loading: 44.33 lb/ft² ()

Power/mass: 0.19 hp/lb (238 W/kg)

Armament:

8× .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns (3.400 rounds)

Up to 2,500 lb (1,134 kg) of bombs, drop tanks and/or 10× 5 in (127 mm) unguided rockets

The kit and its assembly:

I had the (X)P-47H on the agenda for some time, and even the respective MPM kit stashed away. But it took some time to start this project - one reason actually being the, well, crudeness of the MPM offering. Anyway, I wanted to build a service aircraft, and I wondered how this would have looked like, way beyond 1944? That brought me towards the late bubble canopy versions of the P-47D - and suddenly the idea was born to convert the XP-47H into a respective service aircraft which would not only carry the Chrysler XIV-2220-1 V16 engine, but also other improvements of the type. This eventually led to the decision to make this build a kitbash, as a spine implantation would be the easiest way to incorporate the lowered back - or so I thought...

I chose the ancient Heller P-47(N) as donation kit. Not because it was “good”, it just had the right ingredients and was cheap and easy to procure. What sounded like a simple plan turned into a twisted route to vague success. I took the front fuselage and the lower belly from the MPM kit, as well as the horizontal stabilizers and mated it with the upper and rear fuselage of the Heller Thunderbolt. This could have been easy, if both kits would not have had different fuselage diameters - the Heller kit is about 1mm too narrow, even though the length is fine. In order to compensate, I built two new fuselage halves from the salvaged pieces, and once these were stable and more or less sanded even, put together. Inside, the cockpit was taken from the Heller kit, but the seat comes from the MPM kit, and a pilot figure was added. Another problem is the fact that the MPM kit features engraved panel lines, while the Heller kit has old school, raised details and lots of rivets.

The propeller from the MPM kit is a joke, so I built a replacement from scratch - from a drop tank front half from an ancient Revell F4U, and the individual propeller blades were taken from an Italeri F4U. Inside the fuselage, a styrene tube was implanted which holds the new propeller on a metal axis, so it can spin freely.

Other personal mods include lowered flaps and the large cooler intake was opened, with foamed styrene placed inside which mimics some mesh. The same method was also used inside of the intercooler outlets (primarily in order to block any light from shining through). Inside of the landing gear wells I added some structure made from styrene profiles.

Another bigger challenge was the wing attachment - Heller and MPM kit differ considerably in this aspect, so that swapping parts is not easy. The MPM kit has the wing roots molded onto the fuselage halves, while the Heller wings are, more or less, directly attached to the fuselage. As a consequence the Heller wings hold the complete landing gear wells, while the MPM solution has divided sections. I decided to get rid of the MPM wing roots, about 3mm of material, and onto these stubs the Heller wings were attached. The landing gear came from the Heller kit, but the main wheels come from a (new) Revell Me 262 - both MPM and Heller parts are not recommended for serious use... Finally, the many exhausts and cooler flaps were either sanded away and replaced by scratched parts, or added - e. g. the vents behind the cockpit. While the Heller kit features bomb and missile hardpoints under the wings I decided to leave them away - this is supposed to be a fast interceptor, not a train-hunting plough.

Painting and markings:

As this was to be a very late WWII aircraft, NMF was certain, and I wanted to place the service P-47H into the European conflict theatre, where its speed would IMHO be best used against German jet threats. I wanted a colorful aircraft, though, and settled for a machine of the 358th FG. This group actually flew Thunderbolts in the 365-367th Squadrons, and I found several profiles of these gaudy things.

Common to all of them was an orange tail and a dark blue back, while the engine cowling would be decorated with a red front and the air outlets would carry bands in red, white and blue, with lots of tiny stars sprinkled upon. Furthermore, I found specimen with white cowlings behind the red front end, or even yellow cowlings. Pretty cool.

I tried to mimic this look. The model was basically painted with Aluminum Metallizer (Humbrol 27002) overall. The effect is really good, even without rubbing treatment. Some panels were contrasted with Aluminium Plate and Polished Steel Metallizer (Modelmaster), as well as with Aluminum (Humbrol 56, which is rather a metallic grey). The latter was also used on the landing gear. The anti-glare panel in front of the cockpit was painted with Olive Drab (ANA 613 from Modelmaster).

Since there is no air intake opening on the inline engine I decided to paint the spinner in bright red (Humbrol 19), and tried to incorporate the white and blue theme with stars decoration to the rest of the nose. As a convenient coincidence, I found decals from an Italeri B-66 in the stash: it features a version with dark blue jet air intake decorations in the right size, colors and style for what I had been looking for. So, instead of painting everything by hand I decided to incorporate this decal option.

The area behind the spinner was painted white and then the B-66 decals applied to the front flanks. The radiator air intake scoop had to be cut out, but the overall size and shape were a very good match. Even the transition into the blue spine and cockpit area worked well!

The tail was painted with Humbrol 18, later some shading with Humbrol 82 was added. The blue spine was done with a mix of Humbrol 104 and 15 (Oxford Blue and Midnight Blue) - not a perfect match for the B-66 decal colors, but after some dirt and weathering these differences would blur.

Cockpit interior was painted in Humbrol 159 (Khaki Drab) and Zinc Chromate Green from Model Master. The landing gear wells received a chrome yellow primer (Humbrol 225 - actually RAF Mid Stone but a perfect match for the task) finish.

For weathering the kit received a rubbing treatment with grinded graphite, which adds a dark, metallic shine and emphasizes the kit’s raised panel lines. Some dry painting with Aluminum was added, too, simulating chipped paint on the leading edges. I also added some oil stains around the engine, and serious soot stains at the exhaust.

Decals were, beyond the B-66 decoration, puzzled together. The aircraft' code 'CH-F[bar]' is another exotic twist, in two ways. The bar under the letter marks a second use of that code within the squadron, and as a difference from normal code placement (normally exclusively on the fuselage) I placed the aircraft's individual code letter on the fin, a practice on some P-51s and a consequence of the relatively large letter decals.

The nose art is a fictional puzzle, consisting of a Czech MiG-21 pin-up from the Pardubice '89 meeting. The “Ohio Express” tag comes from a Tamiya 1:100 F-105 Thunderchief. A neat combination that even matches the overall colors well!

As a final step, a coat of semi matt acrylic varnish was applied, with the exception of the anti glare panel, which became purely matt.

A better XP-47H? Hard to tell, since this kitbashing was a messy and rather crude work, so the overall finish does not look as good as I hoped for. But the lowered spine and the fin root extension adds to a fast look of this thing, more elegant (if that's possible in this case?) than the Razorback prototypes. I can't help, but the finished article looks like an Evel Knievel stunt vehicle? The red spinner looks a bit odd, but I'll leave it this way.

New pics from an old model! This PA-58N model had been an early attempt to modifiy an out-of-the box kit: after I got hold of a PA-58N "Halk Sovat" (ended up in its original livery, even though with different markings due to poor decals) and, much later, a blue/gray standard PA-58N from the TV series, I wanted to add some drama and a personal touch. Just having seen the movie "Predator" at that time (must have been in the Nineties, I guess :rolleyes:), I knew that a mini gatling gun HAD to be integrated. Et voilà, this became the fictional "MG" version! ;-)

The main modification was the scratch-built gatling gun, made from plastic bits and hollow needles as barrels, mounted onto the left arm and replacing the respective hand. Then came a flexible ammunition feeder belt that runs along the arm to the PA-58's back, made from rubber. Worked initially well, but the material became brittle over the years and needs a replacement now. Additionally, small rocket launchers were added on top of the shoulders, which are/were modified drop tanks from a Matchbox SB2C "Helldiver" kit in 1:72, holding spare rockets from the PAM-74 Tinkle SAM kit. Furthermore, for extra mobility and somewhat inspired by a modified PA-58N in one of the conversion booklets that came with the original Gunze Sangyo PA kits, I added some rocket thrusters on the back and on the legs, leftover from a 1:144 Revell Space Shuttle kit. Beyond these mods, some more minor details from the scratch box were added, for a grittier overall look.

The color scheme is also fictional/non-canonical. Today it would certainly look more color- and/or contrastful. However, the jungle theme from the "Predator" movie prevailed and it was turned into a disruptive 3 color overall scheme in a medium, yellowish earth tone (Tamiya XF-49 "Khaki"), a bluish dark green (Tamiya XF-11 "JN Green") and light grey as a stark contrast to break up egdes and outlines (Tamiya XF-12 "IJN Grey"). The only color contrast became the blue "breast box" with the emergency ejection system. The model was lightly weathered, even though I do not remember which methods I used back then (probably only some dry-brushing, skills and tools were then not as sophisticated as today). The decals/markings had to be fully replaced because they had turned blind and were not usable anymore.

Vintage stuff, but still "part of the family", so that the model deserved some more/better pics than before, which were IIRC still analogue photo film shots, with scanned pictures to be posted here. ;-)

Little bit of back story: name means 'executioner' because of the faceless helmet's similarity to an executioners hood. And because of his tendency to use his naginata-style blade to decapitate his enemies. Doesn't make him any less useless in a game though.

ANAGLYPH, conversion of original card stereoview in my collection: "When My Car Comes In" Keystone View Company. Part of a set of views made for one of the General Motors Motorama car shows that started in 1949 and went through the 1950's.

This image views in 3D when wearing RED/CYAN 3D glasses.

The original stereoview is here: www.flickr.com/photos/depthandtime/5265269834/

Photo by George Rodger

Conversion 2D>3D

CROSSVIEW

To view 3D pics cross your eyes focusing between at the pictures until both images overlap one another in the middle.

Per vedere le foto in 3D incrociare (strabuzzare) gli occhi fino a che le due immagini si sovrappongono formandone una sola centrale.

+++ 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 Focke-Wulf Project VII Flitzer ("streaker" or "dasher", sometimes incorrectly translated as "madcap") was a jet fighter under development in Germany in World War II.

An improved version with new, thinner wings and a slightly increased sweep for even better performance, the A-2, was scheduled to enter production in summer 1946, but the end of hostilities limited overall production to less than 100 Fw 260 A-1.

General characteristics:

Crew: One pilot

Length: 10,30 m (33 ft 8 3/4 in)

Wingspan: 8.00 m (26 ft 2 in)

Wing sweep: 30° at quarter chord

Height: 3,31 m (10 ft 10 in)

Wing area: 17.0 m2 (183 ft2)

Empty weight: 3.396 kg (7.486 lb)

Gross weight: 4.900 kg (10.802 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Daimler-Benz DB 109-021 turboprop, rated at 1,491 kW (2,000 hp)

plus 770 kp (1.697 lb) residual thrust

Performance:

Maximum speed: 900 km/h (559 mph) at 9.000 m (30.00 0ft)

Range: 1.020 km (633 miles) on internal fuel at 7.000 m (23.000 ft)

Endurance: 1 hour 17 min at full load and at 7.000 m (23.000 ft)

Service ceiling: 13,000 m (42,500 ft)

Rate of climb: 39 m/s (128 ft/sec)

Armament:

1× 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannon (40 RPG), firing through the propeller hub

4× 20 mm MG 213 cannons, one pair in the lower front fuselage and one in each wing,

each with 100 RPG.

Up to 1.000kg (2.202 lb) of external ordnance at two wing hardpoints, including bombs

of up to 500 kg (1.100 lb) caliber, drop tanks, racks with unguided missiles, or podded

cannons

The kit and its assembly:

I had this Luft '46 project on the list for a while, and while waiting for parts for other projects I decided to dig a Revell "Flitzer" kit out of the pile and start a quick conversion.

Yes, this one is based on a real German project: Fact is that this one was a turboprop-powered derivative of the pure jet Flitzer, with swept surfaces and a conventional tail boom. And it was intended as an attack aircraft, not a fighter.

Its designation, be it internally or through the RLM, varies widely, though. Some sources call it "Project VIII" (because the Flitzer was Project VII), but that's doubtful because there were several iterations with twin and single boom arrangements, as well as different wing shapes (ranging from the Flitzer's clipped delta shape to swept, slender wings that remind of the F-86).

Unicraft did a resin kit of this paper project, calling it "P.127" for whatever reason, and they also did a kit of its twin-boom predecessor - the latter being christened Fw 258 by Unicraft, even though this number had not been allocated by the RLM.

I took that idea up and gave my creation the fictional designation Fw 260 - the "260" was never used by the RLM, too, and it is even uncertain which number the Flitzer would have had, had it been built or accepted for Luftwaffe service.

Anyway, changing the Revell Flitzer into its successor was not an easy task. It started with a new nose that would not only carry the scratched propeller, it would also have to blend into the trapezoid diameter of the original "pod" fuselage. The solution was found through a rear drop tank end from a vintage Revell F4U that was cut in two pieces: the rear tip would become the propeller spinner (onto which single, deep blades from a vintage Frog Ta 152 were glued), while the rest replaced the original Flitzer nose and holds a 6x6mm, square styrene tube inside that carries the propeller on a round styrene axis. It's even spinning!

Because this scratched arrangement needed space, the original front landing gear well had to be cut away, as well as parts of the cockpit floor. Lots of putty created some new nose lines, and before the hull was glued together as much lead as possible was hidden behind the cockpit and even inside of the front landing gear well.

The cockpit was taken almost OOB: I just used a deeper seat - the original part looks tiny, but the cockpit is really cramped so that a replacement was not easy to fit in.

At the pod's rear end, a new tail had to be created. First measure was to "reverse" the original exhaust position, flipping it from top to bottom, and adding a tail boom as a spine extension. The boom is actually a tail from a Hobby Boss P-39, which was considerably modified and cut into shape. Again, lots of putty smoothed out the lines.

With the tail in place and the new, longer nose, the wings' position was not right anymore. Consequently, the wings were moved forward by 7mm - an easy task, thanks to the kit's construction. New stabilizers were scratched from the spares box, too.

Speaking of the wings: the Flitzer's toeholds for the twin tail booms had to disappear, too - done through cutting and putty inserts on/in the wings' trailing edges. Worked pretty well.

The landing gear was taken OOB from the original kit. The front wheel wa not inserted as deep as in the Flitzer (there's no space anymore, anyway...) and slightly offset - profile drawings from Focke Wulf suggest such an arrangement, probably due to the power shaft that had to run somewhere under the cockpit floor.

Another issue became the new, forward position of the wings: this would push the tail even more down. So, I added a 3mm console at the main gear struts' bases - just enough to get the tail high enough for a plausible ground position. The real aircraft would have had a high nose, too, so the odd look is not as farfetched as it might seem.

Final touches included additional underwing hardpoints and a pair of 250 kg bombs (IIRC, from an Italeri Ju 188), outfitted with scratched fuze extensions for soggy ground, suitable ordnance for the intended ground attack role.

Painting and markings:

The late WWII canon for German aircraft leaves not much room for paint scheme experiments, but I did not want to repeat myself. So I was lucky to find a real Me 262 in the rather odd night paint scheme that I eventually used - and the result is... interesting.

Top cammo basically consists of RLM 81 and 82 (Braunviolett and Light Green enamels, from Modelmaster's Authentic line) in wavy, but sharply defined fields. On the fuselage flanks, RLM 81 and 82 also feature "counter-blotches" of the respective other tone. The undersides are painted black (RLM 22) - originally, this could also have been dark grey (RLM 66), but I found black more attractive, also as a contrast to the dark grey landing gear.

Markings were minimal on the Me 262 paradigm: all insignia in a simplified version, and even in black on the flanks. The only code was red number (outlined in white) - that's all! On the kit I added the heart emblems and the red spinner with a white spiral as a personal touch, but the aircraft still looks murky and purposeful - for night attack sorties.

The basic tones were shaded with lighter colors, including Humbrol 120, 155 and 32. Since the putty work on the fuselage made almost any engraving disappear, I added painted panel lines (with the help of some Tamiya "Smoke").

The exhaust area was painted with Modelmaster Metallizer and treated with grinded graphite, which was also used to add soot stains around the many gun nozzles.

The decals were puzzled together, stencils were taken over from the Flitzer Sheet - and these many red bits make the dark aircraft a bit more lively. Finally, everything was sealed under a coat of matt Revell Acrylics varnish.

Even if this model does not look like it: it was a major surgery job, especially the nose and the landing gear caused severe headaches. But the result looks pretty cool and sleek, and the unique paint schem adds to the mysterious look of this Luft '46 whif.

Nikon D700 Conversion Camera

A 1926 Fordson tractor with a Trackson conversion built by the Full-Crawler Co. of Milwaukee, WI. The 2017 Arizona Flywheelers antique tractor show in Cottonwood, AZ.

Being delivered in 2005 to Bath depot, First B7RLE 66937 WX55UAD has worked in Bristol for a few years. However, it was earmarked for withdrawal ahead of a possible conversion to a driver trainer. It is seen on June 13th 2020 at Lawrence Hill

+++ 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:

In 1948, a swept wing version of the F-84 was created with the hope of bringing performance to the level of the F-86. The last production F-84E was fitted with a swept tail, a new wing with 38.5 degrees of leading-edge sweep and 3.5 degrees of anhedral, and a J35-A-25 engine producing 5,300 pound-force (23.58 kN) of thrust. The aircraft was designated XF-96A and flew on 3 June 1950. Although the airplane was capable of 602 knots (693 mph, 1,115 km/h), the performance gain over the F-84E was considered minor. Nonetheless, it was ordered into production in July 1950 as the F-84F Thunderstreak. The F-84 designation was eventually retained because the fighter was expected to be a low-cost improvement of the straight-wing Thunderjet with over 55 percent commonality in tooling.

A handful F-96Bs were camouflaged during the late Sixties with the USAF’s new SEA scheme, but most aircraft retained their original bare metal finish with more or less colorful unit markings. Due to its limited capabilities and the introduction of the Mach 2 McDonnell F-4 Phantom, the last F-96B was retired from ANG service in 1971.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2

Length: 54t 11 1/2 in (16,77 m) incl. pitot

Wingspan: 33 ft 7.25 in (10,25 m)

Height: 16 ft 9 in (5,11 m)

Wing area: 350 sq ft (37,55 m²)

Empty weight: 13,810 lb (6.264 kg)

Gross weight: 21,035 lb (9.541 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 28,000 lb (12.701 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Wright J65-W-18 turbojet with 8,600 lbf (34 kN) dry thrust and 10,500 lbf (47 kN) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: 695 mph (1,119 km/h, 604 kn, Mach 1.1) at 35,000 ft (10,668 m)

Cruise speed: 577 mph (928 km/h, 501 kn)

Range: 810 mi (1,304 km, 704 nmi) combat radius with two droptanks

Service ceiling: 49,000 ft (15,000 m)

Rate of climb: 16,300 ft/min (83 m/s)

Wing loading: 86 lb/sq ft (423 kg/m²)

Armament:

No internal guns;

6× underwing hardpoints for a total ordnance load of up to 6,000lb (2,727 kg), including

a pair of 191.5 US gal (727 l) or 375 US gal (1.429 l) drop tanks on the inner stations

and a mix of AIM-4 Falcon (up to six), MB-1 Genie (up to two) and/or pods with

nineteen 2.75”/70 mm FFAR unguided missiles each (up to four) on the outer stations

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional missing link between the RF-84F and the F-105 was conceived for the Fifties Group Build at whatifmodellers.com, an era when the USAF used a wide variety of interceptor aircraft types and technical advancements were quick and significant – in just a decade the interceptor evolved from a subsonic machine gun-toting aircraft to a guided weapons carrier platform, capable of Mach 2.

The F-96B (I re-used Republic’s dropped designation for the swept-wing F-84F) was to display one of the many “in between” designs, and the (R)F-84F was just a suitable basis for a conversion similar to the T-33-derived F-94, just more capable and big enough to carry the nuclear Genie missile.

The basis became Italeri’s vintage RF-84F kit, a rather simple affair with raised panel lines and a mediocre fit, plus some sinkholes. This was, however, heavily modified!

Work started with the implantation of a new tandem cockpit, taken wholesale from a Heller T-33. Fitting the cockpit tub into the wider Thunderflash hull was a bit tricky, putty blobs held the implant in place. The canopy was taken from the T-33, too, just the RF-84F’s original rear side windows were cut away to offer sufficient length for the longer clear part and the cockpit side walls had to be raised to an even level with the smaller windscreen with the help of styrene strips. With these adapters the T-33 canopy fitted surprisingly well over the opening and blended well into the spine.

The camera nose section lost its tip, which was replaced with the tail cone from a Matchbox H.S. Buccaneer (actually its air brake), and the camera windows as well as the slant surfaces that held them were PSRed away for a conical shape that extended the new pointed radome. Lots of weight in the nose and under the cockpit floor ensured a safe stance on the OOB landing gear.

The rear section behind the air brakes became all-new; for an afterburner I extended and widened the tail section and implanted the rear part from a B-66 (Italeri kit, too) engine nacelle, which received a wider nozzle (left over from a Nakotne MiG-29, a featureless thing) and an interior.

To balance the longer nose I also decided to enlarge the tail surfaces and replaced the OOB fin and stabilizers with leftover parts from a Trumpeter Il-28 bomber – the fin was shortened and the stabilizers reduced in span to match the rest of the aircraft. Despite the exotic source the parts blend well into the F-84’s overall design!

To add supersonic credibility and to connect the design further with the later F-105 I modified the air intakes and cut them into a raked shape – quite easy to realize. Once the wings were in place, I also added small splitter plates, left over from an Airfix BAC Strikemaster.

As an interceptor the armament had to be adapted accordingly, and I procured the quartet of IR-guided Falcons as well as the Genie duo from an Academy F-89. The large drop tanks were taken OOB from the Italeri kit. The Genies were mounted onto their massive Scorpion pylons under the outer wings of the F-96B, while the Falcons, due to relatively little space left under the wings, required a scratched solution. I eventually settled for dual launchers on small pylons, mounted in front of the landing gear wells. The pylons originally belong to an ESCI Ka-34 “Hokum” helicopter kit (they were just short enough!), the launch rails are a halved pair of F-4 Sidewinder rails from a Hasegawa air-to-air weapons set. With everything on place the F-96B looks quite crowded.

Painting and markings:

The machine would represent a late Fifties USAF type, so that the paint options were rather limited if I wanted to be authentic. ADC Grey was introduced in the early Sixties, SEA camouflage even later, so that bare metal became a natural choice – but this can be quite attractive! The model received an overall coat with acrylic “White Aluminum” from the rattle can, plus some darked panels all over the hull (Humbrol 56 for good contrast) and an afterburner section in Revell 91 (Iron Metallic) and Humbrol’s Steel Metallizer. The radome became deep black, the anti-glare panel in front of the windscreen olive drab (Revell 46). Light grey (Revell 75) was used for some small di-electric fairings.

Interior surfaces (cockpit and landing gear wells) were painted with Zinc Chromate primer (I used Humbrol 80), while the landing gear struts became silver-grey (Humbrol 56) and the inside of the covers as well as the air brakes were painted in bright red (Humbrol 19).

Once basic painting was done the model received a black ink washing and was rubbed with grinded graphite to emphasize the raised panel lines, and the material adds a nice dark metallic shine to the silver base coat.

Another challenge was to find suitable unit markings for the Fifties era in the decal vault, which would also fit onto the model. After a long search I eventually settled for rather simple markings from a 325th FIS F-102 from an Xtradecal sheet, which only features a rather timid fin decoration.

Finding other suitable standard markings remained demanding, though. Stars-And-Bars as well as the USAF taglines were taken from the Academy F-89 that also provided the ordnance, most stencils were taken from the OOB Italeri sheet and complemented by small markings from the scrap box. The biggest problem was the creation of a matching serial number. The “FF” code was originally used for P/F-51D Mustangs during the Korea War, but after the type had been phased out it might have been re-used? The letters as well as the serial number digits were created from various markings for USAF F-100s, also from an Xtradecal sheet.

Once the decals had been applied the model was sealed with semi-gloss acrylic varnish, except for the radome, the anti-glare panel as well as the walking areas on the wings as well as parts of the afterburner section, which were coated with matt varnish.

A rather straightforward conversion, even though finishing the project took longer than expected. But the result looks surprisingly natural and plausible. Lots of PSR was needed to modify the fuselage, though, especially the tail section was not easy to integrate into the Thunderflash’s hull. Sticking to the simple NMF livery paid IMHO out, too: the livery looks very natural and believable on the fictional aircraft, and it suits the F-84’s bulbous shape well.

Tau commandos in ghillie suits. The suits are made from very fine medical gauze dipped in 50/50 water and PVA glue then draped around the models. The models are then painted dark angels green, given a quick layer of PVA glue and rolled in flock.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe or Sturmvogel (English: "Swallow"/ "Storm Bird") was the world's second operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but engine problems and top-level interference kept the aircraft from operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944.

Anyway, only about 20 Me 262 G-1 were delivered to NJG 6 at all, and probably less than a dozen were operational when Germany surrendered. The G-3 recce variant remained on the drawing board, while two prototypes with radomes for the FuG 240 were under construction and underwent wind tunnel tests.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2

Length overall: 11.67 m (38 ft 3 in)

Wingspan: 12.60 m (41 ft 6 in)

Height: 3.50 m (11 ft 6 in)

Wing area: 21.7 m² (234 ft²)

Empty weight: 3,795 kg[101] (8,366 lb)

Loaded weight: 6,473 kg[101] (14,272 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 7,130 kg[101] (15,720 lb)

Powerplant:

Aspect ratio: 7.32

Powerplant:

2× Junkers Jumo 004 B-1 turbojets, 8.8 kN (1,980 lbf) each

Performance:

Maximum speed: 900 km/h (559 mph)

Range: 1,050 km (652 mi)

Service ceiling: 11,450 m (37,565 ft)

Rate of climb: 1,200 m/min (At max weight of 7,130 kg) (3,900 ft/min)

Thrust/weight: 0.28

Armament:

2x 30mm MK 103 cannon in the lower front fuselage with 120 RPG

2x 30mm MK 108 cannon "Schräge Musik" installation with 80 RPG,

angled 70° upwards, between the cockpits

2x hardpoints under the wings, each able to carry up to 250kg (550lb), including bombs, drop tanks or unguided missiles (rarely used)

The kit and its assembly:

Connoisseurs will immediately recognize this kitbash - and the Me 262 G was spawned from the thought that the Japanese Ki-46 was such an elegant aircraft - wouldn't a jet version somehow make sense? So, initially this was supposed to become a Hikoki '46 model, but when I held some Me 262 parts next to the Ki-46's fuselage the idea of a Luftwaffe night fighter was born.

And this actually worked better than expected. This whif is a kitbash of an Airfix Ki-46 fuselage with wings, tail, engines, landing gear and Hirschgeweih from a Revell Me 262 B-1a.

Mating the parts went pretty straightforward, even though I made a mistake when I measured the position of the wing under the fuselage. Somehow it ended up 4-5mm too close to the nose - while the flaw was acceptable I decided to add a 5mm plug behind the pilot cockpit to compensate... And the added length just underlines the elegant Ki-46 lines.

In order to keep the model on its three feet lots of lead beads were hidden in the fuselage, the nose tip and even the front ends of the engine nacelles. Since the Ki-46 fuselage is considerably smaller than the Me 262's I had to fill the wing roots with putty, but that was a rather easy task.

Painting and markings:

I wanted something different from other German night fighters/bombers I had already built, yet a simple livery. Since many German night fighters left the factories in an overall RLM 76 finish I used this as a basis and just added mottles in RLM 75 on the upper surfaces - inspired by a Ta 154 Moskito night fighter prototype.

The cockpits were painted in very dark grey (RLM 66) while the landing gear and the respective wells were painted with RLM 02. Everything very conventional.

The markings were puzzled together - the national markings and stencils come from the Revell Me 262 B-1a sheet while the registration was created from single aftermarket letters, matching a hypothetical aircraft from 4. Staffel, II./NJG 6 in code and colors.

The kit received a light black in wash and some dry-brushing to emphasize panel lines. On the fuselage, however, I painted some panel lines with a pencil, since the Airfix Ki-46 is completely bare of details. Some soot stains around the guns were added with graphite and finally everything sealed under matt acrylic varnish.

A simple kitbashing project, and I am amazed how plausible the Ki-46/Me 262 mix looks, despite the mistake I made with the wing position. I wonder how a Ki-46 III with its streamlined cockpit would look in this case?

2nd batch of pictures from my Venator conversion.

In all its glory and floating in an orbit above Corvan: the I.C.S. Ventura, a free/independent leisure cruiser, based on a retired Republican Venator class battleship.

This thing is so huge, I am not used to take pictures of objects of THIS size. I even had to improvise a big(ger) background for photo shooting, putting three A3 printouts together into one broad banner...

Anyway, the ship is finished, lights are on, and there are so many great perspectives to catch, I suppose that there will be many beauty pics of this model coming the next days!

If you want to see this ship "live", together with its sisters from phoxim.de's Venator Group Build project, check out 2012's Space Days in Darmstadt, Germany.

Thanks for your interest, stay tuned!

I really like this transit it just oooses 70'sness!! Ongoing restoration/camper conversion.

+++ 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:

Buffalo Airways is a family-run airline based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, established in 1970. Buffalo Airways was launched by Bob Gauchie and later sold to one of his pilots, Joe McBryan (aka "Buffalo Joe"). It operates charter passenger, charter cargo, firefighting, and fuel services, and formerly operated scheduled passenger service. Its main base is at Yellowknife Airport (CYZF). It has two other bases at Hay River/Merlyn Carter Airport (CYHY) and Red Deer Regional Airport (CYQF). The Red Deer base is the main storage and maintenance facility. The company slogan is “Your passage to the North”.

Buffalo also operates a courier service as Buffalo Air Express which started in 1982-1983. It offers service throughout the Northwest Territories (NWT) and Northern Alberta. In association with Global Interline Network it can ship around the world from bases in Yellowknife, Edmonton and Hay River.

Under contract for the NWT Government, Buffalo Airways also operates and maintains aircraft used in the aerial firefighting program. The waterbombers are assisted by smaller aircraft known as "bird dogs" which are used to help spot wildfires as well as guide waterbombers during operations.

However, with the company’s commitment to aerial firefighting the robust machines were from 1987 on primarily used for aerial fire patrol in the Yellowknife region during summertime, and for postal service in wintertime. Occasionally, the Buffalo Airways Norsemen were used as air ambulance, too. To reflect their new role the machines received a striking and highly visible new livery in deep orange and dark green, which they carried for the rest of their career. In the firefighting role they operated in unison with other Bird Dogs and Buffalo Airways’ Air Tractor 802 Fireboss and specially converted Lockheed L-188 Electra waterbombers. CF-NME was eventually grounded in 1996 after a severe engine damage and sold (but later revived with a replacement engine), while CF-NMD, nicknamed ‘Anna Louise’ by its crews, soldiered on with Buffalo Airways until 2004.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Capacity: up to 10 passengers

Length: 32 ft 4 in (9.86 m)

Wingspan: 51 ft 6 in (15.70 m)

Height: 10 ft 1 in (3.07 m)

Wing area: 325 sq ft (30.2 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2412

Empty weight: 4,240 lb (1,923 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 7,400 lb (3,357 kg) ;7,540 lb (3,420 kg) with floats

Fuel capacity: 100 imp gal (120 US gal; 450 L) in two wing root tanks,

plus optional 37.4 imp gal (44.9 US gal; 170 L) or 2x 101.6 imp gal

(122.0 US gal; 462 L) auxiliary tanks in the cabin

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN1 9 cylinder air cooled radial piston engine, 600 hp (450 kW),

driving a 3-bladed Hamilton Standard, 9 ft 0.75 in (2.7623 m) diameter constant-speed propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 155 mph (249 km/h, 135 kn) as landplane with standard wheels

138 miles per hour (120 kn; 222 km/h) on skis

134 miles per hour (116 kn; 216 km/h) on floats

Cruise speed: 130 mph (210 km/h, 110 kn) KTAS at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

Stall speed: 68 mph (109 km/h, 59 kn)

Range: 932 mi (1,500 km, 810 nmi) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

Service ceiling: 17,000 ft (5,200 m)

Rate of climb: 591 ft/min (3.00 m/s) at 100 miles per hour (87 kn; 161 km/h)

Wing loading: 22.8 lb/sq ft (111 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.08 hp/lb (0.13 kW/kg)

Maximum - Flaps extended (Vfe): 108 miles per hour (94 kn; 174 km/h)

The kit and its assembly:

This project was spawned when, some years ago, I came across a picture of PBV-5A Canso/Catalina CF-NJE/ C-FNJE (ex RCAF 11094) during its use with Buffalo Airways between 1996 and 2004, where it AFAIK flew as a tanker/mobile gas station for other firefighting aircraft. The Canso carried a bright and highly attractive livery in deep orange and dark green with high-contrast white trim on wings and fuselage, and I immediately decided to apply this pretty scheme to another aircraft one day. And what could be more Canadian and an epitome of a bush aircraft than the stubby Noorduyn Norseman (well, O.K., an Otter, a Beaver…) which is available as a 1:72 kit from Matchbox (since 1981, re-released by Revell)? An alternative is AFAIK a full resin kit from Choroszy Modelbud, even though it only offers floats.

Several years after the project’s inception I was able to hunt down a relatively cheap kit (2009 Revell re-boxing), but it rested some more years in The Stash™ until the time was ripe and I collected enough mojo to tackle it. Since this would only be a livery whif and not involve any major conversions, the Norseman kit was basically built OOB, using the optional floats as most suitable landing gear.

The only addition is a scratched semi-elliptic stabilizing fin under the tail, sometimes seen on real world Norsemen with floats. A technical change I made is a metal axis for the propeller with an internal styrene tube adapter behind the engine. Unusual for a Matchbox kit: it comes with separate rudders and flaps, and I mounted the latter in a downward position. For eventual flight scenes I integrated a vertical styrene tube behind the rear cabin bulkhead, as a rigid adapter for a steel rod display holder.

To avoid masking and the danger of losing one or more of the side windows during the assembly or while painting the model, I left them all away and recreated them after painting with Humbrol ClearFix – only the windscreen is an OOB piece. The risk of pushing one of the windows into the hull is IMHO very high, because each pane is a separate piece and none of them have any support to increase the contact area with the hull. This also makes the use of glue to mount and fix them rather hazardous. The ClearFix stunt went better than expected, but I guess that the Norseman’s window might be the limit of what can be created with the gooey stuff.

Overall fit of the kit is good, even though some PSR is needed along seams (esp. at the wing/fuselage intersections) and for some sinkholes along the fuselage seam. A feature Matchbox always did well is the surface structure of fabric-clad areas, and the Norseman is no exception. Mounting the delicate float arrangement was challenging, though, it takes a lot of patience and thorough drying phases to assemble. Because I wanted to paint the floats and the respective struts in aluminum (from a rattle can) I assembled and lacquered them separately, for a final “marriage”.

As additional details I added PE boarding ladders between the floats and the side doors instead of the minimal OOB plastic steps, and some rigging between the fin and the stabilizers as well as between the floats’ struts, created with heated grey styrene material.

Painting and markings:

The real highlight of the model: the bright firefighting livery! I adapted the paint scheme as good as possible from the benchmark Catalina (the same livery was also carried by CL-215 waterbombers) onto the stubby Norseman and used Humbrol 3 (Brunswick Green) and 132 (Red Satin, a rather orange-red tone) as basic colors. A personal addition/deviation is the black belly, and because of the separate cowling I ended the jagged white cheatline behind it and added a white front ring to the cowling.

The wing supports were painted white, similar to the real Canso. Since the floats are an optional landing gear, they were painted (separately) in white aluminum (from a rattle can), with dark gray walkways and black tips. The model did not receive an overall black ink washing, because I wanted to present a clean look, but I did some very subtle post-shading with slightly lightened basic tones along the internal braces. It’s barely noticeable, though.

Most of the white trim was created with generic decal stripe material from TL Modellbau, a very convenient solution, even though a LOT of material (more than 1m in total!) went into the decoration. Aligning all the stripes on the stabilizers and the wings was not as easy as it seems, due to the rib structure of the surfaces. The registration codes on wings and fuselage were created with single white letters (also from TL Modellbau) in different sizes.

The model was sealed with semi-gloss acrylic varnish (Italeri) for a clean and fresh look, the floats received a coat with matt (effectively a bit shiny) varnish from a rattle can, before the model was finally assembled and final struts and the PE boarding ladders were added. The anti-glare panel in front of the windscreen became matt, too.

As one of the final steps, the windowpanes were created with ClearFix (see above) – quite a stunt. Due to their size and square shape, I had to carve some individual tools from chopsticks to apply the thick material properly. Filling the openings this way was quite a challenge, but eventually worked better than expected (or suspected).

A pretty outcome! The firefighting livery suits the Norseman well, it’s a bright spotlight – as intended in real life! :D Building the model took a while, though, mostly because I had to take time for the paint to dry and the extensive use of decal stripes, and I took part in the 2023 “One Week” group build at whatifmodellers.com in the meantime, too. The Matchbox kit is also not to be taken lightly. While things mostly go together well, the delicate floats and the windows are a serious challenge, and I think that replacing the clear parts mostly with Clearfix was not a bad move to avoid other/long-term trouble.

Well some of them need to be shooting! The knife on the arm has a green stuff strap which is the finest/smallest detail I've attempted so far. I liked the way the broken sword on the base worked out.

With the current plan to turn P154 KWJ into a motorhome, step 1 involves the removal of seats...

This set of images shows post-conversion work performed to take my 2005, Texas-based Pontiac GTO back to its Aussie Holden roots. Looks much better. A few small details here and there also go a long way sometimes.

Holden Monaro front conversion kit acquired from JHP Vehicle Enhancements in Melbourne, Australia.

Holden Monaro front conversion kit painted and installed along with rear badged by Colour House of Texas, Bertram, Texas.

Additional mods found here and there and added by yours truly.

black and white conversion of one the elan valley visitor centres pumphouses.

London route 173 has recently been converted to double-deck. Enviro 400s are allocated but on Saturday 31st October two of the buses in use were older VLA class Volvos. One is about to commence its journey from King George Hospital.

Our old house is attached to what was originally a cattle-byre, then used as a school until 1904 when a new bigger school was built in the village. After that the little building was used as a Mission Room before becoming an offshoot of the Parish Church in the nearby town. It was known as St James' Chapel, but after about 80 years of use with minimal maintenance the place had deteriorated so much that it was dangerous, and the current vicar decided to hand it back to us. (The rent had originally been set at 6d a year, £1.00 every 20 years, and never raised, so the landlords couldn't afford to patch it up either.)

So we decided to make it into a little house, and the work is progressing nicely. This is the upstairs floor, just installed (having been removed when the Chapel conversion happened). For ODC Natural Light

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

In the early days of World War II, Royal Navy fighter requirements had been based on cumbersome two-seat designs, such as the fighter/dive-bomber Blackburn Skua (and its turreted derivative the Blackburn Roc) and the fighter/reconnaissance Fairey Fulmar, since it was expected that they would encounter only long-range bombers or flying boats and that navigation over featureless seas required the assistance of a radio operator/navigator. The Royal Navy hurriedly adopted higher-performance single-seat aircraft such as the Hawker Sea Hurricane and the less robust Supermarine Seafire alongside, but neither aircraft had sufficient range to operate at a distance from a carrier task force. The American Vought F4U Corsair was welcomed as a more robust and versatile alternative.

Most Corsair Vs were then relegated to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) in August 1951, where they replaced Supermarine Seafires and took over their role as classic fighter aircraft, despite the Corsair V’s strike/attack potential with bombs and unguided missiles. Most of the time the Corsairs were used for lang range navigation training. RNVR units that operated the Corsair V included Nos. 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834, 1835 and 1836 Squadrons. No. 1832, based at RAF Benson, was the last RNVR squadron to relinquish the type in August 1955 for the jet-powered Supermarine Attacker, and this ended the Corsair V’s short career.

General characteristics:

Crew: One

Length: 34 ft (10.37 m)

Wingspan: 40 ft 8 in (12.10 m)

Height: 15 ft 4 in (4.68 m)

Wing area: 314 sq ft (29.17 m²)

Empty weight: 9,205 lb (4,238 kg)

Gross weight: 14,670 lb (6,654 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 14,533 lb (6,592 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Centaurus XVIII 18-cylinder air-cooled radial engine with

2,470 hp (1,840 kW) take-off power, driving a 4-bladed

Rotol constant-speed propeller with 14 ft (4.3 m) diameter

Performance:

Maximum speed: 453 mph (730 km/h, 397 kn) at sea level

Cruise speed: 215 mph (346 km/h, 187 kn) at sea level

Stall speed: 89 mph (143 km/h, 77 kn)

Range with internal fuel, clean: 1,005 mi (1,617 km, 873 nmi)

Combat range with max. ordnance: 328 mi (528 km, 285 nmi)

Service ceiling: 41,500 ft (12,600 m)

Rate of climb: 4,360 ft/min (22.1 m/s)

Armament:

4× 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano Mk II cannon in the outer wings, 250 RPG

A total of 11 hardpoints under the wings and the fuselage for a total ordnance of

4,000 pounds (1.800 kg), including drop tanks, up to 16× 60 lb unguided aircraft rockets on twin

launch rails and/or bombs of up to 1.000 lb (454 kg) caliber

The kit and its assembly:

My first submission to the 2023 “Re-engine” group build at whatifmodellers.com, and a British Corsair with a Centaurus instead of the original R-2800 is almost a no-brainer. But taking the idea to hardware turned out to be a bit trickier than expected. I based my fictional conversion on an Italeri F4U-4, which would have been the appropriate late-WWII basis for a real-life conversion. The kit has good ex- and internal detail with fine engraved panels and offers the late Corsairs’ all-metal wings, too.

The engine replacement is a massive resin piece from OzMods, part of a conversion twin set for a Bristol Brigand; I assume it’s intended for the Valom kit? The set includes resin four-blade props with deep blades which I rather wanted to use than the Sea Fury’s typical five-blade prop.

The Italeri Corsair was basically built OOB, but beyond the different engine, which caused some trouble in itself (see below), I incorporated several mods to change the aircraft’s appearance. The streamlined Centaurus was insofar a problem because it has s slightly smaller diameter than the original R-2800 cowling. Not much, but enough to make a simple exchange impossible or at least look awkward. While the upper cowling section and its curvature blended well into the Corsair fuselage, the difference became more obvious and complicated underneath: late Corsairs have a “flattened” bottom, and from below the Centaurus appears somewhat undersized. To smooth the intersection out I grinded much of the cooling flaps away, and to even out the profile I added a shallow air scoop from an Italeri F4U-7 under the engine, which required some PSR. A good compromise, though. The resin propeller was mounted onto a metal axis and fitted into a hole/channel that was drilled through the Centaurus’ massive resin block.

As an FAA Corsair the wing tips were clipped, which was easy to realize thanks to the massive parts in this area. The Corsair’s original oil coolers in the wing roots were retained, but the four guns in the wings (separate parts in the Italeri kit with quite large holes) were replaced with faired Hispano cannon for/from an early Hawker Tempest, aftermarket brass parts from Master Models.

To change the model’s look further I modified the tail surfaces, too; the rounded fin was replaced with a rather square and slightly bigger donor, a stabilizer from a Novo Supermarine Attacker. The original stabilizers were replaced, too, with trapezoidal alternatives from a Matchbox Meteor night fighter, which offer slightly more area. Since the tail surfaces were all graft-ons now I implanted a vertical styrene tube behind the rear cockpit bulkhead as a display holder adapter for later flight scene pictures. Together with the clipped/squared-off wingtips the new tail creates a consistent look, and with the propeller and its dominant spinner in place the Corsair V reminds a lot of a late Bristol Firebrand mark or even of an Unlimited Class Reno Racer? It looks fast and purposeful now!

Even though unguided missiles and/or bombs could have been a valid ordnance option I decided to leave the Corsair V relatively clean as a pure gun fighter; I just used the OOB drop tank on the centerline station.

Painting and markings:

Very dry and using real 1948 Royal Navy aircraft as benchmark, the Corsair V ended up with a rather simple and dull Extra Dark Sea Grey over Sky (Humbrol 123 and 90, respectively) with a low waterline, and still with wartime Type C roundels with “Identification red (dull)”, even though the RAF officially had reverted to bright identification colors in 1947 and started to use the high-viz Type D roundel as standard marking. To add a British flavor the cockpit interior was painted in very dark grey (Revell 06, Tar Black) while the interior of the landing gear wells was painted in a pale cream yellow (Humbrol 74, Linen) to mimic zinc chromate primer. The only highlight is a red spinner, a contemporary unit marking of 805 NAS.

The kit received a light black ink washing and post-shading to emphasize and/or add surface structures, and this nicely breaks up the otherwise uniform surfaces. Decals/markings came from Xtradecal Hawker Sea Fury und late WWII FAA/RN aircraft sheets, and some decals were mixed to create a fictional serial number for the Corsair V (TF 632 was never allocated, but the code fits into the model’s era). Some light oil and exhaust stains were also added, but not as severely as if the aircraft had been operated under wartime conditions. Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

While a classic F4U with a British Centaurus engine sounds simple, and actually is, getting there was not as easy as it sounds – the ventral air scoop came to the rescue. With some more small mods like the new tail surfaces the aircraft got a subtly different look from its American ancestor(s). The Corsair V IMHO has now a very Blackburn-ish look, thanks to the big spinner and the square fin! And I wonder what I will do with the other Centaurus from the conversion set?

New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) R188 no. 7320 (Kawasaki, 2010-2016) is the lead motor on a Queens-bound 7 train seen stopped at 34th St-Hudson Yards Station on the Flushing Line. This car was converted from an R142A, adding equipment compatible with the communications-based train control (CBTC) and automatic train operation (ATO) systems installed on the Flushing Line.

+++ 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:

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Britain identified a threat posed by the jet-powered strategic bomber and atomic weaponry and thus placed a great emphasis on developing aerial supremacy through continuing to advance its fighter technology, even following the end of conflict. Blackburn Aircraft responded to a 1947 Air Ministry requirement for a high-performance night fighter under Air Ministry specification F.44/46. The specification called for a two-seat night fighter that would intercept enemy aircraft at heights of up to at least 40,000 feet. It would also have to reach a maximum speed of no less than 525 kn at this height, be able to perform rapid ascents and attain an altitude of 45,000 feet within ten minutes of engine ignition.

However, the experience gathered from the Barghest's early development was successfully used by Blackburn during the Buccaneer development process for the Royal Navy in the mid-Fifties.

General characteristics:

Crew: two

Length: 54 ft in (16,49 m)

Wingspan: 40 ft 7 in (12.38 m)

Wing area: 514.7 ft² (47.82 m²)

Height: 14 ft 9 in (4,50 m)

Empty weight: 19,295 lb (8,760 kg)

Gross weight: 29,017 lb (13,174 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 34,257 lb (15,553 kg)

Powerplant:

2× Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire Sa.6 engines with 8,000 lbf (35.6 kN) thrust each

Performance:

Maximum speed: 606 kn (697 mph; 1,122 km/h) at sea level

Range: 954 mi (1,530 km)

Service ceiling: 52,800 ft (15,865 m)

Rate of climb: 7,000 ft/min (35.6 m/s)

Wing loading: 66 lb/ft² (325 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.56

Armament:

Ventral weapon bay, typically carrying 4× 30 mm (0.79 in) ADEN revolver cannon with 180 RPG;

alternatively, three retractable packs with a total of 70 unguided Microcell 2 in (51mm) missiles

could be carried;

Six underwing hardpoints (The outer pair of pylons could only carry Firestreak AAMs) for a total

ordnance of 4.000 lb (1.814 kg), including up to 4× Firestreak IR-guided AAMs, drop tanks on the

inner pair of pylons, or unguided bombs and SNEB missile pods.

The kit and its assembly:

This kitbash model originally started as an early Fifties all-weather fighter for the Royal Navy, and the idea was a Gloster Meteor night fighter fuselage mated with the engines and swept wings from a Blackburn Buccaneer. However, things change and evolve as ideas turn into hardware (for another submission to the 2018 “RAF Centenary” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com), and so this project gradually transformed into an all-weather fighter for the Royal Air Force, as a rival to the Gloster Javelin, and some other fundamental changes to the original plan as things evolved on the work bench.

Work started with a Matchbox Gloster Meteor, from which the fuselage (incl. the NF.14 cockpit with its bubble canopy) and tail cone (w/o fin, though) were taken OOB. Then a Matchbox Buccaneer donated its nose cone and the engine pods, together with the inner wing sections. An initial attempt to use the Buccaneer’s fin and stabilizer was made, but it did not work at all (looked horrible and totally unbalanced!). Instead, I used a leftover fin from a Revell 1:200 Concorde because of its retro shape and depth, and waited for the stabilizers until the wings were mounted, so that size, position and proportions would become clearer.

The nose cone had to be squashed, because its OOB oval diameter would not go onto the circular Meteor front end without problems and major PSR. With some force from a vice and internal stabilization through 2C putty the shape could be successfully modified, though, and blended into the fuselage contours. Looks pretty good and fast!

Once the engine nacelles were in place, I initially tried the Buccaneer’s OOB outer wings, but I was not really happy with the look. Their shape did not look “right”, they were a bit too large and just very Buccaneer-esque. After a donor bank safari I found a leftover sprue with wings and stabilizers from a Matchbox Hawker Hunter, and after some measurements and trials I found that they could be quite easily adapted to the Buccaneer’s inner wing stubs, even though this called for more serious surgery and PSR work. The latter was also necessary in order to blend the engine nacelles into the slender Meteor fuselage – messy, but feasible.

Alas, one challenge leads to the next one: Once in place, the massive engines created a ventral gap, due to the Meteor’s slender tail section. This was eventually filled with the Matchbox Buccaneer’s extra fuel bomb bay door, simply cut away from the kit, trimmed down and transplanted between the engine nacelles. As a side benefit, its bulged shape would now simulate a fairing for a ventral gun pack, somewhat similar to the CF-100’s arrangement. More PSR ensued, though, and between and around the jet exhausts the fuselage had to be fully re-sculpted.

The stabilizers also caused some headaches. With the new Hunter swept wings tips, I also needed new, matching stabilizers. I eventually used the Hunter stabilizers from the surplus Matchbox kit sprue. At first I tried to mate them with a shortened central fairing from the Buccaneer, but this did work even less than the whole Bucc tail, and so I scratched a more slender central fairing for the T-tail on top of the Concorde fin from a piece of sprue. Even though the Hunter stabilizers turned out to look a bit diminutive, I stuck with them since they complement the wing shape so well.

The benefit of the Buccaneer engine nacelles is that they come with proper landing gear wells, so that only the landing gear had to be improvises and adapted to the new aircraft and its proportions. I wanted to use the Meteor landing gear, but this turned out to be much too short! So I replaced the front wheel with a respective part from a Matchbox Buccaneer. The main wheels from the Meteor kit were retained, but they had to be extended - with a 5mm styrene tube “plug”, which is, thankfully, well hidden behind the covers.

Others small changes/additions are ejection seats in the cockpit instead of the Meteor bucket seats, the jet exhausts were drilled open and an interior was added, and some antennae were placed on the aircraft’s hull.

The ordnance was to reflect a typical late Fifties RAF fighter, and so the Barghest received a pair of drop tanks (from a Heller SEPECAT Jaguar, with simplified fins) and a pair of Firestreak AAMs (from a Matchbox BAC Lightning) on a pair of launch rails from an Academy MiG-23.

Colors and markings:

As per usual, I rather keep complicated whiffs visually simple, so I used the standard RAF scheme of Dark Green/Dark Sea Grey/Light Aircraft Grey on the Barghest, with the Buccaneer’s typical pattern as benchmark. Humbrol enamels (163, 164 and 166) were used for basic painting.

The cockpit interior became Tar Black (Revell 06), while the landing gear and its respective wells were painted in Aluminum (Humbrol 56). The kit received a light black ink washing and mild post-shading – more for a dramatic than a weathering effect, since RAF machines in the Fifties looked very tidy and clean.

The drop tanks received camouflage and the Firestreaks became white, while their clear seeker cones were painted with a mix of silver and translucent blue. The IR sensors were created with thin decal stripes.

The decals come primarily from an Xtradecal BAC Lightning sheet (roundels and 19 Sq. markings – the squadron badges are unfortunately quite large, since they belong to a NMF aircraft), most stencils and the tactical code come from an Airfix Venom trainer and an Italeri Tornado.

Finally, the kit was sealed with a matt acrylic varnish, a mix of matt and little semi-gloss Italeri varnish, for a sheen finish.

A true kitbashing, made from many well-known RAF ingredients and a disturbing look between odd and familiar! A Buccaneer? No, it’s too scrawny. A Javelin? No, it does not have delta wings, and it’s got a tail sting. A de-navalized Sea Vixen? Well, no twin tail, and anything else does not match either... Despite the puzzling details (or because of them?), the Barghest looks disturbingly British and Fifties, as if it had been created from a profound RAF DNA pool – and it actually is! And with lots of putty. ;-)

I've not seen this conversion before and also it is first electric I've photographed on the 4H. New to Edinburgh Coach Lines.

+++ 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 Sd.Kfz. 141/4 Panzerkampfwagen III, commonly known as the Panzer III, was a medium tank developed in the 1930s by Germany and was used extensively in World War II. It was intended to fight other armored fighting vehicles and serve alongside and support the similar Panzer IV which was originally designed for infantry support. However, as the Germans faced the formidable T-34, more powerful anti-tank guns were needed, and since the Panzer IV had more development potential with a larger turret ring, the latter was redesigned to mount the long-barrelled 7.5 cm KwK 40 gun and the Panzer III effectively swapped roles with the Panzer IV. Later, the Panzer V “Panther” took over the role of the standard MBT. Production of the Panzer III as battle tank ceased in 1943. Nevertheless, the Panzer III's capable chassis was used for a range of specialized vehicles.

The last Panzer IIIs fought in the Netherlands, Northern Italy (Gothic line), and in eastern Prussia. Perhaps a handful still operational were spread between desperately weakened companies in March-April 1945, like the Steiner Brigade.

Specifications:

Crew: Four (commander/gunner, loader, driver, radio-operator/hull machine gunner)

Weight: 19.2 tonnes

Length: 5.56 m (18 ft 3 in), hull only

6,04 m (19 ft 10 in) overall

Width: 2.90 m (9 ft 6 in)

Height: 2.41 m (7 ft 11 in) w/o antenna mast

Suspension: Torsion bar

Fuel capacity: 320 liter

Armor:

15 – 50 mm (0.6 – 1.97 in)

Performance:

Maximum road speed: 44 km/h (27 mph)

Off-road speed: 28 km/h (18 mph)

Operational range: 165 km (103 mi) with internal fuel

Power/weight: 15.63 PS (11.24 kW)/tonne

Engine:

Maybach HL120 TRM water-cooled 12-cylinder gasoline engine with 300 PS (296 hp, 220 kW),

combined with a Maybach OG 55 11 77 semi-automatic transmission

Armament:

1× 50 mm (1.97 in) KwK 39/1 L/60 with sixty rounds

2× 7.92 mm MG 42 machine guns (coaxial with main gun and in the front hull) with 2.400 rounds

The kit and its assembly:

This converted Panzer III was spawned by the idea that, by 1944, this 1936 design could have been re-built for a different use than a battle tank – a task for which this medium tank had become much too light, with an utter lack of development potential. A dedicated recce variant appeared plausible. This idea was further promoted by the fact that I had a surplus VK 1602 turret in the donor bank, left over from a Hasegawa SdKfz. 234/2 “Puma”.

The chassis was taken from a Revell “Panzer III Ostwind” kit and modified in two ways. Firstly, I changed the glacis plate, replacing the old-school vertical front with a sloped alternative, crafted from styrene sheet pieces. A new ball mount for the hull machine gun was added, as well as periscopes for the crew on new hatches, which became possible through the smaller turret.

The turret opening in the hull had not to be adapted to the smaller Puma turret – the latter was only a little bit smaller than the opening, so that some spacers were enough to make it fit snuggly, and a thin “distance ring” between hull and turret was added, too, so that it would not directly sit on the body. Fairings for a stereoscopic rangefinder were added to the turret flanks, scratched from styrene profile material, and I also added a typical Panzer III stowage box to the turret’s rear. It had to be customized to the smaller “Puma” turret, but I think that this visual enlargement of the turret is a good balance to the rest of the hull, and the box changes the vehicle’s silhouette, too. The commando cupola from the Revell kit (which comes, beyond the open “Ostwind” AA turret, with a full, early standard Panzer III turret) was left open, using the hatch from the VK 1602 turret, and I put a figure into the opening – this German commanding officer is actually 1:76, but that’s not obvious. The figure comes IIRC from a Matchbox “Wespe” SPG that I built more than 30 years ago. Since the figure had somehow lost a leg in the meantime, the Panzerspähwagen III became a suitable new workplace for the handicapped, after having been stripped off of an old enamel paint layer and outfitted with a multi-colored new uniform. Other small changes include the scratched antenna mast for the vehicle’s uprated radio equipment (from heated sprue material) and some re-arranged external equipment.

As another, subtle gimmick, I replaced the original main wheels, for a different and somewhat confusing look. A simplified running gear, without rubber on the main wheels, appeared quite plausible for 1944 onwards. The new road wheels came from a Zvezda IS-2 tank. I had a dozen of these left over from another conversion project, just in the right number and their diameter is virtually identical to the Panzer III’s original wheels! Just the spare wheels had to be taken over from the Revell kit. The fiddly OOB segmented plastic tracks were replaced with soft vinyl tracks from a Panzer III/IV CMK aftermarket set. Personally, I find them easier to handle and to paint – due to their anthracite black color and the material’s smoothness. Nice stuff!

Painting and markings:

As a late WWII vehicle I decided to apply a non-standard/fictional paint scheme, something different from the popular “Hinterhalt” scheme, and I settled upon a pattern similar to an E-100 tank I had built a while ago. The scheme consists of an overall coat of grey-green (RLM02, a universal and omnipresent tone) with disrupting, large spots of dark grey (RAL 7021, Schwarzgrau), which were strategically placed over corners and edges of the hull, so that the outlines break up. I adapted the concept onto my modified Panzer III, but somehow this looked goofy – probably due to the much smaller size and classic tank silhouette of the vehicle: the whole affair was way too reminiscent of the Allied late-war “Mickey Mouse” scheme in olive drab and black!

In order to provide a more outstanding look and lighten everything up a little, I added small grey-green mottles to the dark grey areas. After that, however, the still uniform grey-green areas stood out, so that I eventually applied mottles in RAL 7028 (Dunkelgelb) to these areas, too. The contrast is rather low, but I think that the overall look is in the end more balanced with them, and the mottles overall help to break up the outlines even further – and the paint scheme looks more “different” now. The wheels and the running gear sections of the hull were – as a standard order of the time – left without the mottles, because the swirling patterns would be rather obvious when the vehicle was moving.

The basic tones are Revell 45, Humbrol 67 and ModelMaster 1584, later treated with a dark, red-brown overall washing with acrylic paint, dry-painting with a greyish beige all over (Revell 89, nice weathering tone for fresh, clayish mud) and some watercolor in ochre and umbra for dust and mud residues. Tactical markings are minimal and come from the Revell Ostwind kit and a Hasegawa Panther. Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and some mineral pigments were dusted onto the model’s lower areas.

An interesting result, and the fictional Panzerkampfwagen III looks IMHO disturbingly plausible, as it combines well-known elements and comes with subtle updates/modifications. And somehow the vehicle (unintentionally) reminds me a lot of the comparable M24 Chaffee. And isn’t there a certain look of a mini KV-1, due to the turret’s shape and proportions?

School bus conversion located in Frankfort Indiana.