+++ 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.

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

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

My Lego HST MOC is undergoing its 3rd major rebuild. This time, in order to be converted to DCC operation with sound! I am installing ESU LokSound v.4 decoders into both power cars. This will give realistic *co-ordinated* sound emanating from both powers cars operating as a consist. In order to fit the decoder, speaker and to install operational head/tail lights, the body shell required a major rebuild to accommodate the new equipment and to improve the look of the body shell--in particular the front-end/cab.

This illustration is part 1 of 2 documenting how I convert a standard Lego 9V motor bogie for operation with DCC. It essentially involves separating the track electrical pickup from the motor electrical feed. The DCC decoder picks up the track electrical signal and then feeds the motor using a very sophisticated motor drive algorithm/circuit. I use the opportunity of this conversion to completely clean and refurbish the motor bogie as well as applying new lubricant suitable for use with plastic components.

HST Decoder Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3bw4mbE7Gg

HST Decoder Source: www.dckits-devideos.co.uk/shop/dcc_digital_loco_sounds/di...

More info, including videos to follow!

+++ 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 Arsenal (de l'Aéronautique) VB 31 was a French naval fighter aircraft developed shortly after World War II. In January 1947 Arsenal were given a contract to develop a powerful naval fighter for the four French aircraft carriers. Since the modernization of the Aéronavale was pressing, the aircraft had to be developed fast. In order to cut time, the initial concept, the VB 30, was based on the unrealized German Messerschmitt Me 155 project.

The operational era of the VB 31 did not last long, though. The type was powerful, but complicated. The VB 31 also needed much more maintenance than the sturdy Corsair, which could also take more damage and had a considerable larger range. Hence, already in June 1953, all VB 31 were returned to Europe and based at Hyères, where they replaced obsolete F6F-5 Hellcats and were mainly used for training purposes. In the early sixties, with naval jet fighters finally available, the VB 31 were quickly withdrawn and scrapped, being replaced by Sud-Ouest SO-203 'Aquilon' (license-built D.H. Sea Venom) and Dassault Etendard IVM.

General characteristics:

Crew: one, pilot

Length: 11.63 m (38 ft 8 in)

Wingspan: 13.07 m (43 ft 6 in)

Height (peopeller at max. elevation): 4,9 m (16 ft 1 in)

Powerplant:

1 × Arsenal 24 H, 2.260 kW (3.000 hp), driving a four-bladed propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 665 km/h (413 mph)

Range: 1.191 km (740 miles)

Service ceiling: 11.125 m (37.100 ft)

Rate of climb: 10.2 m/s (2008 ft/min)

Armament:

1× 30 mm cannon with 100 RPG, firing through the propeller axis

4× 20 mm HS-404 cannons with 200 RPG or 6×12,7mm machine guns with 250 RPG in the outer wings

1.500kg (3.300 lbs.) of external ordnance, including bombs of of to 454kg (1.000 lbs) calibre, drop tanks or up to eight unguided missiles under the outer wings.

The Kit and its assembly:

I wonder if you recognize the basis for this fantasy airplane? It's actually a modified Bv 155 kit from ART Model/Special Hobby from Russia (Both kits are identical; the ART Model contains an injected clear canopy while the Special Hobby kit offers two vacu canopies, though).

Inspiration struck when I read about the huge VB 10, which has, in its profile view, much resemblance to the Bv 155 - and the latter actually has some naval-friendly features, e .g .the raised cockpit, placed pretty far forward at the wings' leading edge, or the massive landing gear. Since France used some German aircraft after WWII (e.g. Fw 190 for the Air Force and Ju 188 for the Navy), why not create a naval fighter from the Me 155/Bv 155 concept? Well, here it is... the Arsenal VB 31.

For this fantasy conversion, the Bv 155 kit saw major modifications, e. g.:

● The wing span was reduced - from each wing, 4.2cm/1.65" were taken away

● The wings received a new inverted gull wing shape, the cuts came handy

● Outer wings were clipped by 10mm/0,4" each

● Original wing tips were transplanted and re-sculpted to fit

● The rear fuselage was shortened by about 1.3cm/0.5"

● A carburetor intake was added under the nose (from a Hawker Hurricane)

● New horizontal stabilizers from a Grumman Panther (Matchbox)

● Lower position of the horizontal stabilizers

● New landing gear wells had to be cut out, a simple interior was scratch-built

● The landing gear retracts now inwards, original struts and covers were slightly shortened

● New main wheels from a Douglas Skyknight (Matchbox) were used

● New tail wheel (front wheel of a Revell F-16, I guess)

● Modified tail section with an arrestor hook

● The original, extensive exhaust piping between the engine and the turbo charger had to go

● New exhausts at the nose were added (scratch, HO scale roof tiles)

● New propeller from a Matchbox Hawker Tempest was mated with the original spinner

● Cockpit was taken OOB, but a different seat, a pilot and a radio in the rear were added

● Some panel lines had to be re-engraved, due to putty work and/or logical reasons

● Missile hardpoints under the wings come from an F4U

● Antennae were added, accoring to French F4U-7 pictures

There actually was no big plan - I had an idea of what to make from the kit, but modifications came step by step, as the parts fell together and looked or looked not right.

The 24 cylinder Arsenal 24 H engine was really under development in France, so it was a neat choice for such a relatively large aircraft. The huge turbocharger bath under the fuselage of the Bv 155 could easily be taken as a radiator bath for the large, liquid-cooled engine, so that no additional adaptations had to be made.

Overall, I wanted to save the elegant lines of the Bv 155. With the reduced wing span the aircraft looks even elegant, IMHO. All in all, and with its slender, inverted gull wings, the VB 31 somehow reminds of the Ju 87 and the later paper Ju 187 development. There's also something IL-2ish to it?

A side note concerning the kit itself: it has nice engraved details and some fine resin parts for the cockpit or the radiators. But wall strength is high (up to 2mm!), the material is somewhat soft and waxy, and fit is mediocre, so expect serious putty work. Not a bad kit, but something for the experienced modeler. Things surely were worse here, since my modifications to wings and fuselage called for even more sculpting.

Painting and markings:

It took some time to settle on a French naval aircraft, since I already have an all dark-blue whif in my collection (the whiffy F1J Sea Mustang). But I had some appropriate decals at hand, and the time frame as well as the potential user offered a good and plausible story behind the VB 31 in Aéronaval service.

Overall, the aircraft was painted in Blue Angels Blue (FS 15050, Testors 1718) and weathered with slightly lighter shades of blue and grey, for a sun-bleached look and in order to emphasize the panel lines. One can argue about this tone: many Aéronavale aircraft look much darker, rather like FS 15042, but I have seen pictures of such bright aircraft - I'd assume that the color standard was not very strict, as long as the aircraft was "dark blue"?

After basic painting the VB 31 looked very bright, so I did some major dry painting with darker/duller shades like Humbrol 67, 77 and 104 to tame things down, and the result is O.K. now.

The interior surfaces were painted in Mid Stone and dry-painted with Chromate Yellow (Humbrol 225 and 81). AFAIK, this is the typical interior finish for Aéronavel aircraft of that time, and it is a nice contrast to the dark and uniform outside.

Most markings come from an F4U-7 decal sheet, some things like the tail rudder Tricolore had to be improvised (comes from a 30 year old Airfix Bristol Blenheim decal sheet!).

Beyond the dry-painted blue and grey hues on the upper surfaces, the model was slightly weathered with exhaust and soot stains and some dry-painted silver on the leading edges. This makes the all-blue aircraft look a bit more lively and is IMHO authentic for Aéronavale fighters of the 50ies, esp. under the harsh climate of South East Asia.

Finally, everything was sealed under a semi-matt varnish (Tamiya Acryllics, rattle can), and some additional matt varnish was applied on the upper surfaces, also for a dull and sun-bleached look.

The kit was built in a week from sprues to pictures, overall a sleek and elegant aircraft with plausible lines - an hommage to the many elegant and innovative aircraft which were developed in France in WWII and later but which are easily overlooked today!

+++ 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.

I've tested possibilities to convert color JPG to B&W JPG using GIMP Desaturate -> Mono Mixer... (with Preserve Luminosity ON). Firstly I increased saturation of blue (polarized sky blue on water surface) and red (dark brown leaves in few visible trees). Secondly typical corrections in GIMP (contrast, sharpness and Aspect Ratio). It went not bad.

BTW Click the image as Flickr generates overly contrasted picture. One click brings back correct picture.

Nikon D700 Conversion Camera

An extensive conversion kit offered by Chrysler Mopar that converts a four door Jeep to a pickup.

torpedohallen, conversion of naval shipyard building to housing, holmen copenhagen, 1953 / 2000-2003.

architects: tegnestuen vandkunsten.

after 14 years as an architect at vandkunsten, I recently decided to quit my job and thought these february photos of the torpedo boat hall conversion, the very first project I worked on, would be a good way to mark that rather momentous decision.

for now, I am going to be spending some time with my children, but if anyone hears of a job for an experienced architect in greater copenhagen, let me know :)

www.vandkunsten.com

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.

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.

Kodak Ektacolor Pro 160

| Mamiya C220 TLR + Sekor 80mm ƒ2.8 |

B&W Conversion

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Boeing 727 was an American midsized, narrow-body three-engine jet aircraft built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes from the early 1960s to 1984. Intended for short and medium-length flights, it could carry 149 to 189 passengers and later models could fly up to 2,700 nautical miles (5,000 km) nonstop. It was originally powered by three Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines below the T-tail, one on each side of the rear fuselage with a center engine that connected through an S-duct to an inlet at the base of the fin.

The highest production rate of the 727 was in the 1970s. Airport noise regulations have led to 727s being equipped with hush kits, the last 727 was completed in 1984. Successor models include variants of the 737 and the 757-200. The last commercial passenger flight of the 727 was in January 2019 in Iran, even though a few machines of the type still remain in government and private use or operate as freighters.

General characteristics:

Crew: 3 (+ 3 flight attendants)

Length: 153 ft 2 in (46.68m)

Wingspan: 108 ft (32.92m)

Height: 34 ft 11 in (10.65m)

Wing area: 1,650 sq ft (153 m²), 32° sweep

Empty weight: 100,700 lb (45,720 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 209,500 lb (95,100 kg)

Fuel capacity: 8,090 US gal (30,620 l)

Cabin width: 140 in/3.56m

Two-class seats: 134 (20F@38" + 114Y@34")

Single-class seats: 155@34", absolute maximum of 189 passengers

Powerplant:

4× Pratt & Whitney JT8D-11 low-bypass (0.96 to 1) turbofan engines,

delivering 15,000 lbf (66.72 kN) each

Performance:

Maximum speed: Mach 0.9 (961 km/h; 519 kn)

Cruise speed: Mach 0.86 (917 km/h; 495 kn)

Landing speed: 151 ml/h (244 km/h; 135 kn)

Rate of climb: 1,920 ft/min (9.8 m/s)

Maximum service ceiling: 44,550 ft (13,600 m)

Range: 1,900 nmi (2,173 ml, 3,500 km)

Takeoff distance to 35 ft (11 m): 7,860 ft (2,400 m)

Landing distance from 50 ft (15 m): 2,160ft at maximum gross landing weight with thrust reverser,

1,800ft with additional drogue parachute deployment

The kit and its assembly:

This model became the third and relatively spontaneous entry for the “More or less engines” group build at whatifmodelers.com. It was actually an early idea for the GB, but I rejected it at first because I usually do not build small-scale airliners and did not have any ingredient for the build at hand. However, a fellow modeler had a similar idea, a four-engine Sud Aviation Caravelle, and upon discussing the project in the forum I became eventually convinced to build this conceptual sister ship, even though the procurement of its major ingredients took some time.

I considered and checked several Boeing 727 kits on the market, and settled for the Minicraft kit – in particular its USAF C-22C boxing. The Revell kit, a 727-100, was rejected as outdated rubbish and due to its short fuselage, and the Airfix kit, a long -200, also fell through because of its raised surface details and simply for being an Airfix kit.

The Minicraft kit was the only option left – and even though it has its weak points, too (like the wings’ massive leading edges and a so-so fit of the fuselage halves), it turned out to be a sound basis for this modification project. Its main selling points were engraved surface details, the lack of passenger cabin window openings and separate decals for the windows. Esp. the latter two factors were an important part of my construction and painting plan for this build (see below).

Another important ingredient for this build were the engines. For a quad-engine conversion I found a resin set for VC-10 engines from Bra.Z Models (and procured them from Hong Kong!), which are a good match in size and shape. Furthermore, due to the more massive rear end and potential operations from less-than-perfect runways, I decided to replace the original twin main wheels with four-wheel bogies, taken from the remains of a Hasegawa 1:200 Boeing 747 kit. Since the 727’s main landing gear well doors remain closed on the ground, this change was relatively simple to make.

The only major change beyond the engine nacelle swap concern the fin and the tail tip: the original 2nd engine and its air intake with the S-duct had to go. This stunt was more challenging than it sounds at first, because the intake duct widens the fin’s root considerably, and the respective bulge reaches very far back, almost reaching the rudder!

This meant that a considerable portion of the fin had to be cut away, what also left a gap in the fuselage spine. The latter was filled with a piece of 0.5mm styrene sheet from inside of the fuselage (before the halves were glued together), and then a “prosthesis” from 1.5mm styrene sheet was inserted into the gap in the fin, trying to sculpt a suitable profile with a mild curve at the fin’s base, inspired the early 737s’ fin shape.

Around this skeleton, I built the new fin with the help of 2C putty, because some serious sculpting was necessary to create a suitable fin profile and shape that would blend into the existing fin section. A proper intersection at the fin’s base had to be created, too, a real 3D puzzle, more complex than one might think at first!

The tail exhaust opening was trimmed down to a wedge shape, and then the tail tip was filled/sculpted with a 2C putty plug, creating a clamshell shape for the fictional brake parachute container without extending the tail tip too much.

A small APU outlet was added on the new tail tip’s starboard side, too, while the APU’s intake was placed in the fin’s lower leading edge. The original ventral APU intake between the wings was faired over.

One of the Minicraft kit’s weak points is the shape of the wings’ leading edges: they look very crude and solid, with an almost vertical front. In an attempt to mend this flaw, I tried to give the leading edges a more rounded shape with the help of putty.

The model’ nose section was filled with a lot of lead and, for the model’s in-flight pics, I added a ventral, vertical styrene tube in the model’s center of gravity as a display holder adapter.

Painting and markings:

The idea behind this four-engine 727 was a dedicated “hot & high” variant, so I searched for an obvious operator, and it was to be a commercial airline. Mexico became my first and favorite candidate, despite the fact that Aéromexico did not operate any Boeing aircraft during the Seventies, rather a fleet of mixed Douglas aircraft. I also found the airline’s livery of that era to be very attractive, with an NMF finish and orange and black trim - very elegant and colorful.

Finding suitable decals became a challenge, though. After some research I found a DC-8 Aéromexico sheet from 26decals – it not only matched the intended time slot, it also had the benefit of coming with separate decals for cheat lines and windows. This was a perfect match for the window-less Minicraft Boeing 727 kit, and, as a convenient complement, the kit’s C-22 boxing had the benefit that it depicts a uniform, white aircraft, so that its decal sheet comes with “clean” window and door decals, without any colored background. A perfect match for my plan!

Painting was straightforward. After having finished the building phase, I gave the model an initial coat of grey acrylic primer from the rattle can. Some small surface blemishes had to be corrected, and then I added light grey panels on top of the wings and the stabilizers (Humbrol 40, gloss FS 36440). The fin as well as the engine pods and the wing tips were painted in orange; Humbrol 18 (Gloss Orange) came very close to the decals’ tone. These areas were masked with Tamiya tape and then the model received an overall coat with a tone called “White Aluminum”, also from the rattle can.

Thereafter, the decals for the orange and black trim were applied. Since the DC-8 decals would not fit the 727 fuselage in every place, orange paint and generic black and silver decal stripes (TL Modellbau) were used for fine-tuning. Once the “style” decals were applied, the windows were added and the model received an overall coat of gloss acrylic varnish, also from the rattle can.

In a final step, the landing gear (painted all glossy white) was mounted.

This conversion appears simple at first sight, but the execution caused some headaches. The challenge was not so much building this model, but rather getting all the major input parts and pieces together. Creating a new fin shape was also more challenging than one would expect at first sight. However, the result is quite subtle, and I guess that this fictional 727-300 might make some people look twice, since it reminds a lot of the (bigger) Vickers VC10. Indeed, the outlines are very similar.

The Conversion on the Way to Damascus

1600

Oil on canvas, 230 x 175 cm

Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome

In 1600, soon after he had completed the first two canvases for the Contarelli Chapel, Caravaggio signed a contract to paint two pictures for the Cerasi Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo. The church has a special interest because of the works it contains by four of the finest artists ever to work in Rome: Raphael, Carracci, Caravaggio and Bernini. It is probable that by the time Caravaggio began to paint for one of its chapels, The Assumption by Annibale Carracci was in place above the altar. Caravaggio's depictions of key events in the lives of the founders of the Roman See have little in common with the brilliant colours and stylized attitudes of Annibale, and Caravaggio seems by far the more modern artist.

Of the two pictures in the chapel the more remarkable is the representation of the moment of St Paul's conversion. According to the Acts of the Apostles, on the way to Damascus Saul the Pharisee (soon to be Paul the Apostle) fell to the ground when he heard the voice of Christ saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' and temporarily lost his sight. It was reasonable to assume that Saul had fallen from a horse.

Caravaggio is close to the Bible. The horse is there and, to hold him, a groom, but the drama is internalized within the mind of Saul. He lies on the ground stunned, his eyes closed as if dazzled by the brightness of God's light that streams down the white part of the skewbald horse, but that the light is heavenly is clear only to the believer, for Saul has no halo. In the spirit of Luke, who was at the time considered the author of Acts, Caravaggio makes religious experience look natural.

Technically the picture has defects. The horse, based on D??rer, looks hemmed in, there is too much happening at the composition's base, too many feet cramped together, let alone Saul's splayed hands and discarded sword. Bellori's view that the scene is 'entirely without action' misses the point. Like a composer who values silence, Caravaggio respects stillness.

Both this and the following painting appear to be second versions, for Baglione states that Caravaggio first executed the two pictures 'in another manner, but as they did not please the patron, Cardinal Sannesio took them for himself'. Of these earlier versions, only The Conversion of St Paul survives.

--- Keywords: --------------

Author: CARAVAGGIO

Title: The Conversion on the Way to Damascus

Time-line: 1551-1600

School: Italian

Form: painting

Type: religious

Cyberleader: Begin the upgrade process immediately.

From a my flat photo taken in Chengyang, Guangxi, China

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.

Conversion by Caribou Motor Company.

+++ 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 Grumman F8F (G-58, Grumman Aircraft's design designation) Bearcat was a U.S. Navy/Marine Corps single-engine, fighter aircraft. It was introduced late in World War II as a carrier-based fighter. In replacing the obsolescent F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat, climb rate was an important design factor for the F8F, which was faster and lighter than the F6F carrier-based fighter. In late 1943, Grumman began development of the F8F Bearcat and deliveries from Grumman began on 21 May 1945.

In 1946, the F8F set a climb record of 6,383 fpm and held this record until it was broken by a jet fighter in 1956. Early F8Fs first flew in August 1944, followed by production aircraft starting in February 1945, the war ended before the F8F saw combat.

Today, Gabon has a small, professional military of about 5,000 personnel, divided into army, navy, air force, gendarmerie, and national police. Gabonese forces are oriented to the defense of the country and have not been trained for an offensive role. A well-trained, well-equipped 1,800-member guard provides security for the president.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 28 ft 3 in (8.61 m)

Wingspan: 35 ft 10 in (10.92 m)

Height: 13 ft 10 in (4.22 m)

Wing area: 244 sq ft (22.7 m²)

Aspect ratio: 5.02

Airfoil: root: NACA 23018; tip: NACA 23009

Empty weight: 7,650 lb (3,470 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 13,460 lb (6,105 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney R-2800-34W Double Wasp 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston

engine with 2,100 hp (1,600 kW), driving a 4-bladed constant-speed propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 455 mph (732 km/h, 395 kn)

Range: 1,105 mi (1,778 km, 960 nmi)

Service ceiling: 40,800 ft (12,400 m)

Rate of climb: 4,465 ft/min (22.68 m/s)

Wing loading: 42 lb/sq ft (210 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)

Armament:

4× 20 mm (.79 in) AN/M3 cannon in the outer wings

2,000 lb (907 kg) of ordnance on three prime hardpoints (incl. bombs, rocket pods, napalm tanks

or drop tanks), plus four underwing hardpoints for light loads like 5” (127 mm) HVAR unguided rockets

The kit and its assembly:

A rather quick/simple project that had been lingering in The Stash™ for a couple of years. The idea and inspiration: what if the French air force had left more than just a couple of Skyraiders in Northern African countries after their independence? The F8F was operated by the French Armée de l’air until 1954, even though primarily in Indochina. But some of these could have been transferred to countries like Chad, Central African Republic or Gabon, too, and from this thought this what-if model was born.

There are certainly better F8F kits (e. g. the Art Model kit with resin parts, including a finely detailed landing gear wells interior), but for a "budget build" or a conversion this one is a good starting point – and I had a Monogram F8F (Revell re-boxing) ready in stock. The model was basically built OOB, just with some cosmetic changes. The Monogram F8F in 1:72 holds only small surprises. It's a typical vintage Monogram kit (IIRC, the molds are from 1976) with raised (yet fine) details and vague fit - even though nothing fatal. PSR was basically necessary at any seam, esp. the unique wing/fuselage solution calls for some seam-filling. The cockpit interior is bare, but, except for the (quite nice) seat and the dashboard, nothing can be seen later. In order to pimp the interior, I added a dashboard – the kit comes with a rather symbolic one, consisting of two sections molded into the fuselage halves with an ugly seam. A styrene tube was added behind the engine block to take the propeller’s new metal axis, and a small pitot was added under the left wing, made from wire.

The clear parts (two pieces) are very transparent but came with lots of flash and massive attachment points to the sprue, what left visible marks on the parts. The landing gear is simple but O.K., very robust, but it appears quite stalky to me and the wells are totally bare. The oil cooler intakes in the wing roots are just holes, so I filled them with bits of foamed styrene. The underwing ordnance was changed into triple bazooka unguided missile launchers in the standard pylons' poristions (which had to be sanded away since they are molded into the wings' lower half), procured from an Academy P-51 kit, and on short notice I added four small bombs to the HVAR stations, from a Hobbycraft Skyraider. Not certain what they are supposed to be (maybe M47 incendiary bombs?), because of their small size and the vintage "box tail", but they could be light anti-personnel/shrapnel bombs?

Painting and markings:

I used the real-world Gabonese AD-4s as benchmarks – and even had a complete decal set for one of these machines (from a Hobbycraft kit) at hand. Consequently, I gave the F8F an overall NMF look, created with a base of Revell 99 (Aluminum), some single panels in Humbrol 56 (Aluminum Dope) and later a panel-shading with Humbrol 27001 (Matt Aluminum Metal Cote) and some good rubbing with a soft cotton cloth and a bit of graphite for some more depth in between the tones. Quite complex process, but it creates a nice, uneven and worn metallic look.

Parts of the cowling and the exhaust area became black, created with paint and decal material. The anti-glare panel was also painted in black, just with s slightly different tone (Revell 06, Tar Black).

I adopted a green cheatline as an individual aircraft marking, and the respective decals from the Hobbycraft Skyraider’s sheet were tailored accordingly to match the small F8F’s hull. A matching green tone was mixed for the wing, stabilizer and fin tips, and the propeller’s tip was painted green, too. The propeller blades’ tips received two yellow stripes on overall black – inspired by the design of the real Gabonese AD-4s’ markings.

All interior surfaces except for the cockpit were painted with bright green zinc primer (Revell 361, the cockpit ina darker Humbrol 226), the landing gear became silver-grey (Humbrol 56) – the former French F8Fs had kept the USN all-dark blue livery, and their landing gear would have been blue, too, but as a refurbished aircraft, stripped off of its former livery, would probably have a bare metal landing gear, too?

The kit received a black ink washing before aforementioned surface treatment was applied. After the addition of the decals the whole kit was sealed with a semi-gloss acrylic varnish to promote sine, except for the anti-glare panel, which became matt. Oil stains around the engine were created with Tamiya X-19 (Smoke) and soot stains around the guns and the exhaust ports were dry-painted with black acrylic paint and some graphite.

Well, this is, despite being more or less built OOB, a highly exotic what-if model, and I think that the NMF together with the green cheatlines suit the Bearcat well - adapting the paint scheme from a Douglas Skyraider onto the similar F8F was quite easy (and incidently the same path I had taken with another Monogram F8F in Cambodian markings some months ago).

3.1994 ATS Auction . Peterborough Show-ground . Cambs.

www.elpaisajeperfecto.com

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Selección especial de fotografías en la galería de AEFONA

En este artículo os ofrecemos los métodos más sencillos para la conversión a blanco y negro. El hecho de que sean métodos sencillos no implica que no se puedan conseguir buenos resultados con ellos, hay ocasiones en las que lo más sencillo puede ser el mejor camino. Además, como podrás comprobar en el último método, que es el que tiene como base la conversión tonal, el que nos abre la puerta a la creatividad y que nos llevará a encontrar nuestro propio estilo.

Descubre el artículo completo en www.elpaisajeperfecto.com

An abandoned barn conversion near Margaret Roding, Essex.

www.facebook.com/nigadwphotography/

U750 loaded sand climbs the hill with the DC/AC conversion engine in trail fail position.

Conversion of Saint Paul Cathedral

Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

Palm Sunday - March 25, 2018

KVC Vario

Veterinary ambulance in Devon. Good use of an Old ambulance.

I love the front 'blue' repeater lights!

+++ 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 Helwan Aircraft HA-410 (Arabic: حلوان ٤‎٠٠‎) was an indigenous supersonic jet fighter aircraft developed in Egypt during the late 1960s. Its design took place in the wake of the less successful lightweight HA-300 interceptor, designed by famous German aircraft engineer Willy Messerschmitt. Like its smaller stable mate, the HA-410 was an ambitious project for Egypt, at the time seeking to expand both its aerial civilian and defence industry.

The last examples were withdrawn from service in 1988 and consequently scrapped, being replaced by Su-20/22 and F-16.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length (fuselage only): 50 ft. 8 in (15.48m),

Length incl. pitot: 57 ft 8½ in (17.57 m)

Wingspan: 28 ft 7¼ in (8.71 m)

Wing area: 394 ft² (36.6 m²)

Wing loading: 77.4 lb/ft² (379 kg/m²)

Height: 16 ft 9 in (5.11 m)

Empty weight: 21,000 lb (9,500 kg)

Loaded weight: 28,847 lb (13,085 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Lyulka AL-7F-1 turbojet with 66.6 kN (14,980 lbs) of dry thrust of and 94.1 kN (22,150 lbs) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1.025 mph (895 knots/1.650 km/h/Mach 1.52) at 36,000 ft (11,000 m)

Cruise speed: 570 mph (495 knots/915 km/h)

Service ceiling: 59.000 ft (18.000 m)

Range: 1.580 km (981 miles)

Ferry range: 3.200 km (2.000 mi) with drop tanks

Rate of climb: 31,950 ft/min (162.3 m/s)

Armament:

2× 30 mm Nudelmann-Richter NR-30 cannons (120 rounds per gun) in the lower front fuselage.

Seven hardpoints (3× under-fuselage, 4× under-wing, outer pair “wet” for drop tanks) for a total of 7,040 lbs (3,190 kg) of ordnance, including drop tanks, unguided missiles, iron bombs, napalm tanks and K-13 AAMs.

The kit and its assembly

If you recognize what’s behind the fictional HA-410, you are well-informed about aircraft history indeed! Believe it or not, this model was derived from a real-life, Cold War era cruise missile! Sick idea? Maybe, but a nice challenge!

The HA-410 is actually a Raduga/OKB MiG Kh-20M (AS-3 “Kangaroo”) nuclear warhead missile, which had been developed from the unsuccessful MiG I-7 jet fighter from the late 50ies. The mighty Kh-20 had exclusively been carried by Tu-95K (“Bear B”) bombers until the late 70ies. The basis for this model is A Model’s 1:72 scale Kh-20M kit, which includes the massive ground handling trolley for this huge weapon - the kit is about 21cm long!

I had hoped that just changing the vertical fin would be enough, but all wing areas are much too small for a plane that actually takes off of the ground by its own power. At first I considered wings from an A-7 and the tail fin of an F-16, but when I recently was given a Su-15 from PM Models from a friend – a rather crude and basic kit – I just found what I needed to create a complete aircraft.

Bashing both kits was an efficient solution, since the Su-15 not only provided wings and stabilizer parts, but also a complete landing gear with wells, as well as a clear canopy that would fit well onto the bare Kh-20M. As a side note, I decided to attribute this plane to Helwan Aircraft as a kind of tribute - calling it a MiG or Suchoj design would have been too obvious, and using Egypt as part of the whif game made the contsruction of the background easier.

But back to the subject: Biggest challenge was to outfit the bulgy missile with anything an operational, manned aircraft would need: a cockpit plus canopy, a complete landing gear including their respective wells, and accessories like weapon hardpoints.

Any such “extras” were collected from the scrap box:

● All tail areas come from the PM Model Su-15

● Wings and lower fuselage also come from the Su-15, but had to be modified (see below)

● Main landing gear struts and wheels were taken 100% from the PM Su-15, too

● The double front wheel was also taken from the Su-15, the well is from an Italeri IAI Kfir

● Cockpit canopy comes from the Su-15

● Cockpit tub is also a part of an Italeri Kfir, with some extensions

● The dashboard comes from a Heller Alpha Jet

● Not certain where the seat comes from, the pilot figure is from a vintage Matchbox kit

● All weapon hardpoints come from the scrap box

● Ordnance is a collection of spare parts:

- Drop tanks come from a KP Su-25 kit

- Bombs are modified Matchbox 1.000 lbs bombs, with clipped fins and an added balistic rings

Lots of work, despite the plane’s rather simple look. Especially the integration of the lower fuselage was a tough job, since it is one piece with the wings. Not only the part's width had to be trimmed, stability also had to be guaranteed, and fitting this part with a square diameter into the circular Kh-20M's body was not a simple task! had to fit a basically square part into the round Kh-20 fuselage… But the result looks IMHO good.

Many surface details like air scoops, antennae, the two guns and weapon stations were added, and the Su-15 canopy needed a matching fairing on the Kh-20's hull, which was built with polystyrene strips.

Painting

I settled for an indigenous Egyptian camouflage paint scheme for the HA-410, which is called "Nile" or “Nile Valley”. This scheme has been used by the EAF on various planes like MiG-17 and -21, as well as Su-7, -17/20 and even Tu-16 bombers. With its wavy lines and strong color contrast, "nile Valley" is very unique and attractive, IMHO, and even authentic for the model’s era. There seems to be no defined pattern or even color paradigm, just that sand is involved, a dark contrast color which ranges from dark brown to drak grey, and a demarkation line between these colors which ranges from light green through slate grey to blue-grey. AFAIK, any available paint was used in Egypt, even car paint, so choice of color is a true 'free for all'.

The basic colours I chose are Humbrol 74 (Linen), 78 (Cockpit Green) and 98 (Chocolate), but that was only the beginning. Some layers of dry painting with lighter shades like Humbrol 103 (Cream), 121 (Light Sand) and 71 (Beige), RLM 02 on the green areas and a mix of 98 and 64 as well as pure 168 (Hemp) on the brown areas, lightened everything up. Lower sides were painted in Humbrol 65, a light blue with a greenish hue, and treated with FS 36320. Overall, the kit received a light black ink wash and a weathering touch with dry-brushed light grey (Humbrol 64) and Hemp (Humbrol 168).

EAF markings come from a vintage Matchbox MiG-21MF (PK-41). The arabic number comes from a Su-24 aftermarket decal sheets. Stencils and warning signs come from the vast OOB decal sheet for the Kh-20M.

Overall, the fictious HA-410 looks either like a fat MiG-21 or a short Su-7, but features details uncommon to both! Very Soviet, but unlike anything that rolled off of Cold War fabrication lines. Really subtle... o.-

I spent a lot of time doing this conversion just because I didn't know quite what needed to go where. I'm in the middle of the first roll right now, and things are going smoothly so far.

The camera takes 6cm x 10.5cm negatives, so I get 6 per roll right now. I may make a mask later so I can get that to a more manageable 6x9 format if I don't like the results.

Notice all the felt. I removed quite a few components and I'm worried it's gonna leak light like crazy. hopefully I've sealed it up.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

I.M.A.M. (Industrie Meccaniche e Aeronautiche Meridionali) was an Italian aircraft manufacturer based in Naples. Originally, the company was part of the Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali ("Southern Railway Works"), which began to manufacture aircraft in 1923. From 1925 Fokker aircraft were built under license and I.M.A.M. also manufactured aircraft for Fiat.

The aircrafts’ abbreviation “Ro” before the number means Romeo. This abbreviation had been used by all types since 1925 and was derived from the surname of the company’s owner, Nicola Romeo, who was also the owner of a Milanese automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer (effectively, the designation lived on in the car manufacturer Alfa Romeo).

Clashes with Italian aircraft still occurred, though, e. g. over Croatia in 1944, where about 20–22 C.202s were used by Croatia as interceptors of Allied bombers by the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia (Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske/ZNDH). Ro.70s of the 51° Stormo Caccia, based in Lecce, claimed a total of three victories against the Croatian forces over the Adriatic Sea and near Mostar.

General characteristics:

Crew: One

Length: 8.94 m (29 ft 4 in)

Wingspan: 12.00 m (39 ft 4 in)

Height: 3.70 m (12 ft 2 in)

Wing area: 20.00 m² (215.28 ft²)

Airfoil: NACA 2R 16 wing root, NACA 24009 tip

Internal fuel capacity: 550 l (121 Imp gal)

Empty weight: 2,630 kg (5,800 lb)

Loaded weight: 3,470 kg (7,650 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Alfa Romeo RA.1000 R.C.41-I Monsone liquid-cooled supercharged inverted V-12 engine,

rated at 1,175 PS (864 kW) at 2,500 rpm for takeoff

Performance:

Maximum speed: 580 km/h (360 mph) at 5,000 m (16,405 ft)

Range: 580 km (360 mi)

Service ceiling: 11,600 m (38,100 ft)

Rate of climb: 15.2 m/s (2,983 ft/min)

Wing loading: 173.5 kg/m² (35.5 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 0.25 kW/kg (0.15 hp/lb)

Time to altitude: 7.0 min to 5,000 m (16,405 ft)

Armament:

1× 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon, 200 rounds, firing though the propeller hub

2× 12.7 mm (0.50”) Breda-SAFAT machine guns with 250 RPG above the engine

2× 7.7 mm (0.303”) Breda-SAFAT machine guns with 500 RPG in the outer wings*;

*these were later often replaced by another pair of 12.7 mm (0.50”) Breda-SAFAT machine guns

with 300 RPG or two 20mm (0.787”) machine cannon with 150 RPG.

2× underwing hardpoints for 2x 200 l (44 Imp gal) drop tanks or bombs of up to 250 kg (550 lb) caliber

The kit and its assembly:

This Italian whif is both a simple and a complicated affair, because it is a travestied Kawasaki Ki-61 that fits into a small historic slot.

The Hasegawa kit was mostly built OOB, it is simple and easy to build - except for the sprue attachment points which extend on many parts onto the surfaces that are glued together. What did the Hasegawa engineers think, if they thought at all about it? O.K., it's just a matter of cleaning the parts, but that's an avoidable flaw!?

Only three small modifications were made:

- The wing tips were clipped into a square shape

- The stabilizers were replaced in order to match the wings' new outline

- I gave the kit a different spinner (from a Matchbox He 111, plus a central gun port)

The OOB drop tanks were left away, and I lowered the flaps since this was easy to realize. I also added short gun barrels to the wings, and the tail wheel became retractable through a pair of small covers.

Painting and markings:

This was supposed to become one of the machines that were found by Allied forces at the I.M.A.M. plant. Originally, it was built and painted according to German standards, but, as operational war bounty, its former markings were painted over, it received US markings and was quickly handed over to the co-belligerent air force. Hence, inspired by Allied aircraft like former USAAF P-39s that were operated by the ACI, the Italian roundels were simply and quickly painted over the US "Stars and Bars" markings.

Consequently, I gave the Ro.70 a conservative German splinter scheme in RLM 74/75/76 with some RLM 02 mottles added to the flanks and a black propeller spinner with a white spiral.

The cockpit interior was painted in "Verde anticorrosione", which is a unique Italian tone and a relatively bright and intense green, I used Modelmaster's RLM83, which comes IMHO close. The landing gear interior was painted in aluminium (Humbrol 56)

As Allied ID markings for the Mediterranean TO I added yellow bands on the wings and around the fuselage (created with yellow decal sheet, except for the nose ring, which was painted with Humbrol 69). Inspired by Allied aircraft like former USAAF P-39s that were operated by the ACI, the Italian roundels received additional bars. These had the star simple painted over by the Italian roundel, sometimes the bar was overpainted, too, and I adapted this weird detail. The place where a former Regia Aeronautica tactical code or national marking had been placed was overpainted with US olive drab (Neutral Grey under the wings), and the new code letter placed on top of that. Since the aircraft would have been pressed quickly into service, I did not give it any other extra markings beyond the code letter.

Finally, some soot stains around the gun nozzles and the exhausts were created with graphite and the wings' leading edges treated with dry-brushed light grey, before the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

A relatively simple what-if model, but an exotic an effective one: a Japanese aircraft in a German livery, outfitted with US "Stars & Bars" eventually in Italian hands! The paint finish turned out nicely, as well as the mottled fuselage flanks (always a challenge, esp. w/o an airbrush).

Polaroid Land 350 conversion with Bessa Voigtlander 105mm 3.5. Taken with an iphone 5s Hipstamatic, C Type Plate film and James M lens. Lightroom 5 tonal adjustments.

Converted to colour using deep dream generator (easy)

adjusted saturation in ps

Conversions for Age of Sigmar Fire Aelves

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

It took China long way to develop and produce a true supersonic fighter aircraft: in March, 1964, Shenyang Aircraft Factory began the first domestic production of the J-7 jet fighter. However, the mass production of the aircraft, which had been developed through Soviet help, license production and reverse-engineering, was severely hindered by an unexpected problem—the Cultural Revolution. This incident and its consequences resulted in poor initial quality and slow progress.

Production was still continuing in small numbers in late 2016, but the number of built specimen is uncertain. About 150 J-7DH are supposed to be in active service, mostly with PLANAF Northern and East Fleet units. Unlike many former J-7 variants (including its ancestor, the PLAAF's more or less stillborn C and D variants), the J-7DH was not offered for export.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 14.61 m (47 ft 10½ in)

15.69 m (51 ft 5 in) with pitot

Wingspan: 7,41 m (24 ft 3½ in)

Height: 4.78 m (15 ft 8½ in)

Wing area: 28.88 m² (309.8 ft²)

Aspect ratio: 2.8:1

Empty weight: 5,892 kg (12.977 lb)

Loaded weight: 8,240 kg (18.150 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 9,800 kg (21.585 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Guizhou WS-13 turbofan with a dry thrust of 51.2 kN (11,510 lbf)

and 84.6 kN (19,000 lbf) with afterburner

Performance

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

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

Combat radius: 1.050 km (568 nmi, 652 mi) (air superiority, two AAMs and three drop tanks)

Ferry range: 2,500 km (1.350 nmi, 1.550 mi)

Service ceiling: 17,500 m (57.420 ft)

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

Armament:

1× Type 30-I 30mm (1.18") cannon with 150 rounds in the port forward fuselage;

7× hardpoints (6× under-wing, 1× centerline under-fuselage) with a capacity of 3,000 kg maximum (up to 500 kg each); Ordnance primarily comprises air-to-air missiles, including PL-2, PL-5, PL-7, PL-8, PL-9 and PL-11 AAMs, but in a secondary CAS role various rocket pods an unguided bombs of up to 500kg caliber can be carried

The kit and its assembly:

Another Chinese whif, and again a MiG-21 derivative - a fruitful source of inspiration. The J-7DH is not based ona real world project, though, but was rather inspired by an article about a Chinese 2020 update for the MiG-21 from Japan, including some drawings and artwork.

The latter depicted a late MiG-21 with some minor mods, but also some characteristic F-16 parts like the chines and the BWB flanks grafted to it - and it looked good!

Since I recently butchered an Intech F-16 for my Academy T-50 conversion (primariliy donation the whole landing gear, including the wells), I had a donor kit at ahnd, and I also found a Mastercraft MiG-21MF in my stash without a true plan. So I combined both for "something Chinese"...

The build was pretty starightforward - except for the fact that the Intech F-16 is a rather clumsy affair (donating the fin and the fuselage flanks) and that no part from the Mastercraft MiG-21 matches with another one! Lots of improvisation and mods were necessary.

On the other side, the F-16 parts were just glued onto the MiG-21 fuselage and blended into one with putty (in several layers, though).

The fin was taken wholesale from the F-16, but clipped by about 5mm at the top. I originally wanted to use F-16 wings with wing tip launch rails and the stabilizers, too, but when I held them to the model it looked wacky - so I reverted to the Fishbed parts. The stabilizers were taken OOB, but the wing span was reduced at the roots, so that the original MiG-21 wing span was retained. Only the landing gear wells had to be adapted accordingly, but that was easier than expected and the result looks very organic.

With more wing area, I added a third pair of hardpoints under the wing roots, and I kept the gun under the cockpit in the LERX. That offered room inside of the fuselage, filled by a laser rangefinder in a canoe fairing where the original gun used to be.

On the tail, a new jet nozzle was mounted, on the fuselage some air scoops and antennae were added an an IR sensor on the nose. A new seat was used in the cockpit instead of the poor L-shaped OOB thing. The PL-2 & -11 ordnance consists of simple AIM-9Bs and slightly modified AIM-120, plus some launch rails from the scrap box.

Paintings and markings:

Modern Chinese military aircraft are hardly benchmarks for creative paint schemes - and the only "realistic" option in this case would have been a uniform grey livery. The original J-7C PLAAF night fighters carried a high contrast sand/dark green/light blue livery, similar to the MiG-21 export scheme (a.k.a. "Pumpkin"), but I found the latter not suitabel for a naval operator.

I eventually found a compromise, using one of the J-7C schemes as pattern but using grey tones instead - still not very colorful, but the "clover" patterns would help disrupt the aircraft's outlines and support the modern look and feel of this whif.

Basic colors are Humbrol 140 (Dark Gull Grey, FS 36231) and 165 (RAF Medium Sea Grey) from above, plus 122 (IAF Pale Blue, FS 35622) on the undersides. With the dark grey pattern placed with no direct connection to the Pale Blue undersides, there's even a blending effect between the tones - not spectacular, but IMHO effective.

The cockpit interior became pale teal (a mix of Soviet Cockpit Blue and white), while the landing gear wells were painted with a mix of Humbrol 56, 119 and 225 - for a yellow-ish, dull metallic brown. The wheel discs became bright green (Humbrol 131), and any di-electric panel and the radome became deep green (Humbrol 2).

The decals come from a Begemot MiG-21 sheet (roundels), while the tactical 5-digit code comes from an Airfix 1:72 B-17 sheet. The yellow code is a bit unusual, as well as its place on the fin, but both occur on Chinese fighters.

The code itself is based on the information published in the 2010 book “Chinese Air Power” by Yefim Gordon und Dmitriy Komissarov, where the Chinese code system is explained – I hope that it is more or less authentic.

The kit received a light black ink wash and some dry painting with lighter blue-grey shades, but no weathering, since modern Chinese aircraft tend to look pretty clean and pristine. Since the kits both did not feature much surface details, and a lot of the few OOB details got lost during the PSR process for the BWB wing sections, I painted some details and panel lines with a soft pencil - a compromise, though. Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

The result is a pretty subtle whif, and with the F-16 parts added the result even looks very conclusive! From above, the extra fuselage width makes the Fishbed look very massive, which is underlined by the extended stabilizer span. But I think that retailing the original MiG-21 delta wing was a good decision, because it helps retaining the Fishbed's "fast" look.

I am just not 100% happy with the finish - but for the crappy kits I used as basis it's O.K.

Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67R turboprop engine on N932H.

N932H was originally built for the USAAF during World War II as C-47B 45-1098, c/n 34368.

Its original Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engines have been replaced with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67R turboprop engines, along with other modifications and updates performed by Basler Turbo Conversions.

N932H is the most sophisticated of the three DC-3 / C-47 types operated by Airborne Support, Inc. of Houma, Louisiana. Airborne Support maintains the aircraft in readiness to apply dispersants on water affected by oil spills.

Photographed at Houma-Terrabonnne Airport (HUM)

Houma, Louisiana

Airborne Support:

airbornesupport.com

Basler Turbo Conversions:

www.baslerturbo.com

The ZIL-157 is a general purpose 2 1⁄2-ton 6x6 truck, produced in post-World War II Soviet Union ZiL. It was the standard Soviet truck.

Der ZIL-157 (russisch ЗИЛ-157), gelegentlich auch als SIL-157 transkribiert, ist ein dreiachsiger mittelschwerer Lastkraftwagen, der 1958 bis 1994 in der Sowjetunion beziehungsweise Russland zuerst vom Sawod imeni Lichatschowa gebaut wurde.

Crown bus in Balboa Park, San Diego. I don't have any information about this unusual bus.

13/03/2016 - Old Wesley’s, Jack Maybury kicks a conversion during the first half of the JP Fanagan (U20) Premier 2 clash between Old Wesley RFC and Naas RFC at Ballycorus, Dublin. Credit: Stephen Devine.

B630 XNS was a bog-standard Dormobile 12-seat psv conversion on the SWB Ford Transit petrol-engined white van.

The fibreglass centre roof section used on the psv conversions can be seen.

It was new to Neil Collison (Stonehouse Coaches), Stonehouse, Lanarkshire and is seen here at the premises of SMT (Dealer), Glasgow.

The compound behind contained a mixture of unregistered Bedford Astra, KB, Midi and TL vehicles.

Hove RFC women in rugby action during a cup win 64-3 over Portsmouth at Hove recreation ground.

Infrared Landscape shot with Canon EOS 7D using a 590 nm converted infrared lens with Conversion by LifePixel

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The J, K and N class was a class of destroyers of the Royal Navy, launched in 1938 in three flotillas or groups and with names beginning with "J", "K" and "N", respectively. Their design was intended as a smaller follow-on from the preceding Tribal class and incorporated one radical new idea that was a departure from all previous Royal Navy destroyer designs: the adoption of a two-boiler room layout. This reduced hull length and allowed for a single funnel, both reducing the profile and increasing the arcs of fire of the light anti-aircraft (AA) weapons. However, this also increased vulnerability, as there were now two adjacent large compartments with the resultant risk of a single well-placed hit flooding both and resulting in a total loss of boiler power. This illustrates somewhat the Admiralty's attitude to the expendable nature of destroyers, but destroyers were lightly armored and fast vessels, anyway, meant to survive by avoiding being hit at all. From this perspective, the odds of a single hit striking just the right spot to disable both boiler rooms simultaneously were considered remote enough to be worth risking in exchange for the benefits given by a two-room layout.

On 18 February 1944, Jubilant was leaving Naples to return to the Anzio area when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-410. A torpedo struck her in the engine room and was followed sixteen minutes later by another torpedo that hit in the boiler room, causing her immediate sinking; 97 of the crew, including the captain, went down with the ship and 86 survived.

General characteristics:

Displacement: 1,690 long tons (1,720 t) (standard)

2,330 long tons (2,370 t) (deep load)

Length: 356 ft 6 in (108.7 m) overall

Beam: 35 ft 9 in (10.9 m)

Draught: 12 ft 6 in (3.8 m) (deep)

Draft: 17.5 ft (5.3 m)

Complement: 178

Propulsion:

2× Admiralty 3-drum boilers with geared steam turbines, developing 44,000 shp (33,000 kW)

Performance:

Top speed: 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph)

Range: 5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)

Armament:

4× QF 6-inch Mark III (150 mm) 40 caliber guns

1× QF 4-inch Mark V (102 mm) AA gun

1× twin 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft machine cannon

2× single 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft machine cannon

1× quintuple 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tube

2× throwers and 1× rack astern with 30 depth charges

The kit and its assembly:

Again, this is a modified H.M.S. Kelly from Matchbox, this time even an original boxing. The main motivation was a livery in/with Mountbatten Pink, though. As a side note, “H.M.S. Jubilant” was not built, but it was the name of the last J-class cruiser. It had been ordered in 1937, but the ship was cancelled in December 1937.

Even though I wanted to keep things simple, I found some spare parts that justified modifications. For instance, I had four turrets from my recent USS Fletcher conversion left and decided to integrate them into the British destroyer, posing as single but bigger caliber guns. For a staggered position of the two rear gun stations, I used the short rear cabin that the Matchbox kit offers as optional part and added a console on the rear deck for the Y turret. The X turret was placed on top of the cabin, just like the original gun mount.

The AA ordnance was modified, too. The 4 in GF gun instead of the rear torpedo mount is OOB and an optional part. The original quad (and pretty clumsy) 4x 0.5” AA machine gun amidships was replaced with a twin gun s from an Aoshima 1:700 ship weapon set. This is originally intended for Japanese ships, but it’s whifworld, after all, and many weapon stations look quite similar to their British counterparts.

For a slightly different silhouette I gave the bridge a roof, cut from 1.5 and 0.5 mm styrene sheet, and re-arranged the directors and searchlight station on top of it. I also added a radar antenna array to the upper mast.

As an extra I added some rigging to the mast, made from heated plastic sprue material – simple, but it improves the model’s look considerably.

Painting and markings:

The more exotic part, at least visually. Mountbatten Pink, also called Plymouth Pink, was a naval camouflage color resembling greyish mauve – it was not a bright pinkish tone, rather a pragmatic mix of light grey (whatever was at hand) with red lead underwater primer, which had a yellow-ish touch, much like brick red. The paint was first used by Lord Mountbatten of the British Royal Navy during World War II, hence its name. After noticing a Union-Castle Line ship with a similar camouflage color disappearing from sight, he applied the color to his own ships, believing the paint would render them difficult to see esp. during dawn and dusk, daytimes when ships were highly vulnerable. However, the pink shade was more popular than effective. While the color was met with anecdotal success, it was judged by experts to be just equivalent to neutral greys at best and would make ships with the color more obvious under certain conditions at worst. However, for some time and esp. in the MTO, the color was very popular and widely applied to all kinds of ships.

Most of the time, RN ships were painted overall with this tone. Later, the application became more refined and the superstructures above deck received a lighter shade than the lower hull, lowering the contrast above the horizon. Sometimes, Mountbatten pink was integrated into Admiralty multi-color schemes. One of these rather rare cases was H.M.S. Anchusa. This was a Flower class corvette, which carried a medium blue grey (rumored to be B20) panel amidships, with the rest being uniform medium pink. As a side note: there’s a 1:350 model of this ship available, and it’s funny to see how different modelers interpret the pink shade, ranging from a pale grey with only a slight pinkish hue to a deep, purplish brick red! However, Anchusa became the conceptual basis for my Jubilant livery. Another inspiration was H.M.S. Kenya, a Crown Colony-class cruiser, which carried a more complex/disruptive scheme in two shades of Mountbatton Pink, using two shades of the pink tone on the hull and superstructures for a shortening effect with lighter areas at bow and stern. This livery had earned the ship around 1942 the nickname "The Pink Lady".

The combination of both inspirations became a four-tone scheme with low contrast, with two shades of pink and two of bluish grey. The pink tones were both mixed with Humbrol 70 and 129, with slightly different ratios for the lighter and darker shades. I generally went for lighter tones, due to the model’s small size and the fact that there apparently was no clear definition of the Mountbatten pink tones. The bluish tones were supposed to be contemporary B5 and B6, guesstimated with Humbrol 128 (which appears quite greenish in the surrounding pink context!) and a mix of Humbrol 47 and 96. The latter turned out to look brighter/less grayish than expected, but I left it that way because the mix blended well with the other colors. The scheme looks quite exotic, but could have worked well due to the little contrast between the different colors and the overall dull impression.

The deck was painted with Revell 47, simulating a painted wooden deck with 507b. Horizontal metal surfaces on the upper decks as well as the tops of the turrets were painted with the same color. Lifeboats and rafts became light grey, as if taken over from a former camouflage and for some contrast to the rest of the ship.

The model was painted in separate elements and slightly weathered with a highly thinned black ink wash and some Sienna Brown water color for rust stains here and there. The many, well-visible portholes along the hull and on the superstructures were added with a thin felt tip pen. A similar pen was used to create the boot topping and the muzzles on the guns and torpedo launchers. Finally, the kit segments were sealed with a coat of acrylic matt varnish before final assembly and rigging.

With the experience from the recent build of the same kit, work on this one was surprisingly easy and quick, and I was happy that I had spare parts at hand to change the look of the ship at least a little. The camouflage looks interesting - one can assume that it was manned by unicorns and that glitter steams in clouds out of the funnel. But in the end I find the pink/blue scheme to be quite effective, esp. in low light and also in front of land background. It's not a confusion approach, even though the blue divider seems to separate the ship into two parts, when seen in front of a proper environment, but as a concealment measure the paint mix works IMHO surprisingly well.

The first five Mistral Rangers in all their glory. Pretty proud of them. The white hard edge highlights are a first for me as is the modelling to the bases. Pleased with the shoulder armour too which is a lot more sophisticated than previous attempts

+++ 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.

Conversion by The Recycle Group in S,.Antonin

Here is an explanation of this exhibit:

recycleartgroup.com/exhibitions/conversion/

+++ 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 Nakajima Ki-104 was a further development of the Ki-87; the latter was a Japanese high-altitude fighter-interceptor of World War II, a single seat, exhaust-driven turbo-supercharged engined, low-wing monoplane with a conventional undercarriage.

The first operational Ki-104s reached this unit in spring 1945 and saw limited use against the incoming streams of B-29 bombers (2 unconfirmed downings in the Tokyo region). After these initial contacts that left a serious impression the new type received the USAF code name "Cooper", but the hostilities' soon end however stopped any further work and serial production. No Ki-104 survived the war.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 12 m (39 ft 4 in)

Wingspan: 14 m (45 ft 11 in)

Height: 4.65 m (15 ft 3 in)

Wing area: 28 m² (301.388 ft²)

Airfoil: Tatsuo Hasegawa airfoil

Empty weight: 4,637 kg (10,337 lb)

Loaded weight: 6.450 kg (14.220 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Nakajima Ha219 [Ha-44-12] 18-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 1,835 kW (2,461 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 712 km/h (385 kn, 443 mph)

Cruise speed: 440 km/h (237 kn, 273 mph)

Range: 2,100 km (1,305 mi)

Service ceiling: 14,680 m (48,170 ft)

Wing loading: 230.4 kg/m² (47.2 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 0.28 kW/kg (0.17 hp/lb)

Climb to 5,000 m (16,400 ft): 5 min 9 sec;

Climb to 10,000 m (32,800 ft): 17 min 38 sec;

Climb to 13,000 m (42,640 ft): 21 min 03 sec

Armament

4× 30 mm (1.18 in) Ho-155-II cannons in the wings

Underwing hardpoints and centerline pylon for up to 3× 250 kg (551 lb) bombs

or a single 300l drop tank under the fuselage

The kit and its assembly:

This whif is the result of many ideas and occasions. First of all, I had a leftover six-blade propeller from a Hasegawa J7W Shinden in stock. Then I recently had an eye on kits of late Japanese high altitude fighters with turbosuperchargers, like the Ki-91-II or the Ki-106. These are available from RS Models, but rare and rather costly. And I wondered how a P-47 might look like without its deep belly? All this was finally thrown into a big idea stew, and the Ki-104 is the home-made hardware result!

As a side note: the Ki-104 was a real IJA project, AFAIK based/related to the Tachikawa Ki-94-I twin-boom/push-pull high altitude fighter, a re-worked, more conventional design. Information is sparese and it never reached any hardware stage and remained a paper project as the Rikugun Kogiken Ki-104; I just "revived" the number for my whif, but maybe the real Ki-104 could have looked like it... ;-)

The kit is a bashing of various parts and pieces:

- Fuselage and wing roots from an Academy P-47-25

- Wings from an Ark Model Supermarine Attacker (ex Novo)

- Tail fin is a modified part of a Matchbox Ju 188 stabilizer

- The stabilizers are outer sections from a Matchbox Douglas F3D Skyknight

- Cowling comes from an ART Model Grumman F8F Bearcat, the engine was scratched

- Propeller from a Hasegawa J7W Shinden

- Main wheels from a Matchbox F6F Hellcat

My choice fell onto the Academy Thunderbolt because it has engraved panel lines, offers the bubble canopy as well as good fit and detail. The belly duct had simply been sliced off, and the opening later faired over with styrene sheet and putty.

The Bearcat cowling was chosen because it had very good fitting width in order to match with the P-47 fuselage, and it turned out to be a very good choice - even though I had to add a dorsal connection, a simple styrene wedge, to create a good profile.

Inside, the engine consists of a reversed Hobby Boss F6F engine, with a fan dummy that covers any view on non-existent interior details... A styrene tube was added, into which a metal axis can be inserted. The latter holds the propeller, so that it can spin with little hindrance.

The Attacker wings were chosen because of their "modern" laminar profile - the Novo kit is horrible, but acceptable for donations. And the risen panel lines and rivets should later do great work during the weathering process... OOB, the Attacker wings had too little span for the big P-47, so I decided to mount the Thunderbolt's OOB wings and cut them at a suitable point: maybe 0.5", just where the large wheel fairings for the main landing gear ends.

The intersection with the Attacker wings is almost perfect in depth and width, relatively little putty work was necessary. I just had to cut out new landing gear well parts.

With the new wing shape, the tail surfaces had to be changed accordingly, with parts from a Matchbox Skyknight and a highly modified piece from a Matchbox Ju 188 stabilizer.

The OOB cockpit and landing gear was retained, I just replaced the main wheels with slightly more delicate alternatives from a Matchbox F6F Hellcat.

Once the basic bodywork was done I added the exhaust arrangement under the fuselage; the outlets are oil cooler parts from a Fw 190A, the air scoop once belonged to a Martin Marauder and the long ducts are actually HO scale roof rails. The oil cooler under the engine comes from a Hobby Boss La-7.

Pretty wild mix, but it works surprisingly well!

Painting and markings:

Even though this was supposed to become a late WWII IJA fighter, I did neither want the stereotype NMF look nor the classic green/grey livery or a respective mottled scheme. What I finally settled upon, though, took a long while to manifest, and it looks ...odd.

I wanted a camouflage scheme, but none of the more exotic real world options was fine for me; there had been fighters with black upper surfaces, bright blue ones, or blue mottle on top of NMF. But all this did not convince me, and I eventually created an experimental scheme. And the paint was supposed to look heavily worn, as if the paint had been applied directly onto the bare metal, without primer, so that it chips and flakes off easily.

The tones were supposed to be suitable for high altitudes, but not the classic IJA colors - nothing even close. eventuelly I came up with an all-around turquoise green (ModelMaster Fulcrum Grey Green) plus a pale grey-green (ModelMaster RAF Dark Slate Grey) as contrast for the upper sides. Sick combination, yes, esp. with the Aluminum shining through, which was applied first as a kind of acrylic primer. The camouflage paint was carefully brushed on top of that, with panel-wise strokes from back to front. Tedious, but effective.

The black tail was applied similarly, it is a free interpretation of real IJA markings; for instance, the 244th Sentai arcraft bore all-red tail sections. Black is an uncommon color, but since I wanted to create fictional squadron markings, too, this was a suitable concept. And it looks cool and mysterious...

The cockpit interior was painted with Aodake Iro (Modelmaster), the section behind the pilot's seat and where the sliding canopy moves on the outside, were painted with IJA Dark Green - just an odd idea. In front of the cockpit a black anti glare panel was added. The landing gear and the respective wells were painted with Steel Metallizer (just to set them apart from the lighter Aluminum all around). The propeller was painted in reddish brown tones, the spinner in Humbrol 160 and the blades in 173.

After this basic painting the kit received a black ink wash, and decals were applied. These were taken from various aftermarket sheets, including generic, white and yellow sheet for the Home Defence markings on wings and fuselage, the white fuselage trim or the yellow ID markings on the wings' leading edges.

As next step the complete kit was carefully wet-sanded, primarily from front to back, so that more of the aluminum primer showed through, the decals (esp. the Hinomaru) were worn out and the camouflage paint on top lost some of its hard edges.

The sanding residues had to be cleaned away thoroughly (with a soft toothbrush and lots of water), and then, repairs, e .g. where the bare plastic came through, as well as extra effects with dry-painted, lighter camouflage tones were done. Final cosmetics also include oil and dirt stains with Tamiya"Smoke", also applied by brush.

Once everything was dry and clean (despite the kit's look), everything was sealed under a coat of varnish - a 3:1 mix of matt and gloss Revell Acrylics.

A complex and lengthy painting process, but I think the effort paid out because the procedure mimicks the structure and look of a worn paint job instead of trying to look like it when you paint a cammo scheme and add metal effects "on top". This works for small chips, but not for the flaked look I had been looking for.

The Ki-104 turned out to be a very conclusive kitbashing - I think that the P-47-with-Attacker-wings-and-new-cowling bears more potential, and I might try it again, e. g. for a naval Thunderbolt development?

Drawn and converted 2D>3D

Giovanna Casotto is a great designer and author of erotic comics, of which she is also the model. My drawing is taken from a photo of her.

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.