+++ 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 Westland Whirlwind was a British twin-engined heavy fighter developed by Westland Aircraft. It was the Royal Air Force's first single-seat, twin-engined, cannon-armed fighter, and a contemporary of the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane.

The Squadron’s new task was to support bomber streams as part of No. 100 Group RAF, and in the wake of these long range duties the Whirlwind FB.2s were finally retired. The last flight took place on 6th of September 1944.

General characteristics:

Crew: One pilot

Length: 35 ft 4 1/2 in (10.80 m)

Wingspan: 45 ft 0 in (13.72 m)

Height: 11 ft 0 in (3.35 m)

Wing area: 250 ft² (23.2 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 23017-08

Empty weight: 8.800 lb (3.,995 kg)

Loaded weight: 11.467 lb (5.206 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 12.665 lb (5,750 kg)

Powerplant:

2× Rolls-Royce Merlin XX liquid-cooled V-12, 1,185 hp (883 kW) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m),

driving de Havilland constant speed propellers with a diameter of 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 435 mph (701 km/h) at 15.000 ft (4.570 m)

Stall speed: 95 mph (83 knots, 153 km/h) (flaps down)

Range: 800 mi (696 nmi, 1.288 km)

Service ceiling: 35.200 ft (10.729 m)

Armament:

4x belt-fed 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk II cannons, 140 RPG each

2x 250 lbs (115 kg) or 500 lbs (230 kg) bombs, or two racks with 8× RP-3 unguided air-to-ground rockets.

The kit and its assembly

Despite building model kits since 35 years now, I never managed to build a Westland Whirlwind. One reason might be that only the Airfix kit had been on the market for years, as well as the fact that only rather boring RAF planes could be built. But with more confidence in whifery - no more! So, here comes a more or less creative interpretation of what could have become of the elegant and compact Whirlwind Mk. I, if only it had had a proper engine and better timing...

Things started when I got hands on a Mosquito NF.XIX kit from Airfix. I found the model... bleak, and donating parts would be a suitable use for it, and the Mossie eventually ended up with radials in Egypt service - with the whole original engine nacelles ready for transplantation! The kit also offered missile racks, and when I thought about what to do with it, well, the Whirlwind FB.2 was quickly born.

The basis for this mod is the Whirlwind kit from Bilek (a re-issue of the vintage Airfix kit). Kit conversion was straightforward: I replaced the complete engine nacelles, and the bigger engines create a weird look. The exhaust pipes with flame dampers come from the Mosquito kit, too, as well as the propellers, even though the blades has to be clipped by 3mm each - otherwise the space for the cannons' arc of fire would have been too narrow.

The whole landing gear was nevertheless taken from the Whrilwind. The fin fillet was added with a simple piece of polystyrene sheet and the missile racks with the RPGs also come from the Mosquito kit. The single piece cockpit canopy was opened and a dashboard added, the pilot is OOB.

Painting

Nothing fancy here, still a "boring" RAF plane, based on one of the decal options of the Airfix Mosquito NF.XIX. But, at least, I was able to find a livery which would set the FB.2 apart from the well-known Mk.I/FB.1 fighters: invasion stripes, coupled with a typical night intruder paint scheme in Dark Green, Ocean Grey and Night (Humbrol 30, 106 and 33, respectively), coupled with dull red squadron codes and type C roundels.

Interior surfaces were painted with Cockpit Green (Humbrol 78) and slightly dry-brushed with light grey. I avoided almost any spectacular detail, the red spinners are the most exciting feature. Roundels and markings were puzzled together from the Bilek kit and the scrap box, the dull red codes are single digits from an Xtradecal aftermarket sheet. And there’s just a small nose art under the cockpit. Finally, the model was slightly weathered, but that's all.

In the end, a subtle whif (which I prefer), but with enough potential to make you look twice, because both the engine change and the night intruder livery on their own make you think that you have recognized what's "wrong" with this Whirlwind. But there's more than meets the eye at first glance... ;)

How to convert a Polaroid 545 film back for use on a Mamiya Universal and what is need to do so.

Exposure calculation table for converting metering read to the aperture equivalent on the pinhole camera.

+++ 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:

Following Hungary's membership of NATO in 1999, there were several proposals to achieve a NATO-compatible fighter force. Considerable attention went into studying second-hand aircraft options as well as modifying the nation's existing MiG-29 fleet. In 2001, Hungary received several offers of new and used aircraft from various nations, including Sweden, Belgium, Israel, Turkey, and the US. Although the Hungarian government initially intended to procure the F-16, in November 2001 it was in the process of negotiating a 10-year lease contract for 12 Gripen aircraft from Sweden, with an option to purchase the aircraft at the end of the lease period.

As part of the procurement arrangements, Saab had offered an offset deal valued at 110 per cent of the cost of the 14 fighters. Initially, Hungary had planned to lease several Batch II Saab 39s; however, the inability to conduct aerial refueling and weapons compatibility limitations had generated Hungarian misgivings. The contract was then renegotiated and eventually signed on 2 February 2003 for a total of 14 Gripens, which had originally been A/B standard and had undergone an extensive upgrade process to the NATO-compatible C/D 'Export Gripen' standard. At the same time, the need for an advanced jet trainer as a replacement for the Hungarian Air Force’s last eight MiG-21UM aircraft became more and more imminent. The Gripen two-seaters alone could not cope with this task and were operationally too expensive to be used as trainers, so that Hungary requested an additional offer for a small number of Sk 90 trainers from Swedish surplus stock.

One Sk 90 A was lost in a landing accident in May 2016, and two Gripens had to be written off through accidents in the meantime, too. To fill these gaps, Hungary signed a replacement contract in 2018 to come back to its full fleet of 14 Gripen, and the Sk 90 A fleet was expanded to seven aircraft. These new machines were delivered in 2019.

General characteristics:

Crew: two pilots in tandem

Length incl. pitot: 13.0 m (42 ft 8 in)

Wingspan: 9.94 m (32 ft 7 in)

Height: 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)

Empty weight: 3,790 kg (8,360 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 7,500 kg (16,530 lb)

Powerplant:

2× Williams International FJ44-4M turbofans without reheat, rated at 16.89 kN (3,790 lbst) each

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,038 km/h (645 mph)

Stall speed: 167 km/h (104 mph, 90 kn)

Range: 1,670 km (900 nm; 1,036 m) with two 450 L (99 imp gal; 120 US gal) drop tanks

Service ceiling: 15,240 m (50,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 51 m/s (10,000 ft/min)

Armament:

No internal gun; five hardpoints for 2,500 kg (5,500 lb) of payload and a variety of ordnance,

including AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles and a conformal, ventral gun pod (not used by the Hungarian

Air Force, instead, UPK-23-250 pods with a fixed twin-barrel GSh-23L cannon and 200-250 rounds

were carried under the fuselage and/or the inner wing hardpoints)

The kit and its assembly:

This additional member of my fictional Sk 90 family came spontaneously when I studied information concerning the MiG-21. I came across the Hungarian trainers and wondered with what they could have been replaced after 2000 – and “my” fictional Sk 90 came to my mind. I also had a suitable decal set in store, so I dug out a(nother) Hasegawa T-4 and created this whiffy Hungarian variant.

The kit is the old/first T-4 mold; Hasegawa did the T-4 twice, and both kits differ considerably from each other in their construction. The first one has a fuselage consisting of two simple halves with separate wings attached to it; the later mold features a separate cockpit section and a single dorsal wing section, so that the wings’ anhedral is ensured upon assembly.

The air intakes are also different: the old mold features ducts which are open at their ends, while the new mold comes with additional inserts for the intakes which end in a concave wall, making them hard to paint. The fin of the old kit consists of two full halves, while the new one has the rudder molded into just one half of the fin for a thinner trailing edge. The same goes for the wings’ upper halves: on the new mold, they comprise the full flaps and ailerons, while the old kit has them split up, resulting in a marginally thicker training edge. However, you can hardly recognize this and it’s IMHO not a flaw.

Personally, I prefer the old kit, because it is much more straightforward and pleasant to build – even though some details like the main landing gear struts are better on the new mold.

The (old) kit itself is relatively simple and fit is quite good, even though some PSR was necessary on almost every seam. The only mods I made are additional emergency handles on the seats (made from thin wire), and I added an Orpheus recce pod under the fuselage with an integral pylon, left over from an Italeri F-104G kit. The OOB underwing pylons were used, together with the original drop tanks.

Painting and markings:

The prime reason for a Hungarian Sk 90 was the paint scheme, and the fact that I have a sweet spot for Hungary in genarl. The livery was adapted from the late Hungarian MiG-21bis, a more or less symmetrical pattern consisting of a yellowish light tan and a bluish dark green, with light blue undersides. It’s actually a very simple paint scheme, and my adaptation is a free interpretation, since the T-4’s layout with shoulder-mounted wings is quite different from the sleek Fishbed with mid-mounted delta wings.

Finding good color matches was not easy, because pictures of reference Hungarian MiG-21s show a wide variety of green and brown shades, even though I assume that this is just weathering. I found some good pictures of a late MiG-21UM trainer with an apparently fresh paint job, and these suggested a hard contrast between the upper tones. With this benchmark I settled for Humbrol 63 (Sand), and Modelmaster 2091 (RLM 82, Dunkelgrün). The undersides were painted with Humbrol 47 (Sea Blue Gloss), since they appeared rather bright and pale in reference pictures.

The cockpit interior was painted in medium grey (Revell 47), the landing gear and the air intakes in white (Revell 301), very conservative. The Orpheus pod was painted in light grey (FS 36375, Humbrol 127) to set it apart from the light blue undersurfaces. The drop tanks were painted in green and blue.

National markings, the large orange “47” decoration and the small emblems on nose and fin came from a Mistercraft MiG-21UM decal sheet. The tactical code in red, etched with white, was created with single digits from a Hungarian Aero Decals (HAD) sheet for Mi-24s, reflecting the aircraft’s (fictional) serial numbers’ final three digits.

Finally, after some light weathering and post-shading (for a slightly sun-bleached look, esp. on the upper surfaces), the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

Number four in my growing Sk 90 family, and certainly not the last one. A quick and simple project since the model itself was built almost OOB, and the “old” Hasegawa T-4 is really a simple build. However, I am amazed (once more) how much potential a T-4 travesty bears: even in Hungarian colors and markings this whif looks disturbingly convincing. The green/brown/blue paint scheme suits the aircraft well, too, even though it looks a lot like an Alpha Jet now, and there’s even a Su-25ish look to it?!

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced trainer aircraft co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform the trainer and light attack missions, as well as to perform these duties more ideally than the first generation of jet trainers that preceded it.

Following a competition, a design submitted by a team comprising Breguet Aviation, Dassault Aviation, and Dornier Flugzeugwerke, initially designated as the TA501, was selected and subsequently produced as the Alpha Jet.

Both the French Air Force and German Air Force procured the Alpha Jet in large numbers, the former principally as a trainer aircraft and the latter choosing to use it as a light attack platform. In July 1978, Dassault signed an agreement with American aircraft manufacture Lockheed to market the Alpha Jet in the US market, the arrangement included provisions for Lockheed to manufacture the Alpha Jet under license. The Alpha Jet was considered as a candidate for the US Navy's VTXTS advanced trainer program, which was eventually won by the McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk, a modified version of the Hawker Siddeley Hawk. Proposed modifications included undercarriage changes for nose-tow catapults and a stronger arrestor hook, as well as various US-sourced avionics and other equipment.

As a result of post-Cold War military cutbacks, Germany already elected to retire its own fleet of Alpha Jets in the 1990s and has re-sold many of these aircraft to both military and civilian operators. The Alpha Jet has been adopted by a number of air forces across the world and has also seen active combat use by some of these operators.

General characteristics:

Crew: two

Length: 13.23 m (43 ft 5 in)

Wingspan: 9.11 m (29 ft 10¾ in), folded:

Height: 4.19 m (13 ft 9 in)

Wing area: 17.50 m² (188.4 ft²)

Empty weight: 3,515 kg (7,750 lb)

Loaded weight: 5,000 kg (11,000 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 7,500 kg (16,535 lb)

Powerplant:

2× SNECMA Turbomeca Larzac 04-H-20 non-afterburning turbofans,

delivering 4.12 kN of thrust (3,173 lbf) each

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,000 km/h (540 kn, 621 mph) at sea level

Stall speed: 167 km/h (90 knots, 104 mph) (flaps and undercarriage down)

Combat radius: 610 km (329 nmi, 379 mi) lo-lo-lo profile with full ordnance

Ferry range: 2,940 km (1,586 nmi, 1,827 mi)

Service ceiling: 14,630 m (48,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 57 m/s (11,220 ft/min)

Armament:

1× optional 30 mm (1.18 in) GIAT 30/M791 autocannon with 125 rounds in a centerline pod

Four underwing hardpoints for a total load of 2,500 kg (5,506 lb), including up to six Matra rocket pods

with eighteen SNEB 68 mm rockets each or six CRV7 rocket pods with nineteen 70 mm rockets each;

Two AIM-9 Sidewinders or two Matra Magic IIs air-to-air missiles

Up to two AM.39 Exocet anti-ship missiles, or four AGM-65 Mavericks

or other TV-, laser or IR-guided Smart Weapons

The kit and its assembly:.

Another entry for the “Old Kit Group Build” at whatifmodelers.com, #4 to be precise. The basis for this conversion is the venerable Heller Alpha Jet in 1:72 scale from 1979, even though in a much more recent Revell re-boxing as a Belgian aircraft with a black/yellow/silver anniversary paint scheme.

Anyway, the moulds must have suffered a lot in the meantime, because the Revell offering comes with lots of flash, ugly ejector pin markings and even some sinkholes. I have built an old, original Heller kit a while ago, and this was much more crisp and defined!

However, the conversion of the kit was only cosmetic, including:

• A new, longer and more massive nose– actually the front end of a Tornado drop tank

• A completely new twin front wheel, including the well in the nose section

• Modified main landing gear with new wheels and a higher stance

• Engraved seams for the wings’ folding mechanism

• Appropriate ordnance, including…

- an Exocet missile (Academy Super Étendard)

- a drop tank (Academy OV-10 Bronco)

- a Barracuda 2 ECM pod and a Matra Phimat flare dispenser (Heller SEPECAT Jaguar)

• Some new antennae and pitots, and a more massive arrestor hook

• The laser rangefinder in its unusual (but correct!) fairing

• Some chaff/flare dispensers at the tail

Building the fuselage was no fun – nothing would fit, and the kit’s construction is really complicated. O.K., the Alpha Jet’s shape with its engine nacelles and the curved belly is complex, but the kit’s solution is far from perfect.

Another true weak point are the air intakes: they end after 3-4mm in a staggered, vertical wall. Really ugly, so I drilled the intakes open and moved the still necessary view blocker (black foamed styrene) a bit further back.

Painting and markings:

IMHO, the only potential operator for this fictional yet rather complex and expensive Alpha Jet variant would be France, and so the Lancier M ended up in the hands of the Aéronavale.

Consequently, I gave the aircraft a Nineties paint scheme inspired by the two-tone grey livery of the late Super Ètendard – also a bit of an unusual, yet familiar, touch. The basic colors I used are Humbrol 164 (Dark Sea Grey) and 165 (Medium Sea Grey), because I wanted to prevent a US look – and the frequently recommended tones of FS36118 and FS35237 are IMHO just wrong, Gunship Grey being too dark, and the grey blue being …simply much too bluish. The British tones work quite well, though, even though I still wonder about the “true” colors of this paint scheme?

The cockpit interior was painted in very dark grey (Humbrol 67) for some contrast to the outside, the landing gear wells and the struts became Aluminum (Humbrol 56), as well as the air intakes. The interior of the landing gear covers was painted in chrome yellow primer (Humbrol 81), for some more color contrast.

The Barracuda 2 pod was painted in dark green, while the chaff dispenser became dark grey – as a small color contrast to the grey aircraft. The Exocet missile became white with a light grey radome, according to the real thing, but as another disruption the single drop tank received the old Aéronavale scheme in dark bluish grey and white, together with a red tip (marking the flight the aircraft belongs to).

The decals come mostly from a Berna Decals aftermarket sheet for French Bréguet Alizés. The sheet features, among others, a late, dark grey aircraft, and this option provided the small roundels and the grey codes. Escadrille 59S was chosen, since it was available in the sheet (with the squadron’s emblem) and originally a unit for night/all-weather training, disbanded in early 1997.

A simple conversion, yet very thorough and surprisingly convincing. The Lancier’s longer and more massive nose changes the character of the sleek Alpha Jet a lot, and the grey-on-grey paint scheme with the toned-down markings adds a unusual touch to the normally much more colorful aircraft. The scheme looks very natural on the Alpha Jet, too.

Image taken with the $200 InfraReady from www.opticsgeek.com

This year, I've been converting some of my engines to Powered Up to make them more suitable for exhibition layout running.

My original Tornado model was 9V only, and the V2 model was PF. However, IR signals can cause issues in large exhibition halls, and PU also allows you to pair with another loco or powered coach/wagon for extra pulling power.

70s GMC Vandura van with a 4x4 conversion.

This building used to be South Kentish Town station and is now occupied by a bar, a massage parlour and a Cash Converters.

iPhone 4 + Snapseed.

Tonight is a corporate job for Shmitz cargobull the Trailer and truck body people,Seen outside the Copthorne Hotel in Birmingham is tonights ride Mercedes Benz Sprinter C12F. The dinner/dance is at the national motorcycle museum. Photo taken 14/09/16

Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio), Mailand 1571? - Porto Ercole 1610

Bekehrung des Paulus - Conversion on the Way to Damascus - Conversione di San Paolo (1600 - 01)

Santa Maria del Popolo, Cappella Cerasi, Roma

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 Dürer, 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.

Source: Web Gallery of Art

Taking a break from the Photo CD Conversions, I decided to scan a few negatives. These are from December 2001 when I took 8198 to Running Springs. This was the first time any of the the 81s had been utilized on a trip requiring tire chains, as a result we raised the suspensions on all three 2.5" to 3". It made a big difference.

2D-3D conversion done with SPM. Web image from www.ricoholmes.com. Red/Cyan filtered 3D glasses required for viewing.

37061 undergoing conversion at Crewe Works on 27th April 1986. She was re-numbered to 37799 on 13th August 1986

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

In the early 1960s in the Soviet Union, fighter aircraft were developed as part of an interception system to destroy incoming bombers. The interception system consisted of a network of ground radars, ground controlled intercept (GCI) system, medium range air-to-air missiles, and an airborne launch platform for the missiles equipped with powerful radar.

When the Soviet Union fell apart, a small number of Su-19M, together with Su-15TM und Su-15UM trainers, was taken over by the Ukraine, where the type was kept in service until 1996. The Russian Air Force was quicker to start phasing out its Su-19M and Su-15TM, once the Su-27 became available, even though both types served until 1993 in second line duties.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 19.56 m (64 ft 2 in)

Wingspan: 10.19 m (33 ft 4 in)

Height: 4.84 m (15 ft 10 in)

Wing area: 44.5 m² (478.4 ft²)

Empty weight: 10,635 kg (23.445 lb)

Loaded weight: 17.200 kg (37.920 lb)

Powerplant:

2× Tumansky R67-300 turbojets, each rated at 43.5 kN (9.780 lbf) dry and at 73.5 kN (16.525 lbf) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1.300 km/h (807 mph) at sea level, 2.400 km/h (1.490 mph) at height in clean configuration

Range: 1.500 km (931 mi) combat

Ferry range: 1.900 km (1.180 mi)

Endruance: 2 hrs

Take-off run: 1.000 m (3.280 ft)

Service ceiling: 19.500 m (69.350 ft)

Climb time: 11.5 min to 16.000m (54.790 ft)

Rate of climb: 228 m/s (45.000 ft/min)

Armament:

1x GSh-30 30mm cannon in an underfuselage fairing with 120RPG

A total of eight hardpoints (two under the fuselage, six under the wings);

The underfuselage points are typically empty, or carry a PTB-760 drop tank; optionally, 2× UPK-23-250 23 mm gun pods can be carried

A typical interception weapon load is:

2× R-27ER (AA-10 "Alamo C"), radar homing AAM

2× R-27ET (AA-10 "Alamo D"), IR homing AAM

2× R-60 (AA-8 "Aphid") or R-73 (AA-11 "Archer") on the outer pylons

The kit and its assembly:

This whif actually has a real background, as outlined above - OKB Sukhoi worked in the late 60ies on several Su-15 derivates, including improved interceptors and even a specialized attack aircraft. The Su-19 was a real project, but it never left the drawing board.

Anyway, since I had a Su-15 fuselage left over, the Su-19 was a potential use for it - even though finding suitable wings proved to be more daring than expected (while I only had a top view sketch of the Su-19 as benchmark). Tough job, and I was not able to turn up with something that would match in shape and size until I finally found a Concorde(!) wing in 1:200, from Revell. It is not perfect, but an acceptable second-best option.

These wings had to be modified, though - I wanted to extend the wings forward, so that the LERX would almost reach the air intakes. But the Concorde wings had to be shortened and its leading edge shape modified to make the parts fit onto the Su-15 fuselage, which was taken OOB.

While working on the wing parts I was also happy to find that I could use much of the PM Model's lower wing piece, which also contains the main landing gear wells. This made landing gear installation much easier, even though still much of the wings ' undersides had to be sculpted with putty. I also had to re-shape the complete leading edge, and had to insert plugs where the Concorde's engine nacelles had been. Lots of work for just two donation parts... But once it was painted, thing started to look better than expected, even though I did not truly hit the "real" Su-19's wing shape.

The cockpit had to be enhanced, too, since the original kit only offers a stubby seat, and the original canopy had also already been used elsewhere. So, a dashboard, a new ejection seat as well as a Matchbox pilot were added, and a new canopy from an F-16 singe seater was used - it fits almost perfectly and gives the Su-19 a more modern look.

The landing gear was taken OOB. It's somewhat simple, but the covers hide much of it, and the wheels are acceptable. The jet nozzles were opened and some interior added, so that the back side would not end in a blunt butt.

Under the fuselage a cannon fairing was added - it actually comes from a Hawker Hawk trainer, but was shortened and lowered, for a more streamlined look. I could not find specifications on the real Su-19's cannon - it probably carried a GSh-23-2 23mm cannon, but I went for the more modern and powerful GSh-30 which would also be fitted to the Su-27. Two underfuselage hardpoints were added next to it, carrying two drop tanks (from a Kangnam Yak-38).

The missile armament as well as the respective launch racks comes from a Soviet AAM set from ICM. I went for four R-27 AAMs (two with radar and two with IR seeker heads, as well as extended range bodies), plus a pair of R-73 short range AAMs under the outer wing root pylons. Together with the ogival wings this creates a really odd look, and a menacing air-to-air ordnance!

Painting and markings:

AFAIK, Su-15 were either kept in NMF or wore a tactical camouflage during their Soviet service career. Sometimes you come across drawings of late Su-15TM in a grey two-tone paint scheme, but I have - until now - not found a photograph or hard evidence of such an aircraft.

Anyway, since I did not want to make a Soviet/Russian aircraft from the Su-19, I went for this whiffy option and made it an Ukranian Air Force 'bounty' from the era directly after 1992, when the UAF was founded.

The paint schemes is based on MiG-29 patterns, also used by the UAF, and I used simple Humbrol 129 and 31 (Gull Grey, FS 36440 and Slate Grey) as basic tones, which were later painted over with authentic "Fulcrum Grey" and "Fulcrum Grey/Green" from Testors. The Humbrol Slate Grey turned out to be a bit very dark, so the contrast to the (very pale but intense) Fulcrum Grey/Green is rather harsh - more than I had planned. I tried to tame things down with a black ink wash and even a grey filter was, but the surface ended up with more contrast between the panels than intended. Anyway, I stuck with it, because I can hardly imagine a model in the pure authentic colors. It should hurt the eyes! X.x'

The nose radome became grey instead of the typical, bright green. I used RLM 75 (Braunviolett), also from Testors, since it has a brownish hue which matches the light grey of the model. Some other di-electric panels and covers were painted in the same tone.

The cockpit interior was painted in bright Russian Interior Blue Green from Testors, the landing gear wells were kept Humbrol 87 (Steel Grey) - based on pics of real life Su-15. The wheel discs became bright green - odd, but it adds some contrast to the all-grey machine.

Further colorful eye-catchers are the Ukrainian roundels and the yellow tactical code - both were placed on irregular, grey bases, as if they had recently been updated.

The white missiles also stand out and make the Su-19M look more interesting, distracting from its new wings.

In the end, I am not truly convinced of the result. The wing shape is basically correct, but the real thing would have had more slender and elegant wing tips, rather Su-27-like. I made the best from the Concorde wings, but it's not perfect. Additionally, the cammo scheme ended up with more contrast than expected - the greeenish grey is too dark, even though the resulting look is not too far off and suits the slender Su-15/19 well.

But there's more whiffy stuff to come from the Su-15 genetic pool... ;)

For more info, visit tapbots.com/

You can also watch a demo video in HD over at vimeo.com/3761572

Yet another conversion of Anton Semenov's great work.

I don't normally do a mono conversion on something that should have it's colours 'showed off', but I quite like this one.

"More Earth females will become like us!"

+++ 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 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (NATO reporting name: "Farmer") was a Soviet second-generation, single-seat, twin jet-engine fighter aircraft. It was the first Soviet production aircraft capable of supersonic speeds in level flight. A comparable U.S. "Century Series" fighter was the North American F-100 Super Sabre, although the MiG-19 would primarily oppose the more modern McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and Republic F-105 Thunderchief over North Vietnam. Furthermore, the North American YF-100 Super Sabre prototype appeared approximately one year after the MiG-19, making the MiG-19 the first operational supersonic jet in the world.

With the advent of the MiG-21, though, their career did not last long. Even though many machines were updated to carry the K-13 (the IR-guided AA-2 "Atoll") as well as the improved K-55 AAMs, with no change of the type’s designation, most MiG-19bis were already phased out towards the late 1960s and quickly replaced by 2nd generation MiG-21s as well as heavier and more capable Suchoj interceptors like the Su-9, -11 and -15. By 1972, all MiG-19bis had been retired.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 13.54 m (44 ft 4 in), fuselage only with shock cone in forward position

15.48 m (50 8 ½ in) including pitot

Wingspan: 9 m (29 ft 6 in)

Height: 3.8885 m (12 ft 9 in)

Wing area: 25 m² (269 ft²)

Empty weight: 5,210 kg (11,475 lb)

Loaded weight: 7,890 kg (17,380 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 9,050 kg (19,935 lb)

Fuel capacity: 2,450 l (556 imp gal; 647 US gal) internal;

plus 760 l (170 imp gal; 200 US gal) with 2 drop tanks

Powerplant:

2× Sorokin R3M-26 turbojets, rated at 37.2 kN (8,370 lbf) thrust each with afterburning

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,380km/h at sea level (Mach=1.16)

1,850km/h at 12,000m (Mach=1.8)

Range: 1,250 km (775 mi; 750 nmi) at 14,000 m (45,000 ft) with 2 × 490 l drop tanks

Combat range: 500 km (312 mi; 270 nmi)

Ferry range: 2,000 km (1,242 mi; 690 nmi)

Service ceiling: 19,750 m (64,690 ft)

Rate of climb: 180 m/s (35,000 ft/min)

Wing loading: 353.3 kg/m² (72.4 lb/ft²)

Thrust/weight: 0.86

Armament:

No internal guns.

4× underwing pylons; typically, a pair of PTB-490 drop tanks were carried on the outer pylon pair,

plus a pair of air-to air missiles on the inner pair: initially two radar-guided Kaliningrad K-5M (RS-2US)

AAMs, later two radar-guided K-55 or IR-guided Vympel K-13 (AA-2 'Atoll') AAMs

The kit and its assembly:

Another submission for the 2018 Cold War Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, and again the opportunity to build a whiffy model from the project list. But it’s as fictional as one might think, since the SM-12 line of experimental “hybrid” fighters between the MiG-19 and the MiG-21 was real. But none of these aircraft ever made it into serial production, and in real life the MiG-21 showed so much potential that the attempts to improve the MiG-19 were stopped and no operational fighter entered production or service.

However, the SM-12, with its elongated nose and the central shock cone, makes a nice model subject, and I imagined what a service aircraft might have looked like? It would IMHO have been close, if not identical, to the SM-12PM, since this was the most refined pure jet fighter in the development family.

The basis for the build was a (dead cheap) Mastercraft MiG-19, which is a re-edition of the venerable Kovozávody Prostějov (KP) kit – as a tribute to modern tastes, it comes with (crudely) engraved panel, but it has a horrible fit all over. For instance, there was a 1mm gap between the fuselage and the right wing, the wing halves’ outlines did not match at all and it is questionable if the canopy actually belongs to the kit at all? PSR everywhere. I also had a Plastyk version of this kit on the table some time ago, but it was of a much better quality! O.K., the Mastercraft kit comes cheap, but it’s, to be honest, not a real bargain.

Even though the result would not be crisp I did some mods and changes. Internally, a cockpit tub was implanted (OOB there’s just a wacky seat hanging in mid air) plus some serious lead weight in the nose section for a proper stance.

On the outside, the new air intake is the most obvious change. I found a Su-17 intake (from a Mastercraft kit, too) and used a piece from a Matchbox B-17G’s dorsal turret to elongate the nose – it had an almost perfect diameter and a mildly conical shape. Some massive PSR work was necessary to blend the parts together, though.

The tail received new jet nozzles, scratched from steel needle protection covers, and the tail fairing was adjusted according to the real SM-12’s shape.

Ordnance was adapted, too: the drop tanks come from a Mastercraft MiG-21, and these supersonic PTB-490 tanks were indeed carried by the real SM-12 prototypes because the uprated engines were very thirsty and the original, teardrop-shaped MiG-19 tanks simply too draggy for the much faster SM-12. As a side note, the real SM-12’s short range was one of the serious factors that prevented the promising type’s production in real life. In order to overcome the poor range weakness I added an enlarged spine (half of a drop tank), inspired by the MiG-21 SMT, that would house an additional internal fuel tank.

The R2-SU/K-5 AAMs come from a vintage Mastercraft Soviet aircraft weapon set, which carries a pair of these 1st generation AAMs. While the molds seem to be a bit soft, the missiles look pretty convincing. Their pylons were taken from the kit (OOB they carry unguided AAM pods and are placed behind the main landing gear wells), just reversed and placed on the wings’ leading edges – similar to the real SM-12’s arrangement.

Painting and markings:

No surprises. In the Sixties, any PVO aircraft was left in bare metal, so there was hardly an alternative to a NMF finish.

Painting started with an all-over coat with acrylic Revell 99 (Aluminum), just the spine tank became light grey (Revell 371) for some contrast, and I painted some di-electric covers in a deep green (Revell 48).

The cockpit interior was painted with a bright mix of Revell 55 and some 48, while the landing gear wells and the back section of the cockpit were painted in a bluish grey (Revell 57).

The landing gear was painted in Steel (unpolished Modelmaster metallizer) and received classic, bright green wheel discs (Humbrol 2). As a small, unusual highlight the pitot boom under the chin received red and white stripes – seen on occasional MiG-19S fighters in Soviet service, and the anti-flutter booms on the stabilizers became bright red, too.

After the basic painting was done the kit received a black ink wash. Once this had dried and wiped off with a soft cotton cloth, post shading with various metallizer tones was added in order to liven up the uniform aircraft (including Humbrol’s matt and polished aluminum, and the exhaust section was treated with steel). Some panel lines were emphasized with a thin pencil.

Decals were puzzled together from various sources, a Guards badge and a few Russian stencils were added, too. Finally, the kit was sealed with a coat of sheen acrylic varnish (a 2:1 mix of Italeri matt and semi-gloss varnish).

The K-5 missiles, last but not least, were painted in aluminum, too, but their end caps (both front and tail section) became off-white.

The Mastercraft kit on which this conversion was based is crude, so I did not have high expectations concerning the outcome. But the new nose blends nicely into the MiG-19 fuselage, and the wide spine is a subtle detail that makes the aircraft look more “beefy” and less MiG-19-ish. The different drop tanks – even though they are authentic – visually add further speed. And despite many flaws, I am quite happy with the result of roundabout a week’s work.

The old school converted to housing and the car park to a boating lake: Rose Lane, Biggleswade.

Conversion of an Anton Semenov work of art.

Ford Econoline conversion van

+++ 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 AMD Mystère S represents one of the many evolutionary steps in French 2nd generation jet fighter aircraft design, which began with the straight-wing Dassault Ouragan and progressed through the Mystère II/III and Mystère IV to the supersonic Super Mystère SM2B. Internally designated AMD 461 and originally called the Mystère X (Roman numeral “10”, not the letter “X”), the new aircraft was the attempt to improve the successful Mystère IV from 1953 in many respects, following Marcel Dassaults strategy to take small, evolutionary steps instead of radical quantum leaps. While the overall outlines were similar and followed the proven layout of the former Dassault jet fighters, the AMD 461 was a completely new design, though.

Having become quickly obsolete through the introduction of 3rd generation jet fighters in the early Sixties – namely the Mirage III – the Mystère SR’s active career only lasted a mere 10 years, and the Mirage III’s fighter variants quickly replaced the Super Mystère, too. Due to its many limitations, the Mystère SR was soon replaced by the Mirage IIIR reconnaissance version, by 1974 all aircraft had been retired. Another reason for this early operational end were durability problems with the composite elements on the aircraft’s wings – there had been no long-term experience with the new material, but the elements tended to become brittle and collapse under stress or upon bird strikes. AMD conceived a plan to replace the affected panels with light metal sheets, but this update, which would have prolonged service life for 10 more years, was not carried out. After spending 5 years in mothballed storage, all surviving Mystère SR airframes were scrapped between 1980 and 1981.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 42 ft 3 in (12.88 m) overall

42 ft 3 in (12.88 m) w/o pitots

Wingspan: 32 ft 4 in (9.86 m)

Height: 3.75 m (12 ft 4 in)

Wing area: 345.5 sq ft (32.2 m²)

Empty weight: 13,435 lb (6,094 kg)

Gross weight: 21,673 lb (9,831 kg)

Fuel capacity: 3,540 l (778 imp gal; 934 US gal) internally

plus 2x 625 l (72 imp gal; 165 US gal) drop tanks

Powerplant:

1× Atar 101F turbojet, rated at 29.42 kN (6,610 lbf) dry thrust

and with 37.3 kN (8,400 lbf) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,110 km/h (600 kn, 690 mph) at sea level

1,180 km/h (637 kn 732 mph,) at 11,000 m (36,089 ft)

Combat range: 915 km (494  nmi, 570 mi) with internal fuel only

Maximum range: 1,175 km (730 mi, 634 nmi)

Service ceiling: 45,800 ft (14,000 m)

Rate of climb: 14,660 ft/min (74.5 m/s)

Time to altitude: 40,000 ft (12,000 m) in 4 minutes 41 seconds

Armament:

2x 30mm (1.18 in) DEFA 552 cannon with 150 rounds per gun (later frequently deleted)

Four underwing hardpoints for 1.500 kg (3.300 lb) of ordnance,

including a pair of 625 liter drop tanks, flares and various unguided missiles and iron bombs

The kit and its assembly:

A project I had on my idea list for a long time – there were so many AMD jet fighter designs (both that entered service but also many paper projects and prototypes) during the Fifties and Sixties that I wondered if I could smuggle a what-if type somewhere into the lineage. A potential basis appeared when I recognized that the British Supermarine Swift had a fuselage shape quite similar to the contemporary French fighters, and from this impression the idea was born to “Frenchize” a Swift.

This called for a kitbash, and I used a Matchbox Mystère IV (Revell re-boxing) for the French donor elements that would be grafted onto an Xtrakit FR.5 model, which looks good in the box but has serious fit issues, e.g. between the rear fuselage halves or when the wings have to be mated with the completed fuselage.

The transplantations from the rather primitive/blunt Matchbox Mystère included the whole cockpit section except for the interior, which was taken from the in this respect much better Swift, the glazing, the spine and the whole tail with fin and stabilizers. The Swift provided most of the fuselage, the wings and the landing gear, even though I used the Mystère’s main wheels because of their characteristic hub caps/brake arrangement.

Mating the fuselage sections from the two models became a major stunt, though, because the diameters and shapes were rather different. Three-dimensional gaps and steps behihd the cockpit had to be bridged, initially with 2C putty for the rough overall shape and then with NC putty for a smooth finish. A gap in the spine in front of the fin had to be improvised/filled, too, and the Mystère’s fin had to be tailored to the different Swift rear fuselage shape, too.

The result looks a little odd, though, the Swift’s original air intake ducts now look from certain angles like hamster cheeks – but after all, the ducts have to pass the central cockpit section on both sides somehow, so that the arrangement makes nonetheless sense. And the small dorsal spine taken over from the Mystère changes the Swift’s profile considerably, as well as the shorter Dassault-style canopy.

The small ranging radar radome is just a piece of sprue from the Mystère kit, blended into the rest of the fuselage with putty. The interior of the air intake was heavily modified – the original splitter, positioned directly inside of the intake, was deleted and the walls trimmed down for a much thinner/sharper lip. Inside of the intake a bulkhead was added as a sight blocker, and a new splitter was mounted to the new bulkhead in a much deeper position. The gun camera fairing is a piece of styrene profile, the new twin pitots (reminiscent of the SM2B’s arrangement) were made from heated sprue material.

The camera fairing is the lower half from a P-47 drop tank, left over from a Hobby Boss kit, IIRC, and in order to fit the Swift’s cockpit tub into the Mystère’s fuselage the rear bulkhead had to be re-created with the help of paper tissue drenched with white glue.

The drop tanks come from a KP MiG-19, which had the benefit of integral, thin pylons at a suitable position for the Mystère SR. For a different look I just canted their fins downwards.

Painting and markings:

For a subtle impression I settled for an authentic livery: the French rendition of the USAF SEA scheme for the F-100 with local CELOMER tones, which was not only applied to the Armée de l’Air’s F-100s (these were originally delivered in NMF and camouflaged later in the Sixties), but also to the Super Mystères - the SM2Bs actually carried a quite faithful adaptation of the USAF’s F-100 pattern! However, the indigenous CELOMER paints differed from the original U.S. Federal Standard tones (FS 30219, 34102, 34079 and 36622, respectively), esp. the reddish light tan was more of an earth tone, and the dark green had a more bluish hue.

This offered some freedom – even more so because real life pictures of French reference aircraft show a wide range of shades of these basic tones and frequent serious weathering. Instead of the U.S. tan I went for RAF Dark Earth (Humbrol 29), the dark Forest Green was replaced with Humbrol 75 (Bronze Green). The light green became a 2:1 mix of Humbrol 117 (the original FS 34102) with Humbrol 78 (RAF Cockpit Green), for more contrast and less yellow in the tone. The undersides were painted with Humbrol 166 (RAF Light Aircraft Grey).

After a black ink wash I gave the model a thorough panel post-shading and recreated some lost panel lines with the help of silver paint, too. I also added some paint patches and touch-ups, for a rather worn look of the aircraft.

The black areas around the gun muzzles were created with the help of decal material, generic black decal sheet material was also used to create the camera windows. Grey (Revell 75) dielectric panels were added to the fin tip and behind the cockpit. The cockpit interior became very dark grey (Revell 09, Anthracite, with some dry-painted medium grey on top), while the landing gear and the respective wells were left in aluminum (Humbrol 56).

The decals are a mix from various sources. The ER 2/33 markings came from a Heller Mirage III sheet, which offers an optional IIIR from 1984. I also settled for relatively small roundels (from a Mirage F.1C) – a trend which started in the Armée de l’Air in the early Seventies and also comprised the deletion of the fin flash. Contemporary real world SM2Bs with the French SEA cammo frequently carried a similar type of subdued markings instead of earlier, bigger roundels found on the machines in NMF finish or on the aircraft from EC 1/12 "Cambresis" with their unique and different camouflage in two shades of green and a rather sandy tan, almost like a desert paint scheme. The white tactical code “33-PS” was improvised with single 4mm letters from TL Modellbau. The stencils were puzzled together from various Mirage III/V/F.1C sheets and also from an IAI Kfir.

The kit received some additional dry-painting with silver to simulate more wear, and was finally sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish.

Another “missing link” build, but I think that my Mystère S fits stylistically well into the (non-existent, though) gap between the Mystère IV and the Super Mystère, sporting vintage details like the round air intake but coupled with highly swept wings and the Swift’s elegant lines. The “traditional” French paint scheme adds to the realism - and, when put in the right background/landscape context, turns out to be very effective. Not a spectacular model, despite serious body work around the cockpit, but a convincing result.

Alexis Polux Conversion

Unusual conversion of the SP250 Dart, featuring a sliding hardtop which drops into recesses either side of the boot - spotted at the NEC Classic Show November 2012.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

Due to increasing tensions in Europe which led to World War 2, AVRO Aircraft started developing combat aircraft, and as a subsidiary of Hawker, they had access to the Hurricane plans. At the time that the Hurricane was developed, RAF Fighter Command consisted of just 13 squadrons, each equipped with either the Hawker Fury, Hawker Demon, or the Bristol Bulldog – all of them biplanes with fixed-pitch wooden propellers and non-retractable undercarriages. After the Hurricane's first flight, Avro started working on a more refined and lighter aircraft, resulting in a similar if not higher top speed and improved maneuverability.

Several machines were retained as trainers, messenger aircraft or instructional airframes. 20 late production Mk. IIs were sold to the Irish Air Corps, and a further 50 aircraft were sent to Canada as advanced fighter trainers, where they served until the end of the hostilities in 1945.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 8.57 m (28 ft 1 in)

Wingspan: 10.85 m (35 ft 7 in)

Height: 2.60 m (8 ft 6 in)

Wing area: 17.00 m² (183 ft²)

Empty weight: 1,690 kg (3,726 lb)

Gross weight: 2,200 kg (4,850 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin III liquid-cooled V-12, rated at 1,310 hp (977 kW) at 9,000 ft (2,700 m)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 371 mph (597 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m)

Range: 320 miles (515 km)

Service ceiling: 36,000 ft (10,970 m)

Rate of climb: 2,780 ft/min (14.1 m/s)

Wing loading: 29.8 lb/ft² (121.9 kg/m²)

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

Armament:

8× 0.303” (7,7mm) Browning machine guns with 350 RPG in the outer wings

The kit and its assembly:

Another entry to the Battle of Britain Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, and this time a collaboration. This fictional machine – or better: the model – is based on a 2D profile conceived by fellow forum member nighthunter: an Avia B.135, outfitted with a Merlin engine, a ventral radiator in the style of a Hawker Hurricane, and carrying RAF markings.

Since I had a spare B.35 sans engine left over from the recent Fokker D.XXIII conversion, I used the opportunity to take the virtual design to the hardware stage!

The basis is a vintage KP Models kit of the early B.35 fighter with a fixed landing gear. It’s a sleek and pretty aircraft, but the kit’s quality is rather so-so. Details are good, you get a mix of engraved and raised surface details, but fit is mediocre and there is lots of flash. But, with some effort, things can be mended.

Many donation parts for the Swallow, including the engine, propeller, landing gear and radiator, come from an AZ Models Spitfire Mk. I/II/V, from a recently bought Joy Pack which comes with three of these kits without decals.

New landing gear wells had to be drilled into the massive lower wing halves. Since the original Swallow profile did not indicate the landing gear design, I went for an inward-retracting solution, using parts from an early Spitfire. Due to the oil cooler in one of the wing roots, though, the stance ended up a little wide… The Merlin fitted very well onto the B.35 fuselage, and, inside of the cockpit, I added a tank behind the seat in order to fill the OOB void there.

Another internal change I made is the installation of my trademark propeller adapter: a styrene tube inside of the fuselage that holds a long metal axis with the propeller, so that it can spin freely.

Painting and markings:

Very conservative, but IMHO a good match for this fictional fighter: Standard RAF colors in Dark Green/Dark Earth (both enamels from the Modelmaster Authentic line), nothing fancy, and I had the profile as benchmark for what I wanted to achieve. Since the plane is placed historically in August 1940, Sky was about to be introduced, but only gradually and sometimes with “different” tones. Therefore, I painted the underside with Humbrol 23, Duck Egg Blue, and also added roundels under the wings.

The code letters should have been Medium Sea Grey, but the profile showed white letters – so I stuck with that, and AFAIK there had been exceptions to the rule. The code letters came from an Xtradecal RAF white letter sheet. Roundels and fin flash come from various sources, including a Matchbox Brewster Buffalo and a Trumpeter P-40C. The serial number was improvised, too.

As personal markings I painted a green shamrock under the cockpit on port side, while a list of air combat scores came under the starboard cockpit side (in style with the original profile). A green ring on the spinner was added, too, inspired by the real world No. 1 Squadron’s JX-B, flown by Arthur Clowes. His machine carried a bee nose art and a yellow spinner ring: for every victory, the bee would receive a new stripe, and he achieved eight during his career.

Some light weathering and panel shading was done, as well as some light soot stains around the exhausts and the gun ports on the wings. Finally, everything sealed under a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Revell), which unfortunately turned white in some seams! :-/

The Avro Swallow looked already promising in nighthunter's profile, almost like a missing link between the sturdy Hurricane and the more glorious Spitfire.

A quick build, but a conversion that has to be kept in mind, because the result looks so convincing! Seeing the completed aircraft, I am amazed how good this thing looks overall, with its elegant, oval wings and the sleek fuselage lines. Nice one! :D

Thank you to Leo Laporte and Chris Marquardt for very honorable mention in your July 2013, Tech Guy Labs,1000th episode assignment "Heat"! First photo and entry in any of your contests - very fun!

notes: no fuel starter or assist, minimal photo processing - wonderful setting (people, sunset, view, etc)!

www.flickr.com/groups/techguy/discuss/72157634835363966/

Camera:SONY DSC-HX9V, auto, ISO: 100, 1/500 sec, Aperture: 4.0, Focal Length: 7.4mm - processing: removed some shadows and gave the sky some vibrance.

Rotunda, Birmingham, UK.

2D to 3D Conversions by Dan Jacobs.

www.flickr.com/photos/danjacob/sets/

Ltd. Etd. Deore Lx ( 1993 ) Reynolds K2

ERS Medical emergency ambulance OH Vehicle Conversions the Emergency Service Show 2015

Thanks for viewing my photos on Flickr. I can also be found on Twitter and You Tube new videos uploaded Wednesday and Sunday please subscribe to see the latest videos

To my shock, I've been able to transfer all of my 650b components over to the Katakura Silk with NO MODIFICATIONS WHATSOEVER. Comparing measurements to my "made for 650b" bike frame, everything is exactly - and I mean EXACTLY - the same spacing. For the moment, I am as far along as I can be: fenders and rack can't be permanently installed until my brake calipers arrive sometime next week. I've run out of red housing; that, too, will arrive next week. Meanwhile, the wheels spin with more than adequate clearance for the 650b x 38 tires - ironic, because 25's were about the best I could do with 700c. Front and rear derailleurs are fine tuned and shifting perfectly on the stand. If I decide to keep the Brooks Pro rather than use a black Brooks Cambium C17 that I have, I'll need to add a pair of the VO bag loops for a saddle bag. Had I decided upon center-pulls rather than the dual pivots I chose, I would have installed a French mini-front rack for a small, lightweight, traditional front bag. Still not sure why I didn't go that route to be honest.

Kiln Theatre, Kilburn. Opened as the Tricycle in 1980, a conversion by Tim Foster of the 1929 Foresters Hall. It was rebuilt after a fire in 1987-9 and then, to the design of Chapman Architects was rebuilt again 2018. It now has a new auditorium and open stage - the 292 seats are on two permanent levels, (formerly the balcony was essentially a scaffolded platform). There is also a 300 seat cinema (opened 1998), restaurant, bar and coffee bar in the complex which was renamed Kiln on reopening in 2018.

London Borough of Brent, London, England - Kiln Theatre, Kilburn High Road

June 2019

Exxon Chemical beyond the fog over the Mississippi River

Baton Rouge, La.

Sunrise

+++ 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 FVM JF-22 ("JF" for Jaktflygplan = fighter aircraft) was a Swedish biplane fighter. It had been designed as a private venture by Gösta von Porat and Henry Kjellson at Flygcompaniets Verkstäder at Malmen (FVM) as a potential replacement for to the Swedish Air Force’s contemporary main fighter aircraft, the J1. This was the Austro-Hungarian Phönix D.III, a design dating back to WWI. A total of 10 J1s were operated since 1920, but the type was already outdated upon arrival, and the fleet’s small size was not sufficient, either.

Instead of the FVM JF-22, the Swedish Air Force adopted the J2 and J3 for service, even though these were rather observation aircraft than pure fighters. Eventually, the indigenous J5/6 was chosen as Sweden’s new single seat fighter in 1930 – and by that time the technical development had advanced so far that the JF-22 had become obsolete.

General characteristics:

Crew: One

Length: 6.87 m (22 ft 6 in)

Wingspan: 8.90 m (29 ft 2 in)

Height: 2.74 m (9 ft 0 in)

Wing area: 21 m² (240 sq ft)

Empty weight: 765 kg (1,687 lb)

Gross weight: 1,075 kg (2,370 lb)

Fuel capacity: 140 kg (310 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Hispano-Suiza 8Fb V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 224 kW (300 hp) at 1,850rpm,

driving a 2-bladed wooden propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 250 km/h (160 mph, 130 kn)

Stall speed: 90 km/h (56 mph, 49 kn)

Range: 600–650 km (370–400 mi, 320–350 nmi)

Time to altitude: 7,000 m (23,000 ft) in 35 min

Armament:

2× m/22 fixed 8 mm (0.315 in) machine guns (license built .30 AN/M2's) with 500 rounds each,

fitted with synchronization gear and firing through the propeller.

The kit and its assembly:

This relatively simple whif was actually inspired by a decal set for a Swedish J1 biplane. In order to have a “canvas” to put this scheme onto, a suitable aircraft had to be found – and it became the vintage (and dirty cheap) KP kit of the Avia H-21.

The kit turned out to be much better than expected. It has some flash, but the surface and interior details are nice, the kit comes with anything you’d ask for. It’s really good except for a mediocre fit, but that’s acceptable for the molds’ age and, thanks to the simple shapes, PSR is an easy task.

Even though the model depicts a fictional Swedish fighter, the kit was built almost OOB and stays close to the Avia H-21, which is IMHO quite elegant. I just reduced the lower wings’ span (which are on the H-21 wider than the upper wing!) for a slightly more conventional look. The propeller was replaced with a better one from the scrap box (IIRC from a Revell SPAD XIII), together with a metal axis and a respective styrene tube adapter. A small fin was added in front of the free-standing rudder (from a Revell Sopwith Triplane), and I added a set of spats that I had found in the spares bin, too. Rigging was done post-painting with heated/stretched black sprue material.

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme is based on a Swedish J1 around 1925, with a pretty three-tone camouflage consisting of two green tones and a sand brown. According to the cource, the undersides were light blue, but I have doubts because unpainted linen ("Duk") was more common on the J1s.

With this basis I did some legwork in trustworthy literature and found the following guesstimates for the respective colors: Ljusbrun: Humbrol 234 (Dark Skin Tone, for a pale reddish earth tone), Mellangrön: Revell 363 (Fern Green) and Mörkgron (I used Modelmaster’s RAF Dark Green, similar to USAF Forest Green FS 34079). Instead of the contemporary standard lacquered fabric underneath I painted the undersides in Humbrol 23 (RAF Duck Egg Green).

The engine cover was painted with Humbrol 56, the cockpit interior in Tamiya 57 (Light Buff), simulating unpainted but lacquered fabric. The wing struts as well as the propeller blades were painted in a streaky wet-in-wet mix of Humbrol 62 and 71, simulating wood grain on lacquered wood. The rudder flash was painted with Humbrol 99 and 104.

The model was lightly weathered with a thin black ink washing and some dry-brushing, emphasizing the fabric structures and the model's fine raised surface details. Graphite was used for some exhaust stains.

Markings/decals were minimal: The 1927-style roundels came from a Swedish pre-WWII D.H. Tiger Moth trainer (AZ Models aftermarket sheet), the tactical code was created with single digits in a proper Swedish 1927 font (Flying Colors Aerodecals). Everything was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and the rigging was done as the final step.

A small and quick project, building was done in just two days plus final rigging on day three. While not spectacular, the modified Avia H-21 in Swedish markings looks quite convincing, even more so because it depicts a prototype that never made it into service. And it’s colorful, too! ^^

"La conversión espiritual de San Ignacio de Loyola", atribuído a Miguel Cabrera. Óleo sobre tela, siglo XVIII. Colección del Museo Nacional de Arte de México.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

In the period immediately after the Second World War the world found itself with hundreds of thousands of surplus aircraft and just as many surplus aviators. Most aircraft would meet the salvage blade and the smelter’s fiery furnace. Most pilots would return to civilian life, the bulk of them never to fly again.

Anyway, prices were steep and from the United States more modern and economical offerings ruled the market. Maintaining a former military jet was also a costly business, so, consequently, after a slight buzz (more of a hum, actually) in the early Seventies, the Mystery Jet and Jet Craft of Las Vegas, also fuelled by some dubious business practices by the company's owner, disappeared. Even further developments of the original concept, e .g. with a wide body for up to 14 passengers and two engines, would not save the Mystery Jet from failure.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 pilot plus 5-7 passengers

Length (Mystery Jet 160): 38 ft 5 in (11.73 m)

Wingspan incl. tip tanks: 39 ft 7 1/2 in (12.09 m)

Height: 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m)

Wing area: 262 ft² (24.34 m²)

Empty weight: 7,283 lb (3,304 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 12,390 lb (5,620 kg)

Powerplant:

1× de Havilland Goblin 3 centrifugal turbojet, rated at 3,350 lbf (14.90 kN)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 516 mph (832 km/h)

Cruising speed: 400 mph (644 km/h)

Range: 1,220 mi (1,960 km)

Service ceiling: 37,700 ft (11,500 m)

Armament:

None

The kit and its assembly:

The first finished work in 2017 is a different kind of whif, one of the few civilian models in my collection. This conversion looks sick, but ,as weird as it may seem, the Business-Jet-From-Vintage-Vampires idea was real. For more information, and the source from where some of the backgound story was gathered, please check:

www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/article...

Anyway, my build is just a personal interpretation of the original concept, not a true model of the Mystery Jet. In fact, this was limited through the donor parts for this kitbash.

The rear end was the smaller problem: Airfix offers a very good Vampire T.11 trainer with excellent detail and fit - the passenger cabin was the bigger challenge. Finding "something" that would fit in shape and especialsl size was not easy - my first choice was a nose section from a vintage 1:100 Antonow An-24 from VEB Plasticart (still much too wide, though), and the best solution came as an accidental find in a local model kit shop where I found a heavily discounted MPM Focke Wulf Fw 189 B-0 trainer.

The reason: the kit was complete, but the bag holding the sprues must have been heated immensely during the packaging process: the main sprues were horrible warped - except for some single parts including the canopies and the sprue with the cabin! Height wind width were perfect, only the boxy shape caused some headaches. But I guess I would not find anything better...

That said, the transplantation mess started. I never built any of the two donor kits before, so I carefully tried to find the best place where to cut the Vampire's nose - I ended up with a staggered solution right in front of the wing root air intakes.

The Fw 189's cabin was bit more tricky, because I had to get rid of the original wing roots and wanted to use as much space as possible, up to the rear bulkhead and together with the rear cabin window. The idea was to blend the Fw 189's roof line into the Vampire's engine section, while keeping the original air intake ducts, so that the overall arrangement would look plausible.

The result became a pretty long nose section - and at that time the tail booms were not fited yet, so I was not certain concerning overall proportions. The cabin's underside had to be improvised, and blending the boxy front end with a flat underside into the tubby, round Vampire fuselage caused some headaches. I also had to re-create the lower flank section with styrene sheet, because I had originally hoped that I could "push" the new cabin between the wing roots - but that space was occupied by the Goblin's inlet ducts.

Inside of the cabin, the original floor, bulkheads and dashboard were used, plus five bucket seats that come with the MPM kit. In order to hide the body work from the inside, side panels from 0.5mm styrene sheet were added in the cabin - with the benefit of additional stability, but also costing some space... Since the machine was built with closed cabin, a pilot was added - actually a bash of a WWII Matchbox pilot and a German officer from an ESCI tank kit. Looks pretty good and "professional". ;-)

Once the cabin was in place, lots of PSR followed and the tail booms could be fitted. To my relief, the longer nose did not look too unbalanced (and actually, design sketches for the original Mystery Jet suggest just this layout!) - but I decided to add wing tip tanks which would beef up wingspan and shift the visual mass slightly forward. They come from an 1:100 Tamiya Il-28, or better the "R" recce variant.

The only other big change concerned the nose wheel. While the OOB wheel and strut were used, the well is now located in front of the wheel and it would retract forwards, giving the nose a more balanced look - and the cabin arrangement made this change more plausible, too.

Another addition were three small porthole windows in the solid parts of the cabin flanks - one of them ending up in the middle of the cabin door on starboard, where a solid part of the canopy roof lent itself for a good place just behind the pilots' seats.

Painting and markings:

I cannot help it, but the thing looks like a design from a vintage Tintin or Yoko Tsuno comic! This was not planned or expected - and actually the paint scheme evolved step by step. I had no plan or clue what to apply - the real Mystery Jet mock-up in silver with blue trim looked sharp, but somehow I did not want blue. So I started with the interior (out of a necessity, as the fuselage had to be closed before any further work progress at some point) and settled for plushy, British colors: Cream (walls and roof) and Claret-Red (carpet and seats).

I tried to find something for the outside that would complement this choice of colors, and eventually settled on Ivory and White (upper and lower fuselage halves, respectively) with some deep red trim, plus pale grey wing surfaces. I even considered some thin golden trim lines, but I think this would have been too much?

The trim was created with decals tripes from generic sheet material, the black anti-glare panel was painted, though. As a color contrast I painted some of the upper canopy panels in translucent, light blue, and this looks very good.

The wings received a lightb treatment with thinned black ink, in order to emphasize the engravings. No post-shading was done, though, for a rather clean look.

Most markings were puzzled together; the registration G-AZRE actually belonged to a Vickers Vanguard (from the 1:144 Airfix kit), the large letters above and under the wings were created with single 45° letters (USAF style). Most stencils come from a Vampire trainer aftermarket sheet from Xtradecal, from the OOB sheet only the "No step" warnings on the wings were used.

Finally, the kit was sealed with a semi-matt coat of varnish, except for the anti-glare panel, which recived a matt coat. The three small windows received artificial panes made from Clearfix, after their rims had been painted black.

A messy project, and you better do not take a close look. But the overall elegance of this creation surprises me - the real Mystery Jet already looked sleek, and this model, despite a more blunt nose, confirms this impression. The colors work together well, too - and the thing has a dedicated retro feel about it. Tintin might be on board, as well as Elton John, both sharing a cigar on the rear seats... ;)

My first Polaroid conversion, just some practice on a 110A. I wrote about it at michaeljoachim.blogspot.com

B/W conversion using Silver Efex Pro

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The VF-1 was developed by Stonewell/Bellcom/Shinnakasu for the U.N. Spacy by using alien Overtechnology obtained from the SDF-1 Macross alien spaceship. Its production was preceded by an aerodynamic proving version of its airframe, the VF-X. Unlike all later VF vehicles, the VF-X was strictly a jet aircraft, built to demonstrate that a jet fighter with the features necessary to convert to Battroid mode was aerodynamically feasible. After the VF-X's testing was finished, an advanced concept atmospheric-only prototype, the VF-0 Phoenix, was flight-tested from 2005 to 2007 and briefly served as an active-duty fighter from 2007 to the VF-1's rollout in late 2008, while the bugs were being worked out of the full-up VF-1 prototype (VF-X-1).

However, the fighter remained active in many second line units and continued to show its worthiness years later, e. g. through Milia Jenius who would use her old VF-1 fighter in defense of the colonization fleet - 35 years after the type's service introduction!

General characteristics:

All-environment variable fighter and tactical combat Battroid,

used by U.N. Spacy, U.N. Navy, U.N. Space Air Force

Accommodation:

Pilot only in Marty & Beck Mk-7 zero/zero ejection seat

Dimensions:

Fighter Mode:

Length 14.23 meters

Wingspan 14.78 meters (at 20° minimum sweep)

Height 3.84 meters

Battroid Mode:

Height 12.68 meters

Width 7.3 meters

Length 4.0 meters

Empty weight: 13.25 metric tons;

Standard T-O mass: 18.5 metric tons;

MTOW: 37.0 metric tons

Power Plant:

2x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry/P&W/Roice FF-2001 thermonuclear reaction turbine engines, output 650 MW each, rated at 11,500 kg in standard or in overboost (225.63 kN x 2)

4 x Shinnakasu Heavy Industry NBS-1 high-thrust vernier thrusters (1 x counter reverse vernier thruster nozzle mounted on the side of each leg nacelle/air intake, 1 x wing thruster roll control system on each wingtip);

18 x P&W LHP04 low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hook/handles

The S-FAST Pack added 4x P&W+EF-2001 booster thrusters with 120.000 kg each, plus a total of 28x P&W LHP04 low-thrust vernier thrusters

Performance:

Battroid Mode: maximum walking speed 160 km/h

Fighter Mode: at 10,000 m Mach 2.71; at 30,000+ m Mach 3.87

g limit: in space +7

Thrust-to-weight ratio: empty 3.47; standard T-O 2.49; maximum T-O 1.24

Design Features:

3-mode variable transformation; variable geometry wing; vertical take-off and landing; control-configurable vehicle; single-axis thrust vectoring; three "magic hand" manipulators for maintenance use; retractable canopy shield for Battroid mode and atmospheric reentry; option of GBP-1S system, atmospheric-escape booster, or FAST Pack system

Transformation:

Standard time from Fighter to Battroid (automated): under 5 sec.

Min. time from Fighter to Battroid (manual): 0.9 sec.

Armament:

2x internal Mauler RÖV-20 anti-aircraft laser cannon, firing 6,000 pulses per minute

1x Howard GU-11 55 mm three-barrel Gatling gun pod with 200 RPG, fired at 1,200 rds/min

4x underwing hard points for a wide variety of ordnance, including

12x AMM-1 hybrid guided multipurpose missiles (3/point), or

12x MK-82 LDGB conventional bombs (3/point), or

6x RMS-1 large anti-ship reaction missiles (2/outboard point, 1/inboard point), or

4x UUM-7 micro-missile pods (1/point) each carrying 15 x Bifors HMM-01 micro-missiles,

or a combination of above load-outs

The optional Shinnakasu Heavy Industry S-FAST Pack 2.1 augmentative space weapon system added:

6x micro-missiles in two NP-AR-01 micro-missile launcher pods (mounted rear-ward under center ventral section in Fighter mode or on lower arm sections in GERWALK/Battroid mode)

4x12 micro missiles in four HMMP-02 micro-missile launchers, one inside each booster pod

The kit and its assembly:

This VF-1 is another contribution to the “Old Kit” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, running in late 2016. I am not certain about the moulds’ inception date, but since it is an ARII incarnation of this type of kit and even moulded in the early pastel green styrene, I’d think that it was produced in 1982 or 83.

Anyway, I love the Macross VF-1, IMHO a design masterpiece created by Shoji Kawamori and one of my favorite mecha designs ever, because it was created as a late 70ies style jet fighter that could transform into a robot in a secondary role. As a simple, purposeful military vehicle. And not like a flashy robot toy.

Effectively, this Super Valkyrie is a highly modified OOB kit with many donation parts, and this kit is a bit special, for several reasons. There are several 1:100 OOB kits with FAST Packs from ARII/Bandai available (and still around today), but these are normally only Battroids or Gerwalks with additional parts for the FAST kit conversion. The kit I used here is different: it is, after maybe 25 years of searching and building these kits, the #70 from the original production run. It is (so far!) the only Fighter mode kit with the additional FAST Pack parts! Must be rare, and I have never seen it in catalogues?

Until today, I converted my Super or Strike Valkyries from Gerwalk kits, a task that needs some improvisation esp. around the folded arms between the legs, and there’s no OOB option for an extended landing gear. The latter made this Fighter mode kit very attractive, even though the actual kit is pretty disappointing, and AFAIK this kit variant is only available as a VF-1S.

With the Super Valkyrie fighter kit you receive basically a Gerwalk with a standard fighter cockpit (which includes a front wheel well and an extended front wheel leg), plus extra parts. The leg/engine-mounted NP-FB-01 systems are less bulbous than the parts on the Gerwalk or Battroid kit, and the OOB dorsally mounted NP-BP-01 boosters are TINY, maybe 1:120 or even 1:144! WTF?

Further confusion: the kit includes a set of lower arm parts with integrated rocket launchers, but these are not necessary at all for the Fighter build?! As a kind of compensation there’s a new and exclusive element that simulates the folded arms under the ‘fuselage’ and which, as an added value, properly holds the hand gun under the fuselage. As a quirky flaw, though, the hand gun itself comes in the extended form for the Battroid/Gerwalk mode. For the fighter in flight mode, it has to be modified, but that’s easily done.

Anyway, with the potential option to build a Super Valkyrie with an extended landing gear, this was my route to go with this vintage kit. The Super Valkyrie already looks bulky with the FAST Pack added, but then I recently found the S-FAST Pack option with two more boosters under the wings – total overkill, but unique. And I had a spare pair of booster bulks in the stash (w/o their nozzles, though), as well as a complete pair of additional bigger standard FAST boosters that could replace the ridiculous OOB parts…

Building such a Super/Strike Valkyrie means building separate components, with a marriage of parts as one of the final steps. Consequently, cockpit, central fuselage with the wings and the air intakes, the folded stabilizer pack, the folded arms element with the handgun, the two legs and the four boosters plus other ordnance had to be built and painted separately.

Here and there, details were changed or added, e. g. a different head (a ‘J’ head for the flight leader’s aircraft with two instead of the rare, OOB ‘S’ variant with four laser cannon), covers for the main landing gear (the latter does not come with wells at all, but I did not scratch them since they are hardly recognizable when the kit is sitting on the ground), the typical blade aerials under the cockpit and the feet had to be modified internally to become truly ‘open’ jet exhausts.

The wing-mounted boosters received new nozzles and their front end was re-sculpted with 2C putty into a square shape, according to reference sketches. Not 100% exact, but the rest of the VF-1 isn’t either.

This VF-1 was also supposed to carry external ordnance and my first choice were four wing-mounted RMS-1 Anti-Ship Reaction Warheads, scratched from four 1.000 lb NATO bombs. But, once finished, I was not happy with them. So I looked for another option, and in a source book I found several laser-guided bombs and missiles, also for orbital use, and from this inspiration comes the final ordnance: four rocket-propelled kinetic impact projectiles. These are actually 1:72 JASDF LGB’s from a Hasegawa weapon set, sans aerodynamic steering surfaces and with rocket boosters added to the tail. Also not perfect, but their white color and sleek shape is a good counterpart to the FAST elements.

Experience from many former builds of this mecha kit family helped a lot, since the #70 kit is very basic and nothing really fits well. Even though there are not many major seams or large elements, PSR work was considerable. This is not a pleasant build, rather a fight with a lot of compromises and semi-accuracies.

Seriously, if you want a decent 1:100 VF-1, I’d rather recommend the much more modern WAVE kits (including more realistic proportions).

Painting and markings:

The paint scheme for this Super Valkyrie was settled upon before I considered the S-FAST Pack addition: U.N. Spacy’s SVF-124 is authentic, as well as its unique camouflage paint scheme.

The latter is a special scheme for the lunar environment where the unit was originally formed and based, with all-black undersides, a high, wavy waterline and a light grey upper surface, plus some medium grey trim and a few colorful US Navy style markings and codes.

My core reference is a ‘naked’ bread-and-butter VF-1A of SVF-124 in Fighter mode, depicted as a profile in a VF-1 source book from SoftBank Publishing. The colors for the FAST Pack elements are guesstimates and personal interpretations, though, since I could not find any reference for their look in this unit.

As a side note, another, later SVF-124 aircraft in a similar design is included as an option in a limited edition 1:72 VF-22S kit from Hasegawa, which is backed by CG pics in a VF-22 source book from Softbank, too.

Furthermore, SVF-124 finds mention in a Japanese modeler magazine, where the aforementioned VF-22S kit was presented in 2008. So there must be something behind the ‘Moon Shooters’ squadron.

According to the Hasegawa VF-22S’s painting instructions, the underside becomes black and the upper surfaces are to be painted with FS36270 (with some darker fields on the VF-22, though, similar to the USAF F-15 counter-shaded air superiority scheme, just a tad darker).

Due to the 1:100 scale tininess of my VF-1, I alternatively went for Revell 75 (RAL 7039), which is lighter and also has a brownish hue, so that the resulting aircraft would not look too cold and murky, and not resemble an USAF aircraft.

All FAST Pack elements were painted in a uniform dark grey (Humbrol 32), while some subtle decorative trim on the upper surfaces, e.g. the canopy frame, an anti-glare panel and a stripe behind the cockpit and decoration trim on the wings’ upper surfaces, was added with Revell 77 (RAL 7012). Overall, colors are rather dull, but IMHO very effective in the “landscape” this machine is supposed to operate, and the few colorful markings stand out even more!

The cockpit interior was painted in a bluish grey, with reddish brown seat cushions (late 70ies style!), and the landing gear became all white. For some added detail I painted the wings’ leading edges in a mustard tone (Humbrol 225, Mid Stone).

The kit received some weathering (black ink wash, drybrushing on panels) and extra treatment of the panel lines – even though the FAST Pack elements hide a lot of surface or obscure view.

More color and individuality came with the markings. The standard decals like stencils or the U.N. Spacy insignia come from the kit’s and some other VF-1s’ OOB sheets.

Based on the SVF-124 VF-1 profile and taking the basic design a bit further, I used dull red USAF 45° digits for the 2nd flight leader’s “200” modex and the Apollo Base’s code “MA” on the dorsal boosters. Some discreet red trim was also applied to the FAST Packs – but only a little.

Since all of SVF-124’s aircraft are rumored to carry personal markings, including nose art and similar decorations, I tried to give this VF-1JS a personal note: the pin-up badges on the dorsal boosters come from a Peddinghouse decal sheet for Allied WWII tanks, placed on a silver roundel base. Unfortunately (and not visible before I applied them) the pin-up decal was not printed on a white basis, so that the contrast on the silver is not very strong, but I left it that way. Additionally, the tagline “You’re a$$ next, Jerry” (which IS printed in opaque white…?) was added next to the artwork – but it’s so tiny that you have to get really close to decipher it at all…

Finally, after some soot stains around the exhausts and some vernier nozzels with graphite, the kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish.

Building this vintage VF-1 kit took a while and a lot of effort, but I like the result: with the S-FAST Pack, the elegant VF-1 turned into a massive space fighter hulk! The normal Super Valkyries already look very compact and purposeful, but this here is truly menacing. Especially when standing on its own feet/landing gear, with its nose-down stance and the small, original wheels, this thing reminds of a Space Shuttle that had just landed.

Good that I recently built a simple VF-1 fighter as a warm-up session. ARII’s kit #70 is not a pleasant build, rather a fight with the elements and coupled with a lot of compromises – if you want a Super Valkyrie Fighter in 1:100, the much more modern WAVE kit is IMHO the better option (and actually not much more pricey than this vintage collector’s item). But for the vintage feeling, this exotic model kit was just the right ticket, and it turned, despite many weaknesses and rather corny details, into an impressive fighter. Esp. the lunar camouflage scheme looks odd, but very unique and purposeful.

Anyway, with so many inherent flaws of the ARII kit, my former method of converting a pure (and much more common) Gerwalk kit into a space-capable VF-1 fighter is not less challenging and complicated than trying to fix this OOB option into a decent model. :-/

+++ 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:

During the 1950s Douglas Aircraft studied a short- to medium-range airliner to complement their higher capacity, long range DC-8 (DC stands for “Douglas Commercial”). A medium-range four-engine Model 2067 was studied, but it did not receive enough interest from airlines and was subsequently abandoned. The idea was not dead, though, and, in 1960, Douglas signed a two-year contract with Sud Aviation for technical cooperation. Douglas would market and support the Sud Aviation Caravelle and produce a licensed version if airlines ordered large numbers. None were ordered and Douglas returned to its own design studies after the cooperation deal expired.

Another blow against the aircraft came in the early 1970s: legislation for aircraft noise standards was being introduced in many countries. This seriously affected the Dash Two with its relatively loud JT3D engines, too, and several airlines approached Douglas (by then merged with McDonnell into McDonnell Douglas) for noise reduction modifications, but nothing was done. Third parties had developed aftermarket hushkits for the Dash Two, actually adapted from DC-8 upgrades, but beyond this measure there was no real move to keep the relatively small DC-8/2 fleet in service. In consequence, Dash Two production was stopped in 1974, with 77 aircraft having been ordered, but only 66 were ever delivered (most open orders were switched to DC-9s). By 1984 all machines had been retired.

General characteristics:

Crew: 3 (+ 3 flight attendants)

Length: 125 ft (38.16 m)

Wingspan: 105 ft 5 in (32.18 m)

Height: 42 ft 4 in (12.92 m)

Wing area: 1,970 sq ft (183 m2), 30° sweep

Empty weight: 96,562 lb (43,800 kg)

Gross weight: 172,181 lb (78,100 kg)

Fuel capacity: 46,297 lb (21,000 kg) normal; 58,422 lb (26,500 kg) maximum

Cabin width: 138.25 in (351.2 cm)

Two-class seats: 100 (12F@38" + 88Y@34")

Single-class seats: 128@34", maximum of 148 in pure economy setup

Powerplant:

2× Pratt & Whitney JT3D-1 turbofan engines, delivering 17,000 lb (76.1 kN) each

Performance:

Maximum speed: 590 mph (950 km/h; 510 kn)

Cruising speed: 470–530 mph (750–850 km/h; 400–460 kn) at 32,808–39,370 ft (10,000–12,000 m)

Range: 1,320 mi (2,120 km; 1,140 nmi) with 26,455 lb (12,000 kg) payload

and 12,456 lb (5,650 kg) fuel reserve

1,709 mi (2,750 km) with 17,968 lb (8,150 kg) payload

and 12,456 lb (5,650 kg) fuel reserve

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

Rate of climb: 2,000 ft/min (10 m/s)

Take-off run at MTOW: 7,218 ft (2,200 m)

Landing run at normal landing weight: 4,757–6,070 ft (1,450–1,850 m)

The kit and its assembly:

This model was originally intended to be my final contribution to the “More or less engines” group build at whatifmodelers.com in October 2019, but procurement problems and general lack of time towards the GB’s deadline made me postpone the build, so that I could take more time for a proper build and paintjob.

The idea behind it was simple: since the original DC-8 was stretched (considerably) in order to expand its passenger capacity from 177 to 289(!) passengers, why not go the other way around and reduce its dimensions for a short/medium range airliner with just two engines, as a kind of alternative to the Boeing 737?

The basis is the Minicraft 1:144 DC-8 kit, in this case the late release which comes only in a bag without a box or any decals and which depicts a late -60/70 series aircraft with the maximum fuselage length. Inside of the fuselage halves, markings show where these parts should be cut in order to take the plugs out for shorter, earlier variants. However, my plan would be more radical!

Shortening the fuselage sound simple, but several indirect aspects have to be taken into account. For instance, wingspan has to be reduced accordingly and the aircraft’s overall proportions as well as its potential center of gravity have to be plausible, too. Furthermore, landing gear and engines will have to be modified, too.

Several measures were taken in order to find good points where the fuselage could be cut for a maximum length reduction - after all, a LOT of material had to disappear for the twin-engine variant!

First, the fuselage was completed for a solid cutting base. I decided to take out a total of three plugs, with the plan to achieve a length somewhere near a late Boeing 737, even though this turned out to be more complicated and challenging than expected. All in all, the fuselage length was reduced from ~39cm to ~26.5cm. Less than I hoped for, but anything more would have ended in a total reconstruction of the wing root sections.

Two plugs are logical, the third one in the middle, only 1.5cm long, is less obvious. But since the wing span would be reduced, too, the wings' depth at the (new) roots was also reduced, so that the original DC-8 wing roots/fuselage intersections would not match anymore. The wings themselves were, also based on late Boeing 737 and Dassault Mercure measures, were cut at a position slightly inside of the inner engine pylon positions.

Re-construction started with the rear fuselage; I initially worked separately on the cockpit section, because I filled it with as much lead as possible, and it was connected with the rest of the hull when its three segments were already completed.

The Minicraft DC-8 is basically nice and has good fit, but I found a weak spot: the fin's leading edge. Like on Minicarft’s 727's wings, which I recently built, it's virtually flat. It just looks weird if not awful, so I sculpted a more rounded edge with putty. Since the small air intakes under the radome are open, I added an internal visual block in the form of black foamed styrene.

The JT3D nacelles were taken OOB from the Minicraft kit, I used the inner pair because of the shorter pylons. They were attached under the wings in a new position, slightly outside of the original inner engine pair and of the main landing gear. The latter was modified, too: instead of the DC-8’s four-wheel bogies I used a pair of Boeing 727 struts and twin wheels, left over from the recent build. These were attached to 1.5 mm high consoles, so that the stance on the ground became level and mounted into newly cut well openings in the inner wings. The front wheel was taken OOB from the DC-8. I was a little skeptical concerning the main landing gear’s relative position (due to the wing sweep, it might have ended up too far forward), but IMHO the new arrangement looks quite fine, esp. with the engines in place, which visually shift the model’s center of gravity forward. I just had to shorten the engine pylons by maybe 2mm, because the lack of dihedral on the DC-8’s outer wing sections considerably reduce ground clearance for the engines, despite the added consoles to the landing gear. However, all in all the arrangement looks acceptable.

For the model’s in-flight pics, and also for the application of the final varnish coat, I added a ventral, vertical styrene tube in the model’s center of gravity as a display holder/adapter. Due to the massive lead weight in the nose, the adapter’s position ended up in front of the wing roots!

Painting and markings:

I usually do not build civil airliners, so I took the occasion to represent a design icon: the “flying Colors” livery of Braniff International Airlines from the early Seventies. Braniff featured several bright liveries, but my personal favorite is the simple one with uniform fuselages in varying bold colors, mated with simple, white fins, engine nacelles and wing areas.

This choice was also influenced by the fact that 26decals offers a 1:144 sheet for Braniff DC-8s of this era (remember: the bagged Minicraft kit comes without any decal sheet at all). Choosing a color was a long process. Bright red or orange were initial favorites, but the recent 727 already had orange markings, so I rather favored blue, green or even purple. I eventually settled on a light lime green, which has a high shock value and also offers a good contrast to the Braniff markings and the windows. A tone called “Lime Green” was actually an official Braniff tone (check this great overview: web.archive.org/web/20050711080200/http://www.geocities.c..., a great source provided by 26decals in the context oft he decal sheet I used, see below). But my intention was not to authentically replicate it – I rather just wanted a bright color for the model, and I like green.

The basic color I used is simple Humbrol 38 (Lime), which was applied with a brush after the wing areas had been painted in white (Humbrol 22) and aluminum (various shades, including Humbrol 11 and Revell 99). The characteristic black area around the cockpit glazing was created with mix of decals and paint, the silver ventral areas were painted with Humbrol’s Polished Aluminum Metallizer. The fin’s and the stabilizers’ leading edges were created with silver decal sheet material (TL Modellbau), grey and silver bits of similar material were used for some small details on the wings.

As already mentioned, the decals, including all windows, come from a 26decals sheet. Due to the reduced length, the windows’ and doors’ position and numbers had to be improvised. But thanks to the relatively simple livery design without cheatlines or other decorative elements, this was an easy task. Finally, the model received an overall coat of gloss acrylic varnish from the rattle can.

Just like my recent Boeing 727 with four engines, this conversion appears simple at first sight, but the execution caused some headaches. The biggest problem was the reduced depth of the shortened wings and how to mount then to the fuselage – but the attempt to take an additional fuselage plug away was an effective move that also helped to reduce overall length.

I am astonished how modern and plausible this shortened DC-8 looks. While building, the aircraft constantly reminded me of the Tupolev Tu-104 airliner, until the engines were added and it now resembled an Airbus A320!

Beng Mealea, Cambodia. Fujifilm X-E1 + Fujinon 35mm. ƒ/3.6. iso400. No alteration (minus B&W conversion)

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Partially converted to 6 LTs and losing EH75-80 (6 EHs) to route 88 which extended to Parliament Hill Fields this weekend needing an extra 4 buses on it's PVR, and an extra spare and bus since EH23-38 and 305-10 don't cut it. The 87 converted using 88's LTs with two either allocated to or on loan to 176.

This LT belonged to the 68 until it crashed months before it's transfer to Abellio. Returned in service 10 months later in New Cross (NX) by which point the bus wasn't needed by Abellio. It only transferred on the 29th to aid this route's partial conversion.

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