fff indeed.

1:72 IAI F-21D 'Løve' (Kfir C.2 mod), aircraft 'T-971' (s/n 76-3971) of Eskadrille 730,

Flyvevåbnet (Royal Danish Air Force/RDAF); Skrydstrup AB, 1983 (Whif/Italeri kit conversion)

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background

The Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) was formed as a military service independent from the Army and Navy in 1950 from the merger of the Hærens Flyvertropper (Danish Army Air Corps) originally founded on July 2, 1912 and the Marinens Flyvevæsen (Danish Naval Air Service).

Being just a gap-filler, though, the Løve only had an active service career of 12 years in the RDAF. It was gradually taken away from front line service from 1990 on, as more and more brand new F-16 became available. By this time, the F-21D fleet had also already been reduced to 16 aircraft through several flight accidents and engine failures. The last Danish Kfir/Løve was finally retired together with the Danish Saab 35 fleet in 1993. The remaining aircraft were returned to Israel, where they were partly stored and partly revamped to c.7 standard and sold to other foreign customers like Sri Lanka.

General characteristics

Crew: One

Length (incl. pitot): 15.73 m (51 ft 6 1/4 in)

Wingspan: 8.22 m (26 ft 11½ in)

Height: 4.61 m (14 ft 11 3/4 in)

Wing area: 34.8 m² (374.6 sq ft)

Empty weight: 7,285 kg (16,060 lb)

Loaded weight: 11,603 kg (25,580 lb) two 500 L drop tanks, two AAMs

Max. take-off weight: 16,200 kg (35,715 lb)

Powerplant:

1× General Electric J-79-J1E turbojet (IAl Bedek-built) with a dry thrust of 52.9 kN (11,890 lb st) and 79.62 kN (17,900 lb st) with afterburner

Performance

Maximum speed: 2,440 km/h (2 Mach, 1,317 knots, 1,516 mph) above 11,000 m (36,000 ft)

Combat radius: 768 km (415 nmi, 477 mi) in ground attack configuration, hi-lo-hi profile, seven 500 lb bombs, two AAMs, two 1,300 L drop tanks)

Service ceiling: 17,680 m (58,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 233 m/s (45,950 ft/min)

Armament:

2× Rafael-built 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA 553 cannons, 140 rounds/gun under the air intakes

7× external hardpoints under the wings and fuselage for up to 5,775 kg (12,730 lb) of payload, including unguided air-to-ground rockets, AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs; AGM-45 Shrike ARMs, AGM-65 Maverick ASMs, Mark 80 series bombs, Paveway series of LGBs, CBUs, BLU-107 Matra Durandal, reconnaissance pods, drop tanks or other tactical equipment like sensor pods.

The kit and its assembly:

This was a spontaneous idea when I stumbled across a cockpit detail set from Pavla for the Saab Draken. The cockpit itself was not so interesting for me (actually passed it on to a friend who has some Draken kits in store…), but the set included the characteristic, kinked nose of the reconnaissance Draken which was also used for the upgraded, Danish fighter bombers. I wondered onto which aircraft this piece could be grafted on, creating a fantasy fighter in Danish service…

As in many cases, the idea of building an aircraft in the characteristic livery of its user was another major factor behind this whif project: the all-green Danish F-100, with their quickly deteriorating finish. This look is a true modelling challenge, but I did not want to build an F-100.

The F-104 was a candidate, but that was not whiffy enough. In the end, I came up with the venerable Kfir as a conversion basis. Not only does the Kfir fit in size to the Draken’s camera nose, the type’s introduction in the mid-70ies would also fall in a very plausible time frame to create a rather low-budget F-100 replacement for Denmark, before the F-16 came to Europe in the 80ies.

Said and done, I got me an Italeri Kfir C.7 and started. I have built more than a dozen of these kits, so I know its trouble zones well: the cockpit tub is hard to install properly, the fit between wings, fuselage and air intakes is tricky, and you can add some more details on the hull, as well as weapon stations. Expect some putty work – OOB it won’t fall together well.

For the price it is hard to beat, though, the Hasegawa alternative is much more expensive but does IMHO not justify this premium.

As I wanted to create a "modern" fighter bomber (well, for its time and RDAF standards), the WDNS nose was not enough, and the idea of adding external sensor pods, combined with AGM-65s as payload, was born. This would also create a nice color contrast to the otherwise all-green aircraft, and distract a bit from the striking, white landing gear...

The Mavericks with their launch rails come from a Heller F-5E, the sensor pods from an Italeri F-16C/D kit. A new seat was implanted into the cockpit, as well as a Matchbox pilot and a HUD. The jammer/RWR pod on top of the fin was scratched, using updated Danish Drakens as benchmarks.

All around the fuselage some small details were added (air scoops, pitots, blade antennae) that are simply missing in the Italeri kit - but they are really just small things.

Painting and markings:

Well, this one is simple and tricky at the same time. An all-green aircraft sounds primitive, but it can easily look very boring and unnatural. And there’s another twist: it is actually VERY difficult to find a good tone that represents the "SM/67" dark green that was used on Danish aircraft.

FS 34079 is frequently recommended, but IMHO it is "too green", and too light as a basic tone. The real stuff has a (relative) olive drab touch, a bit more yellow-, even brown-ish, it reminds a bit of RAL 6014.

The paint’s quick deterioration, esp. of the early matt finishes, makes it hard to define, too. But there are some museum aircraft pictures which yield a good impression of the tone when you compare pictures from different angles and in different light conditions. In the end, it’s still a guesstimate.

I accidently found a great option for “SM/67” among the new RLM enamels from Humbrol: 253, RLM 83! It fits right between FS 34079 and RAL 6014, and it is also dark enough. The overall impression is very good.

In order to add some visual excitement I weathered the aircraft – not as dramatic as many F-100s look like, but it should become a typical matt green RDAF aircraft, with all of the effects on the exterior. The later, glossy paint finish kept an almost immaculate look, and appeared in a much more olive-drab-like tone, even though it is still SM/67 dark green.

Painting was done with brushes, and I faced some trouble with the new RLM enamel: pigments appear to be pretty large, and they would not mix well with the thinner. As a result, the paint would not dry up as an opaque coat, requiring at least two, better three layers of paint. Not optimal – I more or less solved this challenge through a thin basic layer which worked like a primer, onto which a truly covering, thicker layer was applied. But it just took more paint than necessary to get the Kfir green, I hope the other RLM tones do not suffer from the same flaw…

Weathering was done just with slightly lightened/toned Humbrol 253, applied with a brush. I used mixes of 253 and 116 (with varying shares of the lighter 116, depending on the area of the model and also to avoid a uniform look) as well as 253 and 155. A black ink wash darkened the whole thing considerably, esp. the basic 253 coat which turned out to be very matt, with a coarse and open surface that would almost soak up the black ink pigments.

Some soot stains were added with grinded graphite, which yields a metallic shine and a very smooth, fading of the stains around the guns, nozzle and various air outlets. Some bare aluminum was also applied at leading edges and panel joints.

The landing gear was painted all-white, with gray wheel disks and bright red brake covers. The whole landing gear was heavily washed with black ink, too.

The cockpit was held in medium gray, and the added pilot received a low-viz outfit without bright colors or a “bone dome”.

The RDAF markings come from an Xtradecal F-100 sheet, the warning stencils were taken from the original, vast Kfir decal sheet, plus some more from the scrap box, like the Kfir badges on the fin or the formation stripes. With all the red stencils the aircraft lost much of its green dullness!

The ordnance was painted in light grey, and the sensor pods became white and medium gray, just to add some variety and have a contrast to the all-green rest of the aircraft.

Finally, everything was sealed under a matt acrylic varnish.

In the end, the Danish Kfir looks very natural, the dark livery and the shorter nose suit the sleek type very well! Since this was no big conversion (except for the new nose, which fits well into its new place!), the overall build went smoothly, in about a week from sprues to photos.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Supermarine Type 250 was a fighter design that responded to the British Air Ministry specification F.5/34 for a new single-seat fighter that was primarily intended to intercept incoming bombers. Five companies responded with proposals, Bristol with the Type 146, Martin-Baker with the M.B.2, Vickers with the Type 279 Venom, Gloster F.5/34 and Supermarine with the Type 250.

Supermarine's Type 250 debuted officially at the 1936 Hendon Air Show under its official name "Skylark", and serial production for the Royal Air Force, which had ordered 100 aircraft, started. However, this order was already cancelled in 1937 when it had become obvious that types like the Hawker Hurricane, as well as Supermarine's own new Spitfire, both monoplanes with retractable landing gear and a fully closed cockpit, easily outperformed the "Skylark" in almost any tactical aspect, and had much more development potential. In consequence, production stopped prematurely after only 65 airframes, which were delivered only to RAF 25 and 43 Squadron, where they replaced Hawker Fury biplanes. However, they were soon retired from these front line units, and plans to upgrade the aircraft with fully closed canopies and three-blade metal propellers with variable pitch to a Mk. II standard were never carried out. The RAF “Skylarks” were relegated to the advanced trainer role or used as instructional airframes until 1943. Additionally, a number of the retired RAF “Skylark” Mk. Is were also sold to Ireland (six in 1937) and Iraq (ten in 1938), where they served until the late Forties.

General characteristics:

Crew: one pilot

Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)

Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)

Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m)

Wing area: 242.1 ft2 (22.48 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2213 (root)

NACA 2209.4 (tip)

Empty weight: 4,190 lb (1,900 kg)

Loaded weight: 5,400 lb (2,449 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 5,600 lb (2,542 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Kestrel XV supercharged V12 engine, 685 hp (511 kW) at 2,240 rpm for

take-off and 631 hp (471 kW) at 2,900 rpm at 14,400 ft (4,400 m)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 244 knots (280 mph, 451 km/h) at 16,000 ft (4,875 m)

Rate of climb: 2,300 ft/min[121] (11.7 m/s)

Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 4.75 min

Service ceiling: 32,500 ft (9,910 m)

Wing loading: 17.3 lb/ft² (84 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.163 hp/lb (0.269 kW/kg)

Armament:

2× synchronized 0.303-in Vickers machine guns in fuselage sides with 300 RPG

2× 0.787-in (20mm) Hispano Mk. I cannons with 60 RPG in the wings

Provision for 20 lb (9.1 kg) bomb carriers under the outer wings

The kit and its assembly:

This model was inspired by a drawing, created by Paul Mason in 2013 but re-posted by a modeler at FlickR who was about to build something along its lines, and the ensuing discussion about this fictional aircraft, which appeared like a lean predecessor or the fictional missing link between the Supermarine 224 monoplane with spats and the highly successful, modern Spitfire.

I had already built a similar aircraft a while ago, a retrograded Messerschmitt Bf 109 with spats and an open cockpit (as a fictional Bf 94), but found the idea of a British counterpart very attractive. Even more so because of the particularly elegant lines of this so-called “Type 250”.

At its core, this heavily modified model is a Hasegawa Spitfire Mk. I, chosen because of the kit’s simplicity, good fit and very delicate surface details. Many changes were made, though, partly inspired by the drawing, but also following my own instincts. The biggest changes concern the engine and the wings.

I found the Merlin from the drawing to be too modern for this aircraft, so I transplanted an earlier Kestrel engine from a Matchbox Hawker Fury biplane, together with its ventral radiator that replaced the Spitfire’s cooling system under the wings, together with the older two blade wooden propeller.

The wings were also heavily modified: landing gear wells and radiator openings were filled/closed with 2C putty. Then the wings were cut/bent and re-arranged so that they ended up in an F4U-esque, but very attractive inverted gull wing shape. Not an easy task, though, more PSR involved, but it worked well and looks very natural. Under the wings’ kinks, shortened spats from an Avia B.35 (old KP kit) were added and holes for the new/bigger guns (hollow steel needles) were drilled. As a bonus, the bulges from the original landing gear could now be used as fairings for the early Hispano 60 rounds drum magazines.

The cockpit area was modified, too, into an open configuration. The original Spitfire windscreen was retained (cut away from the OOB single-piece canopy), as well as the entry door, which was cut open for later display. The door itself was replaced with a thinner a piece of 0.5mm styrene sheet. The Spitfire’s spine was completely cut down and re-sculpted with 2C putty. I wanted a low back (similar to the late versions with a bubble canopy), only a short headrest fairing was added behind the pilot’s seat, which received recesses on its flanks for a better field of view for the pilot backwards.

A final change/addition are the machine guns in the flanks that appeared on the Paul Mason drawing. A placement on top of the engine might have been a more logical position and easier to realize with the Hawker Fury’s nose section, but I stuck to the drawing. The fairings were carved from styrene profiles and blended under the kestrel’s exhaust stubs, where the Spitfire fuselage and the Fury engine meet.

Painting and markings:

The original benchmark drawing for this build showed an RAF machine with standard Dark Green/Dark Earth camouflage and somewhat inconclusive markings, but I wanted a different livery, anyway, since there are already some RAF model in the standard guise in my collection. Searching for pre-WWII alternatives and also potential operators outside of Great Britain I stumbled across the Irish Gloster Gladiators that were delivered in 1938: these machine eventually received an RAF-style paint scheme when the war broke out, but before that, they carried for a short period of time (a year maybe) a very attractive scheme in green and silver, with bright national insignia. I am not certain whether this scheme was intended to be just decorative or a serious camouflage, but that’s what I eventually used on the Irish Skylark. Turned out to be a very good decision!

The Irish Gladiators’ original green carried on fuselage and fin is called “Titanine TE348”. BS5064 “Bredon Green” is supposed to be a modern tone that comes close, but there’s no direct model paint equivalent for both. According to Max Decals, who offer some sheets for Irish military vehicles, a potential option is Revell’s 360 (Fern Green, RAL 6025), and this is what I went for. The fuselage was mostly painted in this bright tone, and the green was also used on the landing gear’s spats.

The wings were painted in Matt Aluminum Metallizer from Humbrol, while Revell 99 and Polished Aluminum Metallizer was used around the engine for a brighter look (the Irish Gladiators had highly polished cowlings). The interior was painted in RAF Cockpit Green (Humbrol 78). The propeller blades received a wooden look with the help of Humbrol 63 (Sand) worked into a semi-dry base of Humbrol 62 (Leather) with a relatively hard, flat brush. The metal fairings on the blades’ leading edges are decal strips in silver.

The kit received a light black ink wash as well as some post shading treatment and fake panel lines with a soft pencil – more to emphasize details than for weathering, since the aircraft would be quite new and well kept. Some soot stains were added around the exhaust stubs and the gun nozzles, too.

During the pre-WWII era, Irish aircraft did not carry any roundels yet. Instead, they were marked with stripes with colors from the Irish flag on their wings and on the vertical rudder. These were created with generic decal sheet material (green, white and orange), IMHO a more convenient solution than trying to paint everything. The only other marking is the tactical code, which comes from an Xtradecal sheet for Bristol Blenheim – finding numbers in a suitable font, size and in black and white was not easy!

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

I am very pleased with the outcome of this build. Not only is the resulting aircraft very elegant, I am also happy that I opted for the early, bright green Irish livery that almost makes it look like an air racer? My hardware interpretation of the Type 250 drawing also reminds a lot of the contemporary Dewoitine 501/510 monoplane, doesn’t it?

Leica M6, Adox film, Summicron 35 mm

With new front fitted and folded back for packing

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.

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

my neighbour's flat does look like this (more or less)

+++ 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... ;)

+++ 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. :-/

Yet another conversion of Anton Semenov's great work.

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

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

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

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

Photographed at Houma-Terrabonnne Airport (HUM)

Houma, Louisiana

Airborne Support:

airbornesupport.com

Basler Turbo Conversions:

www.baslerturbo.com

Just west of the Metra tracks and the western end of the Bloomingdale Trail at 1725 N. Springfield Ave., the pumping station was completed in 1901. Originally a coal-fired facility, it is being changed from steam turbines and boilers to electric motors, a project begun in 2013. As part of the conversion, three buildings – including a chlorine plant – were demolished.

Unlike the Central Park Pumping Station on the West Side, I wasn’t hassled by personnel, including the woman supervising the dismantling of the chimney from the street below.

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

Scrapped this guy together out of spare fire warrior parts, mostly because I thought the idea of the Tau sending their most cherished leaders into battle without armour is just plain dumb.

+++ 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 Hawker Cyclone was an evolutionary successor to the successful Hawker Typhoon and Tempest fighters and fighter-bombers of the Second World War. The Cyclone's design process was initiated in September 1942 by Sydney Camm, one of Hawker's foremost aircraft designers, to meet the Royal Air Force’s requirement for a lightweight Tempest Mk.II and V replacement.

The project, tentatively designated Tempest Mk. VIII, was formalised in January 1943 when the Air Ministry issued Specification F.2/42 around the "Tempest Light Fighter".This was followed up by Specification F.2/43, issued in May 1943, which required a high rate of climb of not less than 4,500 ft/min (23 m/s) from ground level to 20,000 feet (6,096 m), good fighting manoeu rability and a maximum speed of at least 450 mph (724 km/h) at 22,000 feet (6,705 m). The armament was to be four 20mm Hispano V cannon with a total capacity of 600 rounds, plus the capability of carrying two bombs each up to 1,000 pounds (454 kg). In April 1943, Hawker had also received Specification N.7/43 from the Admiralty, who sought a navalized version of the developing aircraft, what eventually led to the Hawker Sea Fury, which was a completely new aircraft, which only shared the general outlines of the Tempest.

After the end of hostilities in late 1948 and the ensuing independence, the Cyclone squadrons settled into their peace time stations. However, constant engine troubles (particularly the radiator) continued to claim aircraft and lives and the skill required to land the Cyclone because of its high approach speed continued to cause several write offs. The arrival of the jet-engined Vampire were the first signs of the Cyclone’s demise. As the IAF began a rapid expansion to an all jet force, several Tempest and Cyclone squadrons began converting to Vampires, 7 Squadron being the first in Dec 49. By this time it had already been decided that the piston-engine fighters would be relegated to the fighter lead-in role to train pilots for the new jet fighters. A conversion training flight was set up at Ambala in Sep 49 with Spitfire T Mk IXs, XVIIIs and Tempests to provide 16 hrs/six weeks of supervised Tempest training. This unit eventually moved to Hakimpet two years later and operated till the end of 1952. Some Cyclone FR Mk. IIs remained in front line service until 1954, though.

General characteristics:

Crew: One

Length: 35 ft 5 3/4 in (10.83 m)

Wingspan: 42 ft 5 1/2 in (12.96 m)

Height (tail down): 15 ft 6 3/4 in (4.75 m)

Wing area: 302 ft² (28 m²)

Empty weight: 9,250 lb (4,195 kg)

Loaded weight: 11,400 lb (5,176 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 13,640 lb (6,190 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Napier Sabre V liquid-cooled H-24 sleeve-valve engine with 2,340 hp (1,683 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 460 mph (740 km/h) 18,400 ft (5,608 m),

Range: 740 mi (1,190 km)

1,530 mi (2,462 km) with two 90 gal (409 l) drop tanks

Service ceiling: 36,500 ft (11,125 m)

Rate of climb: 4,700 ft/min (23.9 m/s)

Wing loading: 37.75 lb/ft² (184.86 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.21 hp/lb (0.31 kW/kg)

Armament:

4× 20 mm (.79 in) Mark V Hispano cannons, 200 RPG

2× underwing hardpoints for 500 lb (227 kg) or 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs

or 2 × 45 gal (205 l) or 2 × 90 gal (409 l) drop tanks

plus 6× 3” (76.2 mm) RP-3 rockets

The kit and its assembly:

Another episode in the series “Things to make and do with Supermarine Attacker wings”. And what started as a simple switch of wings eventually turned into a major kitbashing, since the model evolved from a modded Tempest into something more complex and conclusive.

The initial spark was the idea of a Hawker alternative to Supermarine’s Spiteful and Seafang developments – especially with their slender laminar flow wings. Wouldn’t a Hawker alternative make sense?

Said and done, I dug out a NOVO Attacker kit and a Matchbox Tempest, and started measuring – and the wing transplantation appeared feasible! I made the cut on the Tempest wing just outside of the oil cooler, and the Attacker wings were then attached to these stubs – after some gaps for the landing gear wells had been cut into the massive lower wing halves. The stunt went more smoothly than expected, the only cosmetic flaw is that the guns went pretty far outboard, but that’s negligible.

But the different wings were not enough. I had recently seen in a book a picture of a Tempest (NV 768) with an experimental annular radiator for the Sabre engine (looking like a streamlined Tempest II), and wondered if this arrangement would have been the aerodynamically more efficient solution than the bulbous chin radiator of the Tempest V and VI? I decided to integrate this feature into my build, too, even though not as a copy of the real-world arrangement. The whole nose section, even though based on the OOB Mk. V nose, was scratched and re-sculpted with lots of putty. The radiator intake comes from a FROG He 219, with the front end opened and a fan from a Matchbox Fw 190 placed inside, as well as a styrene tube for the new propeller. The latter was scratched, too, from a Matchbox He 70 spinner and single blades from an Italeri F4U, plus a metal axis. The exhaust stubs were taken OOB, but their attachment slits had to be re-engraved into the new and almost massive nose section.

Once the wings and the nose became more concrete, I found that the Tempest’s original rounded tail surfaces would not match with the new, square wings. Therefore I replaced the stabilizers with donations from a Heller F-84G and modified the fin with a new, square tip (from an Intech Fw 190D) and got rid of the fin fillet – both just small modifications, but they change the Tempest’s profile thoroughly.

In order to underline the aircraft’s new, sleek lines, I left away any ordnance – but instead I added some camera fairings: one under the rear fuselage or a pair of vertical/oblique cameras, and another camera window portside for a horizontal camera. The openings were drilled, and, after painting, the kit the camera windows were created with Humbrol Clearfix.

Painting and markings:

Somehow I thought that this aircraft had to carry Indian markings – and I had a set of standard Chakra Wheels from the late Forties period in my stash. The camouflage is, typical for early IAF machines of British origin, RAF standard, with Dark Green and Ocean Grey from above and Medium Sea Grey from below. I just used the more brownish pst-war RAF Dark Green tone (Humbrol 163), coupled with the rather light Ocean Grey from Modelmaster (2057). The underside became Humbrol 165. All interior surfaces were painted with RAF Interior Green, nothing fancy. The only colorful addition is the saffron-colored spinner, in an attempt to match the fin flash’s tone.

As a standard measure, the kit received a black ink wash and some panel post-shading with lighter tones – only subtly, since the machine was not to look too weathered and beaten, just used from its Kashmir involvements.

The national markings come from a Printscale Airspeed Oxford sheet, the tactical code with alternating white and black letters, depending on the underground (the sky fuselage band comes from a Matchbox Brewster Buffalo), was puzzled together from single letters from TL Modellbau – both seen on different contemporary RIAF aircraft.

As another, small individual detail I gave the machine a tactical code letter on the fuselage, and the small tiger emblems under the cockpit were home-printed from the official IAF No. 1 Squadron badge.

Despite the massive modifications this one is a relatively subtle result, all the changes become only visible at a second glance. A sleek aircraft, and from certain angley the Cyclone looks like an A-1 Skyraider on a diet?

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.

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.

Ltd. Etd. Deore Lx ( 1993 ) Reynolds K2

2D to 3D Conversions by Dan Jacobs.

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

+++ 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 T-34 was a Soviet medium tank that had a profound and lasting effect on the field of tank design. Although its armor and armament were surpassed later in the war, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential tank design of the Second World War. Replacing many light and medium tanks in Red Army service, it was the most-produced tank of the war, as well as the second-most-produced tank of all time (after its successor, the T-54/55 series).

Soviet industry would eventually produce over 80,000 T-34s of all variants, allowing steadily greater numbers to be fielded as the war progressed despite the loss of thousands in combat against the German Wehrmacht.

Specifications:

Crew: Five (commander, gunner, 2x loader, driver)

Weight: 32.5 tonnes (35.7 short tons)

Length: 6.12 m (20 ft), hull only

6.77 m (22 ft 2 in) with gun facing forward

Width: 3.00 m (9 ft 10 in)

Height: 3.02 m (10 ft)

Suspension: Christie

Ground clearance: 0.4 m (16 in)

Fuel capacity: 820 l (180 imp gal; 220 US gal)

Armor:

15–47 mm (0.6 – 1.85 in)

Performance:

Maximum road speed: 45.5 km/h (28 mph)

Operational range: 300 km (186 mi)

Power/weight: 15.4 PS/tonne (14 hp/ton)

Engine:

Model V-2-34 38.8 L V12 Diesel engine with 500 PS (493 hp, 368 kW)

Armament:

1× 122 mm (4.803 in) M-30S howitzer with 30 rounds

2× 7.62 mm (0.308 in) DT machine guns (1× co-axial with the main gun, 1× in the front hull)

with 3.000 rounds

The kit and its assembly:

What would a “Soviet Group Build” be without a T-34 submission? And creating a whiffy variant is pretty easy since there are aftermarket conversion sets that allow the build of a fictional variant like the T-34-122/T-34G with relatively little effort.

AFAIK, the T-34G with a 122mm howitzer turret was considered but actually never made it off the drawing boards – the simpler Su-122 was preferred right from the start. But the concept is an interesting idea and the respective tank a nice whif model topic.

There are even conversion sets for this tank project: Sharkit from France offers two sets for this conversion in 1:72, either a cast and a welded turret variant. I had stashed away the latter some time ago, actually for the conversion of a leftover T-34/85 chassis. But for the currently running Group Build at whatifmodelers.com I bought a dedicated new kit for the project – a T-34/76 1943 model from Zvezda, which donated the complete lower hull.

The Zvezda kit is actually a snap-fit model, relatively new and probably aimed at tabletop gamers. Sounds shabby, but it’s actually a very good offering, with crisp detail, very good fit and an interesting mix of full-steel and rubber-padded wheels plus tracks which come in separate IP pieces.

Another good thing: the Sharkit turret fits perfectly onto the adapter that normally holds the OOB T-34/76 snap-on turret in place, so that the conversion is as simple as it could be!

The Sharkit parts themselves appear bleak at first sight, but everything you ask for is there, including separate “Mickey Mouse” twin hatches, which fit well once properly cleaned and trimmed. The only questionable point is the material itself: the walls are thin, and the grey stuff is surprisingly soft – at first, I thought it was injected plastic, but you need super glue to put the few parts together.

Fit is – for a short run production set – surprisingly good, too, only little PSR was necessary to put the howitzer turret together. Anyway, a mini drill (like a Dremel) with a saw blade is highly recommended in order to get the parts off of the sprues and trim them. My only personal mod to the turret is the drilled-open barrel and four lugs on the turret’s roof, made from thin brass wire.

Otherwise, the Zvezda kit was built OOB. I just added two wooden storage boxes to the rear flanks because the T-34 looked OOB a little too “clean” for my taste, despite the two separate towing cables and some tool boxed on the mudguards.

Painting and markings:

Soviet WWII tanks offer little variety, most were finished in an overall dark green (which was not uniform and could differ from olive drab to grass green or even a deep forest green), and I found some specimen in an overall tan/brown. There’s also always the whitewash option, but I wanted a vehicle from the Battle of Kursk in July 1943, so that this was – in this case – not an option.

Some T-34s were finished in a green/brown scheme, and this was eventually the route I chose. For the pattern, though, I referred to an interesting scheme I found on a BA-10 profile from the Battle of Kursk period: a deep brown basis onto which clearly defined, large mottles of grass green had been added. Not certain if that’s authentic or just an over-artistic interpretation, but the concept was transferred to the T-34-122 here.

The basis is an all-over coat of a rich chocolate brown, RAL 8017. This was then painted over with thinned Lederbraun, RAL 8027. On top of that, rich green (RAL 6003) mottles were painted, leaving a spongy, brown net. The wheels were painted in uniform green or brown.

After a dark brown wash, the basic colors were further lightened with French Earth Brown (ModelMaster) and Grass Green (Humbrol 80). After the few decals had been applied, the whole kit received a dry brushing treatment with Ochre (Humbrol 83) and some pure black ink around the cooler grates.

The tracks were painted with a wet-in-wet mix of Black, Iron and Sienna, all acrylics, and once they were in place (as well as the turret), the lower hull received a pigment treatment for simulated dust and mud around the running gear.

A rather simple and subtle whif, but I like the result of this fictional T-34 variant. The changed silhouette through the tall, new turret reminds a lot of the bigger KW-2 tank? A mini KW-2!? The paint scheme did not come out as clearly or bright as originally planned, but I left it that way because the rich brown and the yellow-ish green are still discernable under the weathering and the pigment dust. And it’s IMHO a worthy addition to my range of Group Build submissions.

DISCLAIMER

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

The aircraft that became known as ’The Jägermeister’ was an ambitious racing aircraft project from Germany, that took part in the US National Air Races at Reno during 1967-69.

During the 1969 Reno Air Races, The Jägermeister suffered a major engine failure. While Farnsworth could keep the aircraft under control and bring it down, the landing attempt ended in disaster and the airframe had to be written off.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 26 ft 11 in (8.20 m)

Wingspan: 26 ft 5 1/2 in (8.08 m)

Height: 8 ft 2 in (2.5 m)

Wing area: 134 ft² (12.5 m²)

Empty weight: 4.361 lb (1.980 kg)*

Loaded weight: 5.420 lb (2.460 kg)

*raised to 4.500 lb when starting at the National Championship Air Races

Powerplant

1× modified DB 601M V12 race engine with up to 2.000hp (1.470kW), driving a five-bladed propeller

Performance

Maximum speed (theoretical): 800 km/h (432 kn, 496 mph) at 20.000 ft

Range: n/a

Service ceiling: 10.000 m (28.250 ft)

Rate of climb: n/a

Wing loading: 158,4 kg/m² (32,5 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 742,4 W/kg (0.46 hp/lb)

The kit and its assembly

Primiraly, this fictional Unlimited Class Reno Air Racer was a contribution to an air racer group build at whatifmodelers.com, but also a nice distraction from military vehicles/aircraft. You rarely have the chance to turn a weapon into a sport item.

Conceptually it was clear from the start that I wanted to build something that would be plausible/realistic, still with a twist. When I wondered about a potential German type for the Reno Air Race after WWII (where a lot of US, British and recently some Soviet warbirds were used), I passed the 'typical candidates' of Bf 109 or Fw 190 and settled for the unlucky pre-war He 100.

Originally, the He 100 had been a rival to the Bf 109 and the He 112, and it was definitively the best aircraft of both of these. The real He 100 flew for the first time in early 1938, and it was used for record attempts (e .g. on a 100km round course, and also for the absolute speed record - and the eight prototype even reached 746,61 km/h (462,58 mph)! Anyway, the Bf 109 was preferred and the He 100 became a passed opportunity.

Since the He 100's DB 601 engine was reserved for the Bf 109, the He 100 was not 'allowed' into German service and serial production and only a few He 100D (slightly modified, with a new cooler and an enlarged tail fin) were built - even though the type was offered for export and license production, e .g. to Japan or the Soviet Union.

The fifteen built aircraft were primarily used for propaganda purposes, or ended up as local defense of the Heinkel plant in Rostock-Marienehe.

Anyway, the elegant and fast He 100D would be a perfect candidate for a fast racing aircraft. In order to make a Reno Racer from it, the kit (Special Hobby kit, the optional Lindberg kit is a joke) saw some basic modifications:

● Clipped wing tips, which would reduce the real life span by about 3'

● A new propeller with five blades and a bigger spinner

● New exhaust pipes

● A new, more modern and streamlined canopy

● A modern pilot figure

● Omittance of the belly radiator

Around the fuselage, any sign of armament disappeared. Clipped wings are a common practice on racing warbirds, as it reduces drag and G-forces in tight turns, so the wing span was reduced and new wing tips sculpted. The new propeller comes from a Griffon Spitfire: the spinner from a Pavla aftermarket kit, the propeller blades from a Special Hobby kit. In order to fit the slightly bigger diameter spinner onto the tiny He 100 fuselage I had to cut the latter by about 3mm, I wanted to use the original lines instead of adding a fat nose with putty.

The propeller was mounted with a metal axis in a styrene tube, so that it could rotate freely.

The cockpit was taken OOB, but a modern pilot from an Academy kit was used - this pilot wears a jumpsuit and a 'bone dome', but no oxygen mask, so it is a perfect choice for a low altitude racer.

The canopy actually is a rear canopy part from a Hobby Boss P-51, just facing rearwards. Fairings from styrene and putty had to be added to make the new piece fit, but its slender like looks much more aerodynamic than the original He 100 part, and such simple modifications are frequently done to warbird racers.

The rest of the kit was taken more or less OOB - I just left the water cooler under the fuselage away. The original He 100 did not have this piece either, as the DB 601 was cooled by a complicated but aerodynamically very effective evaporative cooling system - and for short race distances, falling back to this option would IMHO make sense. Actually, this has also been employed in real life Reno Racers, so it's plausible.

Painting and markings:

Well, a German Reno Racer was the idea, and I found a nice livery/sponsor option when I browsed through Germany's touring car history: thorough many years, the Rauch destilery sponsored race cars for their herbal liquor 'Jägermeister', and this old brand has orange as ID color, as well as promiment logos and typo. What else could you ask for?

Consequently, the He 100 racer became 'The Jägermeister; in a simple, all-orange livery, just like the respectice race cars. The original tone is, as far as I could find out, RAL 2004 (Reinorange). I used Testors 1595 (Semigloss Orange), since the tone comes pretty close. Panels were later emphasized through light dry-brushing with Humbrol 18 (Gloss Orange), which is slightly lighter, and some Humbrol 132 for depth. The intention was to make the kit not look too uniform, but not dirty or dented, as air racers are frequently kept clean and in best possible shape.

The logos, sponsor stickers and typo come from an aftermarket decal sheet for 1:43 race cars and were deliberately scattered across the aircraft, using real life racers as benchmark for details like grid number positions and orientation.

The German registration D-WILD is fictional and was created through single letters from TL Modellbau aftermarket sheets. These also provided the German flag on the tail.

The cockpit interior was painted in medium grey. The pilot received a dark brown jumpsuit with white and orange trim, as well as a white helmet.

The landing gear and the interior of the wells were painted in Aluminum (Humbrol 56), the wheel discs are black so that they'd not stand out too much.

The spinner tip was painted with glossy silver (Humbrol 11), the propeller blades were painted black from behind, light grey from the front, with yellow warning tips.

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

As the kit was built OOB and any ingredients at hand, the whole thing was puzzled together in less than three days – it actually took longer to wait for the right weather condition to take the pictures.

It is a nice and colorful whif that would have certainly looked great (if not somewhat dwarfish) among other Reno warbirds?

+++ 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:

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Sweden required a strong air defense, utilizing the newly developed jet propulsion technology. This led to a pair of proposals being issued by the Saab design team, led by Lars Brising. The first of these, codenamed R101, was a cigar-shaped aircraft, which bore a resemblance to the American Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star. The second design, which would later be picked as the winner, was a barrel-shaped design, codenamed R 1001, which proved to be both faster and more agile upon closer study.

Nevertheless, the J 29D soldiered on, together with the rest of the J 29F and S 29C fleet, until 1970, even though not in front line duties anymore.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

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

Wingspan: 11.0 m (36 ft 1 in)

Height: 3.75 m (12 ft 4 in)

Wing area: 24.15 m² (260.0 ft²)

Empty weight: 4,845 kg (10,680 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 8,375 kg (18,465 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Svenska Flygmotor RM2B afterburner turbojet, rated at 6,070 lbf (27 kN)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,060 km/h (660 mph)

Range: 1,100 km (685 mi)

Service ceiling: 15,500 m (50,850 ft)

Rate of climb: 32.1 m/s (6,320 ft/min)

Armament:

4x 20mm Hispano Mark V autocannon in the lower front fuselage

Typically, a pair of 400-liter (106 US gallon) or 500-liter (132 US gallon) drop tanks was carried on the outer “wet” pylons

Further air-to-air ordnance initially consisted of 75 mm (3 in) air-to-air rockets, from 1963 onwards the J 29D could also carry up to 4x Rb 24 (AIM-9B Sidewinder) IR-guided air-to-air missiles.

Optionally (but never carried in service), the J 29D could also deploy a wide range of bombs and unguided missiles, including 145 mm (5.8 in) anti-armor rockets, 150 mm (6 in) HE (high-explosive) rockets or 180 mm (7.2 in) HE anti-ship rockets

The kit and its assembly:

Sweden is a prolific whiffing territory, and the Saab 29 offers some interesting options. The all-weather Tunnan was a real Saab project, and things actually got as far as the aforementioned radome shape test stage. But eventually the project was fully dropped, since Saab had been busy with standard J 29 production and conversions, so that this aircraft never materialized, just as the projected side-by-side trainer Sk 29 of the same era.

However, I recently came across a nice Saab 29 book which also covers some projects – including drawings of the radar-equipped Tunnan that never was. My converted model with the thimble radome and the raked air intake is based on these drawings.

The basic kit is the Heller Saab 29, which I deem superior to the Matchbox Tunnan, with its mix of raised and engraved panel lines and overall rather soft detail (despite the surprisingly nice cockpit). Anyway,, the Heller kit has its flaws, too, e. g. a generally weak material thickness, lack of locator pins or other stabilizing aids and some sinkholes here and there.

The kit was built mostly OOB, with as much lead in the gun tray as possible - and it actually stands on its own three feet/wheels! The only major change is the modified nose section. It sounds simple to graft a radome onto the Tunnan's nose, but the rhinoplasty was challenging. The whole front end had to be renewed, based on the profile drawings and sketches at hand.

The thimble radome is actually a recycled drop tank front end from a Hasegawa F6F Hellcat. The raked, lower aitr intake lip comes from a Matchbox Mystère IVA - but it lost its splitter, was reshaped and had the OOB air intake duct glued into place from behind. Once the intake was glued into its place, a wedge opeing was cut into the area in front of the canopy and the drop tank radome adapted to the gap, a step-by-step approach, since I wanted to have the radome slightly protrude into the airtake, but also keep a staright line in front of the windscreen.

Additional details include new pitots on the wing tips and some additional antennae. The heat shield for the afterburner engine is OOB, as well as the streamlined drop tanks and their pylons. I just added an additional pair of pylons (from an Acedamy MiG-23) to the inner wing, holding a pair of AIM-9Bs.

Painting and markings:

Finding a suitable, yet “different” scheme for the J 29 night fighter was not easy; most J 29 were left in bare metal, some carried dark green upper surfaces and some S 29C wore a paint scheme in olive green and dark blue. I eventually settled for the RAF style paint scheme that had been adopted with the J 30 Mosquito and J 33 Venom night fighters – not spectacular, but different from the Swedish early Sixties norm, and it subtly underlines the J 29D’s role.

The scheme was lent from RAF Venom night fighters (which was used on the Swedish J 33, too), and of the upper surfaces I used RAF tones, too: Humbrol 163 (Dark Green) and 165 (Medium Sea Grey). However, I did not want to use the grey on the lower surfaces, since I found that scheme a bit too uniform and British, so I painted the lower surfaces in NMF, with a waterline at medium height - higher than the camouflaged S 29C’s and lower than the early, camouflaged J 29A fighters (with an experimental all-green upper surface).

The bare metal finish was created with acrylic Aluminum (Revell 99) and Polished and Matt Aluminum Metallizer (Humbrol) added on top, highlighting single panels. Around the engine bay and the exhaust, a base with Iron (Revell 91) was laid down, with Steel Metallizer (Modelmaster) on top.

Under the wing tips, green formation markings (again Humbrol 163) were added, as well as black ID stripes (cut from generic decal sheet material). Other, Swedish adornment, like the roundels, codes or squadron markings, was taken from the OOB sheet, a PrintScale sheet for the J 29 and leftover decals from a Heller J 21.

Interior details were painted according to Swedish standard, thankfully there are many good pictures available. The cockpit interior became grey-green (Revell 67 comes very close to the real thing) with light grey dashboard and side consoles. The landing gear wells medium (Revell 57) grey with some dry-brushed Aluminum, while the wheel discs became grey-green, too.

An interesting result, through relatively little effort: the dog nose changes the look of the tubby J 29 a lot, it looks much sleeker and somewhat German now – but somehow also more retro than the original aircraft? The different paint scheme looks unusual, too, despite being relatively down-to-earth. This will certainly not be my last modified J 29, a two-seat trainer would certainly be another cool and reality based Tunnan whif?

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

+++ 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 Nakajima J9N Kitsuka (中島 橘花, "Orange Blossom", pronounced Kikka in Kanji used traditionally by the Japanese) was Japan's first jet aircraft. In internal IJN documents it was also called Kōkoku Nigō Heiki (皇国二号兵器, "Imperial Weapon No.2"). After the Japanese military attaché in Germany witnessed trials of the Messerschmitt Me 262 in 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy issued a request to Nakajima to develop a similar aircraft to be used as a fast attack bomber. Among the specifications for the design were the requirements that it should be able to be built largely by unskilled labor, and that the wings should be foldable. This latter feature was not intended for potential use on aircraft carriers, but rather to enable the aircraft to be hidden in caves and tunnels around Japan as the navy began to prepare for the defense of the home islands.

The J9Ns’ overall war contribution was negligible, and after the war, several airframes (including partial airframes) were captured by Allied forces. Three airframes (including a two-seat night fighter with FD-2 radar) were brought to the U.S. for study. Today, two J9N examples survive in the National Air and Space Museum: The first is a Kikka that was taken to the Patuxent River Naval Air Base, Maryland for analysis. This aircraft is very incomplete and is believed to have been patched together from a variety of semi-completed airframes. It is currently still in storage at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility in Silver Hill, MD. The second Kikka is on display at the NASM Udvar-Hazy Center in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2

Length: 8.13 m (26 ft 8 in) fuselage only

10.30 m (33 ft 8¾ in) with FD-2 antenna array

Wingspan: 10 m (32 ft 10 in)

Height: 2.95 m (9 ft 8 in)

Wing area: 13.2 m² (142 sq ft)

Empty weight: 2,300 kg (5,071 lb)

Gross weight: 3,500 kg (7,716 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 4,080 kg (8,995 lb)

Powerplant:

2× Ishikawajima Ne-130 or Ne-230 axial-flow turbojet engines

each with 8.83 kN/900 kg or 8.68 kN/885 kg thrust

Performance:

Maximum speed: 785 km/h (487 mph, 426 kn)

Range: 925 km (574 mi, 502 nmi) with internal fuel

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

Rate of climb: 10.5 m/s (2,064 ft/min)

Wing loading: 265 kg/m² (54 lb/sq ft)

Thrust-to-weight ratio: 0.43

Armament:

1× 30 mm (1.181 in) Type 5 cannon with 50 rounds in the nose

1× 20 mm (0.787 in) Type Ho-2 cannon with 80 rounds, mounted obliquely behind the cockpit

1× ventral hardpoint for a 500 l drop tank or a single 500 kg (1,102 lb) bomb

The kit and its assembly:

This is in fact the second Kikka I have built, and this time it’s a two-seater from AZ Models – actually the trainer boxing, but converted into a personal night fighter interpretation. The AZ Models kit is a simple affair, but that's also its problem. In the box things look quite good, detail level is on par with a classic Matchbox kit. But unlike a Matchbox kit, the AZ Models offering does not go together well. I had to fight everywhere with poor fit, lack of locator pins, ejection marks - anything a short run model kit can throw at you! Thanks to the experience with the single-seater kit some time ago, things did not become too traumatic, but it’s still not a kit for beginners. What worked surprisingly well was the IP canopy, though, which I cut into five sections for an optional open display – even though I am not certain if the kit’s designers had put some brain into their work because the canopy’s segmentation becomes more and more dubious the further you go backwards.

The only personal mods is a slightly changed armament, with one nose gun deleted and faired over with a piece of styrene sheet, while the leftover gun was mounted obliquely onto the left flank. I initially considered a position behind the canopy but rejected this because of CoG reasons. Then I planned to mount it directly behind the 2nd seat, so that the barrel would protrude through the canopy, but this appeared unrealistic because the (utterly tiny) sliding canopy for the rear crewman could not have been opened anymore? Finally, I settled for an offset position in the aircraft’s flanks, partly inspired by “Schräge Musik” arrangements on some German Fw 190 night fighters.

The antennae come from a Jadar Model PE set for Italeri’s Me 210s, turning it either into a night fighter or a naval surveillance aircraft.

Painting and markings:

This became rather lusterless; many late IJN night fighters carried a uniform dark green livery with minimalistic, toned-down markings, e. g. hinomaru without a white high-contrast edge, just the yellow ID bands on the wings’ leading edges were retained.

For this look the model received an overall basis coat of Humbrol 75 (Bronze Green), later treated with a black ink washing, dry-brushed aluminum and post-shading with lighter shades of dark green (including Humbrol 116 and Revell 67). The only colorful highlight is a red fin tip (Humbrol 19) and a thin red stripe underneath (decal). The yellow and white ID bands were created with decal material.

The cockpit interior was painted in a yellowish-green primer (trying to simulate a typical “bamboo” shade that was used in some late-war IJN cockpits), while the landing gear wells were painted in aodake iro, a clear bluish protective lacquer. The landing gear struts themselves became semi-matt black.

The markings are fictional and were puzzled together from various sources. The hinomaru came from the AZ Models’ Kikka single seater sheet (since it offers six roundels w/o white edge), the tactical code on the fin was created with red numbers from a Fujimi Aichi B7A2 Ryusei.

Finally, the kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish and some grinded graphite around the jet exhausts and the gun nozzles.

Well, this fictional Kikka night fighter looks quite dry, but that makes it IMHO more credible. The large antler antenna array might look “a bit too much”, and a real night fighter probably had a simpler arrangement with a single Yagi-style/arrow-shaped antenna, but a description of the FD-2 radar suggested the layout I chose – and it does not look bad. The oblique cannon in the flank is another odd detail, but it is not unplausible. However, with all the equipment and esp. the draggy antennae on board, the Kikka’s mediocre performance would surely have seriously suffered, probably beyond an effective use. But this is whifworld, after all. ;-)

"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.

The white livery and work-stained appearance of ATI 767 N791AX shows up the window configuration from its passenger days. This aircraft started its working career with All Nippon Airways in Japan back in 1985. It is seen taxiing at Houston for a cargo flight to Wilmington Air Park Airport, Ohio.

Aircraft: Air Transport International (8C/ATN) Boeing 767-200BDSF N791AX.

Location: Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH/KIAH), Texas, United States of America.

+++ 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 Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger ("People's Fighter"), the name of a project of the Emergency Fighter Program design competition, was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. It was designed and built quickly and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritised for other aircraft. Volksjäger was the Reich Air Ministry's official name for the government design program competition won by the He 162 design. Other names given to the plane include Salamander, which was the codename of its construction program, and Spatz ("Sparrow"), which was the official name given to the plane by Heinkel.

The first He 162 C-0 (registered with the Stammkennzeichen VN+DA and designated "M48") made its successful maiden flight at Heinkel's production facility at Salzburg in Austria on 7th of May 1945. The initial flight tests, which only lasted two weeks, were positive. Esp. the handling and directional stability had improved in comparison with the rather trappy He 162 A, and despite the higher weight due to more fuel and the bigger wings, the He 162 C-0's performance was better than the He 162 A's. Beyond the better handling characteristics, top speed was slightly higher (plus 20 km/h or 15 mph) and the aircraft's endurance was almost doubled. Plans were made to replace the He 162 A soon on the production lines, but with the end of hostilities the He 162 C program was prematurely terminated. Two more prototypes (M49 and 50) were under construction at Salzburg when the Red Army arrived, and all airframes including the project's documentations were destroyed - probably by German engineers who tried to prevent them to fall into Allied hands.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1, pilot

Length (incl. pitot): 10, 73 m (35 ft 1 1/2 in)

Wingspan: 8,17 m (26 ft 9 in)

Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)

Wing area: 16.4 m2 (177 sq ft)

Empty weight: 1.980 kg (4.361 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 3.500 kg (7.710 lb)

Fuel capacity of 1,020 litres (270 US gallons)

Powerplant:

1× BMW 003E-1 axial flow turbojet, rated at 7.85 kN (1,760 lbf)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 810 km/h (503 mph) at normal thrust at sea level;

865 km/h (537 mph) at 6000 m; using short burst of extra thrust

Range: 1.800 km (1.110 mi)

Service ceiling: 13.000 m (42.570 400 ft)

Rate of climb: 1.650 m/min (5.400 ft/min)

Armament (as flown):

2× 20 mm MG 151/20 autocannons with 120 RPG

The kit and its assemby:Painting and markings:

As a prototype aircraft I wanted something unusual, but nothing flashy or too exotic. I iamgined that the He 162 C prototype might have been converted from an existing airframe, so I gave some parts of the model (tail cone, upper fuselage, engine pod) standard He 162 A colors, RLM 81, 82 and 76.

However, for the modified cockpit section and the new ing attachment points, I decided to add section in natural metal finish, and as a special detail I added greenish filler that was used on panel seams. The nose cone became RLM 02, for more variety.

The makeshift look was further emphasized through wing panels that were left in bare laminated wood look, with metal tips and camouflaged rudders. The wooden texture was created with a basis of Humbrol 63 (Sand) and some poorly-stirred Humbrol 62 (Leather) added on top with a flat, rather hard brush. Very simple, but the effect - at least at fist glance - is very good, and the unusual color makes the model look much more interesting than camouflaged surfaces.

The markings were puzzled together from various sources, including German crosses from a Special Hobby Fw 189 sheet and from TL Modellbau. The Stammkennzeichen and the "M48" designation were created with single black decals letters, also from TL Modellbau.

Finally, after a black ink washing and some post-shading, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

A nice and simple what-if/Luft '46 project, done in less than a week. And for the attempt to create a model of a paper project (beyond pure fantasy), I am happy with the result, the model comes pretty close to the drawings, even though noone can tell what a real prototype might have looked like.

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

The latest in the series, "I must get out more..."

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 P-51 was a relative latecomer to the Pacific Theatre. This was due largely to the need for the aircraft in Europe, although the P-38's twin-engine design was considered a safety advantage for long over-water flights. The first P-51s were deployed in the Far East later in 1944, operating in close-support and escort missions, as well as tactical photo reconnaissance. As the war in Europe wound down, the P-51 became more common: eventually, with the capture of Iwo Jima, it was able to be used as a bomber escort during B-29 missions against the Japanese homeland.

The completed Sea Mustangs were later used as instructional airframes. In service the F1J was superseded by Grumman’s F8F Bearcat and Vought’s F4U Corsair, which had a significant development advance and became the USN’s major piston-engined fighters in the late 40ies.

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11.28 m) w. wing tip tanks

Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4.08 m w. tail wheel on ground, vertical propeller blade.)

Wing area: 235 ft² (21.83 m²)

Empty weight: 7,635 lb (3,465 kg)

Loaded weight: 9,200 lb (4,175 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 12,100 lb (5,490 kg)

Aspect ratio: 5.83

Powerplant:

1× Packard V-1650-9 liquid-cooled supercharged V-12, 1,490 hp (1,111 kW) at 3,000 rpm, 2,220 hp (1,655 kW) at WEP

Performance:

Maximum speed: 437 mph (703 km/h) at 25,000 ft (7,600 m)

Cruise speed: 362 mph (580 km/h)

Range: 1,650 mi (2,755 km) with external tanks

Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)

Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)

Wing loading: 39 lb/ft² (192 kg/m²)

Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)

Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6

Recommended Mach limit 0.8

Armament:

4 × 20 mm (.79 in) M3 cannon, 190 rounds per gun

2× hardpoints for up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs or drop tanks, plus 6× 5” (127 mm) unguided rockets

The kit and its assembly

The idea of a navalized Mustang is IMHO a nice and rich whif theme. When I delved into history I was surprised that the idea as such had actually been taken to hardware status – the ETF-51D mentioned above is/was real, as well as the later NAA-133 proposal to the USN. But the latter never got as far as described, and that’s where whifery came to play. Anyway, what sounds like a simple plan became a major surgery, since I wanted more than just a blue P-51 with a hook glued to it.

My original plan was to convert a Hobby Boss kit, but when I tried to move both cockpit and radiator bath forward, that kit’s massive (!) fuselage piece prevented any decent modification. Hence, I fell back to an “old school” P-51D kit with two fuselage halves: a Heller Mustang which I still had in my stack. Not a bad kit, but with its raised panel lines it certainly is sub-optimal, esp. when you change many things on the hull.

Both cockpit and radiator intake were moved about 5mm forward, a major surgery. The cockpit was taken OOB, just some ribs inside and a pilot figure were added (an old Matchbox figure), and radio equipment simulated behind the seat. The canopy was cut open.

The contraprop is new, too, a scratch-built piece, made from, AFAIK an F4U drop tank. It gives the Sea Mustang a sleek, beefy look, but also makes sense from an operational point of view.

The landing gear received new/better wheels and extra struts, also for a sturdier look. The new tail wheel was taken from an Airfix A-1 Skyraider, with an added arrester hook and an accordingly modified well with new/longer covers.

The tail was completely modified: the horizontal stabilizers were replaced by bigger ones, taken from an F4U, and the original vertical rudder was replaced by a taller construction created from a Ju-87G rudder (!) and a stabilizer from a Bell AH-1, both ancient Matchbox kits.

The Heller kit provides a separate fin fillet piece, but I left it away, in order to pronounce the taller fin and longer back of the F1J.

The wings received wing tip tanks (taken from a Grumman F9F Panther) as well as a changed armament with four cannons with longer barrels (from the Airfix A-1) instead of the classic six 0.5” machine guns. New panel lines, where the wing folding joints would be, were engraved. In order to add some realism for display, flaps were opened/lowered - an easy task with the Heller kit.

The 250 lbs. bombs were taken straight from the Heller kit, the 5” HVARs come from a Matchbox Grumman F9F Panther, with scratch-built launch rails made from polystyrene profiles (Evergreen).

Painting

The old adage that a subtle whif works best with a simple livery is true: the dark blue (FS15042/AN607) suits the slender lines of the Mustang very well, even if it is my hunchback modification! Unfortunately, my favourite paint choice, Humbrol 181, is out of production (Shame on you, Airfix!), so I had to hunt down Testors’ 1718 as a replacement.

All interior surfaces were painted with Humbrol 226 (Interior Green), then dry-brushed with Zinc Chromate (Testors 1734) and Humbrol 80 (Grass Green).

Markings were taken from 1:72 a Hobby Boss F4U (leftover from my FAS conversion) and a vintage F6F from Monogram in 1:48. The squadron markings depict a machine from VF-82 "Fighting Fools", based on the carrier USS Bennington (CV-20) in the Pacific theatre in 1945. National insignia had to be puzzled together and improvised with white stars and separate all-white bars. The yellow band behind the propeller rather belongs to machines from VF-84 on board of USS Bunker Hill (CV-17), though, but since this is a whif, the marking is a nice contrast to the all-blue livery. That the machine sports the bort number "82" is a weird conincidence!

Some weathering was done with dry-brushing (e. g. Humbrol 77 & 189), rubbed graphite dust and soot stains around cannons and exhausts, and light colour chipping on leading edges and around the cockpit was done. Finally, the kit received a coat with semi-gloss varnish – I did not dare using a 100% gloss coat, because that would IMHO have made the machine look too new and out of scale.

In the end, a nice little model/project, realized in less tha a week - despite the major surgeries, but the single colour paint job was simple. A fighter with a twist, and with a really subtle whif factor, even though my interpretation of a Sea Mustang differs in many aspects from the real NAA-133 proposal. But this model is not intended to be a representation of North American’s project, rather a personal and dramatized idea of what might have been. :D

"Out of the box" collectible PVC figures are not usual part of my hobby/collection (I rather prefer resin kits).

But since Gantz figures do not exist as kits, I got three 1:8 scale figures down at reasonable prices a while ago - one of them a Yamato Kei Kishimoto (which, as a collector's item, even gained value!) and two more simple Taito prize figures of.

These figures look O.K., but do not stand close inspection. And I always wondered why they were so scantily clad... ;)

Both could be changed with simple measures, and months ago I got hands on another Kei and took today for the conversion I had planned.

This is more or less a repainted version of the originalTaito figure - plan was to adda full suit and do some detail work.

First step was to dissemble the figure, which was an easy task, even though care had to be taken not to do damage to the soft PVC.

Some sanding was done at the "naked" parts, as there are some soft seams - hard to tell, but clearly to be seen against light and shades.

As another redesign measure I tried to change the arm positions - the OOB figure holds the gun in both hands in front of the belly, I wanted to separate this position, making Kei hold the gun higher with her right hand, while the left hand dangles lower at her side. Idea was to give her a more "in control of the situation" expression.

The arms were heated under hot running tap water (Ouch!), bent into shape and shocked/fixed with a splash of cold water. Went pretty well, I hope the PVD doesn't remember its original position over time...

Then the bare parts were painted with semi-gloss acrylic paint, from the rattle can, and some contrast fields painted by hand with glossy acrylic black.

OOB, the head is a bit messy. Only real good things are the printed eyes, which I kept. But the face's bare plastic is very glossy and the hair has rather a dull, sand-ish color and a massive seam running all over the scalp (see the direct comparison pics).

That seam was filled with putty and sanded even, then the hair was re-painted with a more vivid, red brown (again acrylics), and some light shading added with red and pink.

As a final step, since I did not wat to repaint the face, both hair and face were sealed under a coat of matt varnish, which at least takes away the toylike shine.

A final measure were repainted/added details on the suit with silver and light blue, and the figure was re-assembled again.

Simple mods, great effect, IMHO?

finally give me something that shows off just what I was aiming for with the Ynnari paint scheme (shown off best when contrasted with my Dark Eldar).

They're the ghosts of living eldar :)

Walk at Toms Hill and Northchurch Common

+++ 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 September 1939, the US Army was ill-prepared as far as armored vehicles, training and tactics went. Soon, it became clear that a new model, which could be favorably compared to the European models, had to be studied for mass production. The very early M1 Combat Car was nothing more than a very small tank with two machine guns. Its main purpose was scouting and as such ordered for “cavalry” units. This was in 1937, and became the forerunner of all light tanks to come.

In 1935, a new model, the M2 Light Tank, was designed. At first, it was an immediate upgrade of the M1, but with the heavier .50 (12.7 mm) caliber machine gun, immediately followed by the M2A2 with twin turrets equipped with .30 (7.62 mm) caliber M1919 machine guns. The “Mae West” gave way in 1938 to a small series of M2A3 37 mm (1.45 in) single turret tanks, and then to the final M2A4 in 1940, with improved armor, motorization and equipment. These fought at Guadalcanal with the US Marine Corps, and with the British Army through Lend-Lease, performing well in Burma and India against the Japanese, despite being obsolete.

After the Africa campaign, British Stuarts and Parsival took successfully part in the liberation of Italy. About 500 were produced, 160 of them were delivered to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease, the rest was exclusively operated by the British Army in Europe. Parsivals, M3s, M3A3s, and M5s continued in British service until the end of the war.

Specifications:

Crew: Three (commander, driver, radio operator)

Weight: 10.8 tons

Length: 14ft 2in (4.33 m)

Width: 7ft 4in (2.33 m)

Height: 2.49 metres (8 ft 1 1/2 in)

Suspension: Christie system

Ground clearance: 16.5" (419 mm)

Fuel capacity: 54 US gal (200 l)

Armor:

0.52 - 2 in (13 - 51 mm)

Performance:

Speed:

- Maximum, road: 40 mph (65 km/h)

- Cross country: 22 mph (36 km/h)

Climbing capability:

- 40% side slope and 60% max grade

- Vertical obstacle of 24 inches (61 cm)

- 72 inches (1,8 m) trench crossing

Fording depth: 36 inches (91 cm)

Operational range: 100 ml (160 km) on road with internal fuel

Power/weight: 23.1 hp/t

Engine:

1× Guiberson T-1020 9-cylinder radial diesel engine with a 1,021 cu in (16.73 l) displacement,

delivering 250 hp (190 kW)

Transmission:

Hydramatic, 4 speeds forward, 1 reverse

Armament:

1× 0.5” (12.7) mm M2 machine gun with 900 rounds

3× 0.303” (7,62 mm) M1919A4 machine guns

(co-axial in the turret, in the front bow and as an AA weapon on top of the turret)

with a total of 6,750 rounds

2× smoke dischargers on the turret’s right side

The kit and its assembly:

This M3 conversion was spawned by the idea of a dedicated recce variant of the popular Stuart tank. Originally, I just planned to use the chassis from a Hasegawa 1:72 kit and replace the turret with a smaller option (including lighter armament), I already had organized a resin turret for/from an American T17 “Staghound” WWII recce car. But, as always, you can drive a simple idea easily further, so that I also thought about a different suspension and other modifications that would improve the tank’s agility. This led to a Christie-style running gear and the deletion of the M3’s machine gun sponsons, which were in practice used as storage space after the machine guns had been deleted.

The Staghound turret came from a ModelTrans/Silesian Models conversion set, which also includes a nice commander figure as well as two fuel drums. The sponsons were simply cut away and the gaps filled with 0.5 mm styrene sheet – a small modification, and thanks to the M3’s boxy hull design a simple affair. Only some small PSR on the side wall implants as well as on the mudguards (which are segmented) was necessary, and this modification changes the M3’s look considerably!

The running gear was scratched and more complicated, in particular because assembly and painting had to go hand in hand. The eight road wheels actually come from a 1:72 T-72 tank from ModelCollect, their width perfectly matched the track’s and they had the same size as the M3’s large idler wheel at the rear. The road wheels’ depth just looks a little disturbing, but not implausible. The trailing idler wheel (using the original suspension arm) defined the stance and the other wheels were mounted on plastic rods to the hull, with simulated suspensions arms (styrene profile) behind them. Since the drive and idler wheels’ position effectively remained unchanged, I was able to use the OOB vinyl tracks, which are really smooth and easy to handle. However, this move necessitated to retain the return wheels – I wanted to omit them, for an even more Christie-esque look, but without them the track would have been too long and slacked through, with a lot of space between the tracks and the mudguards. Nevertheless, the return wheels’ position was slightly changed, in order to reflect the modified road wheels’ position. And the whole affair simply looks different from the original, so I am fine with it.

In order to liven the small tank up, I added the fuel drums from the Staghound set to the rear fenders and added some more boxes and folded tarpaulins (made from paper tissue drenched in thinned white glue) on the mudguards, somewhat masking the new side walls from sight. I also mounted the M3’s OOB AA machine gun to the turret.

Painting and markings:

I wanted a Northern Africa paint scheme and at first considered the iconic Caunter scheme, but then I thought that, since this livery was also used on the real British Stuarts, I rather wanted something different.

I eventually settled for a simple two-tone scheme, used on British cruiser tanks like the Crusader as well as on M3 Lee medium tanks of American origin. The basic colors I used are Humbrol 168 (Hemp) for the Light Stone tone, and Humbrol 98 (Chocolate) for the dull, dark brown.

As common practice, the basic colors were separated with thin, white lines in order to emphasize the contrast between them. Sometimes in practice, an additional black line was added, too, but due to the model’s small size I just painted a white line.

Another common practice of the British army, esp. on cruiser tanks with large wheels, was to paint the front and rear road wheels in a uniform, light color, while the wheels between them became dark – an attempt to mimic a lorry, esp. when a light “Sunshield” canopy was mounted over the hull that resembled a truck’s outline.

The model received a light wash with a mix of black, grey and brown, the decals (taken from the OOB sheet) were applied next. Over this came some dry-brushing with light grey and ochre and the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (from the rattle can). Once the tracks were mounted, the lower areas of the tank were finally dusted with a mix of sand and light grey pigments.

Even though the Hasegawa M3 was a simple basis to start with, the conversions, esp. the running gear, were quite challenging. But I like the result a lot: the Parsival looks like a slimmed-down race variant of the M3, just what I wanted to achieve, and the British camouflage suits the small tank well, too – the white contrast line adds an exotic touch.

Mum's car. Note sticker from "Auto Performance" magazine, my addition to make it go faster! AP was, and probably still is, my favourite motoring magazine. It eventually 'merged' with Cars & Car Conversions, but its blend of articles on cheap/older fast cars, tuning and budget motorsports and the like didn't really get repeated.

The blue Cavalier was registered A209OTM (why do I need to remember that?) and belonged to a neighbour. Cartell says it was a 1.6 base model and DVLA that it lasted until 1995.

R34 GTR Conversion

Hello Reddit!

Ground up moon rocks - pure poison.

If you haven't had the PLEASURE of playing portal OR portal 2... YOU ARE MISSING OUT MY FRIENDS. Anyways, I was so enamored with the 50's portion of this second installment that I had to make some designs. Should I play through the game again?

YES.

The Metric Conversion Poster is just one of the Mathematics Classroom Poster set available from The Write Prescription online teaching aid store.

Available in letter size and now 11"x17".

+++ 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:

Never colonised, Oman has benefited from a long and close alliance with Britain, which helped transform the tribal levies and palace guard of Muscat and Oman into modern armed forces. The 1950s had seen several challenges to Oman’s sovereignty, which led to the modernisation of the Sultan’s Armed Forces. This was driven by increased nationalism in the Middle East and the discovery of oil. The successful use of air power during the Jebel Akhdar Campaign provided the impetus for the formation of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman’s Air Force, as it illustrated the importance of air power.

The Swifts did not serve with the Omani forces that long - the machines had become outdated and by 1970 three had been lost (two through AA fire, one through a ground accident) and the harsh climate took its toll on the airframes and engines – by the early 1970ies all Swifts were eventually replaced by Hawker Hunter FR.10.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 42 ft 3 in (12.88 m)

Wingspan: 32 ft 4 in (9.85 m)

Height: 13 ft 2 in (4.02 m)

Wing area: 328 ft² (30.5 m²)

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

Max. take-off weight: 21,673 lb (9,381 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Avon RA.7R/114 turbojet, rated at 7,175 lbf (31.9 kN) dry thrust

and at 9,450 lbf (42.0 kN) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed: at sea level 713 mph (1,148 km/h)

Range: 630 mi (1,014 km)

Service ceiling: (service) 45,800 ft (13,960 m)

Rate of climb: (initial) 14.660 (74.5 m/s)

Armament:

2 × 30 mm ADEN cannon under the air intakes

Underwing provisions for drop tanks, bombs, AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs

or up to eight unguided missiles

The kit and its assembly:

A rather unglamorous whif kit. The Swift did not have a breathtaking career in RAF service, and the Oman is not a country that comes to your mind when you consider air power. Anyway, since Great Britain exported many aircraft in the post WWII era to "friendly countries", inclusing the Venom and the Hunter, why shouldn't the Swift have seen a second life after RAF retirement?

The kit is the Xtrakit offering, not the new Airfix kit, I had it in the stash for some time until the background story came to fruition. It's a nice rendition of the FR.5, with fine, engraved panel lines, a nice interior and superb clear parts. The only issue I had upon building it was that the wing section (which also forms a part of the lower fuselage) was 1mm too long for the fuselage opening, and the interscetion between these major parts called for some putty work.

The only personal additions are the wing pylons, the Sidewinders and the drop tanks - the Xtrakit model comes clean. The nose camera was replaced by a small radome and a new camera fairling - carved from a piece of 1.5mm styrene sheet - mounted under the fuselage. Furthermore the flaps were lowered, for a more lively look.

Painting and markings:

This livery is based on 1st generation Omani aircraft like the Provost or Strikemaster, with a livery in Dark Green, Dark Earth and Light Aircraft Grey (Humbrol 163, 29 and 166, respectively). The pattern is the original RAF scheme, just the Dark Sea Grey was replaced by Dark Earth. The cockpit became very dark grey (RAL 7021) while the landing gear remained in Aluminum. Very simple.

The Swift depicted in this model is supoosed to have seen some service, so the kit received a black ink wash and the panels were lightened, esp. directly from above, with several green and brown tones (including RLM82, Faded Olive Drab, French Earth Brown and even Israeli Armor Brown, all ModelMaster enamels).

Decals come primaily from an Xtradecal aftermarket sheet for the BAC Strikemaster, which offers several Omani aircraft. Stencils come from the OOB sheet, and some more details like the white ring behind the radome or the yellow markings on the canopy were scratched from generic stripes and sheet.

Finally, after the white AIM-9 and the drop tanks were mounted, the kit received a final coat with acrylic matt varnish.

A simple and quick project, but I think the Swift has a lot of whiffing potential - concerning both operators as well as further, fictional versions?

Conversion by The Recycle Group in S,.Antonin

Front extended out

+++ 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 early 1968, the Soviet Ministry of Defense decided to develop a specialized shturmovik armored assault aircraft in order to provide close air support for the Soviet Ground Forces. The idea of creating a ground-support aircraft came about after analyzing the experience of shturmovaya (ground attack) aviation during World War II, and in local wars during the 1950s and 1960s. The Soviet fighter-bombers in service or under development at this time (Su-7, Su-17, MiG-21 and MiG-23) did not meet the requirements for close air support of the army. They lacked essential armor plating to protect the pilot and vital equipment from ground fire and missile hits, and their high flight speeds made it difficult for the pilot to maintain visual contact with a target. Ordnance load and loiter time were also insufficient.

From 1982 on the Yak-35Ds were quickly replaced by the then-finally-ready Su-25 and relegated into second line services. Most of the remaining Yak-35Ds were kept in use for weapon training, mostly at flight academies along MiG-21 fighters until 1990, and some served as target tugs with frontline units in the Far East. No specimen was ever exported.

General characteristics

Crew: One

Length incl. pitot: 14.54 m (47 ft 7 3/4 in) incl. pitot

Wingspan: 9,52 m (31 ft 2½ in)

Height: 4.6 m (15 ft ½ in)

Empty weight: 6.525 kg (14.375 lb)

Loaded weight: 8.750 kg (19.275 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 11.400 kg (25.110 lb)

Powerplant:

2× Ivchenko AI-25T non-afterburning turbofans, each with a thrust of 1.750 kgp (3.860 lbst)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1.050 km/h (652 mph/Mach 0.9) at height, clean configuration; 825 km/h (512 mph) with external stores at sea level

Range: 1.450 km (900 mi); high, clean configuration

Ferry range: 2.500 km (1,553 mi)

Service ceiling: 14.000 m (45.850 ft)

Rate of climb: 76 m/s (14.936 ft/min)

Thrust/weight: 0.54

Armament:

2× NR-30 30mm cannons with 100 RPG

7 hardpoints for up to 2.500 kg (5.511 lb) of external ordnance, including rails for 2× IR-guided air-to-air missiles for and a wide variety of general-purpose bombs, cluster bombs, gun pods, rocket pods, drop tanks and radio-guided air-to-surface missiles like the Kh-23 or Kh-25.

The kit and its assembly:

This fantasy thing was spawned by the vague thought that one could turn the rather crude Yak-38 kit from Tsukuda Hobby into "something pretty". The plan had been lingering for some time, and when I got hands on an incomplete Yak-38 (Revell re-boxing of the kit, canopy missing) I eventually started with the surgery, letting inspiration and donation parts flow.

I had a vague idea of what the aircraft should look like, but the overall layout evolved step by step. One initial measure was to shorten the fuselage considerably: plugs from in front of and behind the original wings were cut out, and the remaining three fuselage pieces glued together. As the fuselage has an almost even diameter and shape all along its length, this turned out to be pretty easy, but still needed considerably putty work.

The original fittings for the wings and tail surfaces were then filled with styrene plugs and sanded even.

Moving the wings from their original mid-position to the shoulders was already something I had in mind before the project started. But the eventual solution just evolved as I had the fuselage ready and could judge positions and proportions.

The wings I used come from a Alpha Jet (Heller), and they were not simply stuck to the fuselage. Due to the curved back of the Yak-38 I had to add a kind of console, made from the upper wing's mid section of a Matchbox SBC Helldiver biplane (!). This connector piece was placed into a carved fairing on top of the fuselage, the new wings attached to it, and the missing bodywork sculpted with 2C putty. This way I was able to blend the new arrangement into the rest of the body with matching wing roots, without having it look as if the wings had simple been stuck onto it. The result is pretty good, looks rather organic.

The tail is new, too. Original plan had been to use the Yak-38 tail, maybe with a T-tail arrangement - but that simply did not look good. Finding a replacement was tough, I finally settled on an A-4M (Italeri) fin, which had to be modified with a clipped top, Yak-38 style, in order NOT to remind too much of the Douglas creation! It fits in shape and size, though.

New stabilizers had to be used, too - the original Yak-38 looked much too small and flimsy. A T-tail was not possible anymore, so I used a cruciform tail, A-4 style, even though the stabilizers had to be moved upwards since the Yak-38 tail is much wider than an A-4. The stabilizers themselves are new, too: a pair of F-86 fins(!), leftover from Hobby Boss kits. They are a bit thick, but look great and blend well into the whole arrangement.

The main landing gear was taken OOB, but with new wheels and extra struts fitted. The front wheel is totally new, it belongs to a Fiat G-91. The cockpit received a new seat (from a MiG-29), a pilot figure and a primitive dashboard, and a donation canopy had to be found and integrated (I think it comes from a Tamiya 1:100 F-105).

All around the hull small details were added, including the seven pylons and the rocket pod ordnance.

Painting and markings:

It took a while and some research to turn up a suitable, tactical paint scheme. Normally I keep whifs rather subtle, and I did not want to paint the Yak-35 in a dark green/brown scheme, typical for Eastern Europe aircraft.

Afghanistan was a vague idea, a desert/mountainous scheme, as well as the Su-25 prototype which appreared at Le Bourget ("301 Blue"), with its two-tone brown livery and a few green accents.

I finally found a Su-7UM trainer in a light, three-tone camouflage which I transplanted on my Yak-35. It consists of two sand tones (Humbrol 187 and 63) and a green tone (Humbrol 155). Looks rather surreal! The undersides are kept in Russian Blue (Humbrol 115).

Since much of the fuselage consists of pure putty and re-engraving would be rather hazardous I painted panel lines, with a mix of sepia ink and acrylic matt varnish. A second-best solution, but the result is O.K., when you do not take a closer look...

The whole thing received a light wash with black ink in order to emphasize panel line and details and the leading edges were lightly dry-brushed with pale grey. Basic colors were also ‘tamed down’ trough dry painting with shades of light beige and grey, for a worn and bleached look.

Cockpit interior was painted in typical, Soviet "anti fatigue" turquoise, the landing gear was painted in a mix of Aluminum and Olive Drab. Di-electric panels were painted in a bright green, a mix of Humbrol 2 and 175.

Most markings come from the scrap box, insignia and tactical code come from a Carpena Decals 1:72 MiG17 aftermarket sheet.

This thing was a major surgical act, but turned out nicely. With an arrestor hook this could also have become a maritime fighter bomber, e. g. an alternative to the French Dassault Ètendard or the Jaguar M? It looks familiar, has some serious Su-25 appeal, yet the thing looks unique. And the desert/mountain style paint scheme suits the aircraft well.

Hdad. Montserrat