View allAll Photos Tagged downsides
What's In My Bag: Travel Edition
Check out the notes!
We're off to Italy tomorrow morning, yay! South Tyrol, to be precise. I'm excited! I'm pretty sure it's gonna be just as awesome as our vacation in Denmark last summer, the weather's supposed to be great and being in the mountains always makes me happy. The only downside is, I'm not gonna be uploading while we're there (unless they have Wifi where we are staying, which seems rather unlikely), but I will be taking my laptop (just in case) and I will try to update my Instagram every now and again, so make sure to follow me there (@luisatakespictures). Anyway, I'll be sharing tons and tons of pictures once we're back, so until then: I love you guys, hope you have an amazing week!
(Here's what was in my everyday handbag a couple months ago.)
BEST VIEWED LARGE ON BLACK--still with out internet service,at my sons today. Will be a few day before I'm able to leave comments. Thanks for viewing.
The evening walk around Stratton-on-the-Fosse on our first day staying in the village.
Checking out Downside Abbey after closing time, and just before sunset.
The Abbey Church of St Gregory the Great.
Grade I Listed Building
Abbey Church of St Gregory the Great, Downside Abbey
Description
In the entry for:
STRATTON-ON-THE-FOSSE FOSSE WAY
ST 65 SE (west side)
13/187
Abbey Church of St
Gregory The Great,
Downside Abbey and
School
GV
I
The address shall be amended to read:
ST 65 SE FOSSE WAY
5/187 (west side)
Abbey Church of St
Gregory The Great,
Downside Abbey
- I
and the description shall be amended to read
Abbey church and north cloister. Commenced 1873 and as yet unfinished (west front
and two bays of nave are missing). Main building periods 1872-82, c.1890, 1901-5,
1911-12, c.1923-25, 1938. Architects in date order, A M Dunn and E J Hansom,
Thomas Garner, F.A.Walters, Sir G.G.Scott. Interior fittings and furnishings by
the principal architects and Sir J N Comper. Bath stone ashlar with red plain
tile roofs, the east end chapels roofed very conspicuously in copper sheeting.
Abbey church consists of nave with blind aisles and gallery chapels to south over
north cloisters, by Sir G G Scott 1922-25 incorporating temporary west front, in
simplified early Perpendicular style. Transepts with chapels opened 1882 and base
of tower 1884, by A Dunn and E Hansom in early English style; tower finished 1938
by Scott in Somerset Perpendicular. Choir 1902-05 by Thomas Garner in early
Decorated style; east end, ambulatory and radiating chapels with large projecting
Lady Chapel opened 1888 by Dunn and Hansom in a French C13 style. Of the earliest
work by Dunn and Hansom the 2 bays transepts have a rose window to the north,
south transept with tower on south side; tower with much emphasised doorway and
with gabled canopy with figures; with Scott's addition it rises to about 166 ft,
corner buttresses, pinnacles, 3 tiers of 2-light bell-chamber windows. Eight bay
nave with triforium and clerestorey, pierced parapet, 2-light windows, rich
tracery, west end (unfinished) with triple lancets. Chancel of 7 bays, with tall
transomed clerestory windows, pierced parapets, flying buttresses, massive end
pinnacles, 3-light east window. Chapels at east end with much emphasis on
facetted roofs. Interior rib-vaulted in C13 French style; nave with tall
Perpendicular arcades; triforium in Decorated style; richly fitted and furnished
with much high quality work including altars, carvings, tombs, paintings and
stained glass; canopied tomb of Cardinal Gasquet (d.1929) by Sir G G Scott, effigy
by E Carter Preston. The Lady Chapel was decorated, glazed, paved and screened by
Comper.
'The most splendid demonstration of the renaissance of Roman Catholicism in
England' (Pevsner) it was built for a community of Benedictine monks, founded at
St Gregory's monastery at Douai in Flanders in 1607, house re-established in
England 1795, present estate purchased 1813.
References: Pevsner. Buildings of England, North Somerset and Bristol 1958 and
for full description of church: James, Dom Augustine. The Story of Downside Abbey
Church 1961. Fitzgerald-Lombard, Dom C.A guide to the Church of St Gregory the
Great Downside Abbey, 1981.
------------------------------------
STRATTON-ON-THE-FOSSE CP FOSSE WAY (West side)
ST65SE
13/187 Abbey Church of St. Gregory The
Great, Downside Abbey and School
-
GV I
Abbey Church, and north cloister. Work commenced 1872 and as yet unfinished, viz. west end of Abbey Church. For
community of Benedictine monks, founded at St Gregory's Monastery at Douai in northern France, 1601; house
re-established in England 1795, present estate purchased 1814. Bath and Doulting stones, lias; tile and copper sheeting
roofs. Abbey Church consists of nave with blind aisles and gallery chapels to south over north cloister, by Sir G G
Scott c1923-25 incorporating temporary west front, in simplified French Perpendicular style. Transepts with chapels and
base of tower c1882, by A Dunn and C Hansom in rich Early English style; tower finished 1938 by Scott in Somerset
Perpendicular. Chancel c1901-05 by Thomas Garner in Early Perpendicular style; east end, ambulatory and radiating
chapels with large projecting Lady Chapel c1890 by Dunn and Hansom in French Perpendicular style. Of the earliest work
by Dunn and Hansom the 2 bay transepts have a rose window to the north, south transept with tower on south side; tower
with much emphasised door opening, gabled canopy with figures; with Scott's addition it rises to about 160 m, corner
buttresses, pinnacles, 3 tiers of 2-light bell-chamber windows. Eight bay nave with triforium and clerestory, pierced
parapet, 2-light windows, rich tracery, west end with triple lancets. Chancel of 7 bays, with tall transomed clerestory
windows, pierced parapets, flying buttresses, massive end pinnacles, 3-light east window. Chapels at east end with much
emphasis on facetted roofs. Interior rib-vaulted in C13 French style; nave with tall Perpendicular arcades; triforium
in Decorated style; richly fitted and furnished with much high quality work including carvings, tombs, paintings and
stained glass; tomb and recess by Sir Ninian Compter. (Pevsner, Buildings of England, North Somerset and Bristol, 1958;
Fitzgerald-Lombard Dom C, A Guide to the Church of St Gregory the Great Downside Abbey, 1981).
Listing NGR: ST6550550832
I've allways had a soft spot for classic, rod-driven electrics. Among them, the swiss SBB Ae3/6 II has tempted me mainly for two reasons: it has a pretty interesting siderod arrangement, and the two-axle pony truck would make it easy to power it with 9v. I thought I'd give it a shot in LDD and here's how far I got last weekend.
The main challenge was the complex arrangement of two offset jackshafts, overlapping with the three driving axles, and connected to them thru interlinked driving and side rods. On the real thing, the triangular driving rods both interconnect the two jackshafts and transmit their torque to the central driver and the side rod via a slotted crank pin. In theory, only horizontal and no vertical forces are being transmitted, with the slot allowing for slight vertical motion to reduce stress on rods and crank pins. My goal was to capture that mechanical detail in my model.
Seen at the top is the first version; it renders the connection between driving rod and side rode pretty well, as it allows the latter to slightly slide vertically on the 6553 'pole reverser handle'. I was skeptical towards it working in the brick, but it actually did very well. The downsides are that it doesn't look much like the prototype, and the center driver is not connected to the rod. Finally, the running gear came out way to tall.
So, on to version two (bottom). It is 2 plates lower, and the coupled rods look much better in my eyes. In addition, the center driver is now connected to the rods, and it is so thru a nearly prototypical slotted crank pin. The disadvantage is that I had to stretch the drivers section by two studs. The over all length is still okay, but mounting flanged L drivers 12 studs apart is probably not such a good idea, and so I decided to move the blind drivers to the outer axle which in turn will increase overhang. Haven't tested it yet, but will do so as soon as I have digged out enough of those 1x2 thin liftarms.
What I haven't tried out at all yet is how well the complete assembly works with the 9v motor and the pony axle attached to the drivers section. Lots of work to do on what will become yet another entry to my looong list of wip projects :-)
As usual, your valuable expert feedback is highly appreciated!
Abbey Church of St Gregory The Great, Downside Abbey, Fosse Way
Grade I Listed
List Entry Number: 1058633
Details
In the entry for:
STRATTON-ON-THE-FOSSE FOSSE WAY ST 65 SE(west side) 13/187 Abbey Church of St Gregory The Great, Downside Abbey and School GV I The address shall be amended to read:
ST 65 SE FOSSE WAY 5/187 (west side) Abbey Church of St Gregory The Great, Downside Abbey
- I
and the description shall be amended to read
Abbey church and north cloister. Commenced 1873 and as yet unfinished (west front and two bays of nave are missing). Main building periods 1872-82, c.1890, 1901-5, 1911-12, c.1923-25, 1938. Architects in date order, A M Dunn and E J Hansom, Thomas Garner, F.A.Walters, Sir G.G.Scott. Interior fittings and furnishings by the principal architects and Sir J N Comper. Bath stone ashlar with red plain tile roofs, the east end chapels roofed very conspicuously in copper sheeting.
Abbey church consists of nave with blind aisles and gallery chapels to south over north cloisters, by Sir G G Scott 1922-25 incorporating temporary west front, in simplified early Perpendicular style. Transepts with chapels opened 1882 and base of tower 1884, by A Dunn and E Hansom in early English style; tower finished 1938 by Scott in Somerset Perpendicular. Choir 1902-05 by Thomas Garner in early Decorated style; east end, ambulatory and radiating chapels with large projecting Lady Chapel opened 1888 by Dunn and Hansom in a French C13 style. Of the earliest work by Dunn and Hansom the 2 bays transepts have a rose window to the north, south transept with tower on south side; tower with much emphasised doorway and with gabled canopy with figures; with Scott's addition it rises to about 166 ft, corner buttresses, pinnacles, 3 tiers of 2-light bell-chamber windows. Eight bay nave with triforium and clerestorey, pierced parapet, 2-light windows, rich tracery, west end (unfinished) with triple lancets. Chancel of 7 bays, with tall transomed clerestory windows, pierced parapets, flying buttresses, massive end pinnacles, 3-light east window. Chapels at east end with much emphasis on facetted roofs. Interior rib-vaulted in C13 French style; nave with tall Perpendicular arcades; triforium in Decorated style; richly fitted and furnished with much high quality work including altars, carvings, tombs, paintings and stained glass; canopied tomb of Cardinal Gasquet (d.1929) by Sir G G Scott, effigy by E Carter Preston. The Lady Chapel was decorated, glazed, paved and screened by Comper.
'The most splendid demonstration of the renaissance of Roman Catholicism in England' (Pevsner) it was built for a community of Benedictine monks, founded at St Gregory's monastery at Douai in Flanders in 1607, house re-established in England 1795, present estate purchased 1813.
References: Pevsner. Buildings of England, North Somerset and Bristol 1958 and for full description of church: James, Dom Augustine. The Story of Downside Abbey Church 1961. Fitzgerald-Lombard, Dom C.A guide to the Church of St Gregory the Great Downside Abbey, 1981.
------------------------------------
STRATTON-ON-THE-FOSSE CP FOSSE WAY (West side) ST65SE 13/187 Abbey Church of St. Gregory The Great, Downside Abbey and School -
GV I
Abbey Church, and north cloister. Work commenced 1872 and as yet unfinished, viz. west end of Abbey Church. For community of Benedictine monks, founded at St Gregory's Monastery at Douai in northern France, 1601; house re-established in England 1795, present estate purchased 1814. Bath and Doulting stones, lias; tile and copper sheeting roofs. Abbey Church consists of nave with blind aisles and gallery chapels to south over north cloister, by Sir G G Scott c1923-25 incorporating temporary west front, in simplified French Perpendicular style. Transepts with chapels and base of tower c1882, by A Dunn and C Hansom in rich Early English style; tower finished 1938 by Scott in Somerset Perpendicular. Chancel c1901-05 by Thomas Garner in Early Perpendicular style; east end, ambulatory and radiating chapels with large projecting Lady Chapel c1890 by Dunn and Hansom in French Perpendicular style. Of the earliest work by Dunn and Hansom the 2 bay transepts have a rose window to the north, south transept with tower on south side; tower with much emphasised door opening, gabled canopy with figures; with Scott's addition it rises to about 160 m, corner buttresses, pinnacles, 3 tiers of 2-light bell-chamber windows. Eight bay nave with triforium and clerestory, pierced parapet, 2-light windows, rich tracery, west end with triple lancets. Chancel of 7 bays, with tall transomed clerestory windows, pierced parapets, flying buttresses, massive end pinnacles, 3-light east window. Chapels at east end with much emphasis on facetted roofs. Interior rib-vaulted in C13 French style; nave with tall Perpendicular arcades; triforium in Decorated style; richly fitted and furnished with much high quality work including carvings, tombs, paintings and stained glass; tomb and recess by Sir Ninian Compter. (Pevsner, Buildings of England, North Somerset and Bristol, 1958; Fitzgerald-Lombard Dom C, A Guide to the Church of St Gregory the Great Downside Abbey, 1981).
Listing NGR: ST6550550832
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1058633
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Downside Abbey.
The Abbey of St Gregory the Great at Downside, commonly known as Downside Abbey, is a Benedictine monastery in England and the senior community of the English Benedictine Congregation. One of its main apostolates is the Downside School, for the education of children aged eleven to eighteen. Alumni of the school are known as Old Gregorians.
Both the abbey and the school are located at Stratton-on-the-Fosse between Westfield and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, South West England.
Downside Abbey has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner described the Abbey as "the most splendid demonstration of the renaissance of Roman Catholicism in England"
Foundation and development.
The community was founded in 1605 at Douai in Flanders, then part the Spanish Netherlands, under the patronage of St Gregory the Great, (who had sent the monk, St Augustine of Canterbury, as head of a mission to England in 597). The founder was St John Roberts, who became the first prior and established the new community with other English monks who had entered various monasteries within the Spanish Benedictine Congregation, notably the principal monastery at Valladolid. In 1611 Dom Philippe de Caverel, abbot of St. Vaast's Abbey at Arras, built and endowed a monastery for the community.
The Priory of St. Gregory was therefore the first English Benedictine house to renew conventual life after the Reformation. For nearly 200 years the monastery trained monks for the English mission and six of these men were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929. Two of them, Saints John Roberts and Ambrose Barlow, were among the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
French troops invaded Flanders during the French Revolution. The monastic community was expelled by them, after a period of imprisonment, and in March 1795 the community was permitted to proceed to England. They settled for some 20 years as guests of Sir Edward Smythe at Acton Burnell, Shropshire, before finally settling at Mount Pleasant, Downside, in Somerset, in 1814.
The monastery was completed in 1876 and the abbey church in 1925, being raised to the rank of a minor basilica in 1935 by Pope Pius XI.
The building of Downside abbey church was begun in the 19th century, and ended with completion of the nave after World War I. The church houses the relics of St. Oliver Plunkett, archbishop of Armagh, Irish martyr, executed at Tyburn in 1681, who entrusted the disposal of his body to the care of a Benedictine monk of the English Benedictine Congregation. The church is one of only three in the United Kingdom to be designated a minor basilica by the Roman Catholic Church, the others being St. Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham and Corpus Christi Priory, Manchester.
The church is built in the Gothic Revival style, and is designed to rival in size the medieval cathedrals of England that were lost to the Catholic Church through the Reformation. The earliest part is the decorated transepts by Archibald Matthias Dunn and Edward Joseph Hansom, dating from 1882.[10] The choir is the work of Thomas Garner (who is buried there), dedicated in 1905. The nave by Giles Gilbert Scott (c. 1923-25) remains unfinished, with its western wall in crude Lias stone standing bare and undecorated.
The Lady chapel is acknowledged as one of the most complete and successful schemes of Sir Ninian Comper, with a reredos and altar furnishings incorporating medieval fragments and a reliquary containing the skull of St Thomas de Cantilupe. The tower, completed in 1938, at 166 feet (55 m), is the second highest in Somerset. The choir stalls are modeled on the stalls in Chester Cathedral.
The Abbey Cemetery, primarily a burial ground for the community, also contains two war graves of World War II, a Lieutenant of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and a Sub-Lieutenant of the Royal New Zealand Navy.
© 2015 Thousand Word Images by Dustin Abbott
I've just launched my newest review of a lens that is about four years old but continues to be intriguing option because it is compact, versatile, and has exellent optics. It has the typical Zeiss downsides: price and manual focus only, but is a great option nonetheless. You can get review information here:
Written Review: bit.ly/1wdxsj3
Video Review: bit.ly/14DRZXD
Image Gallery: bit.ly/1zhIE5q
Enjoy this series of photos of the lens itself.
Technical information Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 100mm f2.8L IS USM, Processed in Adobe Lightroom 5
Want to know more about me or make contact? Take a look at my website and find a lot of ways to connect and view my work.
Yes you can! You can do overhead shots with the Sony NEX-F3 - just move the screen out about 45 degrees, turn the camera upside down, and start shooting.
Please Visit My Photo Blog at:
Check out my eBook about the Nex-6 / 5R at:
St Benedict (c.480-c.547) was born in Nurcia (Italy) and was edicated in Rome. Turning his back on the worldliness he encountered there, he retired to live as a hermit in a cave near Subiaco. His fame spread and disciples began to join him, whom he organized into twelve small monasteries. He eventually moved to Montecassino, where he founded the famous abbey, and produced his Rule, drawing on the monastic wisdom of the Christian EAst as well as earlier Western Rules and his own practical experience. He was proclaimed patron of Europe by Pope Paul VI because of his essential influence in the formation of Christian Europe.
This stained glass detail of the saint is from Downside Abbey.
A downside of traveling with all my parts in a small bin is that after a few hours of building, half my parts have exploded onto my work surface -- and they all have to get packed back in before my next move. Sigh. Other than that, it's a good challenge, I'm happy with the builds coming out of it, and very rarely have I missed any parts I left at home. It's true what they always say about design -- the more limitations you have, the closer you are to a solution.
On the downside, we had a VERY early flight (6:00 a.m.) to get to Chicago, so we stayed at the Calgary Airport the night before we left. The upside was our room had a terrific view of the tarmac, runways, and downtown skyline!
"Thy cradle here shall glitter bright,
and darkness breathe a newer light
where endless faith shall shine serene
and twilight never intervene."
- from St Ambrose's hymn, 'Veni Redemptor Gentium".
Detail from Comper's alabaster reredos in the Lady chapel of Downside Abbey church.
Steptoe Butte is a stone thimble situated in the heart of Eastern Washington farmland. It’s the biggest bump around, and the from the top you can see 200 miles in any direction you choose to look. If you’re hungry for long views after a winter of clouds and storms, especially if your view has been an urban one, this is place for you. There were a couple of downsides to my visit: the wind was blowing so hard I couldn’t hold the camera steady, and the road to the top of the butte is a real white-knuckler. I had to wonder what would happen if there was a vehicle coming down while I was going up. I’d probably still be there, saying something like, “Hey, don’t rush me! I backed up almost two inches that time!” Native Americans called this butte “the power mountain,” believing that a journey to the summit bestowed a gift of power from the mountain’s guardian spirit. And I really did feel more powerful going down than I did going up. Of course, I was on the inside, bluff-hugging part of the road then, which might have helped.
"In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"" - Luke 1:26-28.
Detail of a window by Sir Ninian Comper in the Lady chapel of Downside Abbey church.
Today, 25 March, is the Solemnity of the Annunciation.
Rte "215A Downside Common - Kingston". The route was re-numbered to the 215 30/12-67, later this section was w/d on 19/7/69 between Cobham & Downside.
The downside to living on top of a hill in a village is having a small house for the money.
This view is the trade off :0)
+++ 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 80th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) was constituted on 13 January 1942 and activated on February 1942. It was redesignated as the 80th Fighter Group in May 1942. During World War II, the group was the first USAAF unit to be stationed in Burma after the Allied retreat in 1942. During its two years in combat, this group, which called itself the Burma Banshees, kept the supply lines open to China while clearing the way for Allied forces and US Army units such as Merrill's Marauders to sweep Japanese forces from northern Burma.
The 80th trained for combat and served as part of the defense force for the northeastern United States from, 1942–1943. Its flying squadrons were the 88th, 89th, and 90th Pursuit (later Fighter) Squadrons, later augmented by the 459th Fighter Squadron.
The 80th sailed for India, via Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope, and Ceylon, in May 1943, commencing combat operations in the China-Burma-India theater in September 1943. The group supported Allied ground forces during the battle for northern Burma and the push southward to Rangoon, bombing and strafing troop concentrations, supply dumps, lines of communication, artillery positions, and other objectives.
Initial flying material consisted mainly of the P-40 and a few P-38 fighters. Using modified, so-called “B-40 fighter” bombers (P-40s fitted with a single 1,000-pound bomb), the 80th FG attacked Japanese-held bridges, sometimes demolishing their target with a single bomb. The 80th was assigned the defense of the Indian terminus of the Hump route, which it carried out by striking Japanese airfields and patrolling Allied air bases to safeguard them from attack. The 80th received a Distinguished Unit Citation for intercepting a formation of Japanese aircraft, preventing the destruction of a large oil refinery in Assam, India, on 27 March 1944. During this engagement, they shot down 18 enemy machines without losing any of their own.
After the capture of Myitkyina and the nearby airfield on May 17, 1944, parts of the 80th Fighter Group relocated to this location. During the heavy fighting around Kohima and Imphal, the British troops deployed there requested air support and the 80th Fighter Group was able to successfully thwart the Japanese advance. In the further course of the operations in Burma, the pilots of the 80th Fighter Group destroyed more than 200 bridges held by the Japanese and shot down around 80 Japanese planes.
Though its primary mission in Burma was the protection of the "Hump" cargo route, the group also played an important role in reopening the Ledo/Burma Road.
From mid-1944 onwards, the P-40s were supplemented and gradually replaced with the new, much more potent P-47 Thunderbolt. With their heavier machine gun armament (eight instead of six 0.5” machine guns) and a much higher ordnance load of up to 2,500 lb (1,100 kg) of bombs, unguided rockets and M10 “Bazooka” launchers, this new aircraft type proved to be very effective.
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American aerospace company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to eight tons, making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war. The Thunderbolt was effective as a short-to medium-range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat and ground attack in both the European and Pacific theaters. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp 18-cylinder radial engine, which also powered two U.S. Navy/U.S. Marine Corps fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. The P-47 became one of the main United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighters of World War II and also served with other Allied air forces, including those of France, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the USAAF also flew the P-47. The Thunderbolt’s armored cockpit was relatively roomy and comfortable. Nicknamed the "Jug" owing to its appearance if stood on its nose, the P-47 was noted for its firepower, as well as its ability to resist battle damage and remain airworthy.
From October 1944 the operations of the 80th Fighter Group in Northern Burma concentrated on the destruction of the routes of the Burma Railway. Operations with army support (operating as "cab ranks" to be called in when needed) were very successful, with attacks on enemy airfields and lines of communication, and the aircraft flew a number escort sorties. An 80th FG squadron could finally be relocated to Shingbwiyang and was thus in the immediate vicinity of Ledo Street, which was under construction. The squadron flew many sorties against advancing Japanese forces and was instrumental in the capture of Myitkyina. Napalm bombs, a new weapon and initially improvised from drop tanks with makeshift fins, were also used with devastating effect, but some of them very close to the company's own lines.
By the end of the war, the group had destroyed more than 200 bridges and killed scores of bridge repair crews. Air-to-air and air-to-ground sweeps by the group's pilots claimed 80 enemy planes destroyed in the air or on the ground. The 80th Fighter Group was withdrawn from combat in May 1945 and inactivated in November.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 36 ft 1.75 in (11.02 m)
Wingspan: 40 ft 9 5/16 in (12.429 m)
Height: 14 ft 8 1/16 in (4.472 m)
Airfoil: Seversky S-3
Empty weight: 10,000 lb (4,536 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 17,500 lb (7,938 kg)
Powerplant:
1 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59 18-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 2,000 hp (1,500 kW),
driving a 4-bladed Curtiss Electric C542S constant-speed propeller, 13 ft (4.0 m) diameter
Performance:
Maximum speed: 426 mph (686 km/h, 370 kn) at 30,000 ft (9,100 m)
Range: 1,030 mi (1,660 km, 900 nmi)
Service ceiling: 42,000 ft (13,000 m)
Armament:
8x 0.5” caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns (3.400 rounds)
Up to 2,500 lb (1,100 kg) of bombs, drop tanks and/or up to ten 5” (130 mm) unguided rockets
The kit and its assembly:
This is a very modest what-if model – just a fictional livery on a stock model, and part of the ongoing plan to “build down” The Stash™ of kits during the ongoing Corona lockdown. The idea behind it was spawned by a number of decals for P-40s for the 80th FG I found in my scrap box, which all carried spectacular skull markings on their noses. I wondered if and how these could be adapted to another aircraft type – and the P-47 lent itself for this project due to its sheer “canvas” size, despite having a radial engine, and being the natural successor of the P-40 in USAAF service.
From that I spun the idea further and settled for an early Razorback P-47D, in the form of the very nice Academy kit. The kit was basically built OOB, it went together nicely without major fights – a trait that I really like about most Academy kits. The only true weak spot of the P-47 is the flaps’ undersides: they are pretty thick/massive, so that there are shallow sinkholes. These are easy to fill, though, even though I ignored this flaw and rather lowered the flaps, a mod that’s pretty easy to do.
An addition is a scratched D/F loop antenna on a streamlined socket behind the cockpit, a typical feature of P-47s operated in the BMI theatre. The loop was created with thin wire, the socket is a piece of sprue, integrated into the spine with some putty. As a late-production Razorback Thunderbolt I gave the aircraft a Curtiss Electric paddle-bladed propeller, which the Academy kit offers as an optional piece.
The ordnance was also taken from the kit: a pair of Bazooka triple launchers for ground attack duties and a drop tank under the fuselage.
Painting and markings:
A simple affair: as an early P-47, I gave the aircraft the standard USAAF livery of olive drab and neutral grey. I used Tamiya XF-62, IMHO the best interpretation of the tone, and ModelMaster 1740, actually FS 36231 instead of FS 36173, but the Dark Gull Grey is a bit lighter than Neutral Grey and looks IMHO better on the 1:72 scale model. AFAIK, no P-47 carried the earlier mid-green blotches on the wings anymore. The cockpit was painted in Interior Green, while the landing gear wells became zinc chromate yellow, very traditional.
The individual aircraft markings were more spectacular and also challenging. The real eye-catcher is pair of 80th FG skulls on the cowling flanks, even though these had to be completed with paint since they come from a Hobby Boss P-40N and feature empty sections for the exhaust stubs. The empty eye sockets had to be added manually, too, and since there was now a lot of white, I added – after consulting pictures of 80th FG P-40s - thin black lines to the skull with a felt tip pen. A real improvement, and it’s even authentic!
Furthermore, I added 1st Air Commando Group markings in the form of five white diagonal stripes around the rear fuselage. This group operated in the BMI area, e.g. P-51s, B-25s and even P-47s, but the 80th FG was not part of it. Nevertheless, the stripes suit the Razorback very well, and they were created with generic 2mm decal stripes from TL Modellbau. Each stripe had to be applied and trimmed individually, not an easy task on the conical tail with its concave and convex surface. The result is not perfect, but I am fine with it, and it looks very cool.
Pictures of early USAAF P-47s in the BMI are hard to find, but what I found suggests that Allied machines wore single bands on wings and tail surfaces as additional ID markings from 1943 on, much like the P-47s over Europe. On later NMF aircraft, these were dark blue (on both USAAF and RAF aircraft), and I was lucky to have a complete set of white P-47 markings left over from an Xtradecal set for SEAC RAF Thunderbolts, which comes with pre-cut bands in white and blue, very convenient! On the downside, the white fuselage stripes dramatically revealed that the P-47’s OOB decals, esp. the Stars and Bars, lacked opacity, so that I had to add some white paint manually to hide the resulting mess.
Typical unit markings of the 89th FS are a red spinner, and since the P-47 has only a small one, I added a thin red frame around the cowling, as carried by later real-world 89th FS P-47s, which were left in bare metal, though. As a gimmick I painted the wheel hubs in red, too. As a personal marking of the pilot I christened the aircraft “The Big Fella”, taken from an Irish pre-WWII armored car, and I added some air victory markings.
As usual, the kit received a black ink washing overall and some post panel shading with Revell 42 and 46 on the upper surfaces and ModelMaster 2105 (Dark French Blue Gray) underneath for visual drama and weathering. Some light soot stains around the gun muzzled were created with graphite, oil stains under the fuselage with Tamiya “Smoke”.
While this was not a complex build and even the livery is pretty close to real world standards, I like the outcome and how the skull markings stand out on the huge P-47. The array of fuselage stripes are an interesting visual extra, even though I was afraid that they were, together with the white ID stripes on the wings, a bit too much. The red highlights are an interesting contrast, too, and IMHO the whole decoration works fine. Everything fictional, but plausible and believable.
Downside whip shot with a nikon D3 105mm F2 DC lens and quantum Qflash camera right just outside of frame as a fill