The Porsche 356 of 1948 was not the very beginning of the story. But it serves as a good starting point.

Up in the Austrian mountains, in Gmünd, the Porsches began building their small sportscar, based around the mechanical layout of the VW Beetle (of which they had been a part). The 356 was similarly small, but lighter. The 356 shows a common link to other light post-war sportscars in that it appears very 'spare' - because it is. There was very little ornamentation.

Speed was achieved, despite the model 1,100 cc boxer engine producing a mere 39.5 PS and 70 Nm, through a low frontal area, and very clean aerodynamics. Sporting handling was achieved by low weight (770 kg), and a low centre of mass.

A combination of these characteristics, mixed with the reliability that comes with engineers with solid experience in delivering quality, blessed the 356 with a competitive racing pedigree, and a growing reputation, in Europe and in the US.

The 356 would continue to evolve with larger, more powerful engines, greater performance, along with fewer donor VW parts, until the iconic 911 in 1963, continuing for another two years until directly replaced by the 4-cylinder 912.

10217 – Diagon Alley™

Ages 14+. 2,025 pieces.

US $ 149.99 CA $ 199.99 UK £ 132.75 DE 149.99 €

Expand your very own wizarding world of Harry Potter™!

No need to pass through the Leaky Cauldron. Now even Muggles can shop in Diagon Alley by building this fantastically magical set that includes 3 extensively detailed buildings and 11 minifigures! Join Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger as they shop for their Hogwarts school supplies. Visit Ollivanders, Borgin and Burkes, and Gringotts Bank. Each Diagon Alley building is realistically detailed. Ollivanders offers an extensive selection of wands, storage shelves and a step ladder that allows Ollivander to gather wands from the top floor. The front desk has an “exploding” function for those inconvenient times when a spell goes awry. Borgin and Burkes includes a scary skeleton, “glow-in-the-dark” elements, a fireplace attached to the Floo Network and a Vanishing Cabinet that Dark wizards might use to sneak into Hogwarts. Gringotts Bank is an impressive two-story building with large double doors, and can be opened completely into one large building or closed to create one smaller building. The bank’s interior features a removable vault, along with the Philosopher’s Stone, a clerk’s desk, a chandelier and ‘wonky’ support pillars. Includes 11 minifigures: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, each with magic wand; Rubeus Hagrid, equipped with his pink umbrella; Fred and George Weasley; 2 Gringotts goblins; Mr. Ollivander; Lucius Malfoy (with Death Eater disguise); Fenrir Greyback; and 4 new, decorated owls.

• Includes 11 minifigures: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, each with magic wand; Rubeus Hagrid, equipped with his pink umbrella; Fred and George Weasley; 2 Gringotts goblins; Mr. Ollivander; Lucius Malfoy (with Death Eater disguise); Fenrir Greyback; and 4 new, decorated owls!

• Diagon Alley is made up of 3 extensively detailed buildings: Ollivanders, Borgin and Burkes and Gringotts Bank!

• Ollivanders features lots of wands, storage shelves and a step ladder that leads to the top floor!

• Front desk at Ollivanders has an “exploding” function!

• Borgin and Burkes includes a skeleton, “glow-in-the-dark” elements, fireplace attached to the Floo Network and even a Vanishing Cabinet!

• Gringotts Bank is a two-story building featuring large double doors!

• Open Gringotts Bank completely into one large building and explore inside or close it to create a smaller building!

• Gringotts Bank features a detailed interior with a removable vault, the Philosopher’s Stone, clerk’s desk, chandelier and ‘wonky’ support pillars!

• Includes 11 minifigures: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, each with magic wand; Rubeus Hagrid, equipped with his pink umbrella; Fred and George Weasley; 2 Gringotts goblins; Mr. Ollivander; Lucius Malfoy (with Death Eater disguise); Fenrir Greyback; and 4 new, decorated owls!

• Ollivanders measures 8" (20 cm) high and 5" (13 cm) wide!

• Borgin and Burkes measures 8" (20 cm) high and 7" (18 cm) wide!

• Gringotts Bank measures 8" (21 cm) high and 4" (10 cm) wide when closed, 8" high and 9" (23 cm) wide when opened wide!

• Completed model (depending on how much space is allocated between individual parts) measures 24" (60 cm) long and 12" (30 cm) deep and 8" (21 cm) high!

Available for order directly through LEGO® beginning January 2011 via shop.LEGO.com or via phone

+++ 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 Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Late in 1917, Fokker built the experimental V 11 biplane, fitted with the standard Mercedes D.IIIa engine. In January 1918, IdFlieg held a fighter competition at Adlershof, and for the first time, front line pilots participated in the evaluation and selection of new fighters. Fokker submitted the V 11 along with several other prototypes. Manfred von Richthofen flew the V 11 and found it tricky, unpleasant and directionally unstable in a dive. On short notice, Platz reacted and lengthened the rear fuselage by one structural bay and added a triangular fin in front of the rudder. Richthofen tested the modified V 11 and praised it as the best aircraft of the competition. It offered excellent performance from the outdated Mercedes engine, yet was safe and easy to fly. Richthofen's recommendation virtually decided the competition but he was not alone in recommending it. Fokker immediately received a provisional order for 400 production aircraft, which were named D.VII by IdFlieg.

After the war, the Allies confiscated large numbers of D.VII aircraft after the Armistice. The United States Army and Navy evaluated no less than 142 captured examples and used them in what would today be called “aggressor” units for dissimilar air combat in training and for the development of indigenous military aircraft. Several of these aircraft were re-engined with American-built Liberty L-6 motors, which were very similar in appearance to the D.VII's original German power plants and hard to tell apart. France, Great Britain and Canada also received numbers of war prizes, but these aircraft did not enter active service. Other countries used the D.VII operationally, though: the Polish deployed approximately 50 aircraft during the Polish-Soviet War, using them mainly for ground attack missions; the Hungarian Soviet Republic used a number of D.VIIs, both built by MAG and ex-German aircraft in the Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919; the Dutch, Swiss, and Belgian air forces also operated the D.VII. The aircraft proved still so popular that Fokker completed and sold a large number of D.VII airframes that he had smuggled into the Netherlands after the Armistice. As late as 1929, the Alfred Comte company manufactured eight new D.VII airframes under license for the Swiss Fliegertruppe.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 6.95 m (22 ft 10 in)

Wingspan: 8.9 m (29 ft 2 in)

Height: 2.75 m (9 ft 0 in)

Wing area: 20.5 m² (221 sq ft)

Empty weight: 670 kg (1,477 lb)

Gross weight: 906 kg (1,997 lb)

Powerplant:

1 × 137.95 kW (185 hp) BMW IIIa 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston engine with a 180 kW (240 hp)

emergency only rating at low level, driving a wooden 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 189 km/h (117 mph, 102 kn) at normal power

200 km/h (124 mph; 108 kn) at emergency power

Range: 266 km (165 mi, 144 nmi)

Service ceiling: 6,000 m (20,000 ft)

Rate of climb: up to 9.52 metres per second (1,874 ft/min) at emergency rating

Time to altitude:

1,000 m (3,281 ft) in 1 minutes 40 seconds

2,000 m (6,562 ft) in 4 minutes 5 seconds

3,000 m (9,843 ft) in 13 minutes 49 seconds

4,000 m (13,123 ft) in 10 minutes 15 seconds

5,000 m (16,404 ft) 14 minutes 0 seconds

6,000 m (19,685 ft) 18 minutes 45 seconds

Armament:

2× synchronized 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08/15 "Spandau" machine guns,

firing through the propeller disc

The kit and its assembly:

My fifth submission for the “Captured” group build at whatifmodellers.com, and a very simple one, since the kit was built OOB. Inspiration came from a profile of a captured Albatros D.III in USAAC markings, unfortunately without further explanation. However, the aircraft sported a garish paint scheme, including bright green and even pink, so that I assumed that it would be not only WWI booty, but also in some operational use, since the paint scheme/camouflage did not look like a German pattern, but rather like an American design, similar to the aircraft operated by the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in continental Europe, just with bright colors.

When I checked options for a different aircraft to apply this idea to, I came across the common Fokker D.VII and the fact that a lot of these aircraft had been captured and tested/flown by the USAAC – and then the weird scheme started to make sense, and this what-if model was born.

The D.VII kit is the ESCI offering, which was released in 1983 but is actually a mold from 1968. I thought I gave it a chance, instead of the Revell kit, which dates back to 1963 and is rumored to be not a pleasant build. The bet and newest one in 1:72 is probably the Eduard kit, which also has the benefit of offering optional parts for various production versions.

As a small biplane model, the ESCI kit is a simple, straightforward affair, and no major conversions were made, I just added a pilot figure, because the ESCI kit lacks one as well as any interior detail except for a kind of tub that it molded into the fuselage halves. IIRC, the figure I used comes from a Revell biplane, and I had to chop the legs off to make it fit into the D.VII’s tight cockpit. However, this solution had the benefit that I did not have to worry about any interior details.

Another weak point of the ESCI kit is that it lacks some finer details like the boarding ladder or handles at the tail. These were scratched with thin wire. Overall fit is also not the best – PSR on the fuselage halves, and on some visible ejection markers (e.g. under the single-part wings) and sinkholes. Esp. the integral cockpit tub with its rather massive walls left visible dents in the flanks that had to be filled! On the other side, the fabric structure on the wings and the fuselage is nicely reproduced, and the cowling is apparently from a late production D.VII with additional/bigger air scoops, so I decided that my model would also be one of the final machines with the uprated BMW engine.

A problem that cannot be blamed on the mold but rather the specific 2nd hand kit I bought is that the stabilizer was missing – it had probably detached from the sprue long ago, and slipped through the box lid, gone and eaten by some carpet monster… ☹ I had to improvise and decided to cut a replacement stabilizer from 1mm styrene sheet. I used the painting instructions (which are almost 1:72 scale) as benchmark and tailored a piece of sheet into shape, sanding away the edges for some light curvature and also added some shallow grooves to mimic the rib structure. Not perfect, but I also did not want to spend too much time on this. As a bonus, though, I added the (tiny) rudder levers of the tail surfaces and the ailerons, which originally are also not part of the ESCI mold. These were later, after painting, outfitted with wires during the final rigging process with heated sprue material – thankfully the D.VII does not require too many strings, just some wires between the landing gear struts and on the tail.

Painting and markings:

The funnier part, with many, really bright colors united in a tiny space – almost like an anime movie prop! I stuck to the original Albatros benchmark and applied scheme, colors and markings truthfully to the D.VII. Paints/tones became, as a guesstimate, Humbrol 155 (Olive Drab), 7 (Light Buff), 47 (Sea Blue) and a mix of 200 (Pink) with a little 68 (Purple), maybe at a 5:1 ratio, for a deeper tone. The contrast between the colors is pretty strong and aircraft looks very individual!

The wing struts were painted in black, the interior in a light olive drab tone. The engine was painted with Revell 99 (Aluminum) and treated with grinded graphite for a more metallic look, and the propeller was painted with a streaky wet-in-wet mix of Humbrol 71 and 113.

The roundels come from a Hobby Boss F4F, and since they have a rather odd style with a kind of dark blue border, they suit the model pretty well, because these roundels were introduced around 1920, so that deviations from the later, “classic” look appear plausible. The tactical code comes from an RAF Gloster Gladiator and the BuNo on the fin were created from a post-war Spitfire code.

A light black ink washing was applied, and some light post-shading was done, in order to emphasize edges and the boxy form of the aircraft with its fabric-covered surfaces. After the decals had been applied, I also added an overall light dry-brushing with khaki drill (Humbrol 72) and light grey (Revell 75). Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri), final bits were assembled and the rigging was added.

A simple build, but a very colorful one – hard to believe that there were aircraft in real life that actually looked this way! But the small D.VII now really stands out among “seriously” camouflaged biplanes in my collection, a very picturesque model. BTW, I am also surprised how effective the camouflage is, at least in the air - despite the garish colors!

YES! This is a sunrise... not a sunset... :) This image's colour has not been changed or processed in PS... This is the original colour.

I woke up and the sky was orange! The sun was about to rise... so I got up and took my camera out!

I think this image wouldn't have as much character if the bird wasn't on the light post....

Hmmm....

An old disused light-post being re-purposed.

FASHION, ART, SEX

Das begehbare Guy Bourdin Magazin auf der Outdoor Galerie Jungfernstieg

In Kooperation mit den Deichtorhallen Hamburg zeigen

der Verein „Lebendiger Jungfernstieg e.V.“und die Europa Passage Fotografien von Guy Bourdin in City Light Poster Vitrinen von JCDecaux.

Fotografie in einer öffentlichen, für den Besucher kostenfreien

Ausstellung am Jungfernstieg. In dieser Zeit wird hier ein begehbares Magazin mit

Fotografien von Guy Bourdin (1928-1991) errichtet.

Die Ausstellung beeindruckt im besonderen Maße durch die von Hamburgs„Stadtmöblierer“

JCDecaux bereitgestellten hinterleuchteten CityLightPosterVitrinen.

Darin werden insgesamt 9 doppelseitige Motive präsentiert.

DurchGuy Bourdins Arbeit für die besten Modemagazine war die Doppelseite eine besondere Herausforderung für ihn.

Er entwickelte seine Bilder immer so, dass der bilddurchtrennende Falz kompositorisch gleich mit mitgedacht wurde.

Die Vitrinen helfen die Denkweise Bourdins zu illustrieren und lassen die Besucher durch die Doppelseiten hindurchwandeln.

Auburn, Indiana

A shot of two CD 252 and a CD 221 Hemingray insulators used on a street light post.

All around the courthouse in downtown Auburn, Indiana they use three styles of glass insulators for the street light posts.

The shot in the comment section is more of a close up shot of the same street light post.

Pentax K-1, SMC Pentax-M 200/4

Stitch of 12 landscape-oriented images in Microsoft ICE

For PentaxForums.com Single in May Challenge

My first venture to First Friday in years.

Despite my failure to realized SR was turned off all night, the shots turned out pretty much OK, I think. Haha!

Finn Finistair steps up to lean against the fence and spies the small child wandering along behind them. "Whut is this," he mutters, "some bluddy sairt a parade?" He takes to a knee, opening the pack again, and withdrawing a pair of binoculars, and a small object the size of a cellular phone. He reslings his pack and glances to see if anyone else was wandering by.

Cal Mirajkar comes to a halt and lazily turns to look at the child. Tilting her head to one side and forcing a small smile, she says in her faked masculine accent "Do you needing something..?"

Finn Finistair glances up at Cal as she questions the girl. He tightens the strap on his thigh holster, and slowly stands, watching the child.

Jaina Lefevre peeks around the corners when she gets to them and waits a few steps before peeking around the corner. She watches him crouch down and looks up at Cal. "A netbook, but Mama says I gotta wait."

Cal Mirajkar raises one eyebrow at this, glancing to her Irish companion for assistance "A... Netbook? What is that?"

Finn Finistair grimaces slightly at that answer, glancing over his shoulder at the ruins, and then down the battered street toward the Legion barricade.

Jaina Lefevre steps a little closer and leans against the light post. "Is those the ones with in-fah-red? Or the night kind? Trackin' stuff or what?"

Naomi Shuffle was running on the rooftops then she notices the two from before and jumps onto the light post looking down at them she was laughing wondering why they were acting all weird. But she didn’t want to say anything just yet

Finn Finistair stares down at the young child, a look of some slight consternation on his face. "Thay're th' infra rayd toipe, lass," he answers her. "You've sayn these koinda glasses b'fore have ya?"

Cal Mirajkar smirks faintly, mildly amused by the little girl and watching her thoughtfully whilst totally unaware of the masked figure stalking around over their heads.

Jaina Lefevre nods. "Uh huh. THe ones that got the green trackin' parts is better. There's pack peoples in there. You want to meet them? They helped me when I got grabbed by the Boom Man." She glances up, and frowns. "Youse is gonna fall."

Finn Finistair frowns at the little girl, then follows her gaze up to the lightpost where the neko's legs are just visible. He sighs heavily, looking back at Cal for a moment, and then at the little girl. "Pack paypul?" he asks. "D'you mayn th' hoibrids Oi've been hearin' about?"

Naomi Shuffle hops down landing on the ground roughly on her fours. Making a soft ‘meep’ sound when she landed, but she got up and giggles as she looks at the well built man with the backpack.

Cal Mirajkar just shrugs at Finn, standing idle to let him deal with the pair, her tail flicking lazily. After a moment she mumbles to herself in Arabic absently whilst rolling her eyes.

Jaina Lefevre nods. "Yeah. They don't like it if you get in their place." She looks at the one that was on the light, then back to the funny talking guy.

River Grau skids to a stop as he sees Jaina and moves towards her. "Did you tell Bastian we were gonna beat him up?"

Finn Finistair looks down at the little girl. "An' you c'n intraduce me to onna them, can ya, lass?" he prompts the child.

Jaina Lefevre turns to look at River and rolls her eyes. "He's a shithead." Yes, Jaina swore. She looks back at Finn. "I could. Maybe. Whatcha gonna do with it?"

Naomi Shuffle she walks close to the well built make almost in your face close. She leaned in giving him a sniff, wondering if he had a friendly scent or not. Then she back up slightly and tilted her head as she looked at him

River Grau crossed his arms over his chest, "I don't care if he's a shithead, but if you're gonna start a group 'bout helpin' kids we ain't allowed to beat 'em up just 'cause you don't like him. It ain't like he's hurtin' nobody." His eyes flicked between Jaina and Finn, listening to what they were speaking about.

Finn Finistair smiles down at the girl, shrugging. "Look, talk, dail..." he says quietly. "You jest fetch one, lass, and lait me wurry about what 'appens after, eh?" He looks down at the neko...sniffing...at him. "Oi smell arroit ta you, then, lass?"

Cal Mirajkar raises her eyebrow whilst watching her fellow Hybrid get in Finn's face, a small smile quickly banished before she coughs pointedly "Is getting late, you are still wanting to venture no?"

Finn Finistair nods at Cal, "Aye," he agrees with her, "'tis a'that. Let's be off then. This shouldna' take long." With that, he pivots away from the child and the other neko, slipping between the fences and moving off into the ruins.

Cal Mirajkar follows swiftly, vaulting over the broken fence panel and ambling along after the bold Irishman.

Jaina Lefevre looks at River and crosses her arms. "I'm doin' business here. Bastian was mean t'me and lied to people. That's not helpin'." She looks over to Finn. "I could..." she stops as he walks away. "Great. You blew it."

River Grau rolls his eyes now. "He's tryin' to do business with everyone he meets with that Mills lady. An' his pay sucks. But whatever. I don't care if he was mean an' lied. Tellin' him the Tengu was gonna go after him was *wrong*. An' if this is how you're gonna treat the group, like we're gonna hurt people instead of helpin' them, I am out."

Finn Finistair crouches for a moment, raising the glasses to his eyes and scanning the horizon quickly. He speaks, without looking back at Cal, "Jest keep a shairp eye out," he murmurs, sweeping the glasses back again, this time more slowly. His finger works on a small button on the side, depressing it regularly.

Naomi Shuffle slips into the fence wanting to follow them, she would try to be sneaky though. Creeping up on the quietly as she eyes up the well built man.

Cal Mirajkar's eyes were plenty sharp, peering through the dimming twilight to see the strange hybrid following them. Reaching down with her good arm, she'd tap Finn on the shoulder gently to draw his attention "Your friend's following us." She mumbles quietly.

Finn Finistair stows the goggles and flips open the small cell-phone-like device. He looks down at it, the green display illuminating his face with a ghastly light. As he turns from side to side, he breaks out in a wide smile. He turns slowly to look behind them, squinting. "Wha' the little gairl or t'other wun?" he asks.

Jaina Lefevre mutters. "That kitty is lookin' at the funny-talk guy like she's gonna bite him." She sighs and turns to River. "You can't quit. You swore an oaf. And I told Bastian he couldn't beat me up 'cause my friends'd stick together."

River Grau shakes his head, "He ain't gonna beat you up, he told me he won't. And the oath was, we keep eachother safe from the adults. Not form a group that's mean and hurts other children 'cause you don't get along. Oath breaks, I leave." He says sternly. A hand motioned to the man in the distance. "He's still there if you wanna make your deal."

Cal Mirajkar keeps her eyes on the stranger whilst mumbling again just loud enough for him to hear "Other one."

Jaina Lefevre: "He's gotta tell /me/ he won't." She hugs her arms around herself. "Don't like you bein mean to me. He was mean and the Soz lady came in and she was scary and it was bad night. Just do whatcha want. I'm gonna go."

Finn Finistair grunts, shaking his head for a moment, peering through the gloom at the neko who'd followed. "You paypul are surely persaistant, Oi'll give ya that..." he remarks, then turns and works his way carefully down the rubble toward the shattered wall of a building. He crouches there and slips on a pair of battered work gloves.

Cal Mirajkar hesitates for a time, watching the other hybrid carefully before turning on her heel to wander down after Finn once again, glancing around as she walks for anyone else nearby.

Naomi Shuffle sighs and she walk towards no longer trying to be sneaky since she was already noticed by the man, she stood on top of that hill that the two were just on.

River Grau turns, "I ain't bein' mean to you. I'm sayin', we ain't startin' the group to be mean to other kids Jaina. The ones we don't like don't gotta be in the group, but we're helpin' everyone. Not just people that are in the group. And if that's bein' mean, fine."

Jaina Lefevre sighs. "You didn't ask. You just said. You was mean." She looks down the street and notices Kat. "River..."

River Grau: The oath is we help kids from adults. If we hurt or do somethin' to kids, that is breakin the oath. An' I am gone. ::He frowns:: Yeah, I did say. And I ain't gonna ask. You don't *ask* 'bout that kinda stuff. "Oh, gee. Jaina. Can we not hurt other kids?" ::He rolls his eyes once again, a wve being sent towards Kat down the street::

Shadowkat Wrigglesworth raises a slender brow a she heard the conversation from the kids and folded her arms infront of her chest as she walked. The tiger would think quietly to herself as she returned the wave to River. She would then keep walking unless stopped. She'd have to Conor about this little group that was forming and figure out exactly which adults was watching over them.

Jaina Lefevre looks over at Kat and offers her a little wave then looks at River. "Don't threats me. I don't like it. You wanna be nice to -everyone- now when you is mean to people all the time and sometimes -I- is the only one nice to you? Now you got a Daddy and you is gonna be mean to -me-?"

Serafina Fall skated (and lagged) straight past River and Kat, turned a bit with a flip of her ankles and perfectly straight posture. She just kept a casual roll along, flanking the side of the street and catching bits of conversation.

River Grau snorts, arms crossing over his chest. "I may be mean, but I take care of 'em. Even the people who I am mean to. First time Rai attacked me, I dragged him into church when there was gun shots. Doesn't mean I don't look out for people. And now I'm lookin' out for Bastian. He ain't gonna hurt you, and we ain't your army to threaten with. I ain't threatenin' nobody, just sayin' how it is."

Jaina Lefevre watches Fina skate by and then glances at River. "You be mean to me and you can be someone else's body guards." She looks back at Fina. "What's that?"

River Grau turns his head over his shoulder to look at Jaina. "Fine." He watches Fina with the skateboard.

Serafina Fall coasted by... again.. the end of her red hair flapping like errant memories of Pippi Longstocking. Skin was a bit dirty, greased, but she didn't seem like your bum-cum-requisite coke addicted street kid. Uh, not that there were many of those. She waited for the 'It's a Fina' response and waved, smiling with a peace sign.

Jaina Lefevre sighs. "Fine." She turns and kicks a rock, starting to walk away.

River Grau ginned as he watched the girl ride the skateboard. "That's so cool, Fina! I wanna get one!" He didn't look to Jaina as she walked away.

Serafina Fall: "I can show you how..." she replied, but eyes were on the girl tucking around the corner. ".. Think you want to fix that?"

Jaina Lefevre sticks her fingers in her pockets and keeps watching her toes as they kick stuff. Stupid gang. Stupid Bastian. He ruins everything.

River Grau shakes his head, "Nah, she's tellin' people I am gonna beat them up for her 'cause she doesn't like 'em. I'm not being part of that and she got angry when I said so."

Jaina Lefevre hears the tail end of that. "DID NOT!" she yells and keeps walking.

Serafina Fall bit her lip. Hard. It was cute, and she pawed the ground again to coast several feet forward at a grinding pace. "... Sounds like she dis-a-grees.. whyncha go talk to her?'

River Grau shouts out to Jaina, "You said you were gonna get the group to. *I* am part of the group. So you did too!" He snorts, looking back to Fina and the skateboard.

Jaina Lefevre shouts back. "DID NOT! HE LIES! THAT'S WHY I HATE HIM!"

In the Gümüşler rupestrian city, Turkey.

Original shot taken with a Rolleiflex TLR, Carl Zeiss Tessar 75mm f3,5, 6x6 format on Fujifilm neopan 400 asa black and white film, light post processing.

Taking a dog for a walk by the lake

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

Following World War II the Allies dissolved the Wehrmacht with all its branches on 20 August 1946. However, already one year after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in May 1949 and because of its increasing links with the West, the Consultative Assembly of Europe began to consider the formation of a European Defence Community with German participation on 11 August 1950.

Only a small number (40 plus two prototypes) of Spähpanzer Puma (Neu) were eventually converted or re-build from spares, but they became in 1957 the launch equipment of the Bundeswehr’s armored reconnaissance brigades, together with M8 Greyhound scout cars donated by the USA, even though the latter were soon complemented and replaced by tracked vehicles, based on the Schützenpanzer Kurz. However, due to their high road speed and excellent range, the Puma (Neu) scout cars were popular and remained in service until the late Seventies, when a new generation of 8x8 reconnaissance vehicles in the form of the amphibious Spähpanzer Luchs was introduced and replaced all 1st generation Bundeswehr vehicles.

Specifications:

Crew: Four (commander, gunner, driver, radio operator/2nd driver)

Weight: 10.500 kg (23,148 lbs)

Length: 6.02 m (19 ft 9 in)

Width: 2.36 m (7 ft 9 in)

Height: 2.84 metres (9 ft 4 in)

Suspension: Independent on each wheel, with leaf springs

Track width: 1.95 m (6 ft 4 1/2 in)

Wading depth: 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)

Trench crossing capability: 2m (6 ft 6 1/2 in)

Ground clearance: 350 mm (13 3/4 in)

Climbing capability: 30°

Fuel capacity: 240 l

Armor:

9-30 mm (.35-1.18 in) steel armor

Performance:

Maximum road speed: 80 km/h (49 mph)

Operational range: 800 km (500 mi)

Fuel consumption: 30 l/100 km on roads, 45 l/100 km off-road

Power/weight: 17 PS/t

Engine:

Air-cooled, supercharged 10,622 cc (648³ in) Magirus-Deutz F8L 614K V8 diesel engine,

with 132 kW (180 hp) output at 2.500 RPM

Transmission:

Büssing-NAG "GS" with 6 forward and reverse gears, eight-wheel drive

Armament:

1× 20 mm (0.79 in) Rheinmetall (Hispano-Suiza) MK 20 Rh202 autocannon with 750 rounds

1× co-axial 7.62 mm MG42/57 light machine gun 2.000 rounds

The kit and its assembly:

This German 8x8 vehicle is a contribution to the “Back into service” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in late 2019. Beyond aircraft I also thought about (armored) vehicles that could fit into this theme, and the SdKfz. 234/2 “Puma” (even though this popular name was never official!) came to my mind, because it was a very effective vehicle with many modern features for its time. So, what could a modernized Puma for the young Bundeswehr look like…?

The starting point became the very nice Hasegawa SdKfz. 234/2 kit, which did not – except for some PSR between the hull halves – pose any complications. I did not want to change too much for the Bundeswehr update, but new/wider wheels and a new, more modern turret with a light post-war weapon appeared sensible.

The wheels come from a ModelTrans aftermarket resin set for the LAV-25 – they are quite modern, but they do not look out of place. Their different, more solid style as well as the slightly bigger diameter and the wider tires change the Puma’s look considerably. In order to mount them, I modified the suspension and cut away the former attachment point on the four axles, replacing them with thin, die-punched styrene discs. This reduced the track width far enough so that the new, wider wheels would fit under the original mudguards. It’s a tight arrangement, but does not look implausible. The spare wheel, normally mounted to the vehicle’s rear, was omitted.

The turret was taken from a Revell “Luchs” Spähpanzer kit, but simplified so that it would have a more vintage look. For instance, the machine gun ring mount above the commander’s hatch was omitted, as well as the rotating warning light and the modern smoke grenade dischargers. The latter were replaced by the WWII triple dischargers from the Hasegawa kit, for a more vintage look.

To my astonishment, the Luchs turret was easy to mate with the Puma chassis: its attachment ring diameter was almost identical! The new part could be attached almost without a problem or modification. I just added some reinforcements to the hull’s flanks, since the Luchs turret is slightly wider than the SdKfz. 234/2’s horseshoe-shaped turret. Beyond that, only small, cosmetic things were added, like mirror fairings for both drivers above their workstations, license plates at the front and the rear and antennae.

Painting and markings:

Creating an early Bundeswehr vehicle is a simple task, because there is only one potential color option until the Eighties: a uniform livery in Gelboliv (RAL 6014). Due to the livery’s simplicity, I used a rattle can to paint hull, turret and wheels separately.

After some detail painting, a very dark brown wash with acrylic paint and some post shading with Revell 42 (also Gelboliv, but a rather greenish and bright interpretation of the tone) as well as dry-brushing with Revell 46 and 45 along the many edges were used to weather the model and emphasize details. After decals had been applied (mostly from a Peddinghaus sheet for early Bundeswehr vehicles, plus some tactical markings from the Revell Luchs), the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

Once dry and completed, some artist pigments were added around the wheels and lower hull in order to simulate dust and dirt. On the lower chassis, some pigments were also "cluttered" onto small patches of the acrylic varnish, so that the stuff soaks it up, builds volume and becomes solid - the perfect simulation of dry mud crusts. I found the uniform livery to look quite dull, so I added some branches (real moss, spray-painted with dark green acrylic paint from a rattle can) to the hull – a frequent field practice.

This was a very quick project – in fact, the model was completed in the course of just one evening, and painting it was a quick affair, too, lasting only another day. However, I like the result. The SdKfz. 234/2 already had a quite modern look in its original guise, but the new wheels and the Luchs turret change its look considerably, it really has an even more modern feel that fits well into the early Bundeswehr era.

This may be my favorite from this shoot, I have a few more to finish and put up though.

Finals week is pretty much here, and I have a punch of photos to put up as soon as it's over. Who wants to book a shoot over winter break? =)

--| D80

--| 50mm 1.8

--| Natural light

--| Post in PS CS4

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Strobist:

I had two 580EXs shooting from his right and left to highlight his right arm, and one to highlight the left side of his face. Also used a Speedotron 805 pack with 202VF head and a 56" umbrella to for overall light.

Post Processing

I then performed a subtle version of David Hills technique on the photo. This exercise has taught me that his style of photography has A LOT to do with light.

Side note:

The stars in his glasses was the sun, not an effect from PS. My buddy is an aspiring rapper so I thought it was kinda fitting that he has stars in his eyes.

Model: Xiao

Please check out music video of this model at www.youtube.com/user/TheKoffeeAddict/videos

With the snow finally melting, I can once again see the light post that my wife has near our front door. There is a solar light on top that helps to illuminate the sidewalk once it gets dark.

Sticker photographed on a light post

Marquette Michigan

Saturday July 25th 2020

+++ 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 Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Late in 1917, Fokker built the experimental V 11 biplane, fitted with the standard Mercedes D.IIIa engine. In January 1918, IdFlieg held a fighter competition at Adlershof, and for the first time, front line pilots participated in the evaluation and selection of new fighters. Fokker submitted the V 11 along with several other prototypes. Manfred von Richthofen flew the V 11 and found it tricky, unpleasant and directionally unstable in a dive. On short notice, Platz reacted and lengthened the rear fuselage by one structural bay and added a triangular fin in front of the rudder. Richthofen tested the modified V 11 and praised it as the best aircraft of the competition. It offered excellent performance from the outdated Mercedes engine, yet was safe and easy to fly. Richthofen's recommendation virtually decided the competition but he was not alone in recommending it. Fokker immediately received a provisional order for 400 production aircraft, which were named D.VII by IdFlieg.

After the war, the Allies confiscated large numbers of D.VII aircraft after the Armistice. The United States Army and Navy evaluated no less than 142 captured examples and used them in what would today be called “aggressor” units for dissimilar air combat in training and for the development of indigenous military aircraft. Several of these aircraft were re-engined with American-built Liberty L-6 motors, which were very similar in appearance to the D.VII's original German power plants and hard to tell apart. France, Great Britain and Canada also received numbers of war prizes, but these aircraft did not enter active service. Other countries used the D.VII operationally, though: the Polish deployed approximately 50 aircraft during the Polish-Soviet War, using them mainly for ground attack missions; the Hungarian Soviet Republic used a number of D.VIIs, both built by MAG and ex-German aircraft in the Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919; the Dutch, Swiss, and Belgian air forces also operated the D.VII. The aircraft proved still so popular that Fokker completed and sold a large number of D.VII airframes that he had smuggled into the Netherlands after the Armistice. As late as 1929, the Alfred Comte company manufactured eight new D.VII airframes under license for the Swiss Fliegertruppe.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 6.95 m (22 ft 10 in)

Wingspan: 8.9 m (29 ft 2 in)

Height: 2.75 m (9 ft 0 in)

Wing area: 20.5 m² (221 sq ft)

Empty weight: 670 kg (1,477 lb)

Gross weight: 906 kg (1,997 lb)

Powerplant:

1 × 137.95 kW (185 hp) BMW IIIa 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston engine with a 180 kW (240 hp)

emergency only rating at low level, driving a wooden 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 189 km/h (117 mph, 102 kn) at normal power

200 km/h (124 mph; 108 kn) at emergency power

Range: 266 km (165 mi, 144 nmi)

Service ceiling: 6,000 m (20,000 ft)

Rate of climb: up to 9.52 metres per second (1,874 ft/min) at emergency rating

Time to altitude:

1,000 m (3,281 ft) in 1 minutes 40 seconds

2,000 m (6,562 ft) in 4 minutes 5 seconds

3,000 m (9,843 ft) in 13 minutes 49 seconds

4,000 m (13,123 ft) in 10 minutes 15 seconds

5,000 m (16,404 ft) 14 minutes 0 seconds

6,000 m (19,685 ft) 18 minutes 45 seconds

Armament:

2× synchronized 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08/15 "Spandau" machine guns,

firing through the propeller disc

The kit and its assembly:

My fifth submission for the “Captured” group build at whatifmodellers.com, and a very simple one, since the kit was built OOB. Inspiration came from a profile of a captured Albatros D.III in USAAC markings, unfortunately without further explanation. However, the aircraft sported a garish paint scheme, including bright green and even pink, so that I assumed that it would be not only WWI booty, but also in some operational use, since the paint scheme/camouflage did not look like a German pattern, but rather like an American design, similar to the aircraft operated by the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in continental Europe, just with bright colors.

When I checked options for a different aircraft to apply this idea to, I came across the common Fokker D.VII and the fact that a lot of these aircraft had been captured and tested/flown by the USAAC – and then the weird scheme started to make sense, and this what-if model was born.

The D.VII kit is the ESCI offering, which was released in 1983 but is actually a mold from 1968. I thought I gave it a chance, instead of the Revell kit, which dates back to 1963 and is rumored to be not a pleasant build. The bet and newest one in 1:72 is probably the Eduard kit, which also has the benefit of offering optional parts for various production versions.

As a small biplane model, the ESCI kit is a simple, straightforward affair, and no major conversions were made, I just added a pilot figure, because the ESCI kit lacks one as well as any interior detail except for a kind of tub that it molded into the fuselage halves. IIRC, the figure I used comes from a Revell biplane, and I had to chop the legs off to make it fit into the D.VII’s tight cockpit. However, this solution had the benefit that I did not have to worry about any interior details.

Another weak point of the ESCI kit is that it lacks some finer details like the boarding ladder or handles at the tail. These were scratched with thin wire. Overall fit is also not the best – PSR on the fuselage halves, and on some visible ejection markers (e.g. under the single-part wings) and sinkholes. Esp. the integral cockpit tub with its rather massive walls left visible dents in the flanks that had to be filled! On the other side, the fabric structure on the wings and the fuselage is nicely reproduced, and the cowling is apparently from a late production D.VII with additional/bigger air scoops, so I decided that my model would also be one of the final machines with the uprated BMW engine.

A problem that cannot be blamed on the mold but rather the specific 2nd hand kit I bought is that the stabilizer was missing – it had probably detached from the sprue long ago, and slipped through the box lid, gone and eaten by some carpet monster… ☹ I had to improvise and decided to cut a replacement stabilizer from 1mm styrene sheet. I used the painting instructions (which are almost 1:72 scale) as benchmark and tailored a piece of sheet into shape, sanding away the edges for some light curvature and also added some shallow grooves to mimic the rib structure. Not perfect, but I also did not want to spend too much time on this. As a bonus, though, I added the (tiny) rudder levers of the tail surfaces and the ailerons, which originally are also not part of the ESCI mold. These were later, after painting, outfitted with wires during the final rigging process with heated sprue material – thankfully the D.VII does not require too many strings, just some wires between the landing gear struts and on the tail.

Painting and markings:

The funnier part, with many, really bright colors united in a tiny space – almost like an anime movie prop! I stuck to the original Albatros benchmark and applied scheme, colors and markings truthfully to the D.VII. Paints/tones became, as a guesstimate, Humbrol 155 (Olive Drab), 7 (Light Buff), 47 (Sea Blue) and a mix of 200 (Pink) with a little 68 (Purple), maybe at a 5:1 ratio, for a deeper tone. The contrast between the colors is pretty strong and aircraft looks very individual!

The wing struts were painted in black, the interior in a light olive drab tone. The engine was painted with Revell 99 (Aluminum) and treated with grinded graphite for a more metallic look, and the propeller was painted with a streaky wet-in-wet mix of Humbrol 71 and 113.

The roundels come from a Hobby Boss F4F, and since they have a rather odd style with a kind of dark blue border, they suit the model pretty well, because these roundels were introduced around 1920, so that deviations from the later, “classic” look appear plausible. The tactical code comes from an RAF Gloster Gladiator and the BuNo on the fin were created from a post-war Spitfire code.

A light black ink washing was applied, and some light post-shading was done, in order to emphasize edges and the boxy form of the aircraft with its fabric-covered surfaces. After the decals had been applied, I also added an overall light dry-brushing with khaki drill (Humbrol 72) and light grey (Revell 75). Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri), final bits were assembled and the rigging was added.

A simple build, but a very colorful one – hard to believe that there were aircraft in real life that actually looked this way! But the small D.VII now really stands out among “seriously” camouflaged biplanes in my collection, a very picturesque model. BTW, I am also surprised how effective the camouflage is, at least in the air - despite the garish colors!

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

No. 19 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed on 1 September 1915, from members of No. 5 Squadron, at Castle Bromwich training on a variety of aircraft before being deployed to France in July 1916 flying Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12 and re-equipping with the more suitable French-built SPAD S.VIIs. From November 1917, the squadron started to receive Sopwith Dolphins to replace its SPADs, it being fully equipped with the Dolphin during January 1918, flying its first operational patrol with the new fighter on 3 February. In 1917, the squadron was re-equipped with Sopwith Dolphins, flying escort duties.

After their introduction in mid-1945, the Spitfire LF.16’s service with RAF No. 19 Squadron was only short and lasted only several months. In October 1946, the unit moved again, from Northumberland southward to RAF Wittering at the boundary between Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. There, the Spitfires were retired or handed over to RAuxAF units. NR 761 was handed over to No. 614 (County of Glamorgan) Squadron where it served until July 1950 (replaced with D. H. Vampires), and No. 19 (F) Squadron converted to the de Havilland Hornet Mk. I, which were operated for about five years until January 1951 when the Squadron received their first jet aircraft, the Gloster Meteor F.4.

General characteristics:

Crew: one pilot

Length: 31 ft 2 in (9,55 m)

Wingspan: 32 ft ½ in (9,93 m)

Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m)

Wing area: 242.1 sqft (22.48 m²)

Airfoil: NACA 2209.4(tip)

Empty weight: 5,065 lb (2,297 kg)

Loaded weight: 6,622 lb (3,000 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 8,731 lb (3,946 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin 266 liquid-cooled V12 engine with a two speed, two-stage supercharger,

rated at 1.470 hp (1.096 kW) at 9.250 ft (2.820 m), maximum output of 1.710 hp (1,276 kW),

driving a 4 blade constant speed Rotol airscrew with Jablo or Hydulignum wood blades

Performance:

Maximum speed: 415 mph, (364 kn, 669 km/h)

Combat radius: 411 mi (360 nmi, 662 km)

Ferry range: 1,135 mi (991 nmi, 1,827 km)

Service ceiling: 40,500 ft (13,265 m)

Rate of climb: 2,600 ft/min (13.2 m/s)

Wing loading: 27.35 lb/sqft (133.5 kg/m²)

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

Armament:

2x 20mm Hispano Mk II cannon (120 RPG)

2x 0.5 in (12,7 mm) Browning machine guns (250 RPG)

Three hardpoints (1 ventral, 1 under each outer wing) for up to 1.000 lb (454 kg)

The kit and its assembly:

My submission for the 2022 “One Week” Group build at whatifmodellers.com, a tactical choice. This is what would at warthunder.com be called a “semi-authentic” whif. The inspiration came when I found a leftover decal sheet from the classic Matchbox P-51D/K Mustang kit, which offers the famous and pretty ‘Dooleybird’ KM 272 as a painting option from May 1945. I wondered how long the aircraft had carried this bright livery, and eventually found out that RAF No. 19 Squadron operated the Mustang only for a couple of months after the end of WWII, replaced by Spitfire LF.16s. This became the simple concept for this whif: what would such a Spitfire have looked like?

For the kit I went for Heller’s venerable Spitfire LF.16 kit: it is pretty cheap and still a decent representation of the last Merlin-powered type, despite some flaws. I also was happy that I could build the model basically OOB, without major modifications, saving time for the short group build period of just nine days for the model itself and the pictures. However, the Heller kit has its weaknesses: surface details are raised (yet quite fine), the cockpit interior is complete with bulkheads and a separate seat, but highly simplified. The same goes for the landing gear wells and the radiators: they are molded into the main parts. Detail freaks will certainly wrinkle their noses, but for the kit’s typical price it’s O.K. and there are certainly worse Spitfire kits in 1:72 around!

A fundamental problem, though: The overall material thickness is rather poor, what causes troubles when you glue the fuselage halves together and when inserting the wing section into its respective hull opening: aligning and simply attaching everything is hazardous, the wings are later so wobbly that their seams frequently break up!

The main landing gear is also very flimsy, and why the mold designers decided to use only half of the already tiny locator pins as attachment points is beyond my understanding. The legs are so wobbly that they hardly hold the model up – I had to support them with superglue.

Nevertheless, the kit was built totally OOB, I just implanted a styrene tube adapter for the propeller with a longer axis.

Painting and markings:

This was quite challenging, and I have the impression that the original RAF KM 272 and its livery are just as elusive and speculative as Indian Air Force C992, a MiG-21FL that carried a spectacular tiger stripe livery – often offered as a painting option in kits or depicted in artwork, but these are only based on blurry b/w pictures that do not reveal the aircraft’s actual colors and do not show details like the underside. The ‘Dooleybird’ seems to be a similar affair, and the more you try to find out about the aircraft, the more controversial the details become – esp. under the light that the aircraft apparently operated only for a couple of months in this livery in peacetime, so there cannot have been many variations.

For instance: what’s the color of the anti-glare panel? US-style olive drab or black? Or was it even dark blue? And how would this translate onto a later Spitfire? The cheatline under the anti-glare panel is controversial, too: Matchbox and some others depict it as dark blue (reflecting the white-and-blue spinner and the checkered collar behind it, No. 19 Squadron’s unit colors), while Airfix offers deep yellow with its recent 1:48 kit. Well, I do not believe in the latter, because a b/w picture of KM 272 at Airfix’ website that is used as reference for the model(!) shows the cheatlines in a relatively dark color, while the yellow wing leading edges are much lighter. Even when you consider different angles and light reflections of the respective areaa, I do not buy the yellow trim on the fuselage – so I stuck with the blue, which IMHO also looks better and more plausible. I coupled this with a black anti-glare panel; typical post-war Spitfires did not feature such a panel at all and were all-silver, but to replicate KM 272’s looks on the different airframe I kept it. As s side benefit, the dark panel stretches the Spitfire LF.16’s elegant lines with its low rear section even further.

Another dubious detail: the color of the codes. The Matchbox kit shows them in black, but roundel blue could have been an option, too. And even the ‘Dooleybird’ tag in red is not 100% certain: I have found an aftermarket decal sheet that shows it in blue! The more you look, the more confused you get… :-/

Painting started with an overall coat with a tone called “White Aluminum” from the rattle can, which yields a nice metallic shine. The cockpit was, typical for late WWII RAF aircraft, painted in a very dark grey (Revell 09 Anthracite), with dry-brushed details in a slightly lighter grey – but the cockpit is so tight that hardly anything can be discerned. The interior of the landing gear wells and of the radiators was painted with Humbrol 56 (Aluminum Dope), a more greyish silver tone.

The blue on the spinner and for the cheatlines is probably “Oxford Blue” (Humbrol 104), the same as the color used on the roundels, but I used a slightly lighter mix with some Humbrol 25, in an attempt to match the print color from the decals.

As mentioned above, the anti-glare panel became deep black. Since the contrast between the black and the blue was very weak I experimented with a white 0.5 mm demarcation line between the colors, but that looked weird and reduced the contrast even more, so that I eventually stuck to the original (Matchbox) design.

To liven up the silver airframe the fabric-covered surfaces on the tail were painted with Humbrol 56, too, and single panels all over the hull were painted with Revell 99 (Aluminum) for a light contrast. Then the model received a light black ink washing to emphasize the recessed surface details (esp. around the rudders/flaps), and some light post-panel-shading with Humbrol 27001 (Matt Aluminum Metallizer), slightly lighter than the overall White Aluminum, was done for an even more “uneven” surface.

The decals came next, and this took some improvisation. Roundels were, after some consideration, taken from the Matchbox sheet – even though these left me uncertain, too. These are still Type C roundels from the WWII period, but they are shown with a bright red that was AFAIK officially introduced in 1947 with the post-war Type D roundels? Or did KM 272 still use wartime “Identification Red (dull)“? I decided to stick with the brighter option, even if it was wrong, because it matches the aircraft’s overall rather bright complexion, and this is a what-if model, after all.

Fitting the checkered collar behind the propeller was quite challenging – from former builds of the Matchbox ‘Dooleybird’ many years ago I remembered that the decals already did not fit well around the original kit’s front end, and despite carrying a Merlin, too, the Spitfire’s cowling is quite different from the Mustang’s. To have more flexibility, I trimmed down the carrier film and cut each half of the ring into four segments and tried to apply them evenly – not perfect, but I think that I could not expect more.

The yellow ID markings on the outer wings’ leading edges were created with decal sheet material – again I was uncertain how long these would have been worn after WWII? KM 272 still had them, a successor one year later maybe not – but I kept them, too, to stay close to the original ‘Dooleybird’ and for the additional color on the airframe.

The serial number of this Spitfire, NR 761, is fictional and was AFAIK not assigned to an active RAF aircraft. To give the Spitfire a post-war look I decided to use a more modern font: all serial numbers on the fuselage and under the wings were created with material for respective decals from an Xtradecal BAC Lightning sheet. As an adaptation to the different underwing space due to the radiators I placed the large code letters in two lines instead of just one (as seen on KM 272, where the codes extend over the landing gear covers).

The tactical code on the flanks was created with single black 8 mm DIN font letters from TL Modellbau, which is similar to the RAF font but slightly bolder. Again, I was not certain how long the WWII practice with a pair of unit letters and a single letter for the individual aircraft had been kept by RAF units – but RAF Tempests in Europe were marked this way until at least mid-1946, and overseas even until 1949.

Once the decals were in place, the model received a light rubbing with graphite to apply an additional metallic shine and to emphasize the raised panel lines. Slightly more graphite was added behind the exhaust stubs. Finally, the model was sealed with semi-gloss acrylic varnish (Italeri), except for the anti-glare panel and the propeller blades, which became matt.

A project with many question marks – despite the simple idea and the alleged short building time. However, despite some twists and turns, the result looks very attractive, the fictional ‘Dooleybird’ successor is a real eye-catcher, esp. when you expect a Mustang at first glance behind the masquerade. 😉 Besides, I have plans to build the real ‘Dooleybird’ in 1:72, too, but based on the Academy P-51D/K and with some detail improvements to better match the real aircraft (which had, for instance, uncuffed propeller blades).

Northern Cyprus coast, November 2014.

Original shot taken with a Lomography Holga CFN, 6x6 format on Kodak Ektachrome 100 asa slide film, light post processing.

This grafiti work is awesome, isn't it? :-)

Original shot taken with a Polaroid Procam on expired Polaroid 1200 image film, light post processing.

Architect: Alvar Aalto, 1956. This was intended as a temporary pavilion while the Finns waited for the Nordic Countries pavilion to be built. But it was very popular and has remained to this day.

It appears as though the pavilions are essentially abandoned during the period between Biennales. The vegetation is overgrown. Windows are broken or boarded up. There is trash and construction debris everywhere. Walls are crumbling. Even electric utility junction boxes have been ripped from the walls, and trash cans and light posts are dented and turned over. It's quite depressing, and it all looks a bit post-apocalyptic.

+++ 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 Air Corps is the air component of the Defence Forces of Ireland. With the establishment of the Defence Forces in 1924, the Air Service became the new Army's Air Corps and remained part of the Army until the 1990s. After the 2nd World War, the Irish Air Corps started to modernize its modest fleet: the Hurricanes were replaced by Supermarine Seafires and a few two-seat Spitfire trainers. Avro Anson light transports were operated as communications aircraft between 1946 and their retirement in 1962. The Percival Provost was introduced in the mid 1950s as the Air Corps initial training aircraft. The de Havilland Dove became the Corps' transport aircraft.

In 1977 ten SIAI-Marchetti SF.260WE Warriors were delivered for light training and ground attack roles, and thsi type gradually replaced the Jet Provosts, which were retired together with the Fouga Magister.

General characteristics:

Crew: Two

Length: 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)

Wingspan: 35 ft 4 in (10.77 m)

Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)

Wing area: 213.7 sqft (19.80 m²)

Empty weight: 4,888 lb (2,222 kg)

Loaded weight: 6,989 lb (3,170 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 9,200 lb (4,173 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Armstrong Siddeley Viper (ASV.8) Mk-102 turbojet, rated at 1,750 lbf (7.78 kN

Performance:

Maximum speed: 440 mph (382 knots, 708 km/h) at 25,000 ft (7,620 m)

Range: 603 mi (524 NM, 970 km)

Service ceiling: 36,750 ft (11,200 m)

Rate of climb: 4,000 ft/min (20.3 m/s)

Wing loading: 32.7 lb/ft² (160 kg/m²)

Armament:

2× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns with 600 RPG

Underwing hardpoints for a total ordnance load of 2.160 lb (980 kg), incl.

6× 60 lb (27 kg) or 12× 25 lb (11 kg) rockets or 28x 68 mm SNEB rockets in four pods,

or 4× 540 lb (245 kg) bombs

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional Jet Provost is, after a long search for a proper aircraft model, finally the result of the attempt to build an Irish what-if aircraft. Inspiration struck when I recently read a book about the Jet Provost’s and Strikemaster’s development and service (which also spawned the BAC Bushmaster single seater) – I thought that an armed Jet Provost would have been a highly probable aircraft for the Irish Air Corps, and from the start I wanted to add a tactical touch to the model, not just a pure trainer.

The armed export variants appeared the most suitable option, and thankfully Airfix recently released a new T.3 kit, which is virtually identical to its armed T.51 brethren. The kit itself is excellent. The molds are crisp, you get recessed panel lines and minute detail where it’s needed – but it is still a very simple kit. Other selling points are two very good pilot figures and seats, two optional canopies (for closed or open display) as well as a superb overall fit of everything. A really pleasant affair!

The kit was built OOB, with just a few minor mods: under the air intakes, machine gun ports were added as well as casing ejector fairings. I also added a pair of underwing pylons (for a pair of 250 lb training bombs) and a pair of R80 SURA missile packs (from a Matchbox Strikemaster). Some antennae were also added, as well as gunsights on the cockpit dashboard.

Painting and markings:

Even though I wanted the Provost to be a trainer, I did not want a flashy livery - instead I adopted a tactical camouflage that would be suited to the greenish environment of Eire. The only "official" Irish camouflage is a uniform dark green, though, and I wanted something more flashy.

Another factor was a tin of "RAF Lichen Green" (Xtracolor) that I found in my collection - a tone whioch I wanted to incorporate. I eventually settled upon a three-tone scheme, somewhat inspired by the SEA scheme that Strikemasters from New Zealand and Singapore carried. I recycled the pattern, but changed the colors so that the green hues became more prominent:

- FS 30219 (Tan) became Lichen Green (Xtracolor X024)

- FS 34102 (Medium Green) was replaced with FS 34079 (Modelmaster 1710)*

- FS 34079 (Forest Green) became RAL 8027 Lederbraun (Revell 84)

- FS 36622 underneath was replaced with Fs 36375 (Humbrol 127), a tone that comes close to RAL 7040 "Fenstergrau", another color that has been in use on Irish Air Corps vehicles

*This was used to simulate the dark green tone "Akzo Nobel 042002" that some real Irish aircraft carried allover; FS 34079 is virtually identical

The cockpit interior was painted in Revell 9 (Anthrazit), the landing gear wells was painted in RAF Light Aircraft Grey (Humbrol 166).

The roundels and some other markings came from a Max Decals sheet (#7220) for Irish aircraft and tanks, the tactical code was created with single white digit decals in various sizes from a Begemot sheet for modern Russian aircraft and the fin flash (without it the tail looked somewhat bleak) was improvised with decal and paint. The stencils were taken from the OOB sheet.

Only light post-shading was done, and the engraved panel lines were emphasized through a thinned black ink wash. As a final step the model received a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

After a long search for a project, finally an Irish whif aircraft in the collection! While I was painting the model the three-tone camouflage appeared a little odd, but with the decals everything fell into place, and the result even looks quite natural? It’s certainly an eye-catcher, since the many colored markings, stencils and the ordnance break up the murky military look – even though this Jet Provost still looks purposeful with its training ordnance. And: the Airfix kit turned out to be a highly pleasant build, it’s been a long time that I experienced so few problems during a kit’s assembly.

the light post at the yard from outdoors is more stunned and amazing of the area of building and plants is looking sharp of the area for the temperature weather of the sunlight of the natural the and nature of plants

A simple light post

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 and U.N.Spacy Marines

Accommodation:

Single pilot 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)

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

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

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 kit and its assembly:

This was a spontaneous interim build in a busy time, so that the kit remained almost OOB. The model is one of the vintage ARII kits, and the build circled primarily around the (fictional) livery. The latter is a kind of re-interpretation of a paint scheme that I had applied to a “Wild Weasel” Valkyrie many years ago – it carried a three-tone wraparound scheme which had been inspired by the USAF’s “European One” schemes, also known as “Lizard”, and most popular for having been applied to the A-10s based in Germany. However, I used much more toned-down colors (Dark Slate Grey, Olive Drab and Dark Grey), which created an almost uniform but also very dull look. I wanted something similar, but with “brighter” colors, but also not a copy of the “Lizard” scheme. More about that later.

As already mentioned, the kit remained OOB, just a pilot was added to the cockpit because it would be built with the landing gear tucked up and put on a display. Due to the clear but thick canopy no extra detailing was done inside. Characteristic blade antennae were added to the nose flanks and on the spine.

The ordnance was taken OOB, too, I just replaced two AMM-1 missiles on the outer pylons with a scratched ECM pod and a chaff/flare dispenser.

The display is one of my almost-patented wire constructions that use the OOB display base and is attached to the back of the ventral gun pod.

Painting and markings:

As already mentioned, “European One/Lizard” was the guiding theme, but with the intent to use lighter colors. Another influence was the two-tone scheme which the Brazilian Air Force used on their F-5Es and some Tucano trainers. It consists of FS 34092 (European One Green) and FS 36173 (Neutral Grey), with the green only added to the upper surfaces, in a rather disruptive pattern. I borrowed this basic idea and added a third color, Humbrol 150 (Forest Green), as a lighter alternative to FS 34102 (Medium Green) from the original “Lizard” scheme. The pattern for the upper surfaces was lent from a Vietnam War era RA-3B, which carried different colors, though (three shades of grey). The other tones are Humbrol 149 and Tamiya XF-53.

The cockpit became medium grey (Revell 47) with a brown seat. The air intake interiors landing gear was painted in classic white, while the air intakes and some other details were painted in dark grey (Humbrol 67), which helps brightening the camouflage up. For the same reason I gave the aircraft a black radome – it stands out quite well, but I felt that a grey nose or the extension of the camouflage up to the nose tip would make the Valkyrie look less UNSAF-like. Another factor is a benchmark VF-11 I found in a source book which also carries a kind of European One scheme, and it also has a completely black nose radome.

A black ink wash was used to highlight the engraved panel lines and only light post-shading was done here and there. The wings’ leading edges were created with decal sheet material from TL Modellbau, the low-viz kite roundels were printed at home on transparent decal film. Most stencils were taken from the VF-1’s OOB decal sheet, the squadron markings and the tactical code were puzzled together from the scrap box. The “UNSAF” markings on the legs were created with single 3mm letters, also from TL Modellbau.

Finally, the kit received a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri), just the black radome received a sheen finish.

A quick project, and another camouflaged VF-1 that IMHO proves that there’s hardly any paint scheme that does not suit Shoji Kawamori’s elegant robot/airplane design. Those small Valkyrie kits never get boring, at least to me! :D

Simply, some movements takes more time...

Original shot taken with a Mamiya Six, 75mm F3,5 Takatiho Zuiko lens, 6x6 format on Fujichrome Provia 100F, light post processing.

Published in NIP Magazine n°13

One-day test camera at work, stuck to a light post. 12 hour exposure

A co-worker parked in front of my camera. I can see my building through his truck. Great sunrise though. Camera was a 1-inch diameter metal container. Ilford Multigrade Deluxe Pearl photopaper.

Satisfied with the test, I put up a new identical camera on 10-1 for a longer duration. I only began doing Solargraphy this May and had a steep learning curve. I learned a lot in 5 months and hope to have many great pictures to share in the next year. Thanks for liking my newbie efforts. Thanks for letting me join you, I am enjoying all of your pictures, they are teaching me lots!

Processed with VSCOcam with c2 preset

I believe this may be another Super Stalin Brother's sticker

Photographed in Marquette Michigan

Saturday May 8th 2021

Visitors create their own artwork on a light post

i took while doing night walking in munkkiniemi, helsinki area. scenery like this always attracts me so much.

taken handheld.

Light posts. Warsaw, Poland.

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)

4x 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);

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

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 kit and its assembly:

This fictional VF-1 is more or less “only” a camouflage experiment, spawned by a recent discussion about the German Luftwaffe’s so-called “Norm ‘81” paint scheme that was carried by the F-4Fs during the Eighties and the early Nineties. It is one of the most complex standardized paint scheme I am aware of, consisting of no less than six basic shades of grey and applied in two different patterns (early variant with angled/splinter camouflage, later this was changed into more organic shapes).

I have built a fictional post-GDR MiG-21 with the Norm ’81 scheme some years ago, but had always been curious how a Macross VF-1 would look with it, or how it could be adapted to the F-14esque airframe?

Concerning the model, it’s another vintage ARII VF-1, in this case a VF-1J, built OOB and with the landing gear down and an open canopy. However, I added some small details like the sensors in front of the cockpit, RHAWS sensors and bulges for ECM equipment on the lower legs (all canonical). The ordnance was subtly changed, with just two AMM-1 missiles on each outer pylon plus small ECM pods on the lo hardpoint (procured from an 1:144 Tornado). The inner stations were modified to hold quadruple starters for (fictional) air-to-ground missiles, left over from a Zvezda 1:72 Ka-58 helicopter and probably depicting Soviet/Russian 9M119 “Svir” laser-guided anti-tank missiles, or at least something similar. At the model’s 1:100 scale they are large enough to represent domestic alternatives to AGM-65 Maverick missiles – suitable against Zentraedi pods and other large ground targets. The ventral GU-11 pod was modified to hold a scratched wire display for in-flight pictures. Some blade antennae were added as a standard measure to improve the simple kit’s look. The cockpit was taken OOB, I just added a pilot figure for the scenic shots and the thick canopy was later mounted on a small lift arm in open position.

Painting and markings:

This was quite a challenge: adapting the Norm’ 81 scheme to the swing-wing Valkyrie, with its folded legs and the twin tail as well as lacking the Phantom’s spine and bulged air intakes, was not easy, and I went for the most straightforward solution and simplified things on the VF-1’s short spine.

The Norm ‘81’s “official” colors are all RAL tones, and I decided to use these for an authentic lokk, namely:

RAL 7009 Grüngrau: Revell 67 (acrylic)

RAL 7012 Basaltgrau: Revell 77 (acrylic)

RAL 7039 Quarzgrau: Xtracolor X259 (enamel)

RAL 7037 Staubgrau: Xtracolor X258 (enamel)

RAL 7030 Steingrau: Revell 75 (enamel)

RAL 7035 Lichtgrau: Humbrol 196 (enamel)

This basically plan worked and left me with a very murky aircraft: Norm ’81 turned out to be a kind of all-propose camouflage that works well against both sky and ground, at least in the typical German climate, and especially good at medium to low altitude. RAL 7030, 7037 and 7039 appear like gradually darker shades of the basically same brownish grey hue, framed with darker contrast areas that appear either greenish or bluish.

However, the Xtracolor enamels turned out to be total sh!t: they lacked pigments in the glossy and translucent base and therefore ANY opacity, esp. on any edge, at least when you use a brush like me. Not certain if using an airbrush improves this? The result were uneven and rather thick areas of paint, not what I had hoped for. And the Revell 75 just did what I hate about the company's enamels: drying up prematurely with a gooey consistency, leaving visible streaks.

After a black ink wash, very light post-shading was added. I should have from the start tried to stick to the acrylics and also mix the Xtracolor tones from Revell acrylics, a stunt that turned during the weathering process (trying to hide the many blemishes) out to be quite feasible. RAL 7037 was mixed from Revell 47 plus 89 in a ~1:1 ratio, and RAL 7039 from Revell 47, 77 and 87 with a touch of 09. Nevertheless, the paint finish turned out sub-optimal, but some shading and weathering saved most of the mess – even I am not satisfied with the outcome, the model looks more weathered than intended (even though most operational German F-4Fs with this paint scheme looked quite shaggy and worn, making the different shades of grey almost undiscernible).

After some consideration I gave this German VF-1 full-color (yet small) "Kite" roundels, together with a German tactical code. German flags and a vintage JaboG 32 squadron badge decorate the fin - a plausible move, because there are British Valkyries in source books that carry RAF fin flashes. Stencils and other markings came from VF-1 OOB sheets.

Finally, after some typical highlights with clear paint over a silver base were added, and the small VF-1 was sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish.

A spontaneous interim project, with interesting results. The adapted Norm ’81 scheme works well on the VF-1, and it even is a contemporary design from the era when the original TV series was conceived and aired. With the authentic tones I’d call it quite ugly – even though I was amazed during the photo session how well the different shades of grey (four from above!) blend into each other and break up the aircraft’s outlines. If there were no red-and-white roundels or the orange pilot in the cockpit (chosen intentionally for some color contrast), the camouflage would be very effective! Not perfect, but another special member in my growing VF-1 model fleet. ^^

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