A doctor inspects a woman's throat using a two million volt deep therapy X-ray machine. This machine was used to give localised treatment to cancerous areas in the 1960s.

(Douglas Grundy/Three Lions/Getty Images)

Via :

coach.nine.com.au/latest/vintage-xray-machines/41736461-7...

Our middle-school students at Tam High are building a City of the Future together, using arts and electronics to make a model of what our world may be like in 100 years.

In our seventh class, students continued to work in teams to make public spaces for their city: underwater mines, rich and poor areas, surface rubbles and skyscrapers for the rich.

In their post-apocalyptic city of the future, called 15A, the rich are separated from the poor, who mine the sea floor and are oppressed by a government run by machines. This week’s creations included a new fence between rich and poor, a toxic river, trees and bushes.

I am teaching this after-school course with my partners Geo Monley and Cynthia Gilbert. They filled in for me for this class, as I was at a maker ed convening the day of the class. These pictures were taken two days later, with our art cart in a storage space.

We are really happy to see our students so engaged in this project. They are developing a wide range of skills, from creative expression to science and engineering. And they are learning to create interactive art with simple electronics, in a playful and collaborative way that makes learning more fun.

Learn more about our City of the Future course: fabriceflorin.com/2016/02/23/city-of-the-future/

View our slides for this City of the Future course:

bit.ly/city-of-the-future-slides-tam-high-1

View more photos of our Maker Art course at Tam High:

www.flickr.com/photos/fabola/albums/72157666710348841

Learn more about our Maker Art courses:

fabriceflorin.com/2016/02/14/teaching-maker-art/

Learn more about Tam Makers:

www.tammakers.org/

Interior of Truss-Roof Stock Shed Chicago Hydraulic Pressed Brock Co.'s Plant

Date: 1906

Source Type: Photograph

Publisher, Printer, Photographer: The Clay-Worker, March 1906

Postmark: Not Applicable

Collection: Steven R. Shook

Remark: In 1890, the Chicago Hydraulic Pressed Brick Company established a large production facility at Porter. Two additional facilities were erected in Porter over the next decade. On October 21, 1904, the plant was destroyed by fire, with the exception of the barns, clay sheds, and some minor buildings. The fire resulted in a loss reported to be $50,000. Early in the spring of 1905 the plant was rebuilt, and the buildings were made to be more fire proof. The image shows the brick manufacturing facility in 1906 after it was rebuilt. The facility ceased operations in 1924 when clay was becoming scarce, and thereby too expensive, to make brick manufacturing profitable in the area.

This image was obtained from the following article published in the March 1906 issue in The Clay-Worker:

A MODEL PRESSED BRICK PLANT.

A MODEL PLANT, unique in more than one detail, is that put into commission by the Chicago Hydraulic Pressed Brick Co., at the beginning of the season just closed. Located at Porter, Ind., it has risen, Phoenix-like, (with apologies for that thread-bare phrase) from the ashes of the company's first plant, which was destroyed by fire October, 1904.

A device for using the waste heat from the cooling kilns in a dryer into which the brick are run on rack cars directly from the presses and again directly to the kilns, a truss roof stock shed absolutely without center supports to interfere with handling, and a movable shelter shed under which the clay is dug out from the rich clay bank, are among the features which make the Hydraulic's plant at Porter, remarkable among the other pressed brick plants in the country.

The Chicago Pressed Brick Company was incorporated February, 1890. It is controlled by the Hydraulic Pressed Brick Company of St. Louis, which, prior to 1890, had furnished practically ninety per cent. of the face brick of all colors used in Chicago. Operating at Porter, Ind., prior to 1890 were the Purington-Kimbell Brick Company, the Thomas Moulding Company, and the Hinchcliff and Owen Brick Company.

The Chicago Hydraulic Pressed Brick Company purchased the yards from the parties last named, and other acreage comprising a total of 420 acres. This area contains the only deposits of clay burning a deep red, within 150 miles of Chicago. As Porter is only 45 miles from Chicago, and with an unlimited supply of clay, the object of the Chicago Hydraulic Pressed Brick Company in securing this property is self-evident.

The plant up to October 1904 had a capacity of 20,000,000 brick a year. Then came the fire, entirely destroying this valuable and productive plant, at the close of a season when it had been worked to its limit. The Company was not long in preparing the recoup this loss and rebuild the plant. Rebuilding operations commenced March 2, 1905, were completed the following May, and the plant is now the most modern pressed brick plant owned by any company, according to Chicago experts. No expense was spared in rebuilding, and every advantage given be recent patents in handling the product in an up-to-date manner, was eagerly seized by the alert management. E. C. Kimbell himself, had immediate oversight of almost every detail, and spent the greater part of his time down at Porter during the building of the new plant.

The output of the plant during its first year was practically 18,000,000. Being located on the Michigan Central, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railways, with switch connections with the Pere Marquette and the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern, the shipping facilities are perfect. The plant is equipped to run winter and summer, and since rebuilding, has been run continually to its full capacity.

The officers of the company are: E. C. Eliot, president, St. Louis; F. G. Middlekauff, first vice-president, St. Louis; F. L. Joy, second vice-president and secretary, St. Louis; G. F. Baker, treasurer, St. Louis; and E. C. Kimbell, assistant secretary and general manager, Chicago.

At the Hydraulic's new plant it has been demonstrated for the first time that a pressed brick manufactured by the hydraulic process can be successfully passed through a dryer in which the waste heat from the cooling kilns is used, and this process in addition to turning out a superior product of brick, lessens the cost considerably, as the brick have only one handling from machine to kiln, ready to set. Reference to the cut will show the position of the rack car as bricks are being loaded onto the pallets direct from the machine. This will make it clear to any one interested in the manufacture of pressed brick wherein the advantage of handling brick in this manner lies.

A 50,000 per day Potts machine for the manufacture of sand molded brick, which are also handled through the dryer, is another feature of the plant, and the cut shows also the sand mold clay pit with the track cars are drawn up the incline by cable direct to the disintegrating hopper.

One of the prize features of the plant, however, is the temporary shelter shed which has been installed. This follows along the clay bank as the clay is dug out, enabling the shovelers to work in any kind of weather. This shed is thirty-two feet square. The corner supports are six by eight timbers. The "bank side" of the shelter is seven feet high and runs along the top of the bank on a grooved wheel which rides a track set on a plank. The low side is sixteen feet high and also rides along on grooved wheels set at the two lower corners, these also running on a track bent to a plank. This shed keeps twelve feet of the clay bank under operation. Two tracks run through it and the cars carry the clay away as it is "mined." A volcano stove rests on a platform which is hung from a truss in the roof by rods. The mean leave their dinner pails around this stove and have hot dinners, while on an ordinary winter day the temperature is so hot that the men work with their coats off. The shelter is equally good against the heat of summer, however. The shed is so strong that it has been found possible to explode a two-pound charge of dynamite under it without effecting [sic] it at all, and one man with a crowbar can "pinch," the whole structure along by working at the front wheel.

Another cut shows the main passageway into the kilns, and the track used to bring brick from the dryers direct to the kiln. Three transfer tracks run from the main kiln track, and each car on these tracks is a double transfer car. These double cars run on a four-foot guage [sic]. The pallet or rack cars are on a two-foot guage [sic]. These run out from the dryers to the double transfer cars, aboard the double transfer cars, down the movable tracks, running into the kilns. These movable tracks are also two-foot guage [sic], and the cars are run off the transfer car direct to the kilns.

The interior of the stock shed is also shown in a cut. It is 290 feet long and sixty-four feet wide. Its truss roof and absence of center posts make it absolutely unique. A loading track runs through the center of the shed. It is the first stock shed of its kind used for this purpose.

This model plant is in charge of W. J. Soper, the superintendent, who, with the exception of three years has been with the company since its organization.

Source:

Anonymous. 1906. A Model Pressed Brick Plant. The Clay-Worker 45(3):475-476.

Copyright 2021. Some rights reserved. The associated text may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Steven R. Shook.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Dornier Do 319 was directly inspired by the (modest) successes experienced by the Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but problems with engines, metallurgy and top-level interference kept the aircraft from operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944.

Production numbers remained low, though, reaching roundabout 20 aircraft (even this number is uncertain) until the end of the war, and no Do 319 survived the hostilities.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 pilot plus up to 2 passengers

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

Wingspan: 12.60 m (41 ft 6 in)

Height: 3.78 m (12 ft 4 1/2 in)

Wing area: 26.8 m² (288 ft²)

Aspect ratio: 7.32

Empty weight: 4,120 kg (9,075 lb)

Loaded weight: 6,830 kg (15,044 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 7,385 kg (16,266 lb)

Powerplant:

2× Junkers Jumo 004 B-1 turbojets, 8.8 kN (1,980 lbf) each

Performance:

Maximum speed: 820 km/h (510 mph)

Range: 1,200 km (652 mi)

2,100 km (1,300 mi) with extra internal fuel cells

Service ceiling: 10,850 m (35,538 ft)

Rate of climb: 1,000 m/min (At max weight of 7,130 kg) (3,275 ft/min)

Armament:

Provisions for 4× 30 mm MK 108 cannon in the nose, but rarely mounted

The kit and its assembly:

Another entry for the “Flying Boat, Seaplane and Amphibian” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in late 2017, and the result of a spontaneous inspiration from a drawing of a Luft’46/fantasy creation of a Me 262 fuselage with a planning bottom, a parasol(!) wing and a single jet engine exhausting right above the cockpit, and no (visible) stabilizing floats at all. Rather spurious.

Well, nevertheless, the Me 262 jet fighter has a very shark-like profile and shape, and it has already been converted into flying boats or even submarines by modelers, and I decided to create my personal interpretation of the theme. I remembered a lone He 115 float in my stash (maybe 35 years old or even more!), and when I held to a Me 262 fuselage the parts had almost the same length and width. So, creating a flying boat jet fighter seemed like a realistic task.

Things started straightforward with an 1:72 Smer Me 262 fighter, which is actually the vintage Heller two-seater night fighter with a new fuselage and canopy. My kit of choice would have been the Matchbox kit, but the Heller kit is also O.K., due to its simplicity and simple construction.

Creating something amphibian from a Me 262 is not a trivial task, though. With its low wings and underslung engine nacelles there’s a lot to be changed until you get a plausible floatplane. Another challenge is to integrate some form of stabilizer/outrigger floats, what also influences the wings’ position. Placing the engines where they are safe from spray ingestion is also a serious matter – you have to get the high and the intakes as far forward as possible.

Doing some legwork I found some similar builds, and they all did not convince me. And, after all, I wanted to create my own “design”; in order to incorporate some realism I eventually settled on Dornier’s typical WWII designs like the Do 18 and Do 24. These elegant aircraft had a common, elegant trait: low stub wings as stabilizer floats, paired with high wings (in the case of the Do 18 held by a massive central pylon) which carried the engine out of the water’s reach. This appeared like a feasible layout for my conversion, even though it would mean a total re-construction of the kit, or rather assembling it in a way that almost no part was glued into the intended place!

Work started with the cockpit, which had to be moved forward in order to make room for the wings behind the canopy, placed high on a pylon above the fuselage. For this stunt, the cockpit opening and the place in front of it (where the original front fuselage tank would be) were cut out and switched. The cockpit tub was moved forward and trimmed in order to fit into the new place. The nose section was filled with lead, because the stub wings/floats would allow a retractable landing gear to be added, too, making the aircraft a true amphibian!

The He 115 float was cut down in order to fit under the OOB Me 262 fuselage, and a front wheel well was integrated for a tricycle landing gear. Once the fuselage was closed, the planning bottom was added and the flanks sculpted with putty – lots of it.

In the meantime the Me 262 wing received a thorough re-arrangement, too. Not only were the engine nacelles moved to the upper wing surface (cutting the respective wing and intake sections of the nacelles off/out and turning them around 180°), the original connecting ventral wing part with the landing gear wells were turned upside down, too, the landing gear covers closed (with the respective OOB parts) and the inner wing sections modified into a gull wing, raising the engines even further. VERY complex task, and blending/re-shaping everything took a lot of PSR, too.

Under the central wing section I added a pylon left over from a Smer Curtiss SC Seahawk kit, because a massive Do 18-esque construction was out of question for a fast jet aircraft. The gaps were filled with putty, too.

In order to keep the stabilizers free from water spray they were moved upwards on the fin, too. The original attachment points were sanded away and hidden under putty, and the OOB stabilizers placed almost at the top at the fin.

Finding suitable stub wings/floats became a challenge: they have to be relatively thick (yielding buoyancy and also offering room for the retractable landing gear), but also short with not-so-rounded tips. It took a while until I found suitable donor parts in the form of the tips of an 1:32 AH-64 Apache (!) stabilizer! They were simply cut off, and openings for the main landing gear cut into their lower sides.

Once glued to the lower flanks and the stabilizers in place it was time to place the wing. In the meantime the moved cockpit had been blended to the fuselage, and initial tests indicated that the pylon would have to be placed right behind the canopy – actually on top of the end of the clear part. As a consequence the canopy was cut into pieces and its rear section integrated into the fuselage (more PSR).

However, the relatively thin and slender central pylon from the Curtiss SC indicated that some more struts would be necessary in order to ensure stability – very retro, and not really suited for a jet-powered aircraft. And the more I looked at the layout, the more I became convinced that the wings and engines were in a plausible position, but placed too high.

What started next were several sessions in which I shortened the pylon step by step, until I was satisfied with the overall proportions. This went so far that almost everything of the pylon had gone, and the wings almost rested directly on the Me 262’s spine!

However, this new layout offered the benefit of rendering the extra struts obsolete, since I decided to fill the small gap between wing and fuselage into a single, massive fairing. This would also mean more internal space, and consequently the original idea of a jet-powered combat aircraft was modified into a fast multi-purpose amphibian vehicle for special tasks, capable of transporting personnel behind enemy lines with a quick move.

More PSR, though, and after some finishing touches like a scratched landing gear (front leg/wheel from an Italeri Bae Hawk, main struts from a Mistercraft PZL Iskra trainer, wheels from an Academy OV-10 Bronco and with improvised covers), several antennae and mooring lugs made from wire, the aircraft was ready for painting. On the downside, though, almost any surface detail had been lost due to the massive, overall body sculpting – but the application of the light zigzag pattern helped to recreate some “illusionary” details like flaps or panel lines. ;-)

Painting and markings:

Originally, when the Seeschwalbe was still conceived as a fighter, the model was to receive a daylight scheme in typical German naval aircraft colors (RLM 72/73/65). But this plan changed when the aircraft’s role became a ‘special purpose’ transporter for covert operations.

Nocturnal operations appeared plausible, so that the scheme became much more murky: from above, a splinter scheme with RLM 73 and RLM 74 (naval dark green and dark, greenish grey, both from the ModelMaster Authentic enamel paint range) was applied as a basis, and the undersides became black – as if standard daylight colors had been overpainted, a frequent practice.

Since this black paint was made from soot, it easily wore away and many Luftwaffe machines with improvised black undersides quickly gained a rather shaggy look. I wanted to re-create this look, and built up the lower paint accordingly: In an initial step, RLM76 (I used Humbrol 87, which is a tad darker than the RLM tone, for less contrast with the black) was painted on the lower wing surfaces, the fuselage with a medium waterline and the fin. Once dry, the national marking decals were added. Then a coat of thinned Revell Acrylics 6 Tar Black was applied on top of the lower surfaces, including the lower decals, and later wet-sanded in order to reveal some of the grey underneath for a worn look.

In order to break up the aircraft’s outlines, esp. at low altitude, a disruptive meander pattern in light grey (RLM 76) was painted on top of the upper surfaces. For this task, I thinned Humbrol’s 247 enamel and used a simple brush, painting the curls free-handedly. The finish looks pretty convincing, and it mimics well the technique with which those improvised patterns were applied in the field in real life: quickly, with anything at hand. The way the finish turned out, the pattern could have been applied with a broad brush – the use of a spray gun was rather uncommon, and IMHO the use of an airbrush on a model to recreate such a zigzag pattern rarely leads to convincing results?

This pattern was painted tightly around all the upper markings, and the markings themselves were kept at a minimum. For instance, the tactical code only comprises the aircraft’s individual letter “Blue O” behind the fuselage cross, which indicates an air staff machine. This would, following the official German squadron code system, be confirmed by an “A”, following as a fourth digit. The squadron’s code (“P7”, which is fictional, just like the aircraft’s sea reconnaissance squadron itself) was omitted, too. Such minimal markings became a frequent practice towards the final war stages, though, and it fits the aircraft’s special duty role well. The only individual marking is a squadron badge under the cockpit – lent from an Italian night fighter and placed on a dark blue disc. Another, subtle indicator for the aircraft’s operator are the blue air intake center bodies, repeating the staff flight’s blue color code.

Only some light weathering was done, with dry-brushed light grey on the leading edges, and finally the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri). In a final step, some very light dry-brushing with aluminum was done on some of the fuselage edges, esp. the spray dams, and the position lights were painted with translucent paint over a silver base.

A messy project, in many ways, but I am happy with result. Most stunning is IMHO the fact that all major parts for this compact flying boat actually come from a single, simple Me 262 kit – but visually there’s not much of the left from the jet fighter. But it’s also amazing that the proportions look right, and the whole thing quite plausible and Dornier-esque! Turned out better than expected.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Dornier Do 319 was directly inspired by the (modest) successes experienced by the Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but problems with engines, metallurgy and top-level interference kept the aircraft from operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944.

Production numbers remained low, though, reaching roundabout 20 aircraft (even this number is uncertain) until the end of the war, and no Do 319 survived the hostilities.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 pilot plus up to 2 passengers

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

Wingspan: 12.60 m (41 ft 6 in)

Height: 3.78 m (12 ft 4 1/2 in)

Wing area: 26.8 m² (288 ft²)

Aspect ratio: 7.32

Empty weight: 4,120 kg (9,075 lb)

Loaded weight: 6,830 kg (15,044 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 7,385 kg (16,266 lb)

Powerplant:

2× Junkers Jumo 004 B-1 turbojets, 8.8 kN (1,980 lbf) each

Performance:

Maximum speed: 820 km/h (510 mph)

Range: 1,200 km (652 mi)

2,100 km (1,300 mi) with extra internal fuel cells

Service ceiling: 10,850 m (35,538 ft)

Rate of climb: 1,000 m/min (At max weight of 7,130 kg) (3,275 ft/min)

Armament:

Provisions for 4× 30 mm MK 108 cannon in the nose, but rarely mounted

The kit and its assembly:

Another entry for the “Flying Boat, Seaplane and Amphibian” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in late 2017, and the result of a spontaneous inspiration from a drawing of a Luft’46/fantasy creation of a Me 262 fuselage with a planning bottom, a parasol(!) wing and a single jet engine exhausting right above the cockpit, and no (visible) stabilizing floats at all. Rather spurious.

Well, nevertheless, the Me 262 jet fighter has a very shark-like profile and shape, and it has already been converted into flying boats or even submarines by modelers, and I decided to create my personal interpretation of the theme. I remembered a lone He 115 float in my stash (maybe 35 years old or even more!), and when I held to a Me 262 fuselage the parts had almost the same length and width. So, creating a flying boat jet fighter seemed like a realistic task.

Things started straightforward with an 1:72 Smer Me 262 fighter, which is actually the vintage Heller two-seater night fighter with a new fuselage and canopy. My kit of choice would have been the Matchbox kit, but the Heller kit is also O.K., due to its simplicity and simple construction.

Creating something amphibian from a Me 262 is not a trivial task, though. With its low wings and underslung engine nacelles there’s a lot to be changed until you get a plausible floatplane. Another challenge is to integrate some form of stabilizer/outrigger floats, what also influences the wings’ position. Placing the engines where they are safe from spray ingestion is also a serious matter – you have to get the high and the intakes as far forward as possible.

Doing some legwork I found some similar builds, and they all did not convince me. And, after all, I wanted to create my own “design”; in order to incorporate some realism I eventually settled on Dornier’s typical WWII designs like the Do 18 and Do 24. These elegant aircraft had a common, elegant trait: low stub wings as stabilizer floats, paired with high wings (in the case of the Do 18 held by a massive central pylon) which carried the engine out of the water’s reach. This appeared like a feasible layout for my conversion, even though it would mean a total re-construction of the kit, or rather assembling it in a way that almost no part was glued into the intended place!

Work started with the cockpit, which had to be moved forward in order to make room for the wings behind the canopy, placed high on a pylon above the fuselage. For this stunt, the cockpit opening and the place in front of it (where the original front fuselage tank would be) were cut out and switched. The cockpit tub was moved forward and trimmed in order to fit into the new place. The nose section was filled with lead, because the stub wings/floats would allow a retractable landing gear to be added, too, making the aircraft a true amphibian!

The He 115 float was cut down in order to fit under the OOB Me 262 fuselage, and a front wheel well was integrated for a tricycle landing gear. Once the fuselage was closed, the planning bottom was added and the flanks sculpted with putty – lots of it.

In the meantime the Me 262 wing received a thorough re-arrangement, too. Not only were the engine nacelles moved to the upper wing surface (cutting the respective wing and intake sections of the nacelles off/out and turning them around 180°), the original connecting ventral wing part with the landing gear wells were turned upside down, too, the landing gear covers closed (with the respective OOB parts) and the inner wing sections modified into a gull wing, raising the engines even further. VERY complex task, and blending/re-shaping everything took a lot of PSR, too.

Under the central wing section I added a pylon left over from a Smer Curtiss SC Seahawk kit, because a massive Do 18-esque construction was out of question for a fast jet aircraft. The gaps were filled with putty, too.

In order to keep the stabilizers free from water spray they were moved upwards on the fin, too. The original attachment points were sanded away and hidden under putty, and the OOB stabilizers placed almost at the top at the fin.

Finding suitable stub wings/floats became a challenge: they have to be relatively thick (yielding buoyancy and also offering room for the retractable landing gear), but also short with not-so-rounded tips. It took a while until I found suitable donor parts in the form of the tips of an 1:32 AH-64 Apache (!) stabilizer! They were simply cut off, and openings for the main landing gear cut into their lower sides.

Once glued to the lower flanks and the stabilizers in place it was time to place the wing. In the meantime the moved cockpit had been blended to the fuselage, and initial tests indicated that the pylon would have to be placed right behind the canopy – actually on top of the end of the clear part. As a consequence the canopy was cut into pieces and its rear section integrated into the fuselage (more PSR).

However, the relatively thin and slender central pylon from the Curtiss SC indicated that some more struts would be necessary in order to ensure stability – very retro, and not really suited for a jet-powered aircraft. And the more I looked at the layout, the more I became convinced that the wings and engines were in a plausible position, but placed too high.

What started next were several sessions in which I shortened the pylon step by step, until I was satisfied with the overall proportions. This went so far that almost everything of the pylon had gone, and the wings almost rested directly on the Me 262’s spine!

However, this new layout offered the benefit of rendering the extra struts obsolete, since I decided to fill the small gap between wing and fuselage into a single, massive fairing. This would also mean more internal space, and consequently the original idea of a jet-powered combat aircraft was modified into a fast multi-purpose amphibian vehicle for special tasks, capable of transporting personnel behind enemy lines with a quick move.

More PSR, though, and after some finishing touches like a scratched landing gear (front leg/wheel from an Italeri Bae Hawk, main struts from a Mistercraft PZL Iskra trainer, wheels from an Academy OV-10 Bronco and with improvised covers), several antennae and mooring lugs made from wire, the aircraft was ready for painting. On the downside, though, almost any surface detail had been lost due to the massive, overall body sculpting – but the application of the light zigzag pattern helped to recreate some “illusionary” details like flaps or panel lines. ;-)

Painting and markings:

Originally, when the Seeschwalbe was still conceived as a fighter, the model was to receive a daylight scheme in typical German naval aircraft colors (RLM 72/73/65). But this plan changed when the aircraft’s role became a ‘special purpose’ transporter for covert operations.

Nocturnal operations appeared plausible, so that the scheme became much more murky: from above, a splinter scheme with RLM 73 and RLM 74 (naval dark green and dark, greenish grey, both from the ModelMaster Authentic enamel paint range) was applied as a basis, and the undersides became black – as if standard daylight colors had been overpainted, a frequent practice.

Since this black paint was made from soot, it easily wore away and many Luftwaffe machines with improvised black undersides quickly gained a rather shaggy look. I wanted to re-create this look, and built up the lower paint accordingly: In an initial step, RLM76 (I used Humbrol 87, which is a tad darker than the RLM tone, for less contrast with the black) was painted on the lower wing surfaces, the fuselage with a medium waterline and the fin. Once dry, the national marking decals were added. Then a coat of thinned Revell Acrylics 6 Tar Black was applied on top of the lower surfaces, including the lower decals, and later wet-sanded in order to reveal some of the grey underneath for a worn look.

In order to break up the aircraft’s outlines, esp. at low altitude, a disruptive meander pattern in light grey (RLM 76) was painted on top of the upper surfaces. For this task, I thinned Humbrol’s 247 enamel and used a simple brush, painting the curls free-handedly. The finish looks pretty convincing, and it mimics well the technique with which those improvised patterns were applied in the field in real life: quickly, with anything at hand. The way the finish turned out, the pattern could have been applied with a broad brush – the use of a spray gun was rather uncommon, and IMHO the use of an airbrush on a model to recreate such a zigzag pattern rarely leads to convincing results?

This pattern was painted tightly around all the upper markings, and the markings themselves were kept at a minimum. For instance, the tactical code only comprises the aircraft’s individual letter “Blue O” behind the fuselage cross, which indicates an air staff machine. This would, following the official German squadron code system, be confirmed by an “A”, following as a fourth digit. The squadron’s code (“P7”, which is fictional, just like the aircraft’s sea reconnaissance squadron itself) was omitted, too. Such minimal markings became a frequent practice towards the final war stages, though, and it fits the aircraft’s special duty role well. The only individual marking is a squadron badge under the cockpit – lent from an Italian night fighter and placed on a dark blue disc. Another, subtle indicator for the aircraft’s operator are the blue air intake center bodies, repeating the staff flight’s blue color code.

Only some light weathering was done, with dry-brushed light grey on the leading edges, and finally the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri). In a final step, some very light dry-brushing with aluminum was done on some of the fuselage edges, esp. the spray dams, and the position lights were painted with translucent paint over a silver base.

A messy project, in many ways, but I am happy with result. Most stunning is IMHO the fact that all major parts for this compact flying boat actually come from a single, simple Me 262 kit – but visually there’s not much of the left from the jet fighter. But it’s also amazing that the proportions look right, and the whole thing quite plausible and Dornier-esque! Turned out better than expected.

Still sorting transfer of data from Windows XP machine to 8.1 machine. This is test of media card slot.

A quickie using the on board timer, the lull in the snow fall changed to rain as I stood out there! I need a water resistant K50 or K5.2.

Recent Levis Type 1 Jacket, market purchase in the snow!

Levis Type 1, Jacket (Stafford Market)

Levis Type 1 901 Jeans (E-bay!)

Williams F1 Shirt (TKMaxx)

Dr Martens - Steel Toe - 1940z - Black Fine Haircell (Cloggs Uk)

PENTAX K-M

smc PENTAX-DAL 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL

Permit To Travel machines were originally a Network Southeast innovation at locations where proper ticket machines may not have been cost effective or where machines or ticket offices were only open at certain times of the day. Rendered generally obsolete in the mid-2000's by chip and pin credit card ticket machines they may still be used when these machines may be out of order. These machines have sometimes caused controversy as they will issue a permit to travel for as little as 5p and if travelling from one unbarriered station to another holders of the permit who are not challenged and choose not to pay their fare at a working ticket machine or office can in theory travel 'legally' for only a fraction of the actual fare.

Ruggedly built by Almex and similar in design to 1980's style parking ticket machines this surviving machine is seen here on the Hertford Loop outside the station at Watton-at-Stone, on 2nd August 2016.

In what turned out to be quite a Solo-heavy couple of minutes, the next appearance was another CT4N machine, this time with an 18 as 1003 is shown here on its way down Wollaton Street on 30.3.22

via Instagram ift.tt/1kjbk8s

The Gee Bee Model R Super Sportster was a special-purpose racing aircraft made by Granville Brothers Aircraft of Springfield, Massachusetts at the now-abandoned Springfield Airport (Massachusetts). Gee Bee stands for Granville Brothers.

Design and development-

The 1932 R-1 and its sister plane, the R-2, were the successors of the previous year's Thompson Trophy-winning Model Z.

Assistant Chief Engineer Howell "Pete" Miller and Zantford "Granny" Granville spent three days of wind tunnel testing at NYU with aeronautical engineering professor Alexander Klemin. The aircraft had a very peculiar design. Granville reasoned that a teardrop-shaped fuselage — especially as seen from directly above — would have lower drag than a straight-tapered one, so the fuselage was wider than the engine at its widest point (at the wing attachment points, within the length of the wing chord). The cockpit was located very far aft, just in front of the vertical stabilizer, in order to give the racing pilot better vision while making crowded pylon turns

Operational history-

The R-1 won the 1932 Thompson Trophy race, piloted by Jimmy Doolittle. He lapped all but one ship in the race, made easy turns and never had to come down and make a tight pylon turn. He also set a new F.A.I. world landplane speed record of 476 km/h (296 mph) in the Shell Speed Dash. The distinction of a landplane record was noteworthy because, at that time, specialized speed seaplanes outran landplanes, e.g. the Macchi M.C.72 with over 700 km/h. The Springfield Union newspaper of September 6, 1932 quoted Doolittle as saying, "She is the sweetest ship I've ever flown. She is perfect in every respect and the motor is just as good as it was a week ago. It never missed a beat and has lots of stuff in it yet. I think this proves that the Granville brothers up in Springfield build the very best speed ships in America today." Another Springfield paper of the same date quoted Doolittle as saying, "The ship performed admirably. She was so fast that there was no need of my taking sharp turns although if the competition had been stiffer I would have. I just hope Russell Boardman can take her out soon and bring her in for a new record. There were lots of things we might have adjusted more properly if we had had time to run tests with the ship, and they would have meant more speed. I am sure Russell Boardman can take her around at quite a bit more than 300 miles an hour so you see my record may not last long after all".

The R-1 rapidly acquired an unearned reputation as a potentially dangerous machine. This shortcoming was common to most racing machines of any kind. During the 1933 Bendix Trophy race, racing pilot Russell Boardman was killed, flying Number 11. During takeoff from a refueling stop in Indianapolis, Indiana, Boardman pulled up too soon, stalled the R-1 and crashed.

The R-1 was quickly repaired and now incorporated a fuselage extension of approximately 18 inches, creating the "Long Tail Racer." The ship was painted with "I.F." on the cowl for Intestinal Fortitude and the same cartoon "Filaloola Bird" was painted on the side of the fuselage as it was on their successful Model YW. It was decided to save time by not to repairing the R-1 wings, but to use the original wings from the R-2, which had been removed in February 1933 when new wings with flaps were built and installed. The R-1/2, or "Longtail" aircraft carried race number 11 because the R-2's original wings were already painted as Number 11 and the repaired fuselage had to be repainted anyhow. This aircraft then crashed in a landing overrun incident soon after it was built, but Roy Minor, the pilot, was not severely injured. The damage was not severe but there was no money left for repairs. The unrepaired Long Tail Racer was sold to Cecil Allen before the Sheriff's bankruptcy auction ended the Granville Brothers company. Allen renamed the ship "Spirit of Right", built an entirely new wing with a different airfoil and added a new rear fuel tank for the long distance Bendix race. Former Granville Bros. chief engineer "Pete" Miller wrote to Allen warning for him never to put fuel in the rear tank as it would move the center of gravity far to the rear and make the ship too tail heavy to be flown. It is unlikely Allen ever attempted a fully fueled takeoff before the start of the race. In 1935 Allen started the 2,043 mile, Burbank to Cleveland Bendix Trophy race with all tanks full, wallowed off into the morning fog, crashed in a field just beyond the runway and was killed instantly. In spite of all the fuel, there was no fire. After this final crash, the aircraft was never rebuilt.

Replicas-

Non-flying replicas of the R-1 have been built at the New England Air Museum and the San Diego Air & Space Museum using original plans for the aircraft. Another is displayed at the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History at the Springfield Museums. A flying replica of the R-2 was built by Steve Wolf and Delmar Benjamin (seen here), that first flew in 1991. Benjamin flew an aerobatic routine in this aircraft at numerous airshows until he retired the aircraft in 2002. This aircraft was sold to Fantasy of Flight in 2004 and is on display in OrLampa, Florida.

Photo Credit's: Unknown to me (Reprint) Location: Unknown. 1990's photo.

General characteristics-

Crew: 1

Length: 17 ft 8 in (5.38 m)

Wingspan: 25 ft 0 in (7.62 m)

Height: 8 ft 2 in (2.48 m)

Wing area: 75 sq ft (6.97 m2)

Airfoil: NACA M6 (modified)

Empty weight: 1,840 lb (834 kg)

Gross weight: 2,415 lb (1,095 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 3,075 lb (1,394.8 kg)

Fuel capacity: 160 US gal (610 l)Aspect ratio: 6.1

Incidence: 2.5 Degrees

Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp 1,344 cubic inch (22 l) displacement air-cooled 9 cylinder radial, 800 hp (596.5 kW)

Performance-

Maximum speed: 294.38 mph (473.8 km/h, 255.81 kn)

Cruise speed: 260 mph (418.4 km/h, 230 kn)

Stall speed: 90 mph (144 km/h, 78 kn)

Range: 925 mi (1,488 km, 804 nmi) 630 miles, full throttle

full throttle: 2.14 hours

cruising: 3.65 hours

Note that the 1932 R-2 was identical to the 1932 R-1 except that it used a smaller 550 hp Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior nine cylinder radial powerplant, with its smaller engine cowling, as the aircraft was designed primarily as a cross-country racer and also had the larger fuel capacity of 302 gals. (1,143 l) to increase its range between fuel stops. The gross weight of the R-2 with full tanks was 3,883 lbs. (1,761 Kg). In 1933, the R-2 was modified with the more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp and its cowling from the 1932 R-1 which was uprated for 1933 with the bigger, more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet. Other 1933 R-2 modifications included a new thicker wing with a longer span of 27.8 ft. for an area=104 sq.ft, and Granville's 2-piece, double hinged flaps to aid in getting in and out of very short runways with a full fuel load. The landing speed of the R-2 was cut from 100 mph to around 65. Both racers also got an aluminum extension to their rudder. (wiki)

Our middle-school students at Tam High are building a City of the Future together, using arts and electronics to make a model of what our world may be like in 100 years.

In our seventh class, students continued to work in teams to make public spaces for their city: underwater mines, rich and poor areas, surface rubbles and skyscrapers for the rich.

In their post-apocalyptic city of the future, called 15A, the rich are separated from the poor, who mine the sea floor and are oppressed by a government run by machines. This week’s creations included a new fence between rich and poor, a toxic river, trees and bushes.

I am teaching this after-school course with my partners Geo Monley and Cynthia Gilbert. They filled in for me for this class, as I was at a maker ed convening the day of the class. These pictures were taken two days later, with our art cart in a storage space.

We are really happy to see our students so engaged in this project. They are developing a wide range of skills, from creative expression to science and engineering. And they are learning to create interactive art with simple electronics, in a playful and collaborative way that makes learning more fun.

Learn more about our City of the Future course: fabriceflorin.com/2016/02/23/city-of-the-future/

View our slides for this City of the Future course:

bit.ly/city-of-the-future-slides-tam-high-1

View more photos of our Maker Art course at Tam High:

www.flickr.com/photos/fabola/albums/72157666710348841

Learn more about our Maker Art courses:

fabriceflorin.com/2016/02/14/teaching-maker-art/

Learn more about Tam Makers:

www.tammakers.org/

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Gloster Gladiator (or Gloster SS.37) was a British-built biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA, as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. The Gladiator was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft and was rendered obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it was being introduced. Though often pitted against more formidable foes during the early days of the Second World War, it acquitted itself reasonably well in combat.

These unique machines were primarily used in general observation, weather reconnaissance and 'hack' duties, e. g. as document couriers between the Azores and passing ships. But this episode lasted only for two years: in 1950, the remaining aircraft (a total of seven were still airworthy) were returned to Portugal and served as advanced training aircraft at Tanco.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 27 ft 5 in (8.36 m)

Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 323 ft2 (30.0 m²)

Empty weight: 3,217 lb (1,462 kg)

Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Mercury VIIIAS radial engine, rated at 840 hp (619 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 253 mph (220 knots, 407 km/h) at 14,500 ft (4,400 m)

Cruise speed: 210 mph

Stall speed: 53 mph (46 knots, 85 km/h)

Endurance: 2 hours

Service ceiling: 32,800 ft (10,000 m)

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

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

Armament:

Four .303 in Vickers machine guns; two synchronized in fuselage sides,

two under the lower wings outside of the propeller arc

The kit and its assembly:

Another entry for the “Old Kit” Group Build at whatfifmodelers.com in late 2016 – no such event would IMHO be complete without a vintage Matchbox kit, and the Gladiator dates back to 1973.

Anyway, despite its age it is a very good rendition of the biplane, even with engraved details. The engine is well detailed, the fabric structure looks very good and not over-emphasized, just the cockpit lacks a dashboard and the clear canopy is only a single piece and utterly thick.

But the Gladiator would not remain an OOB build: inspiration for this literal “Sea Gladiator” dates back to a CG rendition of an FAA Gladiator on twin floats I came across while browsing the web for detail pics of the real aircraft (for a real world Hellenic machine). This looked pretty neat, reminding of a baby Fairey Swordfish, esp. with a typical FAA paint scheme.

A hardware build of this concept had been on my idea list for VERY long, the rigging process just kept me from tackling the project, despite a suitable kit in the stash…

The GB was a good motivator, though – but while starting work, the ultimate question arose: classic twin floats, or a bigger, central float with outriggers? Both would be possible under the Gladiator…

For a twin-float layout, a Hasegawa Heinkel He 51 B as donor bank lay ready in the kit pile. For a central float, I had a single float from a Matchbox Fairey Seafox in the spares box, together with a pair of stabilizer floats from a Matchbox Supermarine Walrus.

I settled for the more unusual single float variant – because it would be different from the inspiring CG layout, and its more exotic look. The Walrus floats were too big, though, so I cut away a lengthwise 2mm “slice” (eliminating formerly drilled holes for toothpick struts; the floats were formerly used under a Mitsubishi Zero turned into a scratched Nakajima A6M2-N Rufe many years ago…) which gave an overall reduction in size that would match the compact Gladiator.

The Seafox float was just perfect in size and shape, it even comes with nice surface details and a rudder, but had to be cleaned from masses of old enamel paint at first with a thorough foam oven cleaner bath (for several weeks…).

The aircraft itself was built OOB, just with an added dashboard in the cockpit and the canopy cut into three pieces for an open position (in fact, the sliding part was totally left away). Under the lower rear fuselage a stabilizer fin was added and the OOB wooden propeller was replaced by a cuffed three-bladed alternative, IIRC from a Hobby Boss Grumman F4F Wildcat.

Mounting the floats was more complicated. The streamlined struts were taken from a donor Eastern Express Blackburn Shark (reboxed vintage NOVO kit) and adapted to the new use. From the Shark I also took the longer exhaust pipes.

Work started with the outriggers, both placed on two struts each, and once these were in place the central float was mounted on four pylons, putting it in a slightly “deeper” position than the outriggers and far enough away from the propeller arc. A lot of dry-fitting and trial & error was necessary to define the float’s and struts’ position under the Gladiator’s fuselage, as well as their relative length.

Since the area in front of the cockpit is hard to reach once the upper wing is in place, some partial early painting was done in this area. The wings themselves are pretty easy to mount if you take time for dry-fitting and thorough drying of the sub-assemblies – but the real horror comes with the (optional) rigging!

I did not want to leave the kit without this detail – it just looks much better with stabilizing wires, and these actually stiffen the kit! There are several methods/materials, including fine yarn, wire or fishing line. I tried all of these, and personally prefer heated and elongated, leftover sprues. The benefit is that the styrene is easy to glue and bonds well with the rest of the kit. Thin threads (which can be torn into individual strength) have innate stability, so that no tension has to be applied while trying to stick the stuff into place. And with the proper color of the styrene (e. g. in silver, black or grey), the wiring even looks pretty realistic in itself without any further paint, which, by tendency, can leave drops and simply makes the wires visibly thicker.

Despite experience with former biplane builds, the rigging process was still a tedious thing - the Gladiator, despite being a relatively modern design, still carried a lot of wires between its wings…

I also scratched a beaching trolley, from styrene profiles, leftover parts from a ship display and wheels from the scrap box. Proper and stable hold of the aircraft model was later achieved through cushions made from paper tissue dipped in thinned white glue.

Painting and markings:

A bit of “carte blanche”. While an FAA Gladiator would have been a nice and plausible option, I rather searched for something exotic – and found the Gladiator’s long career with the Portuguese Air Force well beyond WWII and the engagement of the type in the Azores. The archipelago location made a home-made floatplane conversion even more plausible.

But I did not stick to the original Portuguese paint scheme – the real Gladiators were painted in a uniform dark green on all upper surfaces (and alternatively a RAF Dark Green/Dark Earth scheme, AFAIK), with light grey wing undersides.

I created a fictional mix, with classic FAA colors (Dark Sea Grey/Extra Dark Slate Grey/Sky Grey) and a high waterline, plus counter-shaded, lighter upper surfaces of the lower wings, plus fictional Portuguese markings.

The basic colors I used were Humbrol 224 and 123 on the top sides, plus FS 16473 (ADC Grey) from ModelMaster for the lower surfaces. The counter-shaded lower wings were painted with Faded Olive Drab and Dark Gull Grey (FS 36231) from Modelmaster.

The floats were painted in a NMF – I was not certain whether to paint them with camouflage (either upper or lower scheme?), and in order to underline the conversion aspect of the build I just left them without paint at all. I used Steel and Brushed Aluminum Metallizer (Modelmaster and Humbrol), and the result looks quite good.

Some overall drybrushing was done to emphasize the surface structure, even though the rigging made things rather hazardous.

The markings are conservative and minimal, mostly from a PrintScale aftermarket sheet for the Gloster Gladiator and from a Carpena “Exotic Spitfire” sheet.

AFAIK, 3. Esquadrilha de Caça aircraft did not carry any squadron emblem – hence I invented the nicknames and the respective nose art (from a Revell Dassault Mystère with Patrouille de France markings). Another type in EC3 service, the Spitfires, featured an RAF-style 2-letter-squadron code (“XZ”, AFAIK) an individual letter for the respective aircraft, and a serial number. For the Gladiator I stuck to the original serial numbers, though, added the national markings on the fuselage and used re-arranged code numbers from an Irish Air Corps Spitfire on fuselage and under the wings. From the Spitfire the red fuselage band was used, too, it adds some color to the overall rather dull and simple aircraft.

The rigged kit was carefully sealed with matt acrylic varnish, a delicate affair. The floats received a varnish coat, too, but with a slightly glossy finish, in order to underline the metallic surface.

A relatively simple conversion, but effective and the Gladiator on floats does not look as fictional as I expected – even though the sheer height of the overall arrangement turned the otherwise sleek fighter aircraft into a pug-like utility vehicle, despite the relatively slender, single Fairey Firefox float. The Portuguese markings look good on it, too, adding to the exotic touch of this whif.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Gloster Gladiator (or Gloster SS.37) was a British-built biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA, as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. The Gladiator was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft and was rendered obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it was being introduced. Though often pitted against more formidable foes during the early days of the Second World War, it acquitted itself reasonably well in combat.

These unique machines were primarily used in general observation, weather reconnaissance and 'hack' duties, e. g. as document couriers between the Azores and passing ships. But this episode lasted only for two years: in 1950, the remaining aircraft (a total of seven were still airworthy) were returned to Portugal and served as advanced training aircraft at Tanco.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 27 ft 5 in (8.36 m)

Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 323 ft2 (30.0 m²)

Empty weight: 3,217 lb (1,462 kg)

Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Mercury VIIIAS radial engine, rated at 840 hp (619 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 253 mph (220 knots, 407 km/h) at 14,500 ft (4,400 m)

Cruise speed: 210 mph

Stall speed: 53 mph (46 knots, 85 km/h)

Endurance: 2 hours

Service ceiling: 32,800 ft (10,000 m)

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

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

Armament:

Four .303 in Vickers machine guns; two synchronized in fuselage sides,

two under the lower wings outside of the propeller arc

The kit and its assembly:

Another entry for the “Old Kit” Group Build at whatfifmodelers.com in late 2016 – no such event would IMHO be complete without a vintage Matchbox kit, and the Gladiator dates back to 1973.

Anyway, despite its age it is a very good rendition of the biplane, even with engraved details. The engine is well detailed, the fabric structure looks very good and not over-emphasized, just the cockpit lacks a dashboard and the clear canopy is only a single piece and utterly thick.

But the Gladiator would not remain an OOB build: inspiration for this literal “Sea Gladiator” dates back to a CG rendition of an FAA Gladiator on twin floats I came across while browsing the web for detail pics of the real aircraft (for a real world Hellenic machine). This looked pretty neat, reminding of a baby Fairey Swordfish, esp. with a typical FAA paint scheme.

A hardware build of this concept had been on my idea list for VERY long, the rigging process just kept me from tackling the project, despite a suitable kit in the stash…

The GB was a good motivator, though – but while starting work, the ultimate question arose: classic twin floats, or a bigger, central float with outriggers? Both would be possible under the Gladiator…

For a twin-float layout, a Hasegawa Heinkel He 51 B as donor bank lay ready in the kit pile. For a central float, I had a single float from a Matchbox Fairey Seafox in the spares box, together with a pair of stabilizer floats from a Matchbox Supermarine Walrus.

I settled for the more unusual single float variant – because it would be different from the inspiring CG layout, and its more exotic look. The Walrus floats were too big, though, so I cut away a lengthwise 2mm “slice” (eliminating formerly drilled holes for toothpick struts; the floats were formerly used under a Mitsubishi Zero turned into a scratched Nakajima A6M2-N Rufe many years ago…) which gave an overall reduction in size that would match the compact Gladiator.

The Seafox float was just perfect in size and shape, it even comes with nice surface details and a rudder, but had to be cleaned from masses of old enamel paint at first with a thorough foam oven cleaner bath (for several weeks…).

The aircraft itself was built OOB, just with an added dashboard in the cockpit and the canopy cut into three pieces for an open position (in fact, the sliding part was totally left away). Under the lower rear fuselage a stabilizer fin was added and the OOB wooden propeller was replaced by a cuffed three-bladed alternative, IIRC from a Hobby Boss Grumman F4F Wildcat.

Mounting the floats was more complicated. The streamlined struts were taken from a donor Eastern Express Blackburn Shark (reboxed vintage NOVO kit) and adapted to the new use. From the Shark I also took the longer exhaust pipes.

Work started with the outriggers, both placed on two struts each, and once these were in place the central float was mounted on four pylons, putting it in a slightly “deeper” position than the outriggers and far enough away from the propeller arc. A lot of dry-fitting and trial & error was necessary to define the float’s and struts’ position under the Gladiator’s fuselage, as well as their relative length.

Since the area in front of the cockpit is hard to reach once the upper wing is in place, some partial early painting was done in this area. The wings themselves are pretty easy to mount if you take time for dry-fitting and thorough drying of the sub-assemblies – but the real horror comes with the (optional) rigging!

I did not want to leave the kit without this detail – it just looks much better with stabilizing wires, and these actually stiffen the kit! There are several methods/materials, including fine yarn, wire or fishing line. I tried all of these, and personally prefer heated and elongated, leftover sprues. The benefit is that the styrene is easy to glue and bonds well with the rest of the kit. Thin threads (which can be torn into individual strength) have innate stability, so that no tension has to be applied while trying to stick the stuff into place. And with the proper color of the styrene (e. g. in silver, black or grey), the wiring even looks pretty realistic in itself without any further paint, which, by tendency, can leave drops and simply makes the wires visibly thicker.

Despite experience with former biplane builds, the rigging process was still a tedious thing - the Gladiator, despite being a relatively modern design, still carried a lot of wires between its wings…

I also scratched a beaching trolley, from styrene profiles, leftover parts from a ship display and wheels from the scrap box. Proper and stable hold of the aircraft model was later achieved through cushions made from paper tissue dipped in thinned white glue.

Painting and markings:

A bit of “carte blanche”. While an FAA Gladiator would have been a nice and plausible option, I rather searched for something exotic – and found the Gladiator’s long career with the Portuguese Air Force well beyond WWII and the engagement of the type in the Azores. The archipelago location made a home-made floatplane conversion even more plausible.

But I did not stick to the original Portuguese paint scheme – the real Gladiators were painted in a uniform dark green on all upper surfaces (and alternatively a RAF Dark Green/Dark Earth scheme, AFAIK), with light grey wing undersides.

I created a fictional mix, with classic FAA colors (Dark Sea Grey/Extra Dark Slate Grey/Sky Grey) and a high waterline, plus counter-shaded, lighter upper surfaces of the lower wings, plus fictional Portuguese markings.

The basic colors I used were Humbrol 224 and 123 on the top sides, plus FS 16473 (ADC Grey) from ModelMaster for the lower surfaces. The counter-shaded lower wings were painted with Faded Olive Drab and Dark Gull Grey (FS 36231) from Modelmaster.

The floats were painted in a NMF – I was not certain whether to paint them with camouflage (either upper or lower scheme?), and in order to underline the conversion aspect of the build I just left them without paint at all. I used Steel and Brushed Aluminum Metallizer (Modelmaster and Humbrol), and the result looks quite good.

Some overall drybrushing was done to emphasize the surface structure, even though the rigging made things rather hazardous.

The markings are conservative and minimal, mostly from a PrintScale aftermarket sheet for the Gloster Gladiator and from a Carpena “Exotic Spitfire” sheet.

AFAIK, 3. Esquadrilha de Caça aircraft did not carry any squadron emblem – hence I invented the nicknames and the respective nose art (from a Revell Dassault Mystère with Patrouille de France markings). Another type in EC3 service, the Spitfires, featured an RAF-style 2-letter-squadron code (“XZ”, AFAIK) an individual letter for the respective aircraft, and a serial number. For the Gladiator I stuck to the original serial numbers, though, added the national markings on the fuselage and used re-arranged code numbers from an Irish Air Corps Spitfire on fuselage and under the wings. From the Spitfire the red fuselage band was used, too, it adds some color to the overall rather dull and simple aircraft.

The rigged kit was carefully sealed with matt acrylic varnish, a delicate affair. The floats received a varnish coat, too, but with a slightly glossy finish, in order to underline the metallic surface.

A relatively simple conversion, but effective and the Gladiator on floats does not look as fictional as I expected – even though the sheer height of the overall arrangement turned the otherwise sleek fighter aircraft into a pug-like utility vehicle, despite the relatively slender, single Fairey Firefox float. The Portuguese markings look good on it, too, adding to the exotic touch of this whif.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Gloster Gladiator (or Gloster SS.37) was a British-built biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA, as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. The Gladiator was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft and was rendered obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it was being introduced. Though often pitted against more formidable foes during the early days of the Second World War, it acquitted itself reasonably well in combat.

These unique machines were primarily used in general observation, weather reconnaissance and 'hack' duties, e. g. as document couriers between the Azores and passing ships. But this episode lasted only for two years: in 1950, the remaining aircraft (a total of seven were still airworthy) were returned to Portugal and served as advanced training aircraft at Tanco.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 27 ft 5 in (8.36 m)

Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)

Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)

Wing area: 323 ft2 (30.0 m²)

Empty weight: 3,217 lb (1,462 kg)

Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)

Powerplant:

1× Bristol Mercury VIIIAS radial engine, rated at 840 hp (619 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 253 mph (220 knots, 407 km/h) at 14,500 ft (4,400 m)

Cruise speed: 210 mph

Stall speed: 53 mph (46 knots, 85 km/h)

Endurance: 2 hours

Service ceiling: 32,800 ft (10,000 m)

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

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

Armament:

Four .303 in Vickers machine guns; two synchronized in fuselage sides,

two under the lower wings outside of the propeller arc

The kit and its assembly:

Another entry for the “Old Kit” Group Build at whatfifmodelers.com in late 2016 – no such event would IMHO be complete without a vintage Matchbox kit, and the Gladiator dates back to 1973.

Anyway, despite its age it is a very good rendition of the biplane, even with engraved details. The engine is well detailed, the fabric structure looks very good and not over-emphasized, just the cockpit lacks a dashboard and the clear canopy is only a single piece and utterly thick.

But the Gladiator would not remain an OOB build: inspiration for this literal “Sea Gladiator” dates back to a CG rendition of an FAA Gladiator on twin floats I came across while browsing the web for detail pics of the real aircraft (for a real world Hellenic machine). This looked pretty neat, reminding of a baby Fairey Swordfish, esp. with a typical FAA paint scheme.

A hardware build of this concept had been on my idea list for VERY long, the rigging process just kept me from tackling the project, despite a suitable kit in the stash…

The GB was a good motivator, though – but while starting work, the ultimate question arose: classic twin floats, or a bigger, central float with outriggers? Both would be possible under the Gladiator…

For a twin-float layout, a Hasegawa Heinkel He 51 B as donor bank lay ready in the kit pile. For a central float, I had a single float from a Matchbox Fairey Seafox in the spares box, together with a pair of stabilizer floats from a Matchbox Supermarine Walrus.

I settled for the more unusual single float variant – because it would be different from the inspiring CG layout, and its more exotic look. The Walrus floats were too big, though, so I cut away a lengthwise 2mm “slice” (eliminating formerly drilled holes for toothpick struts; the floats were formerly used under a Mitsubishi Zero turned into a scratched Nakajima A6M2-N Rufe many years ago…) which gave an overall reduction in size that would match the compact Gladiator.

The Seafox float was just perfect in size and shape, it even comes with nice surface details and a rudder, but had to be cleaned from masses of old enamel paint at first with a thorough foam oven cleaner bath (for several weeks…).

The aircraft itself was built OOB, just with an added dashboard in the cockpit and the canopy cut into three pieces for an open position (in fact, the sliding part was totally left away). Under the lower rear fuselage a stabilizer fin was added and the OOB wooden propeller was replaced by a cuffed three-bladed alternative, IIRC from a Hobby Boss Grumman F4F Wildcat.

Mounting the floats was more complicated. The streamlined struts were taken from a donor Eastern Express Blackburn Shark (reboxed vintage NOVO kit) and adapted to the new use. From the Shark I also took the longer exhaust pipes.

Work started with the outriggers, both placed on two struts each, and once these were in place the central float was mounted on four pylons, putting it in a slightly “deeper” position than the outriggers and far enough away from the propeller arc. A lot of dry-fitting and trial & error was necessary to define the float’s and struts’ position under the Gladiator’s fuselage, as well as their relative length.

Since the area in front of the cockpit is hard to reach once the upper wing is in place, some partial early painting was done in this area. The wings themselves are pretty easy to mount if you take time for dry-fitting and thorough drying of the sub-assemblies – but the real horror comes with the (optional) rigging!

I did not want to leave the kit without this detail – it just looks much better with stabilizing wires, and these actually stiffen the kit! There are several methods/materials, including fine yarn, wire or fishing line. I tried all of these, and personally prefer heated and elongated, leftover sprues. The benefit is that the styrene is easy to glue and bonds well with the rest of the kit. Thin threads (which can be torn into individual strength) have innate stability, so that no tension has to be applied while trying to stick the stuff into place. And with the proper color of the styrene (e. g. in silver, black or grey), the wiring even looks pretty realistic in itself without any further paint, which, by tendency, can leave drops and simply makes the wires visibly thicker.

Despite experience with former biplane builds, the rigging process was still a tedious thing - the Gladiator, despite being a relatively modern design, still carried a lot of wires between its wings…

I also scratched a beaching trolley, from styrene profiles, leftover parts from a ship display and wheels from the scrap box. Proper and stable hold of the aircraft model was later achieved through cushions made from paper tissue dipped in thinned white glue.

Painting and markings:

A bit of “carte blanche”. While an FAA Gladiator would have been a nice and plausible option, I rather searched for something exotic – and found the Gladiator’s long career with the Portuguese Air Force well beyond WWII and the engagement of the type in the Azores. The archipelago location made a home-made floatplane conversion even more plausible.

But I did not stick to the original Portuguese paint scheme – the real Gladiators were painted in a uniform dark green on all upper surfaces (and alternatively a RAF Dark Green/Dark Earth scheme, AFAIK), with light grey wing undersides.

I created a fictional mix, with classic FAA colors (Dark Sea Grey/Extra Dark Slate Grey/Sky Grey) and a high waterline, plus counter-shaded, lighter upper surfaces of the lower wings, plus fictional Portuguese markings.

The basic colors I used were Humbrol 224 and 123 on the top sides, plus FS 16473 (ADC Grey) from ModelMaster for the lower surfaces. The counter-shaded lower wings were painted with Faded Olive Drab and Dark Gull Grey (FS 36231) from Modelmaster.

The floats were painted in a NMF – I was not certain whether to paint them with camouflage (either upper or lower scheme?), and in order to underline the conversion aspect of the build I just left them without paint at all. I used Steel and Brushed Aluminum Metallizer (Modelmaster and Humbrol), and the result looks quite good.

Some overall drybrushing was done to emphasize the surface structure, even though the rigging made things rather hazardous.

The markings are conservative and minimal, mostly from a PrintScale aftermarket sheet for the Gloster Gladiator and from a Carpena “Exotic Spitfire” sheet.

AFAIK, 3. Esquadrilha de Caça aircraft did not carry any squadron emblem – hence I invented the nicknames and the respective nose art (from a Revell Dassault Mystère with Patrouille de France markings). Another type in EC3 service, the Spitfires, featured an RAF-style 2-letter-squadron code (“XZ”, AFAIK) an individual letter for the respective aircraft, and a serial number. For the Gladiator I stuck to the original serial numbers, though, added the national markings on the fuselage and used re-arranged code numbers from an Irish Air Corps Spitfire on fuselage and under the wings. From the Spitfire the red fuselage band was used, too, it adds some color to the overall rather dull and simple aircraft.

The rigged kit was carefully sealed with matt acrylic varnish, a delicate affair. The floats received a varnish coat, too, but with a slightly glossy finish, in order to underline the metallic surface.

A relatively simple conversion, but effective and the Gladiator on floats does not look as fictional as I expected – even though the sheer height of the overall arrangement turned the otherwise sleek fighter aircraft into a pug-like utility vehicle, despite the relatively slender, single Fairey Firefox float. The Portuguese markings look good on it, too, adding to the exotic touch of this whif.

Increase your packaging speed with 6 packer machine. This machine works on both 12 and 16 ounce beer cans. Contact us for more information: www.mummcraftproducts.com.

At a later date this was put into London FB livery by a TV company for the funeral of Recall in "London's Burning" and kept this registration.

This is confusing as London FB did have three similar Camivas of its own in real life.

E870JYV

E869JYV

E868JYV

It was Dennis/Camiva demonstrator, and had a shorter wheelbase than London machines.

This Merseyside appliance also had a cage mounted at the ladder head, it was severely damaged in a contretamps with a "Fareway" Leyland Olympian double decker rear in Central Liverpool. Widely seen as a fairly underpowered appliance.

It was bought by Merseyside to replace C3-Tango, Canning Place's A54KHC Dennis DFD133 with the short lived XRL30 Ladder which was Merryweather's attempt to re-enter the UK ladder market.

It is preserved by Ron Bradley in livery of LFB as E463 Shadbrook TL as it was used on Londons Burning.

Camiva ladders were not a great success in the UK and were soon phased out.

from a brigade postcard

This is all *I* have accomplished at the sewing machine this week. Staring. Sigh.....

Poor Millie. I feel your pain. :o)

My image stolen by the Tories for their propaganda machine.

This is at least the second time this has happened.

It takes a lot of muscle to lift pieces of the world’s largest-diameter tunnel boring machine. This floating crane is being used to assemble the machine that will dig the SR 99 tunnel beneath downtown Seattle starting in summer 2013. The machine is being assembled in Japan, and will arrive in Seattle in early 2013.

I built this six-wide Delorean time machine from a Youtube tutorial awhile ago, and I can't wait to put it on my Western layout to be pushed around. The model sports several changes from the original custom model, such as printed parts that are not so expensive as the original parts, such as the flux capacitor, license plate, and time arrival / departure indicator. Also, unlike set 21103 (the official LEGO set of the DeLorean Time Machine this model can fit only one mini-figure, which in this case is Marty McFly.

Included in the LDD file is everything added to the model in Parts I, II, and III except for the 2015 flying hover wheels. This means the 1955 hook assembly (I) replacement time circuits (III), the 2015 Mr Fusion (II) and train-track ready wheels from 1885 (III) are all beside the main Delorean model and Marty mini-figure.

(Hachirouk24's original model can be seen here: www.flickr.com/photos/91426193@N02/34492482955/in/faves-5... )

LDD file at Bricksafe: bricksafe.com/pages/Murdoch17/1985-delorean-time-machine-...

The 'pataphysical crew prepares for the first public exhibit of the Pataphysical Slot Machine. This unique art installation will be on display every weekend at the Mill Valley Library in October 2015. Learn more at htttp://pataphysics.us

In November 1908, wealthy aviation enthusiast Baron Pierre de Carters made the first controlled flight over Belgium. His aircraft was a Voisin built biplane, fitted with a Belgian engine. He later went on to fly at ‘Air Shows’ in Istanbul, Cairo and India.

This replica was built in France in 1973 for the TV movie “Les faucheurs de marguerites” (“The Daisy Cutters”). The remains were later acquired from the Jean Salis collection were rebuilt to more accurately represent the 1908 ‘de Caters’ machine. This was completed in October 2008, just in time for the centenary of the original 1908 flight.

The aeroplane remains on display at what is known as the Brussels Air Museum, although it is actually the Air and Space Section of the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History.

Brussels, Belgium.

26th June 2016

Re-take of this Washtec Softcare EvoR machine, this is a surprisingly old bugger well into its mid-teens having been originally installed by Total with red brushes in the mid-2000s.

It has been increasingly unreliable in the last few months, of course it had to be working when we didn't need a wash, sod's law. This car wash recently had a snazzy coat of promotional 'wash n' drive wallpaper put on the bay windows, replacing the bubble stickers.

Street view

UPDATE: replaced with Washtec Easywash on 24/05/22

Meet a very youthful Yusha. At five and half months, he is a perpetual motion machine. This is a good indication of a healthy child, not so good for still (emphasis on the word "still") photography.

At this instant I was lucky enough to capture his attention, momentarily, by rhythmicly snapping my fingers over my head, before he went back to never ending exploration of his immediate space.

ADH 921L

1973 Volvo FB88

Bob Carmichael, Barford, Warwickshire

Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, 14 June 2015

A legendary machine, this is amazingly still in daily use on timber haulage complete with a contemporary trailer. It has been driven by Bob Carmichael since 1982 and he has no intention of replacing it. Every inch a working truck, crudely brush painted and covered in dents and stains, it upset a few of the perfectionists with their highly polished show queens.

24 Hrs du Mans 2003

GTS

n° 88

Team : Veloqx Prodrive Racing (GB)

Result : 10th

Grid : 19th (3:53.278)

Engine : Ferrari V12 5.983 cc

Peter Kox (NL)

Tomas Enge (CZ)

Jamie Davies (GB)

Front engined again.

The BB had a mid-mounted engine while the Maranello marked a return to the traditional front-engined layout, not the best one for track performance. But the racing version of the F550 was a pretty quick machine. This car raced in the 2003 Le Mans Series and finished 10th overall in the Le Mans 24 Hours winning its category.

Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans : the GT and Derivates

Presented by Frederic Dor

Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille

Château de Chantilly

Chantilly

France - Frankrijk

September 2017

There are many things to question about the automotive world, but why did the Wedge ever take off?

With that said, I give you the Triumph TR7, British Leyland's once great hope for domination of the American market, crushed by poor design, miscommunication, terrible advertising and shoddy workmanship.

The Triumph TR7 was first launched in 1974 as British Leyland's top ranging sports car. Looking very sheek and stylish (and like a block of cheese with pop up headlights) with its low riding wedge shape, the car did indeed look the part...

...minus a few things here and there. One was that massive composite bumper, which was yoked onto the front of the car to conform with American safety legislation. Another was the roof design, which was hastily slapped on to conform to American safety legislation. And finally there's the tail lights, which were not designed to conform with American safety legislation, they were just poorly put together.

Yes the TR7 was in the grip of American safety legislation. Following the tragic death of James Dean, America planned to ban convertibles, and thus car manufacturers across the globe had to redesign their cars in order to work with this new legislation. However, instead of taking a leaf out of their own book and giving the TR7 a curious T-Bar arrangement like on the Triumph Stag, they decided to slap on a roof that completely compromised the profile of the car.

But styling was the least of the TR7's worries, it was then bogged down with how it was built. Underneath that wedgie body, the TR7 was nothing more than a humble Triumph Dolomite, powered by the fundamentally flawed Twin Dolomite V8 and built on the same chassis. The result was a car so faulty that it would hardly ever run, as was found in the filming of the popular British TV show, the New Avengers, where the character of Purdy was coupled with a yellow TR7 much like this one. Apparently the car was so unreliable that all the filming involving the car had to be done in 20 minutes or less before the car broke down again!

It was also interesting to note that when the car underwent trials Frankfurt Motor Show in 1977, the car overheated on a 2.5 mile speed test, and after 19 days in a shed, a troop of British Leyland engineers still couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.

But set aside the failure in giving it a reliable engine and a good design, the TR7 was then botched by Red Robbo's rowdies at the Speke Factory in Liverpool. Strike after strike occurred and cars were released onto the roads only half put together. The results were either massive unreliability, leaking panels, electrical infidelity and/or other problems, such as hitting the indicator switch which would cause the horn to blow. This downfall was assisted by the factory shutting down for nearly a year due to seemingly constant industrial action, with many unfinished TR7 shells rotting out in the Liverpool drizzle.

Eventually, order was somewhat restored when production moved to the factory in Coventry, and reliability began to improve, but with its reputation in tatters, the TR7 simply would not sell, even with promotion on the New Avengers. However, in the end the threat of American legislation was lifted, and the cars were allowed to be sold as convertibles, which were quite handsome looking machines. This was later added to by the fitting of a Rover V8 engine to replace the unreliable Dolomite engine, and as such the formula was perfected in the form of the Triumph TR8...

...only to be axed the following year in 1981 as that poor reputation mixed with build quality issues and an unusually strong Pound meant the car was surprisingly more expensive than its rivals, and so the TR7 and TR8's were dead. But even so, towards the end they did begin to sell well, and a TR8 also found its way into the world of Rallying under the command of Tony Pond, the 300bhp monster he drove was simply untouchable.

Today these cars can be common if you know where to look, but don't expect to find many in everyday usage as like most British Leyland cars, they don't react well to the rain.

Painting and markings:

Originally, when the Seeschwalbe was still conceived as a fighter, the model was to receive a daylight scheme in typical German naval aircraft colors (RLM 72/73/65). But this plan changed when the aircraft’s role became a ‘special purpose’ transporter for covert operations.

Nocturnal operations appeared plausible, so that the scheme became much more murky: from above, a splinter scheme with RLM 73 and RLM 74 (naval dark green and dark, greenish grey, both from the ModelMaster Authentic enamel paint range) was applied as a basis, and the undersides became black – as if standard daylight colors had been overpainted, a frequent practice.

Since this black paint was made from soot, it easily wore away and many Luftwaffe machines with improvised black undersides quickly gained a rather shaggy look. I wanted to re-create this look, and built up the lower paint accordingly: In an initial step, RLM76 (I used Humbrol 87, which is a tad darker than the RLM tone, for less contrast with the black) was painted on the lower wing surfaces, the fuselage with a medium waterline and the fin. Once dry, the national marking decals were added. Then a coat of thinned Revell Acrylics 6 Tar Black was applied on top of the lower surfaces, including the lower decals, and later wet-sanded in order to reveal some of the grey underneath for a worn look.

In order to break up the aircraft’s outlines, esp. at low altitude, a disruptive meander pattern in light grey (RLM 76) was painted on top of the upper surfaces. For this task, I thinned Humbrol’s 247 enamel and used a simple brush, painting the curls free-handedly. The finish looks pretty convincing, and it mimics well the technique with which those improvised patterns were applied in the field in real life: quickly, with anything at hand. The way the finish turned out, the pattern could have been applied with a broad brush – the use of a spray gun was rather uncommon, and IMHO the use of an airbrush on a model to recreate such a zigzag pattern rarely leads to convincing results?

This pattern was painted tightly around all the upper markings, and the markings themselves were kept at a minimum. For instance, the tactical code only comprises the aircraft’s individual letter “Blue O” behind the fuselage cross, which indicates an air staff machine. This would, following the official German squadron code system, be confirmed by an “A”, following as a fourth digit. The squadron’s code (“P7”, which is fictional, just like the aircraft’s sea reconnaissance squadron itself) was omitted, too. Such minimal markings became a frequent practice towards the final war stages, though, and it fits the aircraft’s special duty role well. The only individual marking is a squadron badge under the cockpit – lent from an Italian night fighter and placed on a dark blue disc. Another, subtle indicator for the aircraft’s operator are the blue air intake center bodies, repeating the staff flight’s blue color code.

Only some light weathering was done, with dry-brushed light grey on the leading edges, and finally the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri). In a final step, some very light dry-brushing with aluminum was done on some of the fuselage edges, esp. the spray dams, and the position lights were painted with translucent paint over a silver base.

On April 7, 2016 two ES44ACs and a veteran SD70M lead a south bound stack train out of the siding at Auburn, Illinois. Extensive track and signal upgrades to the UP Springfield Sub in the last few years have created not a railroad but a transportation machine. This train met Amtrak 304 and the meet took place in a little over four minutes. Photo by Ryan Crawford.

'There's a drumming noise inside my head

That starts when you're around.

I swear that you could hear it

It makes such an all mighty sound.

And hotter than hell'

- 'Drumming', Florence and the Machine.

This song is always on at work, and I do like Florence and the Machine, and I've been meaning to do a shoot inspired by these lyrics for a while. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind but It's close. I'll maybe re-shoot at a later date.

South Yorkshire's Transport Alexander RH bodied Dennis Dominator 2450, C 45 HDT was built as an experimental trolleybus to put forward the case for the possible reintroduction of trolleybuses, which could be built on the same chassis as diesel powered machines. This bus branded as Electroline ran on a specially erected track at Doncaster racecourse but politicians in the U.K. weren't convenced that trolleybuses could be the way forward, and with the impending deregulation of local bus services coming whilst this project was in progress meant that the trial was quietly abandoned and the bus passed to the Sandtoft Trolleybus Centre where it was pictured.

On the way up to Okaya the wheel became suddenly bent. I found a place

to stop for cover to see what was wrong with my bike. What a weird and

wonderful place... a porn game centre. Video UFO catchers, strip poker

machines, potluck prizes that vibrate, magazine and video vending

machines. This roadside stop off was deserted, totally unattended, so

I took some photos.

チャールズ・ワードが自転車で日本一周の旅へと出発したのは、2006年の春でした。彼は1年間の旅の間に、何千枚もの写真をとりました。この写真はその中の1つです。最初は有機農場でボランティアとして働きながら旅を続けていましたが、ある日、それをやめ、「きゅうちゃん」という名の折り紙の小鳥といっしょに、自分なりの平和活動を開始しました。

このチャーリーの冒険が、『チャーリーです地球人です』という一冊の本を生みました。彼は新たな世界を発見し、同時に、平和活動のために今やるべきことを明確にしました。

www.ex1st.com/book

This photo is one of 1000s taken by Charles Ward as he cycled around Japan for a year (2006-2007). Half way though his trip he gave up working as a volunteer in organic farms to start his own peace movement with a little paper bird called Kyu Chan.

Follow Charlie in his adventure to change the world in his new book "Charlie desu, Chikyujin desu" and find out what he is doing now to promote peace.

It's time for the Gacha Guild ~Spirited Festival~!

Come enjoy this beautiful Japanese festival and try your luck at lots of wonderful gacha machines~!

This Chinese style top is cute and fancy, perfect for when you need to be dressy and stand out! The rares are even shiny!

~Taxi~

Size: 50x60cm (Approx)

Never loose Your Small Clothing Accessory in Machine.

This Washing Bag Suits for the Home or Laundry Use.

www.chennai.milliance.com/online/protective-washing-bag-l...

so it was spinning at 1250 rpm whilst full of water and washing powder and thus had a real wobbly time of it and foamed the place out !

i.e. its toast :-( On bloody xmas eve of all days)

The washing machine lives behind the freezer against the wall - it walked nearly out to the door !

Oh and we're dying with flu too just for the craic, and we had to go get another machine this lunchtime and i plumbed it in this pm

Happy Xmas :-)

Nearly caught up with my backlog, I'm so happy I could jump for joy!

You may remember my past photos of Paul V. from Madison County, Arkansas. I recently spent time with him and produced more photos of his work and talents.

Some men have a "man cave", but Paul has a 'craftsman cave'. You won't find any HD TV's nor couches, instead you'll see a workshop of projects, tools, and parts. The tools and machines are a mix of those he has made himself, and others vintage yet still working. In this photograph, you'll see some projects in-progress including hand-made string instruments on the table. On the far right, you'll see a working lathe machine. This is just one corner of his many wood-working talents.

I respect and appreciate the time spent with Paul. He's very humble, yet he has so much broad and depth of knowledge in making things himself. More photos to come.

Madison County, Arkansas.

Photo # K03_3471c2.

We made some cool 'pataphysical talismans and time machines this week in Geo Monly’s amazing woodshop at Tam High School in Mill Valley.

Howard Rheingold (a.k.a. Dr. Rindbrain) and Jean Bolte (a.k.a. Dr. Figurine) have been building a Time Machine model, which is coming along very well. It is a modular structure with five walls, which can house a wide range of interactive art works. It could grow into a 'collection of time machines’, featuring different artist's views of events that impact us all.

Fabrice Florin (a.k.a. Dr. Fabio) made hundreds of 'pataphysical talismans, using Tam High's laser printer, an Illustrator file created by Freddy Hahne (a.k.. Dr. Really). It only took a couple hours to print over 280 talismans, which are based on the symbol of unity, featured in stupas all over Nepal.

Our creative process is documented in this photo album: bit.ly/pata-photos

Come see the ‘Pataphysical Slot Machine at the Mill Valley Library this Saturday, Oct. 31, from 1pm to 5pm. Halloween costumes welcome :)

Learn more about our community-created poetic oracle: pataphysics.us/join-the-unveiling-of-the-slot-machine

Learn more about Tam High technical classes: www.marinlearn.com/index.cfm?method=ClassListing.ClassLis...

An automat is a fast-food restaurant that serves food from coin-operated vending machines. This image is of Horn & Hardart’s Automat at 818-820 Chestnut Street. This automat was the first in the United States and one of the largest of 50 automats operated by the company in the Philadelphia and New York areas in the first half of the 20th century. It opened circa 1902 and closed in 1968. After it closed, it was given to the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

There are many things to question about the automotive world, but why did the Wedge ever take off?

With that said, I give you the Triumph TR7, British Leyland's once great hope for domination of the American market, crushed by poor design, miscommunication, terrible advertising and shoddy workmanship.

The Triumph TR7 was first launched in 1974 as British Leyland's top ranging sports car. Looking very sheek and stylish (and like a block of cheese with pop up headlights) with its low riding wedge shape, the car did indeed look the part...

...minus a few things here and there. One was that massive composite bumper, which was yoked onto the front of the car to conform with American safety legislation. Another was the roof design, which was hastily slapped on to conform to American safety legislation. And finally there's the tail lights, which were not designed to conform with American safety legislation, they were just poorly put together.

Yes the TR7 was in the grip of American safety legislation. Following the tragic death of James Dean, America planned to ban convertibles, and thus car manufacturers across the globe had to redesign their cars in order to work with this new legislation. However, instead of taking a leaf out of their own book and giving the TR7 a curious T-Bar arrangement like on the Triumph Stag, they decided to slap on a roof that completely compromised the profile of the car.

But styling was the least of the TR7's worries, it was then bogged down with how it was built. Underneath that wedgie body, the TR7 was nothing more than a humble Triumph Dolomite, powered by the fundamentally flawed Twin Dolomite V8 and built on the same chassis. The result was a car so faulty that it would hardly ever run, as was found in the filming of the popular British TV show, the New Avengers, where the character of Purdy was coupled with a yellow TR7 much like this one. Apparently the car was so unreliable that all the filming involving the car had to be done in 20 minutes or less before the car broke down again!

It was also interesting to note that when the car underwent trials Frankfurt Motor Show in 1977, the car overheated on a 2.5 mile speed test, and after 19 days in a shed, a troop of British Leyland engineers still couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.

But set aside the failure in giving it a reliable engine and a good design, the TR7 was then botched by Red Robbo's rowdies at the Speke Factory in Liverpool. Strike after strike occurred and cars were released onto the roads only half put together. The results were either massive unreliability, leaking panels, electrical infidelity and/or other problems, such as hitting the indicator switch which would cause the horn to blow. This downfall was assisted by the factory shutting down for nearly a year due to seemingly constant industrial action, with many unfinished TR7 shells rotting out in the Liverpool drizzle.

Eventually, order was somewhat restored when production moved to the factory in Coventry, and reliability began to improve, but with its reputation in tatters, the TR7 simply would not sell, even with promotion on the New Avengers. However, in the end the threat of American legislation was lifted, and the cars were allowed to be sold as convertibles, which were quite handsome looking machines. This was later added to by the fitting of a Rover V8 engine to replace the unreliable Dolomite engine, and as such the formula was perfected in the form of the Triumph TR8...

...only to be axed the following year in 1981 as that poor reputation mixed with build quality issues and an unusually strong Pound meant the car was surprisingly more expensive than its rivals, and so the TR7 and TR8's were dead. But even so, towards the end they did begin to sell well, and a TR8 also found its way into the world of Rallying under the command of Tony Pond, the 300bhp monster he drove was simply untouchable.

Today these cars can be common if you know where to look, but don't expect to find many in everyday usage as like most British Leyland cars, they don't react well to the rain.

This however was one of the more successful variants, the TR7 V8, a modified version of the car which replaced the Dolomite engine with a Rover V8 for use in motorsports. The result was a quite successful machine that propelled Tony Pond to victory in a selection of British Rally Championship stages.

Headed out after salmon under the Golden Gate, rounding Point Bonita with the lighthouse in back. Steller sea lion perched on a rock. Nice and calm this morning but it's usually a washing machine. This was the last day of the 2010 salmon season.

The first set of 3 cards in the Studio MIKMIK Pattern Studies Series. Each card is hand printed in two colours using a Gocco PG-11 machine.

This set is titled Saltaire In Stone. The Saltaire in Stone series of pattern studies draw their inspiration from the Italianate architecture found within the UNESCO World Heritage village of Saltaire, West Yorkshire. A wealth of archways, columns and stone flowers can be discovered in the village, a testament to the stonemason’s art.

These are now available in the Studio MIKMIK Etsy shop (see profile page).

www.studiomikmik.co.uk

Subject: Challenger MT765D "Field Viper" (Year of the Snake)

Client: AGCO Corporation

Usage: handout poster for the SIMA 2013 tradeshow in Paris.

For this photo the following equipment was used:

Canon 5D MK III (more MP than my Canon EOS 1DX, handy since this image is for a poster).

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM Lens mounted on a tripod

Double daylight construction lights, behind the Viper to light the smoke.

Two small halogen construction lights, under the Viper.

Two remote controlled Canon Speedlite 580 EX IIstrobes on manual setting.

And a smoke-machine.... :-)

This was an indoor on-location shoot, which made it hard to compensate for the white walls. Therefore we started out with shooting it a normal light conditions (1/8 sec.) but with the smoke machine working (handled by Kevin).

Afterwards we shot series of the machine with smoke and proper strobe exposure. However, enough underexposure was available to make the background dark enough to be mostly invisible.

Four partial pieces of smoke were taken from these shots and added to the original image. Problem was we couldn't produce smoke fast enough to get it as we wanted it to. Since the camera was mounted on a tripod it was easy to copy-paste these partials. By combining images it came out as I had imagined while still looking natural. This is the almost finalized image, in this version you can still see a few bits of background if you look carefully.

© 2013 www.rudgr.com.

Follow my work on Twitter or Facebook! Or check my most interesting shots at Flickriver.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Dornier Do 319 was directly inspired by the (modest) successes experienced by the Messerschmitt Me 262 fighter, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but problems with engines, metallurgy and top-level interference kept the aircraft from operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944.

Production numbers remained low, though, reaching roundabout 20 aircraft (even this number is uncertain) until the end of the war, and no Do 319 survived the hostilities.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 pilot plus up to 2 passengers

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

Wingspan: 12.60 m (41 ft 6 in)

Height: 3.78 m (12 ft 4 1/2 in)

Wing area: 26.8 m² (288 ft²)

Aspect ratio: 7.32

Empty weight: 4,120 kg (9,075 lb)

Loaded weight: 6,830 kg (15,044 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 7,385 kg (16,266 lb)

Powerplant:

2× Junkers Jumo 004 B-1 turbojets, 8.8 kN (1,980 lbf) each

Performance:

Maximum speed: 820 km/h (510 mph)

Range: 1,200 km (652 mi)

2,100 km (1,300 mi) with extra internal fuel cells

Service ceiling: 10,850 m (35,538 ft)

Rate of climb: 1,000 m/min (At max weight of 7,130 kg) (3,275 ft/min)

Armament:

Provisions for 4× 30 mm MK 108 cannon in the nose, but rarely mounted

The kit and its assembly:

Another entry for the “Flying Boat, Seaplane and Amphibian” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in late 2017, and the result of a spontaneous inspiration from a drawing of a Luft’46/fantasy creation of a Me 262 fuselage with a planning bottom, a parasol(!) wing and a single jet engine exhausting right above the cockpit, and no (visible) stabilizing floats at all. Rather spurious.

Well, nevertheless, the Me 262 jet fighter has a very shark-like profile and shape, and it has already been converted into flying boats or even submarines by modelers, and I decided to create my personal interpretation of the theme. I remembered a lone He 115 float in my stash (maybe 35 years old or even more!), and when I held to a Me 262 fuselage the parts had almost the same length and width. So, creating a flying boat jet fighter seemed like a realistic task.

Things started straightforward with an 1:72 Smer Me 262 fighter, which is actually the vintage Heller two-seater night fighter with a new fuselage and canopy. My kit of choice would have been the Matchbox kit, but the Heller kit is also O.K., due to its simplicity and simple construction.

Creating something amphibian from a Me 262 is not a trivial task, though. With its low wings and underslung engine nacelles there’s a lot to be changed until you get a plausible floatplane. Another challenge is to integrate some form of stabilizer/outrigger floats, what also influences the wings’ position. Placing the engines where they are safe from spray ingestion is also a serious matter – you have to get the high and the intakes as far forward as possible.

Doing some legwork I found some similar builds, and they all did not convince me. And, after all, I wanted to create my own “design”; in order to incorporate some realism I eventually settled on Dornier’s typical WWII designs like the Do 18 and Do 24. These elegant aircraft had a common, elegant trait: low stub wings as stabilizer floats, paired with high wings (in the case of the Do 18 held by a massive central pylon) which carried the engine out of the water’s reach. This appeared like a feasible layout for my conversion, even though it would mean a total re-construction of the kit, or rather assembling it in a way that almost no part was glued into the intended place!

Work started with the cockpit, which had to be moved forward in order to make room for the wings behind the canopy, placed high on a pylon above the fuselage. For this stunt, the cockpit opening and the place in front of it (where the original front fuselage tank would be) were cut out and switched. The cockpit tub was moved forward and trimmed in order to fit into the new place. The nose section was filled with lead, because the stub wings/floats would allow a retractable landing gear to be added, too, making the aircraft a true amphibian!

The He 115 float was cut down in order to fit under the OOB Me 262 fuselage, and a front wheel well was integrated for a tricycle landing gear. Once the fuselage was closed, the planning bottom was added and the flanks sculpted with putty – lots of it.

In the meantime the Me 262 wing received a thorough re-arrangement, too. Not only were the engine nacelles moved to the upper wing surface (cutting the respective wing and intake sections of the nacelles off/out and turning them around 180°), the original connecting ventral wing part with the landing gear wells were turned upside down, too, the landing gear covers closed (with the respective OOB parts) and the inner wing sections modified into a gull wing, raising the engines even further. VERY complex task, and blending/re-shaping everything took a lot of PSR, too.

Under the central wing section I added a pylon left over from a Smer Curtiss SC Seahawk kit, because a massive Do 18-esque construction was out of question for a fast jet aircraft. The gaps were filled with putty, too.

In order to keep the stabilizers free from water spray they were moved upwards on the fin, too. The original attachment points were sanded away and hidden under putty, and the OOB stabilizers placed almost at the top at the fin.

Finding suitable stub wings/floats became a challenge: they have to be relatively thick (yielding buoyancy and also offering room for the retractable landing gear), but also short with not-so-rounded tips. It took a while until I found suitable donor parts in the form of the tips of an 1:32 AH-64 Apache (!) stabilizer! They were simply cut off, and openings for the main landing gear cut into their lower sides.

Once glued to the lower flanks and the stabilizers in place it was time to place the wing. In the meantime the moved cockpit had been blended to the fuselage, and initial tests indicated that the pylon would have to be placed right behind the canopy – actually on top of the end of the clear part. As a consequence the canopy was cut into pieces and its rear section integrated into the fuselage (more PSR).

However, the relatively thin and slender central pylon from the Curtiss SC indicated that some more struts would be necessary in order to ensure stability – very retro, and not really suited for a jet-powered aircraft. And the more I looked at the layout, the more I became convinced that the wings and engines were in a plausible position, but placed too high.

What started next were several sessions in which I shortened the pylon step by step, until I was satisfied with the overall proportions. This went so far that almost everything of the pylon had gone, and the wings almost rested directly on the Me 262’s spine!

However, this new layout offered the benefit of rendering the extra struts obsolete, since I decided to fill the small gap between wing and fuselage into a single, massive fairing. This would also mean more internal space, and consequently the original idea of a jet-powered combat aircraft was modified into a fast multi-purpose amphibian vehicle for special tasks, capable of transporting personnel behind enemy lines with a quick move.

More PSR, though, and after some finishing touches like a scratched landing gear (front leg/wheel from an Italeri Bae Hawk, main struts from a Mistercraft PZL Iskra trainer, wheels from an Academy OV-10 Bronco and with improvised covers), several antennae and mooring lugs made from wire, the aircraft was ready for painting. On the downside, though, almost any surface detail had been lost due to the massive, overall body sculpting – but the application of the light zigzag pattern helped to recreate some “illusionary” details like flaps or panel lines. ;-)

Painting and markings:

Originally, when the Seeschwalbe was still conceived as a fighter, the model was to receive a daylight scheme in typical German naval aircraft colors (RLM 72/73/65). But this plan changed when the aircraft’s role became a ‘special purpose’ transporter for covert operations.

Nocturnal operations appeared plausible, so that the scheme became much more murky: from above, a splinter scheme with RLM 73 and RLM 74 (naval dark green and dark, greenish grey, both from the ModelMaster Authentic enamel paint range) was applied as a basis, and the undersides became black – as if standard daylight colors had been overpainted, a frequent practice.

Since this black paint was made from soot, it easily wore away and many Luftwaffe machines with improvised black undersides quickly gained a rather shaggy look. I wanted to re-create this look, and built up the lower paint accordingly: In an initial step, RLM76 (I used Humbrol 87, which is a tad darker than the RLM tone, for less contrast with the black) was painted on the lower wing surfaces, the fuselage with a medium waterline and the fin. Once dry, the national marking decals were added. Then a coat of thinned Revell Acrylics 6 Tar Black was applied on top of the lower surfaces, including the lower decals, and later wet-sanded in order to reveal some of the grey underneath for a worn look.

In order to break up the aircraft’s outlines, esp. at low altitude, a disruptive meander pattern in light grey (RLM 76) was painted on top of the upper surfaces. For this task, I thinned Humbrol’s 247 enamel and used a simple brush, painting the curls free-handedly. The finish looks pretty convincing, and it mimics well the technique with which those improvised patterns were applied in the field in real life: quickly, with anything at hand. The way the finish turned out, the pattern could have been applied with a broad brush – the use of a spray gun was rather uncommon, and IMHO the use of an airbrush on a model to recreate such a zigzag pattern rarely leads to convincing results?

This pattern was painted tightly around all the upper markings, and the markings themselves were kept at a minimum. For instance, the tactical code only comprises the aircraft’s individual letter “Blue O” behind the fuselage cross, which indicates an air staff machine. This would, following the official German squadron code system, be confirmed by an “A”, following as a fourth digit. The squadron’s code (“P7”, which is fictional, just like the aircraft’s sea reconnaissance squadron itself) was omitted, too. Such minimal markings became a frequent practice towards the final war stages, though, and it fits the aircraft’s special duty role well. The only individual marking is a squadron badge under the cockpit – lent from an Italian night fighter and placed on a dark blue disc. Another, subtle indicator for the aircraft’s operator are the blue air intake center bodies, repeating the staff flight’s blue color code.

Only some light weathering was done, with dry-brushed light grey on the leading edges, and finally the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri). In a final step, some very light dry-brushing with aluminum was done on some of the fuselage edges, esp. the spray dams, and the position lights were painted with translucent paint over a silver base.

A messy project, in many ways, but I am happy with result. Most stunning is IMHO the fact that all major parts for this compact flying boat actually come from a single, simple Me 262 kit – but visually there’s not much of the left from the jet fighter. But it’s also amazing that the proportions look right, and the whole thing quite plausible and Dornier-esque! Turned out better than expected.

Walther P-38

Both my great Uncles served in WW2; one in the Pacific theater and the other in the European. My Grandfather was exempt from service because he was a school teacher and his position was deemed critical.

My Great Uncle who served in the Pacific arrived a week after the bomb was dropped and so no "action." My other Great Uncle spent some time in combat in Germany. He never spoke about it, but he did bring back this pistol. How he acquired it was never spoken. It's something that has been in our family ever since he came back. The pistol has damage on the right side of the barrel. It does not hinder the function of the gun, but there is a story only the Blued Metal can speak of.

The P38 was introduced in 1938 as an officers side arm. It was designed to replace the aging Luger. It fires the same 9mm round as the Lugar and is still used today as the standard 9mm round. Unlike the Lugar which had hand finished parts, the P-38 was all machined.

This pistol has the serial number 8547a and the marking AC40 which means it is the 18,547 gun off the assembly line in 1940. All major parts of the pistol have identical serial number marks including such minor things as the inside of the pistol grips. There is an incredible amount of data about these guns and the relationship between the gun and the serial numbers. This has a dramatic effect on the resale value of these pistols.

This is a German word again, that I have no English word for. It translates something like "hump meadow".

"Hump meadows" are a typical geo-morphological phenomenon of the Bavarian Prealps in the valleys. The wavy surface has been formed in the valleys where already some rubble and moraines of glaciers have been deposited on a chalky base rock. Then the crevices of the base rock have been enlarged through water and frost and the rubble field, covered with humus and grass, became wavy. Geologist have though that this surface developed at the end of the last glacier period. But newest researches say the "Buckelwiesen" are only a few hundred to one thousand years old.

Many of these fields have been flattened for agricultural use (mainly in the period between 1920-1930). Today some of the remaining meadows are protected. The land owners receive financial support to motivate them to use these areas traditionally, as they have been used for centuries. No manure is being used, they are pastures for animals. Mowing is being done by hand or with small machines.

This way it is hoped that the unique flora of these meadows are being preserved.

The ‘Pataphysical Slot Machine is on exhibit at the Mill Valley Library this month. Visitors to this unique art project seem to really enjoy the experience: their faces tell the whole story in this photo album. Overall, the slot machine seems to have a positive social impact: it makes people happy, gets them inspired -- and can help some of them become art makers.

Come see the slot machine this month! Our poetic oracle awaits you every weekend, to share words of wisdom about your life and future.

The exhibit is open from 1 to 5pm every Saturday and Sunday in October, in the downstairs conference room of the Mill Valley Library.

Pataphysical Studio members will be on hand to demo the Slot Machine and share what they have learned while building this interactive art project.

Learn more: pataphysics.us/join-the-unveiling-of-the-slot-machine

View more photos of the exhibit: www.flickr.com/photos/fabola/albums/72157659147117739

The bombe was an electro-mechanical device used by British cryptologists to help decipher German Enigma-machine-encrypted secret messages during World War II. The US Navy and US Army later produced their own machines to the same functional specification, but engineered differently from each other and from the British Bombe.

The initial design of the bombe was produced in 1939 at the UK Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park by Alan Turing, with an important refinement devised in 1940 by Gordon Welchman. The engineering design and construction was the work of Harold Keen of the British Tabulating Machine Company. It was a substantial development from a device that had been designed in 1938 in Poland at the Biuro Szyfrów (Cipher Bureau) by cryptologist Marian Rejewski, and known as the "cryptologic bomb" (Polish: bomba kryptologiczna). The first bombe, code-named Victory, was installed in March 1940 while the second version, Agnus Dei or Agnes, incorporating Welchman's new design, was working by August 1940.

The bombe was designed to discover some of the daily settings of the Enigma machines on the various German military networks: specifically, the set of rotors in use and their positions in the machine; the rotor core start positions for the message—the message key—and one of the wirings of the plugboard.

In 1994 a group led by John Harper of the BCS Computer Conservation Society started a project to build this working replica of a bombe. The project required detailed research, and took 13 years of effort before this replica was completed, which was then put on display at the Bletchley Park museum. In March 2009 it won an Engineering Heritage Award.

Each vertical set of three drums, together with a reflector plugboard on the left hand end of the machine, is the electrical equivalent of a German Enigma machine. This set of three is often refered to as a "Letchworth Enigma".

The drum colours are used to identify the internal wiring where this is the same as an Enigma wheel but provided twice for electrical reasons. There are 36 such Letchworth Enigmas with thier external connection brought out to the rear of the machine.

The top drums go around the fastest but in fact are equivalent to the Enigma's slow, left hand wheel. The top drums of each three wheel set rotate continuously, with the middle ones stepping by ratchet action after the top drums have performed 26 electrical tests. The bottom drum steps again by ratchet action at the same time as the middle ones but only once in every rotation of the middle drums.

On the right and hidden by the demonstrator, are the indicator drums. These are permanently attached to the machine. When the machine 'stops' they indicate a possible conditions that after further processing, might lead to the settings used by the Germans on their Enigma machine to encypher the text.

They would be set to ZZZ before starting a run. If during a run no 'stop' were found the machine would then return to ZZZ and come to a halt having carried out 26x26x26 unsuccessful tests.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombe#Bombe_rebuild

There are many things to question about the automotive world, but why did the Wedge ever take off?

With that said, I give you the Triumph TR7, British Leyland's once great hope for domination of the American market, crushed by poor design, miscommunication, terrible advertising and shoddy workmanship.

The Triumph TR7 was first launched in 1974 as British Leyland's top ranging sports car. Looking very sheek and stylish (and like a block of cheese with pop up headlights) with its low riding wedge shape, the car did indeed look the part...

...minus a few things here and there. One was that massive composite bumper, which was yoked onto the front of the car to conform with American safety legislation. Another was the roof design, which was hastily slapped on to conform to American safety legislation. And finally there's the tail lights, which were not designed to conform with American safety legislation, they were just poorly put together.

Yes the TR7 was in the grip of American safety legislation. Following the tragic death of James Dean, America planned to ban convertibles, and thus car manufacturers across the globe had to redesign their cars in order to work with this new legislation. However, instead of taking a leaf out of their own book and giving the TR7 a curious T-Bar arrangement like on the Triumph Stag, they decided to slap on a roof that completely compromised the profile of the car.

But styling was the least of the TR7's worries, it was then bogged down with how it was built. Underneath that wedgie body, the TR7 was nothing more than a humble Triumph Dolomite, powered by the fundamentally flawed Twin Dolomite V8 and built on the same chassis. The result was a car so faulty that it would hardly ever run, as was found in the filming of the popular British TV show, the New Avengers, where the character of Purdy was coupled with a yellow TR7 much like this one. Apparently the car was so unreliable that all the filming involving the car had to be done in 20 minutes or less before the car broke down again!

It was also interesting to note that when the car underwent trials Frankfurt Motor Show in 1977, the car overheated on a 2.5 mile speed test, and after 19 days in a shed, a troop of British Leyland engineers still couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.

But set aside the failure in giving it a reliable engine and a good design, the TR7 was then botched by Red Robbo's rowdies at the Speke Factory in Liverpool. Strike after strike occurred and cars were released onto the roads only half put together. The results were either massive unreliability, leaking panels, electrical infidelity and/or other problems, such as hitting the indicator switch which would cause the horn to blow. This downfall was assisted by the factory shutting down for nearly a year due to seemingly constant industrial action, with many unfinished TR7 shells rotting out in the Liverpool drizzle.

Eventually, order was somewhat restored when production moved to the factory in Coventry, and reliability began to improve, but with its reputation in tatters, the TR7 simply would not sell, even with promotion on the New Avengers. However, in the end the threat of American legislation was lifted, and the cars were allowed to be sold as convertibles, which were quite handsome looking machines. This was later added to by the fitting of a Rover V8 engine to replace the unreliable Dolomite engine, and as such the formula was perfected in the form of the Triumph TR8...

...only to be axed the following year in 1981 as that poor reputation mixed with build quality issues and an unusually strong Pound meant the car was surprisingly more expensive than its rivals, and so the TR7 and TR8's were dead. But even so, towards the end they did begin to sell well, and a TR8 also found its way into the world of Rallying under the command of Tony Pond, the 300bhp monster he drove was simply untouchable.

Today these cars can be common if you know where to look, but don't expect to find many in everyday usage as like most British Leyland cars, they don't react well to the rain.