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Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.
George Eastman
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Selects of Make Music Pasadena 2016 feat.
Pr0files
The Dead Ships
The Mowgli's
Atlas Genius
Givers & Takers
PAPA
The School of Rock
Thee Commons
Pasadena, CA
06/11/16
More Highlights:
Here is a photo of the first completed production version of the Echophon. Note the silver faceplate- no longer a prototype. It looks like this will be the next Make Noise module released. We'll update our site when we have stock.
LINK for more info: www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49834&sid=6... .
It is easy to make new friends over the internet, but you do not get to meet them very often “in real life”, as they say, especially if they live in a far away country. I was fortunate enough that my friend Janet, an American college professor of art history and a specialist of the Middle Ages, could come to France for a worldwide, week-long congress in June 2024, and even luckier that the congress in question was held in the city of Lyon, a few kilometers from my home.
Thus, we finally met in person, and since she had some free time during that week, I arranged for us to visit a couple of Romanesque churches she had never heard of before but that were still worthy of our interest. We spent a nice day navigating the small roads of the départements of Isère and Drôme, south of Lyon, stopped at roadside fresh produce vending stalls that delighted her, had lunch in a nice restaurant tucked away in the hills, and more to the point, visited two churches: Saint-Romain-de-Surieu and Chantemerle-les-Blés.
In Saint-Romain-de-Surieu, my interest was for the former castle chapel originally dedicated to Our Lady and located on the rocky promontory overlooking the village, where the castle once stood, although precious nothing of it remains visible, except maybe to the trained archæologist’s eye.
That former chapel then became the official parish church, as evidenced by the presence of the cemetery on its southern side. Contrary to what I have read in several places, this church looks very old to me. I consider it even possible that it was there before the castle was erected. Among my reasons are: (1) the carefully assembled but generally quite rough apparel of local pebbles with several traces of opus spicatum (fishbone or herringbone masonry in English), which is a technique that was not used after Year 1000; (2) the flat, squarish apse, easier to build than a semi-circular one, is also a sign of very old age; (3) the squat, square bell tower sitting across the whole width of the nave; (4) the very small and narrow shape of the few period windows that remain, many having been remodeled later; (5) the absence of a vault; and (6) the naive and archaic sculpted motifs on the two remaining period capitals inside the nave.
All in all, in my opinion, this little church, unfortunately all plastered up inside, dates back to the Carolingian age before Year 1000, at least for its oldest part. Were it not for the plastering, its side walls would have a lot more to tell us. Agreed, it was remodeled as late as the 19th century, including in its now strange-looking triumphal arch, as we will see, but the core is ancient.
One last photo of Surieu-Saint-Romain: the square apse which is one of the signs that tells us, according to me, that this was first built around, or preferably before, Year 1000.
Now, on to Chantemerle!
Wiksten Tova Dress made in pima cotton. Red is a popular color choice for this! I'd gotten my fabric before the pattern even arrived, but only this week had a chance to do some sewing for myself.
Happy New Year! Here's to hoping for a few more Wiksten patterns in 2011. =)
I scored this handmade dress at the Sweat Swap. I love the color, full skirt, and defined waist, but the high neckline and gathered chest look dowdy on my frame. I’ve tried a few different styling tricks to make it work. My favorite is to accessorize the dress with a scarf, worn cowboy style.
Scarf, thrifted. Cardigan, Rodarte for Target. Belt, Forever 21. Dress, handmade and swapped. Tights, Stocking Diva. Boots, White Mountain. Earrings Panagea.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The AMD Mystère S represents one of the many evolutionary steps in French 2nd generation jet fighter aircraft design, which began with the straight-wing Dassault Ouragan and progressed through the Mystère II/III and Mystère IV to the supersonic Super Mystère SM2B. Internally designated AMD 461 and originally called the Mystère X (Roman numeral “10”, not the letter “X”), the new aircraft was the attempt to improve the successful Mystère IV from 1953 in many respects, following Marcel Dassaults strategy to take small, evolutionary steps instead of radical quantum leaps. While the overall outlines were similar and followed the proven layout of the former Dassault jet fighters, the AMD 461 was a completely new design, though.
First of all, the machine was from the start designed around the indigenous axial-flow Atar 101 jet engine, since it had become obvious that the former radial-flow engines used in Dassault’s fighters, like the Rolls-Royce Tay and its French-built version, the Hispano-Suiza Verdon 350, did not offer the potential for sustained supersonic performance in level flight. As a result, the fuselage became thinner and the aircraft had a less tubby look. Furthermore, in order to achieve the ambitious performance goals, a new wing was devised, and it incorporated leading edges made from novel composite materials. The wing shape was more complex than previous AMD designs: unlike the simple trapezoid Mystère II and IV wing designs, the AMD 461’s wings had kinked wing leading edges at about half span, so that the wing root sections were extended forward and had a slightly stronger sweep than the outer wing sections (47° vs. 45°), resulting in a crescent planform with rounded tips. Dogteeth at the kinks’ position increased the wings’ critical Mach number, augmented by small boundary layer fences. A novelty were power-operated ailerons. The tail surfaces were swept, too, and featured a variable-incidence tail plane.
The Mystère IV’s circular nose air intake arrangement was retained, but the intake received a sharper lip for better aerodynamic efficiency at high speed. The intake ducts were split deeper down inside of the fuselage, flanking the cockpit and the weapon bay behind it (see below) on both sides. The small ranging radar, originally developed for the upgraded Mystère IVB (which never made it into series production due to a fatal prototype crash and the progress of AMD’s other supersonic projects), was relocated and now mounted on top of the intake section, reminiscent of the F-86’s arrangement. A gun camera was placed outside of the intake in a small fairing on the starboard side. Two pitots under the air intake (one main and a secondary sensor) replaced the Mystère IV’s single wing-mounted sensor boom.
Being a classic “gunfighter”, the AMD 461’s main armament comprised a pair of 30mm DEFA cannon in the lower front fuselage, taken over from the Mystère IV, and a retractable Type 103 pannier for 45 unguided MATRA missiles against air or ground targets behind the front wheel well. Four underwing hardpoints could carry a total payload of 1.500 kg (3.300 lb), including a pair of supersonic 625 l drop tanks on the inner pair of pylons. A typical fighter weapon were lightweight Matra Type 116M launchers, each with 19 unguided SNEB-68 air-to-air rockets. Up to four could be carried under the wings. In a secondary attack/fighter bomber role, bombs of various caliber (up to 500 kg/1.100 lb on the inner and 250 kg/550 lb on the outer hardpoints) and other unguided missiles/pods were possible, too.
The first Mystère X prototype was powered by the Atar 101D with 29,420 N (6,610 lbf) of thrust, and it flew successfully in June 1953. However, due to the lack of an afterburner at this stage, the machine could only become supersonic in a dive, just like the former Mystère fighters, and it offered in this guise only minimal performance improvements – even though the handling near Mach 1 was already noticeably better. The initial flight test program was successful, though, and the Armée de l’Air immediately placed an order for 100 Mystère X aircraft, intended to improve the Armée de l’Air’s interception capabilities as soon as possible. Serial production started instantaneously, even while the flight tests were still ongoing, and the production machines were powered by the newly developed Atar 101F, which had just been cleared for production and operation on the Mystère X prototype. The Atar 101F was basically a D model with an afterburner added to it, to produce a temporary thrust of 37,300 N (8,400 lbf) and ensure the desired top speed in level flight of more than Mach 1. As a result, the Mystère X’s tail section had to be modified to accommodate the new engine’s longer tailpipe, which did not feature an adjustable nozzle yet – it was simply extended beyond the fin’s trailing edge, and even then the longer jet pipe protruded from the hull. However, this modification was successful and incorporated into the serial aircraft. With the Atar 101F, the serial production Mystère X’s performance was appreciably improved: beyond supersonic top speed, initial rate of climb was almost doubled in comparison with the Mystère IV, but the thirsty afterburner engine almost nullified any gain in range from the new type’s higher internal fuel capacity. Drop tanks had to be carried almost all the time.
The quick (if not hastened) order for the Mystère X also served as an insurance policy in the event of the AMD effort failing to produce an even more capable supersonic aircraft with the Mystère XX, a project that had been under development as a private venture in parallel, but with a time lag of about two years and benefitting from the research that had been done for the AMD 461. However, both designs turned out to be successful and both were adopted for service. They became known to the public as the Mystère S (for ‘supersonique’) and the Super Mystère, respectively. The first Super Mystère prototype, powered by a Rolls-Royce Avon RA.7R, took to the air on 2 March 1955, and the promising aircraft already broke the sound barrier in level flight the following day. The Super Mystère turned out to be the more capable and modern aircraft thanks to its new, more powerful Atar 109G-2 engine.
The more capable Super Mystère was immediately favored and, as a consequence, the running Mystère S order was cancelled in May 1955 and its initial production run limited to a mere 54 airframes - the number that had been completed until that point. The Super Mystère became the Armée de l’Air’s standard fighter for the late Fifties and production was quickly switched to the new type, 180 specimen were eventually built. Since a mix of types in the operational fighter squadrons was not economical, the Armée de l’Air decided to separate them and find a different role for the young but relatively small Mystère S fleet. Since the aircraft had a rugged airframe and had shown very good handling characteristics at medium to low altitude, and because the Armée de l’Air was lacking a fast, tactical and indigenous reconnaissance aircraft at that time (the standard type was the RF-84F), the Armée de l’Air decided in 1956 to convert the Mystère S fighters accordingly.
This modification was a relatively easy task: The retractable missile pannier (which was hardly ever used) was removed and its well behind the cockpit offered sufficient internal space for optical reconnaissance equipment in a conditioned compartment. This comprised four OMERA cameras (less than the RF-84F’s six cameras), covered by a ventral canoe fairing. One camera was facing forward, two were set on mounts that allowed vertical photography or camera orientation to either port or starboard, and the fourth camera had a panoramic field of view. After these modifications, the machines were re-designated Mystère SR to reflect their new role and capabilities.
Initially, the converted machines retained the twin DEFA cannon armament and full external stores capability. Typical load in the new photo-recce role was the standard pair of drop tanks, plus optional flares for night photography. In this guise the Mystère SR fleet was distributed among two reconnaissance units, ER 2/33 “Savoie” and ER 3/33 “Moselle” in Eastern France, close to the German border, starting service in April 1957.
Later in their career, the Mystère SR’s guns and also the ranging radar equipment (even though the empty small radome was retained) were often removed. This was initially a weight-saving measure for better performance, but due to their short legs many Mystère SRs had extra fuel tanks added to the former gun and ammunition bays. In some cases the space was used to house additional mission equipment, the aircrafts’ designation did not change, though. The integration of the new Matra R.550 Magic AAM was considered briefly in 1970, but not deemed relevant for the Mystère SR’s mission profile. However, eight late-production Mystère SRs received a new, bigger panoramic OMERA camera, which necessitated a larger ventral fairing and some other internal changes. These machines were re-designated Mystère SRP (‘panoramique’). Another early Mystère SR was used for the development of indigenous infra-red linescan and side looking airborne radar systems, which were both later incorporated in an under-fuselage pod for the Mirage IIIR.
Having become quickly obsolete through the introduction of 3rd generation jet fighters in the early Sixties – namely the Mirage III – the Mystère SR’s active career only lasted a mere 10 years, and the Mirage III’s fighter variants quickly replaced the Super Mystère, too. Due to its many limitations, the Mystère SR was soon replaced by the Mirage IIIR reconnaissance version, by 1974 all aircraft had been retired. Another reason for this early operational end were durability problems with the composite elements on the aircraft’s wings – there had been no long-term experience with the new material, but the elements tended to become brittle and collapse under stress or upon bird strikes. AMD conceived a plan to replace the affected panels with light metal sheets, but this update, which would have prolonged service life for 10 more years, was not carried out. After spending 5 years in mothballed storage, all surviving Mystère SR airframes were scrapped between 1980 and 1981.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 42 ft 3 in (12.88 m) overall
42 ft 3 in (12.88 m) w/o pitots
Wingspan: 32 ft 4 in (9.86 m)
Height: 3.75 m (12 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 345.5 sq ft (32.2 m²)
Empty weight: 13,435 lb (6,094 kg)
Gross weight: 21,673 lb (9,831 kg)
Fuel capacity: 3,540 l (778 imp gal; 934 US gal) internally
plus 2x 625 l (72 imp gal; 165 US gal) drop tanks
Powerplant:
1× Atar 101F turbojet, rated at 29.42 kN (6,610 lbf) dry thrust
and with 37.3 kN (8,400 lbf) with afterburner
Performance:
Maximum speed: 1,110 km/h (600 kn, 690 mph) at sea level
1,180 km/h (637 kn 732 mph,) at 11,000 m (36,089 ft)
Combat range: 915 km (494 nmi, 570 mi) with internal fuel only
Maximum range: 1,175 km (730 mi, 634 nmi)
Service ceiling: 45,800 ft (14,000 m)
Rate of climb: 14,660 ft/min (74.5 m/s)
Time to altitude: 40,000 ft (12,000 m) in 4 minutes 41 seconds
Armament:
2x 30mm (1.18 in) DEFA 552 cannon with 150 rounds per gun (later frequently deleted)
Four underwing hardpoints for 1.500 kg (3.300 lb) of ordnance,
including a pair of 625 liter drop tanks, flares and various unguided missiles and iron bombs
The kit and its assembly:
A project I had on my idea list for a long time – there were so many AMD jet fighter designs (both that entered service but also many paper projects and prototypes) during the Fifties and Sixties that I wondered if I could smuggle a what-if type somewhere into the lineage. A potential basis appeared when I recognized that the British Supermarine Swift had a fuselage shape quite similar to the contemporary French fighters, and from this impression the idea was born to “Frenchize” a Swift.
This called for a kitbash, and I used a Matchbox Mystère IV (Revell re-boxing) for the French donor elements that would be grafted onto an Xtrakit FR.5 model, which looks good in the box but has serious fit issues, e.g. between the rear fuselage halves or when the wings have to be mated with the completed fuselage.
The transplantations from the rather primitive/blunt Matchbox Mystère included the whole cockpit section except for the interior, which was taken from the in this respect much better Swift, the glazing, the spine and the whole tail with fin and stabilizers. The Swift provided most of the fuselage, the wings and the landing gear, even though I used the Mystère’s main wheels because of their characteristic hub caps/brake arrangement.
Mating the fuselage sections from the two models became a major stunt, though, because the diameters and shapes were rather different. Three-dimensional gaps and steps behihd the cockpit had to be bridged, initially with 2C putty for the rough overall shape and then with NC putty for a smooth finish. A gap in the spine in front of the fin had to be improvised/filled, too, and the Mystère’s fin had to be tailored to the different Swift rear fuselage shape, too.
The result looks a little odd, though, the Swift’s original air intake ducts now look from certain angles like hamster cheeks – but after all, the ducts have to pass the central cockpit section on both sides somehow, so that the arrangement makes nonetheless sense. And the small dorsal spine taken over from the Mystère changes the Swift’s profile considerably, as well as the shorter Dassault-style canopy.
The small ranging radar radome is just a piece of sprue from the Mystère kit, blended into the rest of the fuselage with putty. The interior of the air intake was heavily modified – the original splitter, positioned directly inside of the intake, was deleted and the walls trimmed down for a much thinner/sharper lip. Inside of the intake a bulkhead was added as a sight blocker, and a new splitter was mounted to the new bulkhead in a much deeper position. The gun camera fairing is a piece of styrene profile, the new twin pitots (reminiscent of the SM2B’s arrangement) were made from heated sprue material.
The camera fairing is the lower half from a P-47 drop tank, left over from a Hobby Boss kit, IIRC, and in order to fit the Swift’s cockpit tub into the Mystère’s fuselage the rear bulkhead had to be re-created with the help of paper tissue drenched with white glue.
The drop tanks come from a KP MiG-19, which had the benefit of integral, thin pylons at a suitable position for the Mystère SR. For a different look I just canted their fins downwards.
Painting and markings:
For a subtle impression I settled for an authentic livery: the French rendition of the USAF SEA scheme for the F-100 with local CELOMER tones, which was not only applied to the Armée de l’Air’s F-100s (these were originally delivered in NMF and camouflaged later in the Sixties), but also to the Super Mystères - the SM2Bs actually carried a quite faithful adaptation of the USAF’s F-100 pattern! However, the indigenous CELOMER paints differed from the original U.S. Federal Standard tones (FS 30219, 34102, 34079 and 36622, respectively), esp. the reddish light tan was more of an earth tone, and the dark green had a more bluish hue.
This offered some freedom – even more so because real life pictures of French reference aircraft show a wide range of shades of these basic tones and frequent serious weathering. Instead of the U.S. tan I went for RAF Dark Earth (Humbrol 29), the dark Forest Green was replaced with Humbrol 75 (Bronze Green). The light green became a 2:1 mix of Humbrol 117 (the original FS 34102) with Humbrol 78 (RAF Cockpit Green), for more contrast and less yellow in the tone. The undersides were painted with Humbrol 166 (RAF Light Aircraft Grey).
After a black ink wash I gave the model a thorough panel post-shading and recreated some lost panel lines with the help of silver paint, too. I also added some paint patches and touch-ups, for a rather worn look of the aircraft.
The black areas around the gun muzzles were created with the help of decal material, generic black decal sheet material was also used to create the camera windows. Grey (Revell 75) dielectric panels were added to the fin tip and behind the cockpit. The cockpit interior became very dark grey (Revell 09, Anthracite, with some dry-painted medium grey on top), while the landing gear and the respective wells were left in aluminum (Humbrol 56).
The decals are a mix from various sources. The ER 2/33 markings came from a Heller Mirage III sheet, which offers an optional IIIR from 1984. I also settled for relatively small roundels (from a Mirage F.1C) – a trend which started in the Armée de l’Air in the early Seventies and also comprised the deletion of the fin flash. Contemporary real world SM2Bs with the French SEA cammo frequently carried a similar type of subdued markings instead of earlier, bigger roundels found on the machines in NMF finish or on the aircraft from EC 1/12 "Cambresis" with their unique and different camouflage in two shades of green and a rather sandy tan, almost like a desert paint scheme. The white tactical code “33-PS” was improvised with single 4mm letters from TL Modellbau. The stencils were puzzled together from various Mirage III/V/F.1C sheets and also from an IAI Kfir.
The kit received some additional dry-painting with silver to simulate more wear, and was finally sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish.
Another “missing link” build, but I think that my Mystère S fits stylistically well into the (non-existent, though) gap between the Mystère IV and the Super Mystère, sporting vintage details like the round air intake but coupled with highly swept wings and the Swift’s elegant lines. The “traditional” French paint scheme adds to the realism - and, when put in the right background/landscape context, turns out to be very effective. Not a spectacular model, despite serious body work around the cockpit, but a convincing result.
My 2013 Disney Parks Mermaid Ariel 12'' Doll is photographed during her deboxing. The backing has been removed from the box, with the doll attached. There are wires attaching her waist and ankles to the backing, plastic ties securing her head and fins to the backing. Her hair is secured around her shoulders and kept neat via rubber bands.
The 2013 Parks Mermaid Ariel Doll has a few major changes from the 2011 Parks Mermaid Ariel Doll. She has the face and hair of the 2012 Disney Store Classic Ariel doll, which I find more attractive than the old Parks doll. She has the outfit and accessories of the old 2011 Parks doll, except that the tulle and organza overskirts have been removed. She has the body of the 2011 Parks dolls, with non-articulated arms, and rubber legs with internal knee joints and fixed angled feet. I find that the new Ariel is a more attractive and movie accurate doll. As with the old doll, the only glitter is on her shell bra, which doesn't shed. That makes the Parks doll definitely better as a play doll than the current Disney Store Ariel dolls. I will post a full review of this doll once she has been fully deboxed.
The box is now rectangular, at 13'' H x 7 1/4'' W x 2 1/2'' D. The back and bottom are of double thickness cardboard, to which the doll and accessories are attached. There is a clear plastic window attached to the backing via tabs, through which the doll can be viewed from 3 sides and the top. On the back is a current Disney Princess promotional image, with background scenes from Disney Parks specific to each Princess.
Disneyland Resort Anaheim (DLR) finally has the new 2013 Disney Parks 12'' Princess Dolls, which have been available in Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World since May 2013. The are still priced at $19.95 each, which is basically twice the price of the equivalent Disney Store doll (which is frequently on sale for $10 each). They are a joint release by Disney Theme Parks Merchandise (USA) and EuroDisney (Disneyland Paris).
As of June 30, 2013, DLR had 7 of the 10 new dolls available: Cinderella, Aurora, Mermaid Ariel, Wedding Ariel, Belle, Jasmine and Rapunzel. Missing were the new Snow White, Tiana and Tinker Bell. All of the old versions of the dolls were still available. They were still selling the old (2012) Merida doll that was joint Disney Store and Disney Parks release. There hasn't been a new version released by Disney Parks so far. I bought them at the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney. The Emporium on Main Street in Disneyland had no Disney Parks Princess dolls for sale.
I will photograph them boxed, during deboxing and fully deboxed. They will also be reviewed and compared with other versions of the Disney Princess dolls.
( I promise these are straight in real life! I just couldn't get a proper bird's-eye view when shooting )
My super tardy paper-pieced blocks for Shanna for Ten Makes Two.
( Blogged here: twocheeseplease.livejournal.com/76256.html )
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Models: Agos & Gui
Make-Up: Make My Day www.flickr.com/photos/mkmyday
Ph, production and editing by me
it's not exactly big comparing to some collections. But, I must say that, since I arrived Canadá, it has increased so much!
Model, Make Up, Hair and Dress: Francesca Pinna
Photo and Editing: Me
01.13.2013
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A 24" x 24" mixed media piece on panel inspired by the Neil Gaiman book Make Good Art.
The idea of making mistakes to get to your destination was embraced in ernest.