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This is one of at least four places on my block were someone has written "Free Palestine" (or Gaza) and another person has followed with a more specific "From Hamas" message. I've seen one case where a third person painted over the "From Hamas." I don't know how long this has been going on, but I first saw them on January 26.
Vanderbilt Avenue, Prospect Heights. Brooklyn, NY
refining some of the Miskatonic University's build technique
Visit this location at Innsmouth, HP Lovecraft Tribute - early 1930s Massachusetts in Second Life
Refine your vision !
Photography Service 📷
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Photo by @refinephoto.id
Product : @jts_id
Model : @handrikonaftali
From wikidedia: The Rodeo San Francisco Refinery is a oil refinery located in Rodeo, California, which is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The refinery is currently owned and operated by ConocoPhillips...The complex is capable of refining 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
John Fowler 4220027 of 1964 is seen outside North Eastern Iron Refining Co at Stillington, Co Durham on a rainy 5th Sept 1980.
This loco was originally supplied to British Steel, Hartlepool and moved here to replace a less powerful Ruston 88DS.
Otra cosa no, pero Aseas en Suecia... Das una patada a una piedra y te salen 5. Por este motivo se pueden ver diferentes esquema de pintura de antiguos operadores por los que ha pasado la maquina. Como es el caso de la Rc4 1164, fabricada en 1976 y aun con sus caracteristicos pantografos romboidales, la cual luce la primera decoracion de SJ, con los logos de Green Cargo a medio borrar, pero que en la actualidad pertenece a Nordic Re-Finance AB o lo que es lo mismo NRFAB. En la foto la vemos pasando por Kumla con un pequeño TECO, el cual sera acoplado a una composion en Hallsberg, para proseguir hasta Gotemburgo.
Kumla 16/08/18
This is the Tate & Lyle Sugars factory in Silvertown in East London, which was sold in 2010 to American Sugar Refining, who have retained the name.
Henry Tate began refining sugar in the East End of London in 1878, initially focusing on cube sugar. His company was merged with that of Abram Lyle in 1921 to form Tate & Lyle, after both had died. Today the facility seen above is the largest in Western Europe and produces 12 million tonnes of sugar a year.
Tate used his fortune to found the Tate Gallery.
101 Oil Studies, No. 34
Objective: Refine life-size figure painting (applied with brush), experiment with dark but analogous abstract background (applied with palette knife).
Painted in 3 sessions: 30 July to 02 August 2024
Pigments (Winsor & Newton Artists' oil colour unless noted otherwise): yellow ochre, Naples yellow, transparent earth red (Gamblin), warm gray (Rembrandt), permalba white (Weber), ivory black, French ultramarine. Mediums: Gamsol, linseed oil.
Centurion OP DLX oil primed linen, 30.5 x 22.9 (12 x 9 inches)
Process: This moved from a photograph of my own hands to a pencil drawing. When satisfied with that, I transferred via charcoal pencil on tracing paper to the linen, which already had a wash of yellow ochre given time to dry. My river of skin-tone gradation came from the red, yellow ochre, white, and black. To the edge of this stream I added the ultramarine to desaturate where needed.
After Action Evaluation: Be mindful of how palette knives are changed and then stroked across the canvas. There is technique to be developed here.
Mural Theme
To refine the theme for this mural, Fintan visited Barraba in early 2019 to inspect the site and to meet with the local community. After speaking to the locals he gained an understanding of the local area. He listened to their stories and the concept for the mural was conceived.
In 2019, NSW continued to be in the grip of one of the worst droughts Australia has ever faced, with over 90% of the state in drought. Large areas of NSW are currently facing severe water shortages, with supply being limited to critical water needs only.
Extract from Fintan Magee's Artist Statement
This mural depicts a local water diviner searching for groundwater, using a y-shaped twig or rod or two L-shaped ones. Diviners study the landscape of a farm and walk over areas where they suspect the water may be located. Ground minerals and magnetic forces force the sticks to cross or be pushed downwards when water is located. Despite many studies claiming the technique is pseudo-science, diviners continue to be used throughout Australia as a way of finding groundwater.
Work began on the silos on the 25 March 2019 and they were completed just 24 days later on the 19 of April. The Barraba Silos are officially the 28 silos to be included in the Australian Silo Art Trail Collection.
Meet the Artist
Fintan Magee is an internationally renowned artist known for his murals throughout the world. He obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2009 in Brisbane and then moved to Sydney to further his career.
Info source:
Some windows from the British Columbia Sugar Refining Company
Find me on facebook @ Jeremy J. Saunders Photography
A quick microscale build inspired by Moctagon Jone's sweet little Mars Mining Colony. Looking at it now, I realize how much I was inspired by it...
Anyway, it was a fun little build, and it reminded me how long it's been since I built some good ol' microscale :)
Enjoy!
Work in progress: refining the eyes of the unfired porcelain face.
Рабочий процесс: деталировка глаз необожжённого фарфорового лица.
Fore/port angle view.
Name: S.S. Bessemer
Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)
Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.
Class Name: Bessemer class
Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship
Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict
Specifications:
Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)
Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)
Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)
Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.
Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.
Defensive systems:
Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.
Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.
Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.
Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.
Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.
Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.
Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.
Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.
Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.
Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.
Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.
Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)
He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.
Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.
David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:
1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.
2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.
3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.
But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.
The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.
Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.
But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.
Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.
But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.
Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.
What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.
The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.
IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.
The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.
If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils
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Press full size image (L)
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Sobhan Allah and Bhmdh .. Sobhan Allah Almighty
No God but God and Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah
Oh God, you should praise your greatness for Jalal
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Thank you and thank all who helped me on the success of this action
^ ^
I thank everyone who supported me to refine my talent and development of modern
I thank everyone who stood by me and share my joy with graphic
I thank everyone who gave me his glove
Thank you for all the Filkr J, Li Damtwoona your responses to me and me with your words Chdjaakm
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My work belongs to all without enrollment rights
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[Will]
Replies to delete the attached image
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لا يشك أحد بأن الوقت هو الحياة , فعمر الإنسان عبارة عن أيام , كما قال الحسن البصري : " يابن آدم , إنما أنت أيام ,إذا ذهب يوم ذهب بعضك " .
والأيام ما هي إلا ساعات ودقائق لهذا على المرء أن يتفكر أين يذهب يومه , والإسلام اهتم بإدارة الوقت الخاص إضافة إلى إدارة وقت العمل وحثه على اغتنامه وعدم إضاعته , فهو من الأمور التي يسأل عنها الإنسان يوم القيامة فعن أبي برزة الأسلمي قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم :" لاتزول قدما عبد يوم القيامة حتى يسأل عن أربع خصال : عن عمره فيم أفناه , وعن شبابه فيما أبلاه . وعن ماله من أين اكتسبه وفيما أنفقه , وعن علمه ماذا عمل فيه ."
والإسلام نظم حياة المسلم ووقته فقد نظم نومه واستيقاظه , وأداءه للشعائر , وإنطلاقه إلى ميدان الحياة , ليجعل عمله كله عبادة لله سبحنانه وتعالى يقوم على أساس الشعائر كلها وعلى أساس من ذكر الله الملازم له .
وإذا أردنا أن نقدر أعمار هذه الأمه فقد روي عن أبي هريرة قال : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم :" أعمار أمتي ما بين الستين إلى السبعين وأقلهم من يجوز ذلك ."
فإذا أخذنا بفرضية لأن العمر سبعون سنة , اعلم رحمك الله بأن كل خمس دقائق تقضيها يومياً تقدر من إجمالي عمرك بثلاثة أشهر تقريباً , وأن كل ساعة تقضيها يومياً تقدر ب ثلاث سنوات من إجمالي عمرك
وبناء على هذه الفرضية فوقت الإنسان يتوزع يومياً على ما يلي :
سبع ساعات نوم ثمان ساعات عمل
ساعة بالهاتف
ساعة ونصف أكل نصف ساعة قضاء حاجة
ساعة استرخاء ساعة بين الأصحاب والأصدقاء
ساعتان بالسيارة
بهذا يكون إجمال الوقت المستهلك يومياً 22 ساعة بما يعادل 66 سنة من إجمالي السبعين سنة .
فما تبقى من عمرك هو 4 سنوات تقريباً فما أنت فاعله ؟
قد يسأل سائل ما المقصود بهذه الإحصائية :! هل لاننام أم نأكل أو لانركب السيارة ولانجلس مع الأصحاب ؟
ليس هذا المقصود !! ولكن هذا هو يومك فاعرف قيمته , وعليك بتجديد النية في أعمالك كلها لكي لاتحرم الأجر , فإذا أردت أن تأكل فجدد نيتك بأن إطعامك لأطفالك لك فيها أجر " في كل كبد رطبة أجر .
إذا علمت ذلك فعليك استثمار وقتك الاستثمار الأمثل بحيث لاتضيعه وحاول أن تقدر الأمر كما ينبغي.
فلتسأل نفسك لم؟ وكيف؟ومتى ؟وأين ؟ ونظم وقتك لكي لاتفقد الكثير منه بدون فائدة وتأتي يوم لاينفع مال ولابنون وتقول ليتني فعلت وليتني قلت !
واعلم عفر الله لي ولك إنك مساءل عن هذا الوقت !!! فإن لم يكن لك فهو عليك وان المغزى من من خلق الخلق هو عبادة الله
وهذا هو الهدف الحقيقي والرئيس الذي يجب أن يكون في حياتك وعلى جوارحك أن تتحرك وتعمل لتحقيق هذا الهدف وأن باقي الأعمال يفترض أن تصب في صالح هذا الأمر .
قال ابن القيم رحمه الله يبين هذه الحقيقة بقولة : وقت الإنسان هو عمره في الحقيقة , وهو مادة حياته الأبدية في النعيم المقيم ومادة حياته الأبدية في النعيم المقيم , ومادة معيشته الضنك في العذاب الأليم , وهو يمر مر السحاب , فمن كان وقته لله وبالله فهو حياته وعمره وغيرذلك ليس محسوباً من حياته ... فإذا قطع وقته في الغفلة والسهو والأماني الباطلة وكان خير ما قطعه به النوم والبطالة و فموت هذا خير من حياته .
ويقول إبن الجوزي :" لا ينبغي للإنسان أن يعرف شرف زمانه وقدر وقته , فلا يضيع منه لحظة في غير قربة , ويقدم فيه الأفضل فالأفضل من القول والعمل ولتكن نيته في الخير قائمة من غير فتور بما لايعجز عته البدن من العمل .
وفي هذا يذكر الله تعالى موقفين للإنسان يندم فيهما على ضياع وقته حيث لاينفع الندم :
أولهما : ساعة الاحتضار حين يستدبر الإنسان الدنيا ويستقبل الآخرة ويتمنى لومنح مهلة من الزمن ليصلح ما فسد ويتدارك ما فات
قال تعالى : يأيها الذين آمنوا لاتلهكم أموالكم ولا أولادكم عن ذكر الله ومن يفعل ذلك فأولئك هم الخاسرون وأنفقوا مما رزقناكم من قبل أن يأتي أحدكم الموت فيقول رب لولا أخرتني إلى أجل قريب فأصدق وأكن من الصالحين .
ويكون الجواب على هذه الأمنية ولن يؤخر الله نفساً إذا جاء أجلها والله خبير بما تعملون
ثانيهما : في الآخرة .. حيث توفي كل نفس ما عملت وتجزى بما كسبت
ويدخل أهل الجنة الجنة , وأهل النار النار و هنالك يتمنى أهل النار لو يعودون مرة أخرى على الحياة ليبدؤوا من جديد عملاً صالحاً .
والذين كفروا لهم نار جهنم لا يقضى عليهم فيموتوا ولا يخفف عنهم من عذابها كذلك نجزي كل كفور وهم يصطرخون فيها ربنا أخرجنا نعمل صالحاً غير الذي كنا نعمل أو لم نعمركم ما يتذكر فيه من تذكر وجائكم النذير فذوقوا فما للظالمين من نصير
وما أحسن مقولة الحسن البصري : أدركت أقواماً كانوا على أوقاتهم شد منكم حرصاً على دراهمكم ودنانيركم , فلنحرص على الوقت ولنحافظ عليه .
ولنستفيد منه كله فيما ينفعنا في الدين والدنيا وفيما يعود على الأمة بالخير والسعادة والنماء الروحي والمادي
فعندما تفكر في تمضية وقتك , فكر بما يعود عليك بالنفع في آخرتك لأن معظم وقتك ذاهب بالحسبة السابقة
وإذا عرفنا ذلك يا معشر المسلمين , فلنحرص على الاستفادة الكاملة من الوقت فإن إضاعة الوقت علامة المقت .
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ب نقدكم ارتقي ..
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ارعص (L) ل تكبير الصورة ض1
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سبحان الله وبحمدة .. سبحان الله العظيم
لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله
اللهم لك الحمد كما ينبغي ل جلال عظمتك
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Cam : Canon D550
Lens:55-18
iso 100
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أشكركمَ وأشكر كل من سـآعدني على نجـآح هذآ العملَ
^^
أشَكر كل من دعمني على صًقل موهبتي الحديثهَ وتنميتهَـآ
أشكر كل من وقف معيِ , وشَـآركني بِ فرحه تصويري
أشكر كل منَ أهدآني كلمَـآته الحَـآنيه
أشكركم يَ أل الفلكر , اللي دعمتووني بِ ردودكم ليِ وتشجعيكم لي بِ كلمَـآتكمَ
^^
formspring :-
facebook :-
www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/?ref=home
flickr :-
www.flickr.com/photos/50074232@N03/
tumblr :
Twitter :
twitter.com/#!/nada_al_Qahtani
ask.fm :
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أعمآلي ملك للجميع دون انتساب الحقوق
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ـ[ سَوف ]ـ
تحذف الردود المرفقه بِ صوره
Originally posted on Ipernity: Don't Wait for a Hearse to Take You to Church.
A rather macabre message on a National Refining Company "boy with slate" label that advertised En-Ar-Co Motor Oils and White Rose Gasoline.
The Boy Holding a Slate was evidently a popular advertising figure for the National Refining Company.
SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND, Calif. (July 20, 2021) U.S. Marines from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 369 and HMLA 469, attached to 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) fly a AH-1Z Viper helicopter and two UH-1Y Venom helicopters overhead as the Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Alexandria (SSN 757) transits the Pacific Ocean during Summer Fury 21 Advanced Naval Basing. Summer Fury is an exercise conducted by 3rd MAW in order to maintain and build capability, strength and trust within its units to generate the readiness and lethality needed to deter and defeat adversaries during combat operations as the U.S. Marine Corps refines tactics and equipment in accordance with Force Design 2030. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Colby A. Mothershead)
Aft angled view showing sublight engine and aft side armor panels.
Name: S.S. Bessemer
Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)
Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.
Class Name: Bessemer class
Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship
Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict
Specifications:
Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)
Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)
Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)
Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.
Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.
Defensive systems:
Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.
Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.
Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.
Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.
Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.
Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.
Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.
Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.
Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.
Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.
Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.
Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)
He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.
Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.
David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:
1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.
2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.
3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.
But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.
The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.
Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.
But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.
Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.
But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.
Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.
What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.
The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.
IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.
The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.
If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils
Starboard side profile view (better render for poster hopefully to follow.)
Name: S.S. Bessemer
Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)
Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.
Class Name: Bessemer class
Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship
Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict
Specifications:
Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)
Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)
Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)
Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.
Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.
Defensive systems:
Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.
Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.
Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.
Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.
Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.
Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.
Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.
Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.
Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.
Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.
Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.
Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)
He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.
Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.
David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:
1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.
2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.
3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.
But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.
The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.
Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.
But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.
Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.
But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.
Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.
What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.
The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.
IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.
The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.
If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils
A JAC Refine S7 photographed at a JAC dealer in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China.
This Refine S7 is the largest SUV in the JAC range.
Available in 5 or 7 seats version.
Powered by a 1.5 Turbo 174hp gas engine.
Sold for 99.800 to 168.800 RMB (about €12.800-21.600 or US $14.900-25.200).
It was launched in June 2017.
If sales were quite good in 2017 (14.539 units in 7 months), the 1st half-year 2018 wasn't : only 2.938 units.
Feininger, Andreas,, 1906-1999,, photographer.
American Smelting and Refining, Garfield, Utah
1942 Nov.
1 transparency : color.
Notes:
Attributed to A. Feininger.
Title from FSA or OWI agency caption.
Transfer from U.S. Office of War Information, 1944.
Subjects:
American Smelting and Refining
World War, 1939-1945
Copper mining
Canyons
United States--Utah--Garfield
Format: Transparencies--Color
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Part Of: Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Collection 12002-61 (DLC) 93845501
General information about the FSA/OWI Color Photographs is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.fsac
Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsac.1a34854
Call Number: LC-USW36-406
Huge shoutout to the Lego Pilot for helping me refine my original tank, and setting aside time to render them all.
Thus far, the M5 Olifant has enjoyed a colourful and successful military career, most notably in the titanic tank battles between the Samaritan Defense Force and the United Anbat Republic.
The M5A1E3 upgrade is more or less a collaboration between the original producer, Blouveld, and Samaritan Ordnance. Improvements are mostly in general mechanics and electronics, including a far superior optics system and improvement on the already good gun. Included was an enhanced suspension, making the Olifant at home on even the harshest terrain. Also in evidence is a major turret overhaul, adding a larger turret that sports impressive gun elevation and depression.
Although it's sub-par speed holds the Olifant back in offensive campaigns, it's ease of use and ability to engage second generation tanks on fairly even ground (at very long range and at night) have crafted an excellent defensive vehicle.
M5A1E3 Olifant (Best Tank)
Gun: 105mm +0
Armour: Centurion +0
Speed: 35 kph -2
Perks:
Advanced optics +1
IR sight +1
Quirks: none!
It is now more or less the equivalent of the real South African Olifant tank of the 1980's, which had some pretty impressive traits.
El Paso (/ɛl ˈpæsoʊ/; Spanish: [el ˈpaso] "the pass") is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County in the far western part of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the United States, the sixth-largest city in Texas, and the second-largest city in the Southwest behind Phoenix, Arizona. El Paso ranks 5th in the nation with the largest proportion of Hispanic population. Its metropolitan statistical area covers all of El Paso and Hudspeth counties in Texas, and had a population of 843,725 in 2019.
El Paso stands on the Rio Grande across the Mexico–United States border from Ciudad Juárez, the most-populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua with over 1.4 million people. Las Cruces, in the neighboring U.S. state of New Mexico, has a population of 215,579. On the U.S. side, the El Paso metropolitan area forms part of the larger El Paso-Las Cruces combined statistical area, with a population of 1,060,397.
These three cities form a combined international metropolitan area sometimes referred to as the Paso del Norte or the Borderplex. The region of 2.5 million people constitutes the largest bilingual and binational work force in the Western Hemisphere.
The city is home to three publicly traded companies, and former Western Refining, now Marathon Petroleum, as well as home to the Medical Center of the Americas, the only medical research and care provider complex in West Texas and Southern New Mexico, and the University of Texas at El Paso, the city's primary university. The city hosts the annual Sun Bowl college football postseason game, the second-oldest bowl game in the country.
El Paso has a strong federal and military presence. William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Biggs Army Airfield, and Fort Bliss are located in the area. Fort Bliss is one of the largest military complexes of the United States Army and the second largest training area in the United States behind nearby White Sands Missile Range. The fort is headquartered in El Paso but a large part of the training area is in New Mexico.[16] Also headquartered in El Paso are the Drug Enforcement Administration domestic field division 7, El Paso Intelligence Center, Joint Task Force North, United States Border Patrol El Paso Sector, and U.S. Border Patrol Special Operations Group.
El Paso is a five-time All-America City Award winner, winning in 1969, 2010, 2018, 2020, and 2021, and Congressional Quarterly ranked it in the top-three safest large cities in the United States between 1997 and 2014, including holding the title of safest city between 2011 and 2014.
Geography
El Paso is located at the intersection of three states (Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua) and two countries (the U.S. and Mexico). It is the only major Texas city on Mountain Time. Ciudad Juarez was once in Central Time,[44] but both cities are now on Mountain Time.
El Paso is closer to the capital cities of four other states – Phoenix, Arizona (345 miles (555 km) away); Santa Fe, New Mexico (273 miles (439 km) away); Ciudad Chihuahua, Chihuahua, (218 miles (351 km) away), and Hermosillo, Sonora (325 miles (523 km) away) – than it is to the capital of its own state, Austin (528 miles (850 km) away). It is closer to Los Angeles, California (700 miles (1,100 km) away) than it is to Orange (858 miles (1,381 km) away), the easternmost town in the state.
El Paso is located within the Chihuahuan Desert, the easternmost section of the Basin and Range Region. The Franklin Mountains extend into El Paso from the north and nearly divide the city into two sections; the west side forms the beginnings of the Mesilla Valley, and the east side expands into the desert and lower valley. They connect in the central business district at the southern end of the mountain range.
The city's elevation is 3,800 ft (1,200 m) above sea level. North Franklin Mountain is the highest peak in the city at 7,192 ft (2,192 m) above sea level. The peak can be seen from 60 mi (100 km) in all directions. Additionally, this mountain range is home to the famous natural red-clay formation, the Thunderbird, from which the local Coronado High School gets its mascot's name. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 256.3 sq mi (663.7 km2).
The 24,000-acre (9,700 ha) Franklin Mountains State Park, one of the largest urban parks in the United States, lies entirely in El Paso, extending from the north and dividing the city into several sections along with Fort Bliss and El Paso International Airport.
The Rio Grande Rift, which passes around the southern end of the Franklin Mountains, is where the Rio Grande flows. The river defines the border between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez to the south and west until the river turns north of the border with Mexico, separating El Paso from Doña Ana County, New Mexico. Mt. Cristo Rey, an example of a pluton, rises within the Rio Grande Rift just to the west of El Paso on the New Mexico side of the Rio Grande. Nearby volcanic features include Kilbourne Hole and Hunt's Hole, which are Maar volcanic craters 30 miles (50 km) west of the Franklin Mountains.
Climate
El Paso has a transitional climate between cold desert climate (Köppen BWk) and hot desert climate (Köppen BWh) featuring hot summers, with little humidity, and cool to mild dry winters. Rainfall averages 8.8 in (220 mm) per year, much of which occurs from June through September, and is predominantly caused by the North American Monsoon. During this period, southerly and southeasterly winds carry moisture from the Pacific, the Gulf of California, and the Gulf of Mexico into the region. When this moisture moves into the El Paso area and places to the southwest, orographic lift from the mountains, combined with strong daytime heating, causes thunderstorms, some severe enough to produce flash flooding and hail, across the region.
The sun shines 302 days per year on average in El Paso, 83% of daylight hours, according to the National Weather Service; from this, the city is nicknamed "The Sun City". Due to its arid, windy climate, El Paso often experiences sand and dust storms during the dry season, particularly during the springtime between March and early May. With an average wind speed often exceeding 30 mph (50 km/h) and gusts that have been measured at over 75 mph (120 km/h), these wind storms kick up large amounts of sand and dust from the desert, causing loss of visibility.
El Paso and the nearby mountains also receive snow. Weather systems have produced over 1 ft (30 cm) of snow on several occasions. In the 1982–1983 winter season, three major snowstorms produced record seasonal snowfall. On December 25–26, 1982, 6.0 in (15 cm) of snow fell, producing a white Christmas for the city. This was followed by another 7.0 in (18 cm) on December 30–31, 1982. On April 4–7, 1983, 16.5 in (42 cm) of snow fell on El Paso, bringing the seasonal total to nearly 30 in (76 cm). On December 13–14, 1987, a record storm dumped over 22 in (56 cm) of snow on El Paso, and two weeks later (December 25–26), another 3 in (7.6 cm) fell, bringing the monthly total for December 1987 to an all-time record high of 25.9 in (66 cm) of snow. The average annual snowfall for the city varies widely between different neighborhoods at different elevations, but is 2.6 in (6.6 cm) at the airport (but with a median of 0, meaning most years see no snow at all). Snow is most rare around Ysleta and the eastern valley area, which usually include large numbers of palm trees; in the higher neighborhoods, palm trees are more vulnerable to snow and cold snaps and are often seen with brown, frost-damaged fronds.
One example of El Paso's varying climate at its most extreme was the damaging winter storm of early February 2011, which caused closures of schools, businesses, and City Hall. The snow, which was light, stopped after about a day, but during the ensuing cold episode, municipal utilities went into a crisis. The high temperature on February 2, 2011, was 15 °F (−9 °C), the lowest daily maximum on record. In addition, the low temperature on February 3 was 1 °F (−17 °C), breaking the 5 °F (−15 °C) monthly record low set during the cold wave of 1899. Loss of desert vegetation, such as Mexican/California palm trees, oleanders, and iceplants to the cold weather was one of the results. Two local power plants failed, forcing El Paso Electric to institute rolling blackouts over several days, and electric wires were broken, causing localised blackouts. Many water utility pipes froze, causing areas of the city to be without water for several days.
Monthly means range from 46.1 °F (7.8 °C) in December to 84.4 °F (29.1 °C) in July, but high temperatures typically peak in June before the monsoon arrives, while daily low temperatures typically peak in July or early August with the higher humidity the monsoon brings (translating to warmer nights). On average, 42 night lows are at or below freezing, with 118 days of 90 °F (32 °C)+ highs and 28 days of 100 °F (38 °C)+ highs annually; extremely rarely do temperatures stay below the freezing mark all day. The city's record high is 114 °F (46 °C) on June 30, 1994, and its record low is −8 °F (−22 °C) on January 11, 1962; the highest daily minimum was 85 °F (29 °C) on July 1 and 3, 1994, with weather records for the area maintained by the National Weather Service since 1879.
(Wikipedia)
El Paso ist die sechstgrößte Stadt in Texas und der Verwaltungssitz des gleichnamigen El Paso County. In der Statistik des US Census Bureau steht El Paso in der Liste der US-amerikanischen Großstädte an 19. Stelle. Die Handels-, Universitäts- und Garnisonsstadt im äußersten Westen von Texas an der Grenze zu New Mexico und Mexiko hatte 2018 geschätzte 682.669 Einwohner.
Mit umliegenden Gemeinden und ihrer am südlichen Ufer des Rio Grande gelegenen mexikanischen Schwesterstadt Ciudad Juárez mit ihren rund 1,3 Mio. Einwohnern bildet sie einen Metropolkomplex von etwa 2,0 Mio. Einwohnern.
El Paso ist Sitz des Bistums El Paso.
Lage
El Paso liegt 1078 km nordwestlich von Houston, 909 km südwestlich von Dallas und 1142 km südlich von Denver an den südlichsten Ausläufern der Rocky Mountains – den Franklin Mountains. Die Stadt liegt im westlichsten Zipfel von Texas und somit an den Grenzen zu Mexiko und zum US-Bundesstaat New Mexico. Der Rio Grande umfließt El Paso aus Nordnordwest kommend an Süd- und Südostseite und bildet hier und im weiteren Verlauf die Grenze zwischen den Vereinigten Staaten und dem mexikanischen Bundesstaat Chihuahua.
Klima
Durch die Lage inmitten der Chihuahua-Wüste mit heißem, trockenem Klima genießt El Paso heiße Sommer mit geringen Niederschlägen und milde Winter. Die Höchsttemperaturen erreichen in der Hochsommerperiode im Juni und Juli Werte um 40 °C. Die historische Höchsttemperatur wurde 1995 mit 45,5 °C erreicht.
Von Juli bis September kennt die Stadt eine anhaltende Wetterperiode, in der durch öfter auftretende teils heftige Sommergewitter signifikante Regenmengen fallen können. Das ist auch die Zeit, in der die Stadt den Großteil ihrer jährlichen durchschnittlichen Niederschlagsmenge von rund 220 mm verzeichnet.
Die Winterperiode ist relativ mild mit Temperaturen, die nur selten unter den Gefrierpunkt fallen. Schnee ist selten zu beobachten, trotzdem wurden in der Vergangenheit schon ergiebige Schneefälle verzeichnet, was in der Regel zu teilweise erheblichen Behinderungen in der Stadt führt.
Von den hohen Temperaturen im Sommer abgesehen sind extreme Wetterphänomene wie zum Beispiel Tornados in der Gegend nahezu unbekannt. El Paso wird bei starken Regenfällen jedoch gelegentlich von lokalen Überschwemmungen einzelner Stadtteile betroffen. Hier wurde durch Bau entsprechender Regenwasserrückhaltebecken und Drainagekanäle Abhilfe geschaffen. Durch die wüstenähnlichen Verhältnisse (karge Bodenbedeckung mit kurzem Strauchbewuchs, Wassermangel durch wenig Niederschlag) außerhalb der besiedelten Bereiche kommt es bei höheren Windgeschwindigkeiten leicht zu vereinzelten Staub- und Sandstürmen.
Insgesamt gesehen wird das Klima El Pasos von Bevölkerung und Besuchern überwiegend als angenehm betrachtet. Über das Jahr verzeichnet die Stadt durchschnittlich 302 Sonnentage, woraus El Paso seinen Beinamen „Sun City“ bezieht.
Bevölkerung
Mit über 70 % stellen die Hispanics den größten Anteil der Bevölkerung El Pasos. Wie in weiten Teilen des Südwestens der Vereinigten Staaten (und Florida) stellt somit eine USA-weite ethnische Minderheit hier die Mehrheit der Bevölkerung. In weiten Bereichen von Wirtschaft und Verwaltung ist Zweisprachigkeit wichtiges Einstellungskriterium.
Die Stadt erlebt derzeit aufgrund der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung, seiner Lage als Knotenpunkt für Waren- und Personenverkehr an der Grenze zu Mexiko und dem Ausbau des Militärstandorts Fort Bliss und Biggs Army Airfield einen rasanten Anstieg der Bevölkerung.
(Wikipedia)
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Very much out of use, 88DS class Ruston & Hornsby 4wDM 312427 of 1951 is dumped amongst the weeds at North Eastern Iron Refining Co., Stillington in Co. Durham in September 1986. It had previously worked at Head, Wrightson & Co., Eaglescliffe.
Pentax MX/50mm
Kodachrome 64
The GO Searcher ship is seen from a helicopter during practice for a medical emergency evacuation, Friday, August 15, 2019 in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida. Teams from NASA and SpaceX gathered to refine procedures for emergency situations. SpaceX will use the GO Searcher ship during the Demo-2 mission to recover NASA astronauts returning from the International Space Station in their Crew Dragon spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Recently I decided to give it a go and refine my rather old design for my Hogwarts Express MOC, with this new official set coming out this year it offers a great piece to use for the nameboard plus the new 1 x 3 double jumper plate has enabled many previously weak joins to be much stronger since it relies on one piece rather than a few.
I decided to go with the 8-wide build as I feel it offers much more freedom for details and strength as the majority of the loco is no longer made from plates adding up to 7-wide.
The entire drive chassis has been heavily reinforced and has gone from the most fragile part of the loco to I'd say the strongest. It now has a much more solid attachment to the cab area and the running board overall has been strengthened.
I have managed to get the drive wheels set back by half a stud which tucks the rear drive wheels further under the cab than before thus making it closer to the real loco.
One thing I did have to sacrifice in the name of keeping everything genuine was the front drive wheels being set back by half a stud, while this does look closer to the real wheel spacing there are no legal build methods I have been able to come up with that make it so this setup works well and keeps together properly as there was only a 4 long axle in the front half of the rods which caused the rods to either fall apart or get pressed together and disturb the smoothness of the wheels.
The tender is out of frame because it is currently undergoing an overhaul as well to try and get not only more detail but better overall strength as it too is another problem area when it comes to the fragility of this model.
Aft ventral view showing cargo pod clamps and medium drones.
Name: S.S. Bessemer
Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)
Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.
Class Name: Bessemer class
Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship
Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict
Specifications:
Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)
Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)
Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)
Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.
Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.
Defensive systems:
Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.
Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.
Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.
Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.
Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.
Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.
Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.
Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.
Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.
Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.
Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.
Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)
He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.
Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.
David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:
1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.
2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.
3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.
But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.
The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.
Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.
But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.
Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.
But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.
Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.
What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.
The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.
IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.
The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.
If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils
Fore/dorsal angled view.
Name: S.S. Bessemer
Registration Number: KCC-1894 (Kolter Construction Contract Number 1,894)
Affiliation: Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel.
Class Name: Bessemer class
Type: Deep Space Mining Operations Flagship
Commissioned: Circa late 2500’s, post recent major conflict
Specifications:
Length: 1,844 meters (184.4 studs, 58.1 inches, 4.83 feet, 147.5 cm model)
Width: 503 meters (50.3 studs, 15.8 inches, 40.2 cm model)
Height: 484 meters, 398 meters without dorsal comms array, (48.4 studs, 15.2 inches, 38.7 cm model)
Crew: 2,950 standard complement + capacity for crew families, as well as smaller guest quarters for up to 2,000 additional personnel to be moved to/from mining operations.
Armament: 1 super-heavy coaxial particle beam cannon, (primarily for asteroid mining, but also more than capable of defensive action,) 4 dual-mounted heavy particle cannon turrets, 8 dual-mounted medium particle cannon turrets, 2 coaxial fore medium particle cannons, 80 quad-mounted 80mm anti-fighter flak railgun turrets.
Defensive systems:
Hull: Super-heavy steel alloy hull with carbon nanotube/buckypaper composite layers as spall lining.
Armor plating: steel, titanium alloy, tungsten, ceramic, and carbon nanotube composite armor layers against asteroids/other space debris, kinetic weapons, kinetic spalling, particle, laser, and plasma fire. Thick composite armor provides excellent survivability, but with very high mass. Some battleships are less armored than this ship.
Bulkheads: Extensive titanium bulkhead support network.
Structural integrity field: High power system designed for significant cargo mass placing stress on the frame, or to withstand asteroid impacts to the hull.
Shielding: Internally housed high power adaptive particle field repulsing shielding system capable of surviving significant punishment. Some older battleships have less robust shielding.
Powerplant: 1 primary matter-antimatter reactor with extensive fuel reserves, 2 secondary fusion reactors with extensive fuel reserves. Multiple massive power capacitors. Extensive heatinks.
Propulsion: 1 massive primary fusion engine for sub-lightspeed travel, 1 internal FTL core capable of moderate FTL speed, long range travel, and 32 large reaction control thrusters for slow but dependable below light speed maneuvering.
Computer systems: Single supercomputer core with onboard Virtual Intelligence system.
Comms and Sensors: Local and FTL comms arrays. Radar, LIDAR, infrared, multi-spectral, and additional other local area sensors systems, along with extensive FTL sensors.
Additional Systems: High power artificial singularity for both artificial gravity generation and inertial dampening, allowing for 1G gravity even when hauling an entire cargo hold full of heavy-metal. 6 massive blast furnaces for refining metal ore, an enormous central cargo hold system, 4 fuel refining tanks, 4 massive fuel storage tanks, and an internal rail system for moving ore and personnel.
Embarked Craft: 2 Thunderbird class super-heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 2 Hurricane class heavy cargo/personnel shuttles, 20 heavy mining drones, 24 medium mining drones, 2 gunships of variable class, 2 heavy fighter/bombers of variable class, potential for multiple additional light shuttles and fighters.
Background: After seeing both the devastation to outlying areas of space caused by the recent Great War, and the corruption within the Federal Defense Navy (working title) Admiralty, Captain David Courtland retired honorably from military service and went to helm his family’s generations old mining company, Kolter Mining, Refining, and Fuel; one of the largest mining companies in United Earth Federation space. (Working title.)
He wanted to take the company, already a reputable and successful business, in a new direction. That direction was the disputed, war-torn, no-man’s-waste-land of space known as The Divide, (working title) situated between the major powers of the galaxy. Life in The Divide was desperate, with little hope for the many people stranded in the ruins, poverty, and crime infested land. None of the major powers could intervene without starting another territorial war, and as such, pirates, gangs, and unscrupulous mega-corporations ruled supreme.
Courtland wanted to make a difference to this sorrowful place, and with trillions of credits and a Fortunes 1,000 company at his control, he had the means to at least begin; although even he lacked the ability to single-handedly remedy the myriad of woes The Divide faced.
David’s plan was simple, to move significant mining operations to The Divide, thus:
1: Creating new, safe, well-paying, good jobs for both an area and an industry that seldom offered such things.
2: Allowing for the placement of company security forces to deter pirate activity around major settlements.
3: Providing tax-free revenue to fund new schools, hospitals, food, water, shetler, and other charitable activities in The Divide.
But to do it, he required a new kind of mining vessel, as well as additional security forces. Thus he contacted Nelson Heavy Industries, who in turn partnered with AxonTech Interstellar Systems for some components, to place an order for a line of custom massive deep space mining operation flagships with enhanced combat capabilities and capable of operating in the remotest reaches of space for months or even years at a time. And so the Bessemer class was born.
The Bessemer class is unlike any mining vessel ever produced before it. Certainly significantly larger mining ships existed, but these were typically little more than unarmed, slow moving things with small engines; closer to a semi-mobile starbase than a combination frontier battleship/mining vessel. But Courtland required something unique. Something that could move faster, survive more punishment, and something that had teeth; not a fragile, barely moving thing that would only sit in safe areas of space. Courtland needed a mighty sheepdog in a world of sheep and wolves.
Bessemer class vessels are 1,844 meters long, and possess more armor, firepower, and shielding than many pre Great War battleship designs. Almost any pirate or local gang would be terrified of the sight of over a mile of steel and particle cannons; clad in Kolter white, green, and yellow.
But the Bessemer, and others of her class, are not merely warships masquerading as civilian craft. They are heavy mining machines that live up to their name; a steel producing process that revolutionized the industry of Earth some seven hundred years earlier. The Bessemer and her sister ships are capable of blasting metal-rich asteroids to bits with their coaxial mining particle beam cannon, and then having swarms of automated mining drones devour any valuable deposits within before unloading the materials into the Bessemer’s ore hold for the internal rail system to run any raw ore through her six corvette sized forges, and then having the refined metal shunted to her cavernous lower hold, while any waste material from the refining process is vented directly into space.
Ships of this class are outfitted with a sizable hangar, advanced sensor suite, extensive internal cargo bays, and large cargo pod clamps that allow it to act in the capacity of miner, defensive ship, operations command center, and even freighter and personnel carrier should usual shipping to outlying mining sites be disrupted.
But capable as they are, these are not the spartan mining vessels with unlivable working conditions that some shady companies have been known to operate. These space-faring cities of steel feature robust safety systems, spacious and comfortable crew quarters, multiple restaurants, multiple mess-halls, multiple shops for clothing, food, electronics, and other items, an arcade, multiple gyms with weights, various weight and cardio machines, martial arts areas, gymnastics equipment, along with a walking track, a small bowling alley, an olympic sized swimming pool, a multi-sport stadium, a greenhouse, hydroponics bays, a small stage/concert area, several computer labs, a library, a small movie theater, crew lounges and break areas, a salon/spa, a bar/club, chapels, classroom/daycare areas, office areas, as well as repair stations, enough dry and frozen storage to keep everyone fed for extended missions, advanced workshops, astrotography, laboratories, guest bunk-rooms, and a starbase grade medical center.
Not everyone is happy about Kolter Mining’s efforts, however. While Courtland founded the Kolter Foundation to aid those in need, he also lobbied for what came to be known as the Kolter Bill to be passed. Mining employees out in the colonies loved the added protections this afforded them. But the executives of Kolter’s rival mining companies operating out of Earth’s colony worlds quickly found themselves facing laws that favored the profits of Kolter and their already developed safety systems and excellent treatment of employees. What’s more, the Federal Defense Navy Admiralty have been continually frustrated that rather than helping to line their pockets as part of the military industrial complex, Courtland has been working tirelessly to reveal their corruption and hidden support of crime in outlying areas of space.
What’s more, there are even rumors that Courtland is now working with, and possibly even helping to fund, a mercenary vigilante unit out in The Divide known as the Phoenix Command Group, founded by Jonathan Scarlett, another former Federal Defense Navy Captain who ran afoul of the Admiralty.
The wealthy and corrupt among the Admiralty, military industrial complex, crime syndicates, and corrupt businesses running shady operations out in The Divide are deeply troubled by these rumors. But those who are now citizens of no nation, and who have known nothing but hopelessness and need for years, have a slight spark of hope rising like a Phoenix.
IRL info: This digital SHIP was made in Bricklink’s Studio software from September 11th to September 30th, 2021. I did not originally plan to participate in SHIPtember, but I couldn’t resist. It is 184 studs (58.1 inches) long, 50 studs wide, and 48 studs high. It is comprised of 23,470 pieces, which I believe makes it my highest piece-count SHIP to date, and means that the model itself has a mass of 973.502 ounces, or 60.843 pounds, or 27.597 kilograms, which most likely makes it my heaviest SHIP as well as my most piece intensive. (I really need to learn to build a little more hollow.) Note that it uses all real pieces/colors that are available for sale on Bricklink. (Albeit at a price that makes attempting to build it in physical bricks highly impractical.) It is 100% connected, and should be at least somewhat stable in real life. I would want to reinforce the fore-end with more Technic, and switch out the longest Lego Technic axle holding the engine for an aftermarket stainless steel version. I cannot guarantee that various sections built out from the main SNOT and Technic frame would be totally stable without slight redesign of a few bits. It would also require a hefty display stand of some kind.
The current pictures are WIP to show the completed status of the build itself. Better renders done by importing the Studio build into Mecabricks, replacing any pieces that fail to load or change position, and then exporting to Blender for higher quality rendering, and finally hopefully doing some cool backgrounds with GIMP, will hopefully follow before whatever October picture deadline is decided on. Please do not use these early pictures in the poster if time remains, as I hope to provide better ones. Thank you for reading this lengthy description. Have a cookie.
If this ship had a theme song, this magnificent piece by Clamavi De Profundis would be it: youtu.be/Xm96Cqu4Ils