The Rifter replaces the Partner in Peugeot's lineup for 2018, bringing fresh styling to an affordable family car. Engine choices include one three-cylinder petrol (110 PS) and three four-cylinder diesels (75 - 130 PS). The Rifter shares its platform with the Opel Combo and the Citroën Berlingo III but incorporates Peugeot's latest design language to set it apart from its siblings.

 

This particular Rifter showcases what is possible when the van is kitted out with gear from Overland. The end result is eye catching, with the bright yellow graphics adding a much needed splash of colour.

 

On exhibit at the Mondial de l'Auto 2018 in Paris.

Replacing about 200' of track inside the plant.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

 

Some backgound

The Brewster F2A Buffalo was an American fighter aircraft which saw service early in World War II.

 

Designed and built by the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation, it was one of the first U.S. monoplanes with an arrester hook and other modifications for aircraft carriers. The Buffalo won a competition against the Grumman F4F Wildcat in 1939 to become the U.S. Navy's first monoplane fighter aircraft.

 

Although superior to the Grumman F3F biplane it replaced and the early F4Fs, the Buffalo turned out to be a disappointment because the weight of added equipment was not balanced by an increase in horsepower.

 

Several nations, including Finland, Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands, ordered the Buffalo, too. Just before the start of the war, Belgium sought more modern aircraft to expand and modernize its air force, and the nation ordered 40 Brewster B-339 aircraft, a de-navalized F2A-2, fitted with the Wright R-1820-G-105 engine approved for export use.

 

The G-105 engine had a power output of 1.000 hp (745.7 kW) on takeoff, some 200 hp (149 kW) less than the engine fitted to the U.S. Navy F2A-2, and the type was internally known as B-339B. The arrestor hook and life-raft container were removed, and the aircraft was modified with a slightly longer tail.

 

The aircraft intended for Belgium reached France by the time Germany launched its Blitzkrieg in the West on 10 May 1940. One Buffalo was captured intact by the Germans, while 32 other aircraft could be ferried over to North Africa (Morocco) and were integrated into the Free French Air Force (Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres, FAFL). One Buffalo was lost during this transfer, though, and six more Belgian Brewsters were offloaded at the French Caribbean island of Martinique and languished on a coastal hillside, never to be flown.

 

One of its first jobs of the FAFL was to try to persuade the governors-general of colonies in French West Africa not to submit to the orders of the Vichy government, and instead join the Free French in their continuing fight against the Axis Powers of Germany and Italy.

 

"Operation Menace" was the Allied plan to make Dakar join the Allied cause, or capture it by force. Among the units taking part was the newly formed FAFL Groupe de Combat Mixte (GMC) 1, code-named "Jam", consisted of four squadrons, composed of Bristol Blenheim bombers, the ex-Belgian Brewster Buffalos and Westland Lysander liaison/observation aircraft. The resulting Battle of Dakar was a failure. The port remained in Vichy control, FAFL envoys were arrested and imprisoned at Dakar by the Vichy authorities.

 

However, French forces in Cameroon and Chad, in French Equatorial Africa, rallied to the Gaullist cause. There were three detachments of French air force units — based at Fort-Lamy (now N’Djamena) (Chad), Douala (Cameroon) and Pointe-Noire (Congo) – operating a mixed bag of Potez and Bloch aircraft, and they thus became part of the FAFL, too.

 

The first combats between Vichy and the FAFL took place on 6 November 1940, when two Vichy air force aircraft took on two FAFL Lysanders near Libreville. Both aircraft sustained damage but made it back to base. Two days later, the first FAFL airmen were shot down and taken prisoner. Two days after that, Libreville was taken by Free French army troops, resulting in the FAFL aircraft now operating from the air base that had been used by their opponents of a few days before.

 

The French attitude towards the fighting was that of a “civil war” that was being won for Free France, since now Libreville had joined the Gaullist cause. As it happened, this would be the only time when opposing factions within FEA territory would fight each other openly.

 

The Free French Buffaloes soldiered on with limited success until the Anglo-American landing in North Africa in November 1942, which marked the rebirth of the French Air Force, thanks to the commitment by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Until then, only about a dozen French Buffalos had been kept airworthy, and they had primarily been used against ground targets since they could not keep up with modern German fighters like the Bf 109, which was superior in any respect. In fact, no Free French Buffalo pilot was able to claim an air victory.

 

With the delivery of roundabout 1.000 new, U.S.-built aircraft, the French began to replenish its squadrons. In early 1943, all remaining B-339Bs had been replaced by P-40 Tomahawk fighters, which then fought alongside American units in clearing North Africa of Axis forces in 1943.

  

General characteristics

Crew: one

Length: 26 ft 4 in (8.03 m)

Wingspan: 35 ft 0 in (10.67 m)

Height: 12 ft 0 in (3.66 m)

Wing area: 209 sq ft (19.4 m2)

Empty weight: 4,732 lb (2,146 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 7,159 lb (3,247 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Wright R-1820-G105 Cyclone 9 9-cyl air-cooled radial piston engine, rated at 1.000 hp (745.7 kW)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 321 mph (517 km/h; 279 kn)

Cruise speed: 161 mph (140 kn; 259 km/h)

Range: 965 mi (839 nmi; 1,553 km)

Service ceiling: 33,200 ft (10,119 m)

Rate of climb: 2,440 ft/min (12.4 m/s) [N 9]

 

Armament

4× 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns, one pair nose-mounted above the engine, one in each wing

Provisions for two 50kg (110 lb) bombs under the wings

  

The kit and its assembly:

This quick project was inspired by Heller’s SBC Helldiver kit in 1:72 – one of the OOB decal options is actually a whif, a French Navy aircraft or better how it would have looked like if the type had escaped the Blitzkrieg.

 

That story could easily be expanded to other types, I thought, and since I had planned to test the relatively new Hobby Boss Brewster Buffalo (which is a USN version, though), I decided to build the kit in a simple markings alternative, almost OOB with just minor mods.

 

These changes include a spinner-less propeller, an opened canopy and a dashboard plus some stuff behind the seat as the Hobby Boss kit is absolutely bleak there. In order to modify the USN's F2A into an export version I implanted an extended tail cone and wheel from a Pavla conversion set which is intended for the Hasegawa F2A. Actually, the parts don't fit together well, so I could have scratched the tail from putty, but it was an attempt... The pilot figure was just temporary addition for the pics.

  

Painting and markings:

Well, even though the aircraft would probably have been delivered to Belgium in a Dark Green/Dark Earth/Sky livery and then transferred to north Africa, I decided to use a typical French livery in Khaki/Dark Brown/Blue Gray – inspired by the Heller SBC and for the odd look of the resulting aircraft.

 

The latter would be enhanced through FAFL markings from a Colorado Decals sheet – they actually belong to a Curtiss Hawk 75, based in Syria 1941.

 

One very inspiring fact about the French tricolor-paint scheme is that actually no aircraft looked like the other – except for a few types, every aircraft had an individual scheme with more or less complexity or even artistic approach. Even the colors were only vaguely unified: Field mixes were common, as well as mods with other colors that were mixed into the basic three tones!

 

I settled for a scheme I found on a FAFL MS.406, with strongly feathered edges between the paint fields and a rather cloudy paint application. That, coupled with some serious aluminum shining through, creates a very interesting (if not somewhat shabby?) look.

 

Interior surfaces were painted in Cockpit Green (Humbrol 78) while the landing gear well parts of the wings were painted in the same light blue gray as the aircraft’s underside and the struts in Aluminum.

 

The decals come from a PrintScale sheet with various FAFL aircrfaft; then the kit was weathered well with a black ink wash and some dry-painting, simulating dust and sun bleaching on the upper surfaces.

 

As a last step, everything was sealed under a coat of matt acrylic varnish.

  

I must admit that this is a simple whif, but it's good just to do a "color variant" instead of always taking out the saw or using tons of putty... Done in just two days, plus one for the pics. ^^

Earth Designs Garden Design and Build were asked to created a landscape and propose garden design in Acton, London*. Here are the details of the project

 

Brief: The plot for this design was a mid-size family garden, which had recently benefited from the addition of a large sunroom on the back of the property. It was a fairly blank canvas, with nothing of note to be retained in the re-design. The garden had side access and worn boundary fences which required replacing. There was no clear brief other than that the design include a seating area and some lawn, and that the transition from sunroom to garden be fairly seamless.

 

Solution: The focus of this design was to create an exterior space that serves as an extension to the interior, featuring several distinct and versatile areas that can be adapted to a variety of uses.

 

The garden's boundaries were replaced with new fencing to provide a uniform and attractive backdrop to the transformation within, while the long sideway down the right of the house was renovated with the addition of attractive 'bamboo' slate tile flooring in a random lay pattern.

 

The first section of the space comprises a large area of Western Red Cedar decking adjoining the house, and offers ample room for entertaining, with a long L-shaped fixed-bench seat stretching width-ways across the space from the left-hand side to the centre. This was backed with a rendered block raised bed, planted with fragrant lavender and capped with 'bamboo' slate tile, to provide a sense of enclosure and separation from the rest of the garden.

 

A decked walkway running down the right hand side of the space provides access to a 'spa' area, featuring a large square hot tub housed upon a reinforced paved hard-standing and nestled between existing and additional trees, shrubs and foliage to provide a secluded and intimate area for bathing throughout the seasons. Hidden behind mature and new planting in the bottom left corner, a large shed provides ample storage for the client's garden accessories. The middle of the space has been given over to a large lawn edges with slate.

 

A purple and yellow planting scheme of soft, cottage-style evergreen shrubs and flowering perennials will help to bring year round lightness and subtle colouring to the space.

 

After-dark hot tub bathing is enhanced by several strings of pea-lights woven through the existing shrubbery. Deck lights demark the main area of decking and guide one's journey along the decked walkway. Finally, spot lights in the beds highlight certain area while providing a gentle wash throughout the space.

 

Testimonial: "After months of planning and a full year of having builders everywhere, we had finally got the house into good shape but the garden was a nightmare. It had been somewhat overgrown before the builders moved in, but after a year of being used as a builders yard, it needed shock treatment.

 

We needed help fast so we searched the web. We were looking for garden designers with creative ideas for smaller London gardens. We didn't want anything too traditional but at the same time, nothing too extreme.

 

Earth Designs fitted the bill and after a design session with Katrina, we engaged them for the project. They had offered us a design service only, but as we only had a 4 week window in which to complete the job, we gave them the whole project.

 

We had built a new extension with wide glass doors that opened out into the garden, so the brief to Earth Designs was to "bring the outside, inside" and create a strong link between the new room and the garden beyond. The actual garden space was not large so we wanted to use the space as an extension of the living space - to be an "outside room".

 

Monday 18th April and three very charming men arrived on our doorstep at 8.0am sharp. Arlo was the project manager, ably aided and abetted by Paul and Phillip. They worked brilliantly as a team and always hit all the deadlines. In particular they did a great job in working with our neighbours to ensure the whole project ran smoothly.

 

The first week involved clearing the site - no mean feat with 30-year-old ivy stems that looked more like tree trunks.

 

The second week involved levelling the garden, putting up new fencing, building the corner seating base and planters, plus marking out the garden shape. It was good to be able to make minor changes to the design on the ground at this stage. The hot tub arrived too and was winched into place for connection later.

 

Week 3 saw the decking and seating built.

 

Then in week four the turf arrived, the lawn went down and on the last day, Katrina arrived with a truckload of wonderful specimens (and Matt) and we had a wonderful time planting. Ground Force Mk II - a complete garden from start to finish in just 4 weeks!

 

There were a few things that needed to be sorted out after the main work was complete. Earth Designs were great about coming back until all was complete and finished.

 

Our thanks to Katrina, Matt, Arlo, Paul and Phillip for a great job, completed on time and on budget with a great looking result."

 

If you dig this and would like to find out more about this or any of other of our designs, please stop by our web-site and have a look at our work.

 

Earth Designs is a bespoke London Garden Design and build company specialising in classic, funky and urban contemporary garden design.

 

Our Landscape and Garden build teams cover London, Essex and parts of South East England, while garden designs are available nationwide.

Please visit www.earthdesigns.co.uk to see our full portfolio. If you would like a garden designer in London or have an idea of what you want and are looking for a landscaper London to come and visit your garden, please get in touch.

 

Follow our Bespoke Garden Design and Build and Blog to see what we get up to week by week, our free design clinic as well as tips and products we recommend for your garden projects www.earthdesigns.co.uk/blog/.

 

Earth Designs is located in East London, but has built gardens in Essex , gardens in Hertfordshire Hertfordshire and all over the South East. Earth Designs was formed by Katrina Wells in Spring 2003 and has since gone from strength to strength to develop a considerable portfolio of garden projects. Katrina, who is our Senior Garden Designer, has travelled all over the UK designing gardens. However we can design worldwide either through our postal garden design service or by consultation with our senior garden designer. Recent worldwide projects have included garden designs in Romania. Katrina’s husband. Matt, heads up the build side of the company, creating a unique service for all our clients.

 

If you a not a UK resident, but would like an Earth Designs garden, Earth Designs has a worldwide design service through our Garden Design Postal Design Vouchers. If you are looking for an unique birthday present or original anniversary present and would like to buy one of our Garden Design Gift Vouchers for yourself or as a present please our sister site www.gardenpresents.co.uk. We do also design outside of the UK, please contact us for details.

 

Feels like never ending ,I replaced the horse and carraige with the Tudors and it looked even more unreal than the last one,lol .

 

I can't think of a better title ;-S

. . . non-Hindus are not allowed inside the temple complex. Photos are possible from a platform outside the temple wall

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The Jagannath Temple of Puri (Odia: ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ ମନ୍ଦିର) is a famous, sacred Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath and located on the eastern coast of India, at Puri in the state of Odisha.

 

The temple is an important pilgrimage destination for many Hindu traditions, particularly worshippers of god Krishna and god Vishnu, and part of the Char Dham pilgrimages that a Hindu is expected to make in one's lifetime.

 

Even though most Hindu deities that are worshiped are made out of stone or metal, the image of Jagannath is wooden. Every twelve or nineteen years these wooden figures are ceremoniously replaced by using sacred trees, that have to be carved as an exact replica. The reason behind this ceremonial tradition is the highly secret Navakalevara ('New Body' or 'New Embodiment') ceremony, an intricate set of rituals that accompany the renewal of the wooden statues.

 

The temple was built in the 12th century atop its ruins by the progenitor of the Eastern Ganga dynasty, King Anantavarman Chodaganga Deva. The temple is famous for its annual Rath Yatra, or chariot festival, in which the three main temple deities are hauled on huge and elaborately decorated temple cars. Since medieval times, it is also associated with intense religious fervour.

 

The temple is sacred to the Vaishnava traditions and saint Ramananda who was closely associated with the temple. It is also of particular significance to the followers of the Gaudiya Vaishnavism whose founder, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, was attracted to the deity, Jagannath, and lived in Puri for many years.

 

DEITIES

The central forms of Jagannath, Balabhadra and the goddess Subhadra constitute the trinity of deities sitting on the bejewelled platform or the Ratnabedi in the inner sanctum. The Sudarshan Chakra, deities of Madanmohan, Sridevi and Vishwadhatri are also placed on the Ratnavedi. The deities of Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan Chakra are made from sacred Neem logs known as Daru Brahma. Depending on the season the deities are adorned in different garbs and jewels. Worship of the deities pre-date the temple structure and may have originated in an ancient tribal shrine.

 

ORIGINS OF THE TEMPLE

According to the recently discovered copper plates from the Ganga dynasty, the construction of the current Jagannath temple was initiated by the ruler of Kalinga, Anantavarman Chodaganga Dev. The Jaga mohan and the Vimana portions of the temple were built during his reign (1078 - 1148 CE). However, it was only in the year 1174 CE that the Oriya ruler Ananga Bhima Deva rebuilt the temple to give a shape in which it stands today.

 

Jagannath worship in the temple continued until 1558, when Odisha was attacked by the Afghan general Kalapahad. Subsequently, when Ramachandra Deb established an independent kingdom at Khurda in Orissa, the temple was consecrated and the deities reinstalled.

 

LEGENDS

Legendary account as found in the Skanda-Purana, Brahma Purana and other Puranas and later Oriya works state that Lord Jagannath was originally worshipped as Lord Neela Madhaba by a Savar king (tribal chief) named Viswavasu. Having heard about the deity, King Indradyumna sent a Brahmin priest, Vidyapati to locate the deity, who was worshipped secretly in a dense forest by Viswavasu. Vidyapati tried his best but could not locate the place. But at last he managed to marry Viswavasu's daughter Lalita. At repeated request of Vidyapti, Viswavasu took his son-in-law blind folded to a cave where Lord Neela Madhaba was worshipped.

 

Vidyapati was very intelligent. He dropped mustard seeds on the ground on the way. The seeds germinated after a few days, which enabled him to find out the cave later on. On hearing from him, King Indradyumna proceeded immediately to Odra desha Orissa on a pilgrimage to see and worship the Deity. But the deity had disappeared. The king was disappointed. The Deity was hidden in sand. The king was determined not to return without having a darshan of the deity and observed fast unto death at Mount Neela, Then a celestial voice cried 'thou shalt see him.' Afterwards the king performed a horse sacrifice and built a magnificent temple for Vishnu. Sri Narasimha Murti brought by Narada was installed in the temple. During sleep, the king had a vision of Lord Jagannath. Also an astral voice directed him to receive the fragrant tree on the seashore and make idols out of it. Accordingly, the king got the image of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Chakra Sudarshan made out of the wood of the divine tree and installed them in the temple.

 

INDRADYUMNA´S PRAYER TO LORD BRAHMA

King Indradyumna put up for Jagannath the tallest monument of the world. It was 1,000 cubits high. He invited Lord Brahma, the cosmic creator, consecrate the temple and the images. Brahma came all the way from Heaven for this purpose. Seeing the temple he was immensely pleased with him. Brahma asked Indradyumna as to in what way can he (Brahma) fulfill the king's desire, since was very much pleased with him for his having put the most beautiful Temple for Lord Vishnu. With folded hands, Indradyumna said, "My Lord if you are really pleased with me, kindly bless me with one thing, and it is that I should be issueless and that I should be the last member of my family." In case anybody left alive after him, he would only take pride as the owner of the temple and would not work for the society.

 

THE EPISODE OF THE LORD´S GRACE DURING A WAR WITH KANCHI

At one time, a king of Kanchi in the down south remarked that the king of Orissa was a chandala (a man of very low caste or status) because, he performs the duties of a sweeper during the Car Festival. When this news reached the ears of the king of Orissa, he led an expedition to Kanchi. Before that, he implored the mercy of Lord Jagannath. The soldiers of Orissa marched towards Kanchi from Cuttack (earlier capital city of Orissa, located on the banks of Mahanadi, at a distance of 30 km from Bhubaneswar. It so happened that when the soldiers, headed by the king Purusottam Dev, reached a place near the Chilika lake, a lady, who was selling curd (yogurt) met him (the king) and presented a golden ring studded with precious gems and submitted. "My Lord, kindly listen to me. A little earlier, two soldiers riding over two horses (white and black in colour), approached me and said we are thirsty give us curds to drink.' I gave them curds. Instead of giving me money, they gave me this ring and said,'the king of Orissa will come here, after some time, on his way to Kanchi. You present it to him and he will pay you the money.' So my Lord, you take it and give me my dues.

 

It took no time for the king to know that the ring belongs to Lord Jagannath. He was convinced that Jagannath and Balabhadra were proceeding to the battle field ahead of him to help him there. To perpetuate the memory of this great incident, the king founded a village in the Chilika lake area. As the name of the lady was Manika, the name given to the village was Manika Patana. Even to this day, the curds of this village are famous.

 

LEGEND SURROUNDING THE TEMPLE ORIGIN

The traditional story concerning the origins of the Lord Jagannath temple is that here the original image of Jagannath (a deity form of Vishnu) at the end of Treta yuga manifested near a banyan tree, near seashore in the form of an Indranila nilamani or the Blue Jewel. It was so dazzling that it could grant instant moksha, so the god Dharma or Yama wanted to hide it in the earth, and was successful. In Dvapara Yuga King Indradyumna of Malwa wanted to find that mysterious image and to do so he performed harsh penances to obtain his goal. Vishnu then instructed him to go to the Puri seashore and find a floating log to make an image from its trunk.

 

The King found the log of wood. He did a yajna from which god Yajna Nrisimha appeared and instructed that Narayana should be made as fourfold expansion, i.e. Paramatma as Vasudeva, his Vyuha as Samkarshana, Yogamaya as Subhadra, and his Vibhava asSudarsana. Vishwakarma appeared in the form of artist and prepared images of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra from the tree. When this log, radiant with light was seen floating in the sea, Narada told the king to make three idols out of it and place them in a pavilion. Indradyumna got Visvakarma, the architect of Gods, to build a magnificent temple to house the idols and Vishnu himself appeared in the guise of a carpenter to make the idols on condition that he was to be left undisturbed until he finished the work.

 

But just after two weeks, the Queen became very anxious. She took the carpenter to be dead as no sound came from the temple. Therefore, she requested the king to open the door. Thus, they went to see Vishnu at work at which the latter abandoned his work leaving the idols unfinished. The idol was devoid of any hands. But a divine voice told Indradyumana to install them in the temple. It has also been widely believed that in spite of the idol being without hands, it can watch over the world and be its lord. Thus the idiom.

 

INVASIONS AND DESECRATIONS OF THE TEMPLE

The temple annals, the Madala Panji records that the Jagannath temple at Puri has been invaded and plundered eighteen times. The invasion by Raktabahu has been considered the first invasion on the temple by the Madalapanji.

 

RANJIT SINGH´S WILL

Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh, had donated massive amounts of gold to the Jagannath temple. In his last will, he also ordered that Koh-i-noor, the most precious and greatest diamond in the world, to be donated to this temple, but the diamond could never actually make its way to the temple because the British, by that time, had annexed the Punjab and all its royal possessions. Thus, claiming that the Koh-i-noor was theirs. It is currently a part of British crown jewels and is located in the Tower of London.

 

ENTRY AND DARSHAN

Temple has 4 entrances in all directions.Temple security is selective regarding who is allowed entry. Practicing Hindus of non-Indian descent are excluded from premises, as are Hindus of non-Indian origin. Visitors not allowed entry may view the precincts from the roof of the nearby Raghunandan Library and pay their respects to the image of God Jagannath known as Patitapavana at the main entrance to the temple. There is some evidence that this came into force following a series of invasions by foreigners into the temple and surrounding area. Buddhist, and Jain groups are allowed into the temple compound if they are able to prove their Indian ancestry. The temple has slowly started allowing Hindus of non-Indian origin into the area, after an incident in which 3 Balinese Hindus were denied entry, even though Bali is 90% Hindu.

 

The temple remains open from 5 am to 12 midnight. Unlike many other temples devotees can go behind the idols(go round the idols).All devotees are allowed to go right up to the deities during the Sahana Mela without paying any fees . The Sahana mela or the public darshan is usually following the abakasha puja between around 7 to 8 am in the morning. Special darshan or Parimanik darshan is when devotees on paying 50 Rupees are allowed right up to the deities. Parimanik darshan happens after the dhupa pujas at around 10 am, 1 pm and 8 pm . At all other times devotees can view the deities from some distance for free. The rathyatra occurs every year some time in the month of July. 2 or 6 weeks before Rathyatra (depending upon the year) there is a ritual of Lord undergoing "Bhukaar" (sick) hence the idols are not on "Darshan". Devotees to make a note of this before they plan to visit the lord.

 

CULTURAL INTEGRITY

Shrikshetra of Puri Jagannath, as is commonly known, can verily be said to be a truthful replica of Indian culture. To understand this culture, one has to have some idea of the history of this land, which again is different from that of other countries of the world.

 

Starting from Lord Jagannath himself, history has it that he was a tribal deity, adorned by the Sabar people, as a symbol of Narayan. Another legend claims him to be Nilamadhava, an image of Narayana made of blue stone and worshipped by the aboriginals. He was brought to Nilagiri (blue mountain) or Nilachala and installed there as Shri Jagannath in company with Balabhadra and Subhadra. The images made of wood are also claimed to have their distant linkage with the aboriginal system of worshipping wooden poles. To cap it all the Daitapatis, who have a fair share of responsibilities to perform rituals of the Temple, are claimed to be descendants of the aboriginals or hill tribes of Orissa. So we may safely claim that the beginning of the cultural history of Shrikshetra is found in the fusion of Hindu and Tribal Cultures. This has been accepted as a facet of our proud heritage. The three deities came to be claimed as the symbols of Samyak Darshan, Samyak Jnana and Samyak Charita usually regarded as Triratha (of the Jain cult), an assimilation of which leads to Moksha (salvation) or the ultimate bliss...

 

Jagannath is worshipped as Vishnu or Narayana or Krishna and Lord Balabhadra as Shesha. Simultaneously, the deities are regarded as the bhairava with Vimala (the devi or the consort of Shiva) installed in the campus of the temple. So ultimately we find a fusion of Saivism, Shaktism and Vaishnavism of the Hindu religion with Jainism and up to an extent Buddhism in the culture of Jagannath and the cultural tradition so reverently held together in Shrikshetra.

 

ACHARYAS AND JAGANNATHA PURI

All of the renowned acharyas including Madhvacharya have been known to visit this kshetra. Adi Shankara established his Govardhana matha here. There is also evidence that Guru Nanak, Kabir, Tulsidas, Ramanujacharya, and Nimbarkacharya had visited this place. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu of Gaudiya Vaishnavism stayed here for 24 years, establishing that the love of god can be spread by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. Srimad Vallabhacharya visited Jagannath Puri and performed a 7-day recitation of Srimad Bhagvat. His sitting place is still famous as "baithakji." It confirms his visit to Puri. A famous incident took place when Vallabhachrya visited. There was a discourse being held between the Brahmins and 4 questions were asked. Who is the highest of Gods, What is the highest of mantras, What is the highest scripture and What is the highest service. The discourse went on for many days with many schools of thought. Finally Shri Vallabh said to ask Lord Jagannath to confirm Shri Vallabh's answers. A pen and paper were left in the inner sanctum. After some time, the doors were opened and 4 answers were written. 1) The Son of Devaki (Krishna) is the God of Gods 2) His name is the highest of mantras 3) His song is the highest scripture (Bhagavat Geeta) 4) Service to Him is the Highest service. The king was shocked and declared Shri Vallabh the winner of the discourse. Some of the pandits who participated became jealous of Shri Vallabh and wanted to test Him. The next day was Ekadashi, a fasting day where one must fast from grains. The pandits gave Shri Vallabh rice Prasad of Shri Jagannathji (The temple is famous for this). If Shri Vallabh ate it, He would break His vow of fasting but if He did not take it, He would disrespect Lord Jagannath. Shri Vallabh accepted the prasad in his hand and spent the rest of the day and night explaining slokas of the greatness of Prasad and ate the rice the next morning.

 

CHAR DHAM

The temple is one of the holiest Hindu Char Dham (four divine sites) sites comprising Rameswaram, Badrinath, Puri and Dwarka. Though the origins are not clearly known, the Advaita school of Hinduism propagated by Sankaracharya, who created Hindu monastic institutions across India, attributes the origin of Char Dham to the seer. The four monasteries lie across the four corners of India and their attendant temples are Badrinath Temple at Badrinath in the North, Jagannath Temple at Puri in the East, Dwarakadheesh Temple at Dwarka in the West and Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameswaram in the South. Though ideologically the temples are divided between the sects of Hinduism, namely Saivism and Vaishnavism, the Char Dham pilgrimage is an all Hindu affair. There are four abodes in Himalayas called Chota Char Dham (Chota meaning small): Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri - all of these lie at the foot hills of Himalayas The name Chota was added during the mid of 20th century to differentiate the original Char Dhams. The journey across the four cardinal points in India is considered sacred by Hindus who aspire to visit these temples once in their lifetime. Traditionally the trip starts at the eastern end from Puri, proceeding in clockwise direction in a manner typically followed for circumambulation in Hindu temples.

 

STRUCTURE

The huge temple complex covers an area of over 37,000 m2, and is surrounded by a high fortified wall. This 6.1 m high wall is known as Meghanada Pacheri. Another wall known as kurma bedha surrounds the main temple. It contains at least 120 temples and shrines. With its sculptural richness and fluidity of the Oriya style of temple architecture, it is one of the most magnificent monuments of India. The temple has four distinct sectional structures, namely -

 

- Deula, Vimana or Garba griha (Sanctum sanctorum) where the triad deities are lodged on the ratnavedi (Throne of Pearls). In Rekha Deula style;

- Mukhashala (Frontal porch);

- Nata mandir/Natamandapa, which is also known as the Jagamohan (Audience Hall/Dancing Hall), and

- Bhoga Mandapa (Offerings Hall).

 

The main temple is a curvilinear temple and crowning the top is the 'srichakra' (an eight spoked wheel) of Vishnu. Also known as the "Nilachakra", it is made out of Ashtadhatu and is considered sacrosanct. Among the existing temples in Orissa, the temple of Shri Jagannath is the highest. The temple tower was built on a raised platform of stone and, rising to 65 m above the inner sanctum where the deities reside, dominates the surrounding landscape. The pyramidal roofs of the surrounding temples and adjoining halls, or mandapas, rise in steps toward the tower like a ridge of mountain peaks.

 

NILA CHAKRA

The Nila Chakra (Blue Discus) is the discus mounted on the top shikhar of the Jagannath Temple. As per custom, everyday a different flag is waved on the Nila Chakra. The flag hoisted on the Nila Cakra is called the Patita Pavana (Purifier of the Fallen) and is equivalent to the image of the deities placed in the sanctum sanctorum .

 

The Nila Chakra is a disc with eight Navagunjaras carved on the outer circumference, with all facing towards the flagpost above. It is made of alloy of eight metals (Asta-dhatu) and is 3.5 Metres high with a circumference of about 11 metres. During the year 2010, the Nila Chakra was repaired and restored by the Archaeological Survey of India.

 

The Nila Chakra is distinct from the Sudarshana chakra which has been placed with the deities in the inner sanctorum.

 

Nila Chakra is the most revered iconic symbol in the Jagannath cult. The Nila Chakra is the only physical object whose markings are used as sacrament and considered sacred in Jagannath worship. It symbolizes protection by Shri Jagannath.

 

THE SINGHADWARA

The Singahdwara, which in Sanskrit means The Lion Gate, is one of the four gates to the temple and forms the Main entrance. The Singhadwara is so named because two huge statues of crouching lions exist on either side of the entrance. The gate faces east opening on to the Bada Danda or the Grand Road. The Baisi Pahacha or the flight of twenty two steps leads into the temple complex. An idol of Jagannath known as Patitapavana, which in Sanskrit, means the "Saviour of the downtrodden and the fallen" is painted on the right side of the entrance. In ancient times when untouchables were not allowed inside the temple, they could pray to Patita Pavana. The statues of the two guards to the temple Jaya and Vijaya stand on either side of the doorway. Just before the commencement of the Rath Yatra the idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are taken out of the temple through this gate. On their return from the Gundicha Temple they have to ceremonially placate Goddess Mahalakshmi, whose statue is carved atop the door, for neglecting to take her with them on the Yatra. Only then the Goddess allows them permission to enter the temple. A magnificent sixteen-sided monolithic pillar known as the Arun stambha stands in front of the main gate. This pillar has an idol of Arun, the charioteer of the Sun God Surya, on its top. One significant thing about Arun stambha is that prior it was located in the Konark Sun temple, later, the Maratha guru Brahmachari Gosain brought this pillar from Konark. The Puri Jagannath Temple was also saved by Maratha emperor Shivaji from being plundered at his times from the Mughals.

 

OTHER ENTRANCES

Apart from the Singhadwara, which is the main entrance to the temple, there are three other entrances facing north, south and west. They are named after the sculptures of animals guarding them. The other entrances are the Hathidwara or the Elephant Gate, the Vyaghradwara or the Tiger Gate and the Ashwadwara or the Horse Gate.

 

MINOR TEMPLES

There are numerous smaller temples and shrines within the Temple complex where active worship is regularly conducted. The Vimala Temple (Bimala Temple) is considered one of the most important of the Shaktipeeths marks the spot where the goddess Sati's feet fell. It is located near Rohini Kund in the temple complex. Until food offered to Jagannath is offered to Goddess Vimala it is not considered Mahaprasad.

 

The temple of Mahalakshmi has an important role in rituals of the main temple. It is said that preparation of naivedya as offering for Jagannath is supervised by Mahalakshmi. The Kanchi Ganesh Temple is dedicated to Uchchhishta Ganapati. Tradition says the King of Kanchipuram (Kanchi) in ancient times gifted the idol, when Gajapati Purushottama Deva married Padmavati, the kanchi princess. There are other shrines namely Muktimandap, Surya, Saraswati, Bhuvaneshwari, Narasimha, Rama, Hanuman and Eshaneshwara.

 

THE MANDAPAS

There are many Mandapas or Pillared halls on raised platforms within the temple complex meant for religious congregations. The most prominent is the Mukti Mandapa the congregation hall of the holy seat of selected learned brahmins. Here important decisions regarding conduct of daily worship and festivals are taken. The Dola Mandapa is noteworthy for a beautifully carved stone Torana or arch which is used for constructing a swing for the annual Dol Yatra festival. During the festival the idol of Dologobinda is placed on the swing. The Snana Bedi is a rectangular stone platform where idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra are placed for ceremonial bathing during the annual Snana Yatra

 

DAILY FOOD OFFERINGS

Daily offerings are made to the Lord six times a day. These include:

 

- The offering to the Lord in the morning that forms his breakfast and is called Gopala Vallabha Bhoga. Breakfast consists of seven items i.e. Khua, Lahuni, Sweetened coconut grating, Coconut water, and popcorn sweetened with sugar known as Khai, Curd and Ripe bananas.

- The Sakala Dhupa forms his next offering at about 10 AM. This generally consists of 13 items including the Enduri cake & Mantha puli.

- Bada Sankhudi Bhoga forms the next repast & the offering consists of Pakhala with curd and Kanji payas. The offerings are made in the Bhog Mandapa, about 200 feet from the Ratnabedi. This is called Chatra Bhog and was introduced by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century to help pilgrims share the temple food.

- The Madhyanha dhupa forms the next offering at the noon.

- The next offering to the Lord is made in the evening at around 8 PM it is Sandhya Dhupa.

- The last offering to the Lord is called the Bada Simhara Bhoga.

 

The Mahaprasad of Lord Jagannath are distributed amongst the devotees near the Ratnavedi inside the frame of Phokaria, which is being drawn by the Puja pandas using Muruj, except for the Gopal Ballav Bhog and Bhog Mandap Bhoga which are distributed in the Anabsar Pindi & Bhoga Mandap respectively.

 

ROSAGHARA

The temple's kitchen is considered as the largest kitchen in the world. Tradition maintains that all food cooked in the temple kitchens are supervised by the Goddess Mahalakshmi, the empress of Srimandir herself. It is said that if the food prepared has any fault in it, a shadow dog appears near the temple kitchen. The temple cooks, or Mahasuaras, take this as a sign of displeasure of Mahalakshmi with the food, which is, then, promptly buried and a new batch cooked. All food is cooked following rules as prescribed by Hindu religious texts, the food cooked is pure vegetarian without using onions and garlic. Cooking is done only in earthen pots with water drawn from two special wells near the kitchen called Ganga and Yamuna. There are a total of 56 varieties of naivedhyas offered to the deities, near Ratnabedi as well as in Bhoga Mandap on five particular Muhurta. The most awaited Prasad is Kotho Bhoga or Abadha, offered at mid-day at around 1 pm, depending upon temple rituals. The food after being offered to Jagannath is distributed in reasonable portions as Mahaprasad, which is considered to be divine by the devotees in the Ananda Bazar (an open market, located to the North-east of the Singhadwara inside the Temple complex).

 

FESTIVALS

There are elaborate daily worship services. There are many festivals each year attended by millions of people. The most important festival is the Rath Yatra or the Chariot festival in June. This spectacular festival includes a procession of three huge chariots bearing the idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra through the Bada Danda meaning the Grand Avenue of Puri till their final destination the Gundicha Temple. Early European observers told tales of devotees being crushed under the wheels of these chariots, whether by accident or even as a form of meritorious suicide akin to suttee. These reports gave rise to the loan word juggernaut suggesting an immense, unstoppable, threatening entity or process operated by fanatics. Many festivals like Dol Yatra in spring and Jhulan Yatra in monsoon are celebrated by temple every year.Pavitrotsava and Damanaka utsava are celebrated as per panchanga or panjika.There are special ceremonies in the month of Kartika and Pausha.

 

The annual shodasha dinatmaka or 16 day puja beginning 8 days prior to Mahalaya of Ashwin month for goddess Vimala and ending on Vijayadashami, is of great importance, in which both the utsava murty of lord Madanmohan and Vimala take part.

 

- Pana Sankranti: Also known or Vishuva Sankranti and Mesha Sankranti: Special rituals are performed at the temple.

 

RATH YATRA AT PURI

The Jagannath triad are usually worshiped in the sanctum of the temple at Puri, but once during the month of Asadha (Rainy Season of Orissa, usually falling in month of June or July), they are brought out onto the Bada Danda (main street of Puri) and travel (3 km) to the Shri Gundicha Temple, in huge chariots (ratha), allowing the public to have darśana (Holy view). This festival is known as Rath Yatra, meaning the journey (yatra) of the chariots (ratha). The Rathas are huge wheeled wooden structures, which are built anew every year and are pulled by the devotees. The chariot for Jagannath is approximately 45 feet high and 35 feet square and takes about 2 months to construct. The artists and painters of Puri decorate the cars and paint flower petals and other designs on the wheels, the wood-carved charioteer and horses, and the inverted lotuses on the wall behind the throne. The huge chariots of Jagannath pulled during Rath Yatra is the etymological origin of the English word Juggernaut. The Ratha-Yatra is also termed as the Shri Gundicha yatra.

 

The most significant ritual associated with the Ratha-Yatra is the chhera pahara." During the festival, the Gajapati King wears the outfit of a sweeper and sweeps all around the deities and chariots in the Chera Pahara (sweeping with water) ritual. The Gajapati King cleanses the road before the chariots with a gold-handled broom and sprinkles sandalwood water and powder with utmost devotion. As per the custom, although the Gajapati King has been considered the most exalted person in the Kalingan kingdom, he still renders the menial service to Jagannath. This ritual signified that under the lordship of Jagannath, there is no distinction between the powerful sovereign Gajapati King and the most humble devotee.

 

Chera pahara is held on two days, on the first day of the Ratha Yatra, when the deities are taken to garden house at Mausi Maa Temple and again on the last day of the festival, when the deities are ceremoniously brought back to the Shri Mandir.

 

As per another ritual, when the deities are taken out from the Shri Mandir to the Chariots in Pahandi vijay.

 

In the Ratha Yatra, the three deities are taken from the Jagannath Temple in the chariots to the Gundicha Temple, where they stay for nine days. Thereafter, the deities again ride the chariots back to Shri Mandir in bahuda yatra. On the way back, the three chariots halt at the Mausi Maa Temple and the deities are offered Poda Pitha, a kind of baked cake which are generally consumed by the Odisha people only.

 

The observance of the Rath Yatra of Jagannath dates back to the period of the Puranas. Vivid descriptions of this festival are found in Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, and Skanda Purana. Kapila Samhita also refers to Rath Yatra. In Moghul period also, King Ramsingh of Jaipur, Rajasthan has been described as organizing the Rath Yatra in the 18th Century. In Orissa, Kings of Mayurbhanj and Parlakhemundi were organizing the Rath Yatra, though the most grand festival in terms of scale and popularity takes place at Puri.

 

Moreover, Starza notes that the ruling Ganga dynasty instituted the Rath Yatra at the completion of the great temple around 1150 AD. This festival was one of those Hindu festivals that was reported to the Western world very early. Friar Odoric of Pordenone visited India in 1316-1318, some 20 years after Marco Polo had dictated the account of his travels while in a Genoese prison. In his own account of 1321, Odoric reported how the people put the "idols" on chariots, and the King and Queen and all the people drew them from the "church" with song and music.

 

CHANDAN YATRA

In Akshaya Tritiya every year the Chandan Yatra festival marks the commencement of the construction of the Chariots of the Rath Yatra.

 

SNANA PURNIMA

On the Purnima of the month of Jyestha the Gods are ceremonially bathed and decorated every year on the occasion of Snana Yatra.

 

ANAVASARA OR ANASARA

Literally means vacation. Every year, the main idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra & Sudarshan after the holy Snana Yatra on the jyestha purnima, go to a secret altar named Anavasara Ghar where they remain for the next dark fortnight (Krishna paksha). Hence devotees are not allowed to view them. Instead of this devotees go to nearby place Brahmagiri to see their beloved lord in the form of four handed form Alarnath a form of Vishnu. Then people get the first glimpse of lord on the day before Rath Yatra, which is called 'Navayouvana. It is said that the gods fall in fever after taking a huge bath and they are treated by the special servants named, Daitapatis for 15 days. During this period cooked food is not offered to the deities.

 

NAVA KALEBARA

One of the most grandiloquent events associated with the Lord Jagannath, Naba Kalabera takes place when one lunar month of Ashadha is followed by another lunar month of Aashadha. This can take place in 8, 12 or even 18 years. Literally meaning the “New Body” (Nava = New, Kalevar = Body), the festival is witnessed by as millions of people and the budget for this event exceeds $500,000. The event involves installation of new images in the temple and burial of the old ones in the temple premises at Koili Vaikuntha. The idols that are currently being worshipped in the temple premises were installed in the year 1996. Next ceremony will be held on 2015. More than 3 million devotees are expected to visit the temple during the Nabakalevara of 2015 making it one of the most visited festivals in the world.

 

NILADRI BIJE

Celebrated on Asadha Trayodashi. Niladri Bije is the concluding day of Ratha yatra. On this day deities return to the ratna bedi. Lord Jagannath offers Rasgulla to goddess Laxmi to enter in to the temple.

 

GUPTA GUNDICHA

Celebrated for 16 days from Ashwina Krushna dwitiya to Vijayadashami. As per tradition, the idol of Madhaba, along with the idol of Goddess Durga (known as Durgamadhaba), is taken on a tour of the temple premises. The tour within the temple is observed for the first eight days. For the next eight days, the idols are taken outside the temple on a palanquin to the nearby Narayani temple situated in the Dolamandapa lane. After their worship, they are brought back to the temple.

 

THE NAME PURUSHOTTAMA KSHETRA AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

Lord Jagannath is the Purushottama as per the scripture, Skanda Purana. In order to teach human beings how to lead a life full of virtue, he has taken the form of Saguna Brahman or Darubrahman. He is the best brother to his siblings, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra. He is the best husband to goddess Shri. The most noteworthy aspect is still in the month of Margashirsha, on three consecutive days during amavasya he does Shraddha to his parents (Kashyapa-Aditi, Dasharatha-Kaushalya, Vasudeva-Devaki, Nanda-Yashoda), along with the king Indradyumna and queen Gundicha. As a master he enjoys every comfort daily and in various festivals. He grants all wishes to his subjects, and those who surrender before him he takes the utmost care of.

 

CULTURE AND TRADITION OF PURI

Puri is one of the fascinating littoral districts of Orissa. The Cultural heritage of Puri with its long recorded history has its beginnings in the third century B.C. The monuments, religious sanctity, and way of life of the people with their rich tradition is the cultural heart of Orissa. Indeed, Puri is considered the cultural capital of Orissa. The culture here flourished with its manifold activities.

 

The District has the happy conglomerate of different religions, sects and faith. In the course of history, Hindu, Buddhist, Jaina, Muslim, Christian, and Sikh are found here in the District.

 

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, an incarnation of Lord Krishna, appeared 500 years ago, in the mood of a devotee to taste the sublime emotions of ecstasy by chanting the holy name of Krishna. Stalwart scholars of Puri like Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya (a priest & great Sanskrit pandit) and others followed His teachings. Even kings and ministers of His period became His disciples. Especially King Prataparudra became His great admirer and ardent follower. Thus all cultures and religion became one in Puri after his teachings were given to all with no consideration of caste and creed.

 

MANAGEMENT

After independence, the State Government, with a view to getting better administrative system, passed " The Puri Shri Jagannath Temple (Administration) Act, 1952. It contained provisions to prepare the Record of Rights and duties of Sevayats and such other persons connected with the system of worship and management of the temple. Subsequently Shri Jagannath Temple Act, 1955 " was enacted to reorganize the management system of the affair of the temple and its properties.

 

SECURITY

The security at the 12th century Jagannath Temple is increased ahead of Ratha Yatra, the homecoming festival of the deities of Jagannath temple. In the wake of terror alert on 27 June 2012, the security forces were increased to ensure smooth functioning of the crowded Ratha Yatra and Suna Besha.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Don't pack it in your suitcase.

Experimental piece for Beyond Beyond with Kim Klassen. The canola field is Kim's photo. The sky replacement is mine. Additional texture by Kim Klassen.

PORCELAIN ROOM FROM THE PALAIS Dubský IN BRNO

Vienna, around 1740

Ke 6201/1912

In 1700 the installation of so-called "porcelain cabinets" in Europe becomes modern. Have they been reliant on European fayences, so were these ones replaced over time by Chinese export goods and from 1700 on also by Japanese porcelains. The Porcelain Room from the Brno Palais Dubsky is one of the first room amenities with European porcelain.

Based on the attached above the pillar mirror Emblem of Czobor of Szent-Mihály, the decor of the room can be traced back to the years after 1724. Back then acquired Countess Maria Antonia of Czobor, lady on Göding, née Princess of Liechtenstein, the subsequent Palais Dubsky in Brno (Brno, today Czech Republic). From this time also stem the porcelains of the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory Du Paquier (1718-44).

Investigations on the integrated wall paneling of the room as well as the fact that the chimney already in Brno had been bricked without smoke outlet and therefore was not heatable, however, have shown that the facilities originally must have been manufactured for a different, right now yet unknown location and only later was adjusted to the smaller dimensions in Brno Palais. However, unclear remains to this day the time gap between the early, emerged before 1730 Vienna porcelains and the earliest in the forties datable ornamentation of the wall panels and a part of the furniture.

1745 the palace passes into the possession of Johann Georg von Piati from which it inherits his son Emanuel Piati of Tirnowitz 1762. The coat of arms of this family was originally painted with oil paint over that of Czobor and only in 1912 it was removed on the occasion of the acquisition of the room by the museum. From the time of the Piati, around 1790, also stems the decor of the room with paintings and the wall clock signed by Brno master watchmaker Sebastian Kurz.

Its current name the palace obtained finally on the ocassion of the wedding of Emanuela of Piati, the daughter of Johann Georg, with Franz Dubsky of Trebomyslic in 1805. As is apparent from later made additions by porcelains of Herend (Hungary) Porcelain Factory (founded in 1839) and by dated with 1847 pieces from the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory, must have been carried out around 1850 a larger restoration and new adaptation of the room. Back then most probably also emerged the seating furnitures as well as the console table of long wall and the canapé table.

 

PORZELLANZIMMER AUS DEM PALAIS DUBSKY IN BRÜNN

Wien, um 1740

Ke 6201/1912

Um 1700 wird das Einrichten so genannter „Porzellan-Cabinette“ in Europa modern. War man zuerst auf europäische Fayencen angewiesen, so wurden diese mit der Zeit durch chinesische Exportware und ab 1700 auch durch japanische Porzellane ersetzt. Das Porzellanzimmer aus dem Brünner Palais Dubsky ist eine der ersten Zimmerausstattungen mit europäischem Porzellan.

Anhand des über dem Pfeilerspiegel angebrachten Wappens der Czobor von Szent-Mihály lässt sich die Ausstattung des Zimmers bis in die Jahre nach 1724 zurückverfolgen. Damals erwarb Gräfin Maria Antonia von Czobor, Frau auf Göding, geb. Fürstin von Liechtenstein, das nachmalige Palais Dubsky in Brünn (Brno, heute: Tschechische Republik). Aus dieser Zeit stammen auch die Porzellane der Wiener Manufaktur Du Paquier (1718–44).

Untersuchungen an der wandfesten Vertäfelung des Raumes sowie die Tatsache, dass der Kamin bereits in Brünn ohne Rauchabzug gemauert und daher nicht beheizbar war, haben jedoch gezeigt, dass die Ausstattung ursprünglich für einen anderen, heute noch unbekannten Ort verfertigt worden sein muss und erst später den kleineren Dimensionen im Brünner Palais angepasst wurde. Unklar bleibt aber bis heute die zeitliche Diskrepanz zwischen den frühen, vor 1730 entstandenen Wiener Porzellanen und der frühestens in die vierziger Jahre datierbaren Ornamentik der Wandvertäfelungen und eines Teils des Mobiliars.

1745 geht das Palais in den Besitz des Johann Georg von Piati über, von dem es sein Sohn Emanuel Piati von Tirnowitz 1762 erbt. Das Wappen dieser Familie war ursprünglich mit Ölfarbe über jenes der Czobor gemalt und erst 1912 anlässlich der Erwerbung des Zimmers durch das Museum entfernt worden. Aus der Zeit der Piati, um 1790, stammt auch die Ausstattung des Zimmers mit Bildern und der vom Brünner Uhrmachermeister Sebastian Kurz signierten Wanduhr.

Seinen heutigen Namen erhielt das Palais schließlich anlässlich der Hochzeit von Emanuela von Piati, der Tochter Johann Georgs, mit Franz Dubsky von Trebomyslic im Jahr 1805. Wie aus später vorgenommenen Ergänzungen durch Porzellane der Herender Porzellanfabrik (gegründet 1839) und durch 1847 datierte Stücke aus der Wiener Porzellanmanufaktur hervorgeht, muss um 1850 eine größere Restaurierung und Neuadaptierung des Zimmers erfolgt sein. Damals entstanden höchstwahrscheinlich auch die Sitzmöbel ebenso wie der Konsoltisch der Längswand und der Kanapeetisch.

 

The history of the Austrian Museum of Applied Art/Contemporary Art

1863 / After many years of efforts by Rudolf Eitelberger decides emperor Franz Joseph I on 7 March on the initiative of his uncle archduke Rainer, following the model of the in 1852 founded South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum, London) the establishment of the "k.u.k. Austrian Museum for Art and Industry" and appoints Rudolf von Eitelberger, the first professor of art history at the University of Vienna director. The museum should be serving as a specimen collection for artists, industrialists, and public and as a training and education center for designers and craftsmen.

1864/ on 12th of May, opened the museum - provisionally in premises of the ball house next to the Vienna Hofburg, the architect Heinrich von Ferstel for museum purposes had adapted. First exhibited objects are loans and donations from the imperial collections, monasteries, private property and from the k.u.k. Polytechnic in Vienna. Reproductions, masters and plaster casts are standing value-neutral next originals.

1865-1897 / The Museum of Art and Industry publishes the journal Communications of Imperial (k.u.k.) Austrian Museum for Art and Industry .

1866 / Due to the lack of space in the ballroom the erection of an own museum building is accelerated. A first project of Rudolf von Eitelberger and Heinrich von Ferstel provides the integration of the museum in the project of imperial museums in front of the Hofburg Imperial Forum. Only after the failure of this project, the site of the former Exerzierfelds (parade ground) of the defense barracks before Stubentor the museum here is assigned, next to the newly created city park at the still being under development Rind Road.

1867 / Theoretical and practical training are combined with the establishment of the School of Applied Arts. This will initially be housed in the old gun factory, Währinger street 11-13/Schwarzspanier street 17, Vienna 9.

1868 / With the construction of the building at Stubenring is started as soon as it is approved by emperor Franz Joseph I. the second draft of Heinrich Ferstel.

1871 / The opening of the building at Stubering takes place after three years of construction, 15 November. Designed according to plans by Heinrich von Ferstel in the Renaissance style, it is the first built museum building at the Ring. Objects from now on could be placed permanently and arranged according to main materials. / / The School of Arts and Crafts (Kunstgewerbeschule) moves into the house at Stubenring. / / Opening of Austrian arts and crafts exhibition.

1873 / Vienna World Exhibition. / / The Museum of Art and Industry and the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts are exhibiting together at Stubenring. / / Rudolf von Eitelberger organizes in the framework of the World Exhibition the worldwide first international art scientific congress in Vienna, thus emphasizing the orientation of the Museum on teaching and research. / / During the World Exhibition major purchases for the museum from funds of the Ministry are made, eg 60 pages of Indo-Persian Journal Mughal manuscript Hamzanama.

1877 / decision on the establishment of taxes for the award of Hoftiteln (court titels). With the collected amounts the local art industry can be promoted. / / The new building of the School of Arts and Crafts, adjoining the museum, Stubenring 3, also designed by Heinrich von Ferstel, is opened.

1878 / participation of the Museum of Art and Industry as well as of the School of Arts and Crafts at the Paris World Exhibition.

1884 / founding of the Vienna Arts and Crafts Association with seat in the museum. Many well-known companies and workshops (led by J. & L. Lobmeyr), personalities and professors of the School of Arts and Crafts join the Arts and Crafts Association. Undertaking of this association is to further develop all creative and executive powers the arts and craft since the 1860s has obtained. For this reason are organized various times changing, open to the public exhibitions at the Imperial Austrian Museum for Art and Industry. The exhibits can also be purchased. These new, generously carried out exhibitions give the club the necessary national and international resonance.

1885 / After the death of Rudolf von Eitelberger, Jacob von Falke, his longtime deputy, is appointed manager. Falke plans all collection areas al well as publications to develop newly and systematically. With his popular publications he influences significantly the interior design style of the historicism in Vienna.

1888 / The Empress Maria Theresa exhibition revives the contemporary discussion with the high Baroque in the history of art and in applied arts in particular.

1895 / end of directorate of Jacob von Falke. Bruno Bucher, longtime curator of the Museum of metal, ceramic and glass, and since 1885 deputy director, is appointed director.

1896 / The Vienna Congress exhibition launches the confrontation with the Empire and Biedermeier style, the sources of inspiration of Viennese Modernism.

1897 / end of the directorate of Bruno Bucher. Arthur von Scala, director of the Imperial Oriental Museum in Vienna since its founding in 1875 (renamed Imperial Austrian Trade Museum 1887), takes over the management of the Museum of Art and Industry. / / Scala wins Otto Wagner, Felician of Myrbach, Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Alfred Roller to work at the museum and School of Arts and Crafts. / / The style of the Secession is crucial for the Arts and Crafts School. Scala propagates the example of the Arts and Crafts Movement and makes appropriate acquisitions for the museum's collection.

1898 / Due to differences between Scala and the Arts and Crafts Association, which sees its influence on the Museum wane, archduke Rainer puts down his function as protector. / / New statutes are written.

1898-1921 / The Museum magazine Art and Crafts replaces the Mittheilungen (Communications) and soon gaines international reputation.

1900 / The administration of Museum and Arts and Crafts School is disconnected.

1904 / The Exhibition of Old Vienna porcelain, the to this day most comprehensive presentation on this topic, brings with the by the Museum in 1867 definitely taken over estate of the "k.u.k. Aerarial Porcelain Manufactory" (Vienna Porcelain Manufactory) important pieces of collectors from all parts of the Habsburg monarchy together.

1907 / The Museum of Art and Industry takes over the majority of the inventories of the Imperial Austrian Trade Museum, including the by Arthur von Scala founded Asia collection and the extensive East Asian collection of Heinrich von Siebold .

1908 / Integration of the Museum of Art and Industry in the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Public Works.

1909 / separation of Museum and Arts and Crafts School, the latter remains subordinated to the Ministry of Culture and Education. / / After three years of construction, the according to plans of Ludwig Baumann extension building of the museum (now Weiskirchnerstraße 3, Wien 1) is opened. The museum thereby receives rooms for special and permanent exhibitions. / / Arthur von Scala retires, Eduard Leisching follows him as director. / / Revision of the statutes.

1909 / Archduke Carl exhibition. For the centenary of the Battle of Aspern. / / The Biedermeier style is discussed in exhibitions and art and arts and crafts.

1914 / Exhibition of works by the Austrian Art Industry from 1850 to 1914, a competitive exhibition that highlights, among other things, the role model of the museum for arts and crafts in the fifty years of its existence.

1919 / After the founding of the First Republic it comes to assignments of former imperial possession to the museum, for example, of oriental carpets that are shown in an exhibition in 1920. The Museum now has one of the finest collections of oriental carpets worldwide.

1920 / As part of the reform of museums of the First Republic, the collection areas are delimited. The Antiquities Collection of the Museum of Art and Industry is given away to the Museum of Art History.

1922 / The exhibition of glasses of classicism, the Empire and Biedermeier time offers with precious objects from the museum and private collections an overview of the art of glassmaking from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. / / Biedermeier glass serves as a model for contemporary glass production and designs, such as of Josef Hoffmann.

1922 / affiliation of the museal inventory of the royal table and silver collection to the museum. Until the institutional separation the former imperial household and table decoration is co-managed by the Museum of Art and Industry and is inventoried for the first time by Richard Ernst.

1925 / After the end of the directorate of Eduard Leisching, Hermann Trenkwald is appointed director.

1926 / The exhibition Gothic in Austria gives a first comprehensive overview of the Austrian panel painting and of arts and crafts of the 12th to 16th Century.

1927 / August Schestag succeeds Hermann Trenkwald as director.

1930 / The Werkbund (artists' organization) Exhibition Vienna, a first comprehensive presentation of the Austrian Werkbund, takes place on the occasion of the meeting of the Deutscher (German) Werkbund in Austria, it is organized by Josef Hoffmann in collaboration with Oskar Strnad, Josef Frank, Ernst Lichtblau and Clemens Holzmeister.

1931 / August Schestag concludes his directorate.

1932 / Richard Ernst is new director.

1936 and 1940 / In exchange with the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History), the museum at Stubenring gives away part of the sculptures and takes over arts and crafts inventories of the collection Albert Figdor and the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

1937 / The Collection of the Museum of Art and Industry is newly set up by Richard Ernst according to periods. / / Oskar Kokoschka exhibition on the 50th birthday of the artist.

1938 / After the "Anschluss" (annexation) of Austria by Nazi Germany, the museum is renamed into "National Museum of Arts and Crafts in Vienna".

1939-1945 / The museums are taking over numerous confiscated private collections. The collection of the "State Museum of Arts and Crafts in Vienna" in this way also is enlarged.

1945 / Partial destruction of the museum building by impact of war. / / War losses on collection objects, even in the places of rescue of objects.

1946 / The return of the outsourced objects of art begins. A portion of the during the Nazi time expropriated objects is returned in the following years.

1947 / The "State Museum of Arts and Crafts in Vienna" is renamed into "Austrian Museum of Applied Arts".

1948 / The "Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of St. Stephen" organizes the exhibition The St. Stephen's Cathedral in the Museum of Applied Arts. History, monuments, reconstruction.

1949 / The Museum is reopened after repair of the war damages.

1950 / As last exhibition under director Richard Ernst takes place Great art from Austria's monasteries (Middle Ages).

1951 / Ignaz Schlosser is appointed manager.

1952 / The exhibition Social home decor, designed by Franz Schuster, makes the development of social housing in Vienna again the topic of the Museum of Applied Arts.

1955 / The comprehensive archive of the Wiener Werkstätte (workshop) is acquired.

1955-1985 / The Museum publishes the periodical ancient and modern art .

1956 / Exhibition New Form from Denmark, modern design from Scandinavia becomes topic of the museum and model.

1957 / On the occasion of the exhibition Venini Murano glass, the first presentation of Venini glass in Austria, there are significant purchases and donations for the collection of glass.

1958 / End of the directorate of Ignaz Schlosser

1959 / Viktor Griesmaier is appointed as new director.

1960 / Exhibition Artistic creation and mass production of Gustavsberg, Sweden. Role model of Swedish design for the Austrian art and crafts.

1963 / For the first time in Europe, in the context of a comprehensive exhibition art treasures from Iran are shown.

1964 / The exhibition Vienna around 1900 (organised by the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna) presents for the frist time after the Second World War, inter alia, arts and crafts of Art Nouveau. / / It is started with the systematic work off of the archive of the Wiener Werkstätte. / / On the occasion of the founding anniversary offers the exhibition 100 years Austrian Museum of Applied Arts using examples of historicism insights into the collection.

1965 / The Geymüllerschlössel (small castle) is as a branch of the Museum angegliedert (annexed). Simultaneously with the building came the important collection of Franz Sobek - old Viennese clocks, made between 1760 and the second half of the 19th Century - and furniture from the years 1800 to 1840 in the possession of the MAK.

1966 / In the exhibition Selection 66 selected items of modern Austrian interior designers (male and female ones) are brought together.

1967 / The Exhibition The Wiener Werkstätte. Modern Arts and Crafts from 1903 to 1932 is founding the boom that continues until today of Austria's most important design project in the 20th Century.

1968 / To Viktor Griesmaier follows Wilhelm Mrazek as director.

1969 / The exhibition Sitting 69 shows at the international modernism oriented positions of Austrian designers, inter alia by Hans Hollein.

1974 / For the first time outside of China Archaeological Finds of the People's Republic of China are shown in a traveling exhibition in the so-called Western world.

1979 / Gerhart Egger is appointed director.

1980 / The exhibition New Living. Viennese interior design 1918-1938 provides the first comprehensive presentation of the spatial art in Vienna during the interwar period.

1981 / Herbert Fux follows Gerhart Egger as director.

1984 / Ludwig Neustift is appointed interim director. / / Exhibition Achille Castiglioni: designer. First exhibition of the Italian designer in Austria

1986 / Peter Noever is appointed director and starts with the building up of the collection contemporary art.

1987 / Josef Hoffmann. Ornament between hope and crime is the first comprehensive exhibition on the work of the architect and designer.

1989-1993 / General renovation of the old buildings and construction of a two-storey underground storeroom and a connecting tract. A generous deposit for the collection and additional exhibit spaces arise.

1989 / Exhibition Carlo Scarpa. The other city, the first comprehensive exhibition on the work of the architect outside Italy.

1990 / exhibition Hidden impressions. Japonisme in Vienna 1870-1930, first exhibition on the theme of the Japanese influence on the Viennese Modernism.

1991 / exhibition Donald Judd Architecture, first major presentation of the artist in Austria.

1992 / Magdalena Jetelová domestication of a pyramid (installation in the MAK portico).

1993 / The permanent collection is newly put up, interventions of internationally recognized artists (Barbara Bloom, Eichinger oder Knechtl, Günther Förg, GANGART, Franz Graf, Jenny Holzer, Donald Judd, Peter Noever, Manfred Wakolbinger and Heimo Zobernig) update the prospects, in the sense of "Tradition and Experiment". The halls on Stubenring accommodate furthermore the study collection and the temporary exhibitions of contemporary artists reserved gallery. The building in the Weiskirchner street is dedicated to changing exhibitions. / / The opening exhibition Vito Acconci. The City Inside Us shows a room installation by New York artist.

1994 / The Gefechtsturm (defence tower) Arenbergpark becomes branch of the MAK. / / Start of the cooperation MAK/MUAR - Schusev State Museum of Architecture Moscow. / / Ilya Kabakov: The Red Wagon (installation on MAK terrace plateau).

1995 / The MAK founds the branch of MAK Center for Art and Architecture in Los Angeles, in the Schindler House and at the Mackey Apartments, MAK Artists and Architects-in-Residence Program starts in October 1995. / / Exhibition Sergei Bugaev Africa: Krimania.

1996 / For the exhibition Philip Johnson: Turning Point designs the American doyen of architectural designing the sculpture "Viennese Trio", which is located since 1998 at the Franz-Josefs-Kai/Schottenring.

1998 / The for the exhibition James Turrell. The other Horizon designed Skyspace today stands in the garden of MAK Expositur Geymüllerschlössel. / / Overcoming the utility. Dagobert Peche and the Wiener Werkstätte, the first comprehensive biography of the work of the designer of Wiener Werkstätte after the Second World War.

1999 / Due to the Restitution Act and the Provenance Research from now on numerous during the Nazi time confiscated objects are returned.

2000 / Outsourcing of Federal Museums, transformation of the museum into a "scientific institution under public law". / / The exhibition Art and Industry. The beginnings of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna is dealing with the founding history of the house and the collection.

2001 / In the course of the exhibition Franz West: No Mercy, for which the sculptor and installation artist developed his hitherto most extensive work, the "Four lemurs heads" are placed at the bridge Stubenbrücke, located next to the MAK. / / Dennis Hopper: A System of Moments.

2001-2002 / The CAT Project - Contemporary Art Tower after New York, Los Angeles, Moscow and Berlin is presented in Vienna.

2002 / Exhibition Nodes. symmetrical-asymmetrical. The historical Oriental Carpets of the MAK presents the extensive rug collection.

2003 / Exhibition Zaha Hadid. Architecture. / / For the anniversary of the artist workshop, takes place the exhibition The Price of Beauty. 100 years Wiener Werkstätte. / / Richard Artschwager: The Hydraulic Door Check. Sculpture, painting, drawing.

2004 / James Turrell's MAKlite is since November 2004 permanently on the facade of the building installed. / / Exhibition Peter Eisenmann. Barefoot on White-Hot Walls, large-scaled architectural installation on the work of the influential American architect and theorist.

2005 / Atelier Van Lieshout: The Disciplinator / / The exhibition Ukiyo-e Reloaded presents for the first time the collection of Japanese woodblock prints of the MAK on a large scale.

2006 / Since the beginning of the year, the birthplace of Josef Hoffmann in Brtnice of the Moravian Gallery in Brno and the MAK Vienna as a joint branch is run and presents annually special exhibitions. / / The exhibition The Price of Beauty. The Wiener Werkstätte and the Stoclet House brings the objects of the Wiener Werkstätte to Brussels. / / Exhibition Jenny Holzer: XX.

2007/2008 / Exhibition Coop Himmelb(l)au. Beyond the Blue, is the hitherto largest and most comprehensive museal presentation of the global team of architects.

2008 / The 1936 according to plans of Rudolph M. Schindler built Fitzpatrick-Leland House, a generous gift from Russ Leland to the MAK Center LA, becomes with the aid of a promotion that granted the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department the MAK Center, center of the MAK UFI project - MAK Urban Future Initiative. / / Julian Opie: Recent Works / / The exhibition Recollecting. Looting and Restitution examines the status of efforts to restitute expropriated objects from Jewish property from museums in Vienna.

2009 / The permanent exhibition Josef Hoffmann: Inspiration is in the Josef Hoffmann Museum, Brtnice opened. / / Exhibition Anish Kapoor. Shooting into the Corner / / The museum sees itself as a promoter of Cultural Interchange and discusses in the exhibition Global:lab Art as a message. Asia and Europe 1500-1700 the intercultural as well as the intercontinental cultural exchange based on objects from the MAK and from international collections.

2011 / After Peter Noever's resignation, Martina Kandeler-Fritsch takes over temporarily the management. / /

Since 1 September Christoph Thun-Hohenstein is director of the MAK and declares "change through applied art" as the new theme of the museum.

2012 / With future-oriented examples of mobility, health, education, communication, work and leisure, shows the exhibition MADE4YOU. Designing for Change, the new commitment to positive change in our society through applied art. // Exhibition series MAK DESIGN SALON opens the MAK branch Geymüllerschlössel for contemporary design positions.

2012/2013 / opening of the newly designed MAK Collection Vienna 1900. Design / Decorative Arts from 1890 to 1938 in two stages as a prelude to the gradual transformation of the permanent collection under director Christoph Thun-Hohenstein

2013 / SIGNS, CAUGHT IN WONDER. Looking for Istanbul today shows a unique, current snapshot of contemporary art production in the context of Istanbul. // The potential of East Asian countries as catalysts for a socially and ecologically oriented, visionary architecture explores the architecture exhibition EASTERN PROMISES. Contemporary Architecture and production of space in East Asia. // With a focus on the field of furniture design NOMADIC FURNITURE 3.0. examines new living without bounds? the between subculture and mainstream to locate "do-it-yourself" (DIY) movement for the first time in a historical context.

2014 / Anniversary year 150 years MAK // opening of the permanent exhibition of the MAK Asia. China - Japan - Korea // Opening of the MAK permanent exhibition rugs // As central anniversary project opens the dynamic MAK DESIGN LABORATORY (redesign of the MAK Study Collection) exactly on the 150th anniversary of the museum on May 12, 2014 // Other major projects for the anniversary: ROLE MODELS. MAK 150 years: from arts and crafts to design // // HOLLEIN WAYS OF MODERN AGE. Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos and the consequences.

www.mak.at/das_mak/geschichte

392/48/1334 WATER STREET

392/52/1334 (North side)

28-JUN-52 TOWN HALL

 

(Formerly listed as:

CASTLE STREET

TOWN HALL)

 

I

This list entry has been amended as part of the Bicentenary commemorations of the 1807 Abolition Act.

 

The Town Hall stands on the north side of Water Street. Built 1749-54, by John Wood the Elder; modified, extended and reconstructed late C18-early C19 by John Foster Senior, supervised by James Wyatt. Dome completed 1802; south portico completed 1811; interior completed c1820. Council chamber extended and north portico rebuilt using original columns, 1899-1900, by Thomas Shelmerdine. Stone with slate roof and lead dome.

 

EXTERIOR: Two storeys, nine bays; twelve-bay returns. Basement of rock faced rustication. Ground floor rusticated with round-headed windows in recessed reveals. All windows are sashed with glazing bars. South facade: three-bay centre loggia with round-arched entrances, windows in returns with wrought iron screens. Recessed door with fanlight and three-panel doors with large ornamental knockers. First floor has unfluted Corinthian pilasters, and central hexastyle pedimented portico with unfluted Corinthian columns. Windows are round-headed on angle pilasters. Above are rectangular panels, carved with swags and garlands, probably by Frederick Legé, which replaced attic windows in 1811. Entablature and balustrade. Between capitals of pilasters are panels carved in high relief, with exotic emblems of Liverpool's mercantile trade, such as African and Indian heads, an elephant, a crocodile and a camel. The panels continue to east and west elevations - the carvers of those on the 1749-54 south and east facades may have been Thomas Johnson, William Mercer and Edward Rigby. East facade: first nine bays form a symmetrical composition round a three-bay centre with applied hexastyle portico. Central door with iron overthrow and lamp. Last three bays (part of Wyatt's northern extension) have first floor niches and blind bull's eyes under garlands. Here the pilasters are coupled. Tall parapet over entablature, with coupled pilasters separating panels with swags, continuing to north facade. North facade: five bays with projecting three-bay centre with first floor open loggia of coupled columns. Centre windows with architraves and pediments, bull's eyes over. Side windows are tripartite, with colonnettes and responds, carved panels over. Loggia surmounted by statues ordered from Richard Westmacott Senior in 1792. Tall parapet over entablature. West facade: similar to east facade. Central dome on drum with large recessed small paned windows behind a colonnade with four projecting Corinthian aedicules. Balustrade with four clocks flanked by lions and unicorns. Dome surmounted by Coade-stone seated figure, either Britannia or Minerva, by J. C. Rossi; the statue's base is decorated with shells.

 

INTERIOR: Main entrance leads to Vestibule: panelled, with brass plaques naming those given honorary freedom of City. Groin vaulted ceiling, the four shallow lunettes containing murals by J. H. Amschwitz. Ornate fireplace made up from C17 Flemish carvings, presented in 1893. Colourful encaustic tile floor of 1848, incorporating arms of Liverpool. Rooms to east and west. In the northern extension is the Council Chamber, enlarged 1899-1900 to fill the ground floor. Panelled walls. Between the Council Chamber and the Staircase Hall is the Hall of Remembrance, opened 1921: the walls carry the names of over 13,000 Liverpool men who died during WWI; lunettes painted by Frank O. Salisbury. In the Staircase Hall there are two very unusual cast-iron stoves in the form of Doric Columns, possibly designed by Joseph Gandy. The staircase rises under the coffered interior of the dome: a single broad flight between two pairs of Corinthian columns, to a half-landing; then two narrower flights, not attached to walls, return towards the upper landing. Upper landing runs round three sides. The drum of the dome rests on pendentives, painted by Charles Wellington Furse and installed in 1902 show powerful scenes of dock labour. On the first floor there are three reception rooms across the south front, designed by Wyatt: the Central Reception Room has Neoclassical plasterwork by Francesco Bernasconi, who was responsible for most of the stuccowork throughout; to the west and east are room with segmental tunnel vaults. Along the west side is the Dining Room, with a coved ceiling and elaborate plasterwork. Corinthian pilasters of yellow Carniola marble, with painted roundels between the capitals. At either end of the room are niches containing mahogany cabinets (for warming plates) supporting candelabra in the form of red scagliola vases by Joseph Brown, 1813. Between the windows are stoves of remarkable Neoclassical design. Along the east side is the Small Ballroom which is segmental vaulted, with pilasters of Red Carniola. Along the north side is the Large Ballroom, also with a segmental-vaulted ceiling, stucco by James Queen, pilasters of yellow Carniola, and white marble chimneypieces by William Hetherington. In the centre of the south side is a balconied niche with a coffered semi-dome, for the musicians. In the basement are the kitchens, and on the west side there is a brick-vaulted ice house.

 

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: C19 iron area railings incorporating Greek Revival lamp standards, by William Bennett of Liverpool.

 

HISTORY: The present Town Hall, one of the finest surviving town halls of the eighteenth century, replaced a building of 1673 which stood a little to the south; this was a stone structure raised above an arcade which provided space for merchants to conduct their business, or exchange. By the 1740s Liverpool's trade had burgeoned to such an extent that a new town hall was decided upon, both to accommodate the needs of its merchants, and as a demonstration of their prosperity. The architect chosen was John Wood of Bath, who had recently (1743) completed the grand Exchange at Bristol (q.v.). Bristol's pre-eminence as a slave port was then challenged only by London, but Liverpool was catching up, and it was thought that Wood's talents and reputation would admirably reflect the town's growing status. In 1749 Wood's plans were approved, and in 1754 the Exchange, as it then was, opened.

 

Wood's new building differed considerably from the Town Hall as it stands today. It originally had only the south and east facades, older buildings abutting the west and north sides. At the centre of the building was the Exchange courtyard, surrounded by covered walkways with colonnades; according to contemporary descriptions this was dark and confined, and merchants preferred to transact business in the street outside. A grand stair rose from the east walk to the first floor, where the principal rooms included the Town Hall, in the south range. In 1785 it was resolved that the buildings adjoining the Exchange should be removed, and in 1792 John Foster Senior of Liverpool prepared a new design for the exposed west facade, similar to the existing east front, which was adopted. When it was decided to build a large northern extension for the mayor's office and court, with a new assembly room above, the London architect James Wyatt was consulted. Wyatt's designs for a new northern block, and a new dome to replace the earlier square dome, were accepted, and thereafter Foster supervised the building work, answering to Wyatt. In January 1795 Wood's building was gutted by fire, although the unfinished northern extension remained untouched. The Council decided to rebuild within the walls, the Exchange courtyard being dispensed with (a new Exchange was built to the north of the Town Hall, around Exchange Flags) and Wyatt's internal scheme remains, modified and embellished during the succeeding years. The south portico of 1811 announced the building's political function, the space beneath being intended for election hustings. Feasting was provided for by the kitchens which have been in the basement since the 1820s and remain to this day. Most of the superb furniture in the first-floor reception rooms was made for the Town Hall c1817-c1820. These rooms were recently described as 'probably the grandest such suite of civic rooms in the country, an outstanding and complete example of late Georgian decoration and a powerful demonstration of the wealth of Liverpool at the opening of the nineteenth century.' (Sharples, Liverpool (2004))

 

Liverpool's maritime business was initially based on trade with Ireland, but during the latter years of the C17 the town's interests reached North America and the West Indies, as well as Madeira and the Canary Islands. Liverpool was well placed for the Atlantic trade, and as well as being an important centre for shipbuilding, Liverpool and its environs produced many goods for export, such as textiles, glass and metalware. From the 1690s onwards, Liverpool's prosperity was increasingly due to its investment in the slave trade. The first recorded slave ship to leave Liverpool was the 'Liverpool Merchant', which in 1700 carried 220 slaves to Barbados. Liverpool's merchants specialised in direct trade with the Spanish empire, selling slaves particularly in Havana and Cartagena de Indias, and were adventurous in scouring the west coast of Africa for new sources of slaves. During the 1750s Liverpool became Britain's leading slave port and retained its position until 1807; overall, Liverpool ships transported half of the three million Africans carried across the Atlantic by British slavers.

 

Liverpool's mayors were chosen from the most successful of her citizens, so it is not surprising to find that many of those who presided over the new Town Hall were associated with the slave trade. It is said that 20 mayors of Liverpool were directly involved in the trade; of those who held office after the building of the new Town Hall, notable examples include William Gregson, mayor in 1762, and Thomas Staniforth, mayor in 1798 - both men were slave traders and bankers - and the Earle brothers, Ralph and Thomas, members of a family whose wealth from slave ships, plantations, and the products of those plantations gave them influence in Liverpool over several generations. Both Ralph (mayor in 1769) and Thomas (mayor in 1787) traded in the beads which were amongst the commodities used to buy slaves on the African coast. Jonas Bold, a slave trader, sugar merchant and banker, became mayor in 1802; his family's importance in Liverpool outlived the slave trade.

 

The external decoration of Wood's Exchange building proudly celebrates the source of much of Liverpool's wealth, in luxuriant carved panels representing Liverpool's international trade. These were described by a late-C18 observer as 'Busts of Blackamoors & Elephants with the Teeth of the Latter, with such like emblematical Figures, representing the African Trade & Commerce.' The carvings are very similar to those produced for Wood's Bristol Exchange; in Liverpool, the frieze displays the heads of an African and an American Indian, both with feathered head-dresses, together with outlandish animals, lavishly framed with exotic fruits and flowers, and barrels. By the time the west elevation was built, c1792, the slave trade was increasingly a subject of controversy in Liverpool; the Reverend William Bagshaw declared in 1787 that 'throughout this large-built Town every Brick is cemented to its fellow Brick by the blood and sweat of Negroes'. Though the new carvings continued the theme of maritime commerce - with marine horses and cornucopias, packages, ropes and anchors - no direct reference to Africa is made.

 

Fortunes had been made by Liverpool merchants in business related to the slave trade, but greater prosperity was to come in the years following its abolition. The foundations of Liverpool's position as Britain's prime Atlantic port had been laid during its years as a slave port, and Liverpool continued to develop many of the trading connections that had been established by the slave trade, in America and Africa. Liverpool imported the cotton for the Lancashire mills, most of it produced, until the American Civil War and subsequent Emancipation, by slaves in the American South. In the 1840s steamships began regular liner services, carrying passengers and cargo from Liverpool to America; as had been predicted by William Roscoe, Liverpool made more money taking willing passengers to America, than she had done taking slaves there by force. In 1851 Queen Victoria stood on the north balcony of the Town Hall, to greet the merchants assembled in Exchange Flags; she remarked that she had never before seen together so large a number of well-dressed gentlemen.

 

Liverpool Town Hall stands at the centre of the mercantile district built during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The area displays the city's tremendous wealth in a dramatic variety of major commercial buildings. In the immediate vicinity of the Town Hall are the buildings of the Liverpool & London Insurance Co. of 1856-8; the Queen Insurance Buildings of c1837-8 (originally for the Royal Bank); the Bank of England of 1845-6; the India Buildings completed 1930; and Martins Bank of 1927-32. All of these are listed. Exchange Flags, in front of the Town Hall's north facade, was the commercial heart of Liverpool. The present Exchange Buildings of 1939-55 are on the site of two earlier Exchanges: the first of 1803-8 by Foster, possibly with Wyatt; the second of 1864-7 by T. H. Wyatt. At the centre of Exchange Flags stands the Nelson Monument of 1813 by Matthew Cotes Wyatt, James Wyatt's son, and Richard Westmacott Senior; a listed bronze sculpture of a strikingly maritime flavour.

 

The story of Liverpool's progress as a trading power stretches back beyond 1207, when the town was granted its first 'charter' - the 700th anniversary of this event was celebrated by the murals painted for the Town Hall Vestibule in the early C20. 2007, which marked the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade, and a significant moment in the city's mercantile history, was therefore doubly significant for Liverpool.

 

SOURCES:

J. Sharples, 'Liverpool' (Pevsner Architectural Guides, 2004)

R. Pollard and N. Pevsner, 'Buildings of England, Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West' (2006);

www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ accessed on 15 January 2008

L. Westgaph, 'Read the Signs: street names with a connection to the transatlantic slave trade and abolition in Liverpool', (booklet produced by English Heritage, 2007)

H. Thomas, 'The Slave Trade' (1997);

'Liverpool's Historic Town Hall' (leaflet produced by the City of Liverpool [2007])

R. Anstey and P.E.H. Hair eds, Liverpool, the African Slave Trade, and Abolition (1976, 1989)

T. Mowl and B. Earnshaw, 'John Wood. Architecture of Obsession'(1988)

 

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION

The Town Hall, Liverpool, is designated at Grade I for the following principal reasons:

* It is one of the finest surviving town halls of the C18; John Wood's original work confidently developed by James Wyatt

* It has a suite of civic rooms providing an outstanding and complete example of late Georgian decoration

* It has strong connections with the slave trade, through Liverpool's mercantile community, adds to historical interest of building.

* It has group value with the Nelson Monument, and numerous grand commercial buildings, demonstrating Liverpool's continuing prosperity in the C19 and early C20

* The exceptionally rich external carving is unusual subject matter reflecting the international bias of Liverpool's C18 trade.

  

Source: English Heritage

  

Big payoffs for Greater Sage-Grouse habitat restoration may come as tiny seeds with roots from Sheridan, Wyoming. Native plants replaced alfalfa on an acre of land at the Welch Ranch, managed by BLM’s Buffalo Field Office (BFO), to test the ranch as a native plant research and development facility.

 

In a land exchange completed in 2004, the BFO acquired 1,747 acres of land in exchange for federal minerals north of Sheridan, Wyoming, commonly called Welch Ranch.

 

In December 2005, the BLM and the Welch grazing lessee, entered into a cooperative farming agreement where portion of Welch Ranch would continue to be farmed for the production of hay. In the acquisition of the Welch Ranch, the BLM also acquired the ranch’s water right to the Tongue River.

 

The combination of the BLM farmland and a water right provides the unique opportunity for the BFO to grow locally collected seed for research and development, primarily for range and wildlife reclamation and restoration projects. The produced seed would be used in trials, experiments, and also to rehabilitate and restore native plant communities in the Powder River Basin (PRB). Various wildlife species (i.e. mule deer, pronghorn antelope, elk, small mammals, and non-game birds) as well as the Greater Sage-Grouse would benefit from restoration of disturbed lands with native seeds.

 

Seeds from local collections in support of the Seeds of Success program were cleaned in the Bend Seed Extractory and the Upper Colorado Plant Materials Center, then transferred to UW, Sheridan, cultivated in the UW greenhouse, and planted on July 1, 2014.

 

The focus of the initial project is to test the viability of creating a native plant research and development facility on the Welch Ranch. Future years will focus on research and development of native plants for restoration activities as determined by the BLM.

 

In 2015, BLM entered into an assistance agreement with the University of Wyoming for research and development to improve the effectiveness of reclamation within the BFO, particularly within the Power River Basin Sage-Grouse Focal Areas.

 

The wet spring was great for grass growth and for a huge crop of mustard that was shading the grass. A few days of hard work with BLM and Conservation and Land Management Interns (or Chicago Botanic) cleaned the area, except where a prairie rattle snake had homesteaded.

 

BLM has used the garden for education and outreach with the Boys and Girls Club of the Bighorns and the Sheridan, Wyoming based Science Kids.

 

On August 11, 2015 BLM Wyoming partnered with the Wyoming Conservation Corp to collect seed.

 

Photo by BLM Wyoming.

2014 Gore Aussie Muscle Mania Car Show (12-4-14)

 

GTR-XU1

 

Overview:

The Giant Killer GTR XU1 was the work of Harry Firth and the Holden engineers with parts availability and price in mind. The cost to do a home grown six cylinder with after market and factory bits was going to be about half the cost of going the American V8 way. What they achieved was an amazing little car that in 186 cid form with it's triple stromberg 150CD carbs and the twin branch headers had a claimed output of 160 bhp. The Aussie 4 speed (M21) which was special in it's design replaced the weaker Opel units, they were also given heavy duty radiators. After proving that it was a competitive race car the 186ci it was replaced by the newly developed 202ci and the carbs were increased in size to the 175CD's along with larger valves, ported head with combustion chamber modifacations, revised camshaft, roller rockers, lighter flywheel (approx 20 pounds) and larger exhaust system. That was where the XU1 was going to end for the XU2 V8 was well under way until it was terminated which forced Harry Firths team to produce the ultimate six cylinder Holden race car, these cars at Bathurst were putting out in excess of 240 bhp (twin throat webber carbs). Just 150 Bathurst Specials were built with random engine numbers from JP 386598 to JP 404176, the public were never told of these but were given to dealers to pass them on to the right type of person. The unmistakable signs of an original 1973 Bathurst Model are, extra stiffening down the centre tunnel and braces under the front guards, these bodies were intended for the V8 version, the XU-2.

 

The Reason:

The history of the GTR XU-1 really began with the GTS 350 Monaro. The Monaro, as good as it was, was going to be expensive to build into a good handling, braking and power-to-weight race car. It would also have to source it's parts from GM in America which would make things even more expensive and against GM company rules about racing so it was decided to build a home-grown light weight car that used easily acquired parts! This way it could be hidden as a sports alternative to the family cars. GM in America was dead against any involvment in racing and frowned on even the suggestion of a team to do this.

 

The Beginning of a legend:

The first car was built early 1970 and raced in the sports sedan class by Anthony (Tony) Roberts under the guise of the HDT with a 186ci engine it had a small chamber blueprinted 161ci head to increase compression, and had triple Stromberg carburettors. HDT (Holden Dealer Team) was a group of dealerships who banded together to race the cars that they sold in the showrooms. GM-H did not back racing officially but did decide to build a Torana and called it 'GTR XU-1' which they released to the public on 19th August 1970 so enough would sell to allow it race under the homolagation rules. The price for these cars was just A$3148 which made it an easily acquired race car for many privateers.

 

Racing begins:

 

The XU-1 was not an instant success on the track and a lot work went into the handling and steering of the early cars which had understeer. A balance between tyres, shocks and springs sorted this out without going beyond the rules. Harry Firth who was snapped up by HDT after working for the Ford racing team saw the Torana as a potent racing machine. He also saw a young man in a Monaro GTS 350 that could be moulded into a sensational driver, Peter Brock. Sandown saw the first race of the now named GTR XU-1 in the annual September 250 mile race, Ford also debuted it's new GT Falcon, so a lot of interest was developed in the meeting of these two brand new cars. The fastest XU-1 which was driven by Colin Bond was four seconds a lap slower than the fastest GT and could only manage 6th position on the grid. The Falcon's were dominating the race but one by one fell by the wayside with mostly engine failures and when the chequered flag dropped the XU-1 of Colin Bond finished in second place, one lap down from Alan Moffats Falcon and in front of Norm Beechey's Valiant Pacer with Peter Brock in fourth.

 

Bathurst 1970:

Bathurst 1970 saw 12 Torana XU-1's, 3 were from the HDT in which Colin Bond had one to himself, Peter Brock and Bob Morris paired in another plus the pairing of Women drivers Christine Cole(later Gibson) and Sandra Bennett. The other makes were represented well with 14 GT Falcons and 6 Valiant Pacers among others. Just before the race CAMS (Confederation

of Australian Motor Sport) allowed some adjustments to the XU-1 to help it become competitve. Some of these adjustments included a revised camshaft profile (specifications bottom of this page), new axle tube baffles, modified clutch & pressure plate, modified rear suspensionbump stops, front suspension alignment settings, baffling in the fuel tank, front guard lips were rolled to allow for wider front tires and wheel spacers.

Practice: The fastest Torana was the HDT car of Colin Bond with a best lap of 2:54s which put him in fourth spot on the grid with Alan Moffat taking pole some 5 seconds quicker. During the practice sessions many of the Falcons suffered engine problems and the Torana's were running reliably so the feeling was high that the Falcons could breakdown during the running and allow the reliable cars in!

Race day: And they're off with Bond in hot pursuit of Moffat up the hill, over the top and Bond is sitting on Moffat's exhaust, then down Conrod Straight where the big Falcon could stretch it's legs until the end where the big car took some stopping and Bond dived in front under brakes. Going along the front straight the crowd gave a huge cheer of approval to the little Torana, the dice between Bond and Moffat went on for 5 laps until Moffat regained the lead and wasn't headed. The Torana's with Bond and Brock were 2nd and 3rd for quite a while but eventually succumbed to mechanical problems and dashed any hope of a HDT Torana being on the Podium but the privateer entry of Don Holland took third outright and a class win. In fact five privately entered XU-1's were in the top ten, third, sixth, seventh, ninth, and tenth outright plus the HDT all women pairing of Cole/Bennett taking 13th outright, this showed that the six cylinder 186ci Torana was close to the 351ci Falcon's but needed a bit more work to become a superior package! It turned out that the mechanical problems with HDT cars were a manufacturer fault with the valves, this also affected some private entries as well.

 

Torana GTR XU-1 1971.

1971 was very successful for the XU-1 with successes in rallies, hill climbs, rally-cross and circuit races, it also became very popular with the privateers due to the competitiveness and the cost of maintaining it compared to the GTHO. This year saw the introduction of a Manufacturers Championship in which the first round was the Easter Bathurst meeting, Peter Brock took third place and Colin Bond fourth. The second round was at Warick Farm and this time Colin Bond won it from Peter Brock coming second.

Sandown 250: The third round saw the debut of the new Bathurst XU-1 at the Sandown 250, also on debut was the new Phase III GTHO Falcon. After the previous years engine failures, Ford had tested the 351 Cleveland extensively and claimed the power to be 300 bhp (224kW) but in race trim was around 380 bhp (284kW). In practice Moffat (pole 1m21.4s) was 1.9 seconds faster than Bond (3rd) and a huge 3.4 seconds faster than Brock. In the race though both Moffat and French had mechanical problems and Bond ran strongly to take the win and finished a tremendous 5 laps in front of second place Murray Carter (GTHO) with Tony Roberts 3rd (XU-1) and Bruce McPhee (XU-1) 4th.

Bathurst: This was not part of the Manufacturers Championship but was the next race and of course all eyes were on the 'Great Race'. Bathurst saw a new foe in the Valiant E38 harger with it's triple webbers on the Hemi 265 engine which produced 280 bhp (209kW) and until recently held the title as the fastest Australian production car in a straight line! But as fast as the Valiant was it was limited with only a 3-speed gearbox and unpower assisted brakes so the mountain was not very kind to this car. The Bathurst race wasn't kind on the HDT and saw Moffat on pole with 2m38.9s and the fastest XU-1 was Brocks car with a 2m46.3. Moffat led from flag to flag with Bond finishing 4th and Brock coming in 6th with some problems.

Phillip Island: The 500 km race at Phillip Island resumed the Manufacturers Championship and was just three weeks after the demoralising Bathurst race. The Big Falcons had big problems here, as they cooked and ripped there tyres up the Torana XU-1's of Bond and Brock did a 1-2 for the HDT with Doug Chivas well behind in his Valiant Charger. Even a privately entered Torana beat the 5th placed Moffat home!

Surfers Paradise: The Rothmans 250 was the final race to find honours in the Manufacturers Championship and Moffat took the win, with Brock in 3rd and Bond in 4th it was enough to win the title for GM-H.

 

1972 Bathurst

The next time on the podium was 1972 and it was Peter Brocks turn, he won convincingly in what was a tremendous battle against Alan Moffat who had won the previous two Bathursts. Brocky did the 500 mile race solo which started in the wet and with team mate Colin Bond crashing very early in the race the next hour was spent dicing with Moffat, up the hill the Torana would catch the Falcon and then down Conrod the Falcon would pull away, lap after lap until Moffat aquaplaned almost the same place Bond crashed and although Moffat got going again Brock was never going to be beaten. The Legend of the Bathurst Winning Torana had begun with the biggest legend in Australian motor sport although he was a junior at this stage with a third in a Monaro in 1969 previous. The 1973 Bathurst was the Torana's but for an error of judgment trying to stretch the fuel, while out in front Doug Chivas was asked to do another lap and while coming over the top of the hill the car started to cough until it ran out of fuel along Conrod Straight. He coasted all the way and when in the pit entry tried a clutch start but all this did was to take any momentum the Torana had away and without the rest of team being allowed to help him until the car actually entered there designated pit area they stood, watched and yelled encouragement while Chivas (not a large person by any means), pushed the wide tyred Torana up the hill in the pits. Brocky put up an almighty fight but it wasn't enough and the rest is history.

(Ref: holden.itgo.com/gtrxu1.html)

Replaces the 737 Service

Replaced the original BW version with this one in desaturated color to better show the discoloration and age. The dolls looked very dingy and forlorn to me.

Replaced the chrome side scuttles with the low profile R50 side scuttles.

 

Originally, they come with orange/amber side indicators, but decided to upgrade them with dynamic side indicators which look awesome!

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 13-Apr-24.

 

Now fitted with blended winglets.

 

Fleet No: "6814".

 

This aircraft was delivered to TWA Trans World Airlines as N711ZX in Jun-97. It was sold to a lessor in Sep-99 and leased back to TWA.

 

TWA was taken over and merged into American Airlines in Dec-01. It continued in service and was returned to the lessor in Jan-08.

 

It was leased to Delta Air Lines the following day and fitted with blended winglets in Apr-08. The aircraft was withdrawn from service and stored at San Bernardino, CA, USA in Apr-21. It was moved to Jacksonville-Cecil Field, FL, USA in Mar-24 for further storage.

 

Now 26.5 years old, will it return to service, become a freighter or just permanently retired? Updated 17-Apr-24.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

The origins of the Turbo Fury reach back to 1943, when the piston-driven Hawker Sea Fury's development was formally initiated in response to a wartime requirement of the RAF.

 

As the Second World War drew to a close, the RAF cancelled their order for the aircraft. However, the Royal Navy saw the type as a suitable carrier aircraft to replace a range of increasingly obsolete or poorly suited aircraft being operated by the Fleet Air Arm. Development of the Sea Fury proceeded, and the type began entering operational service in 1947.

 

The Sea Fury had many design similarities to Hawker's preceding Tempest fighter, but the Sea Fury was a considerably lighter aircraft. Both the Sea Fury's wings and fuselage originated from the Tempest but were significantly modified and redesigned.

 

The Sea Fury attracted international orders as both a carrier and land-based aircraft; it was operated by countries including Australia, Burma, Canada, Cuba, Egypt, West Germany, Iraq, and Pakistan. The Sea Fury was retired by the majority of its military operators in the late 1950s in favour of jet-propelled aircraft. One of the largest export customers for the type, Pakistan, went a different way.

 

A total of 87 new-build Sea Furies were purchased and delivered to Pakistan between 1950 and 1952, but some ex-FAA and Iraqi Sea Furies were also subsequently purchased.

 

The Sea Fury began to be replaced by the jet-powered North American F-86 Sabre in 1955, but it became quickly clear that the Sabre was primarily a fighter, not a ground attack aircraft. It also lacked adequate performance in 'hot and high' operation theatres, and the PAF's B-57 bombers were too big for certain CAS tasks, and their number highly limited.

 

Hence the decision was taken to modernize a part of the PAF Sea Fury fleet for the ground attack role. This was to be achieved with a better engine that would deliver more power, a better overall performance as well as an extended range for prolonged loiter times close to the potential battlefield.

 

Engine choice fell on the Allison T56 turboshaft engine, which had originally been developed for the C-130 Hercules transporter (later also installed in the P-3 and E-2) - the type had just been bought by the PAF, so that low maintenance cost due to parts and infrastructure commonality was expected. Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (commonly abbreviated 'PAC') was tasked to develop a suitable update, and this lead to the integration of a turboprop engine into the Sea Fury airframe.

 

For the relatively small Sea Fury airframe the T56 was downrated to 3.000 hp, to which approximately 750 lbs of thrust from its exhaust could be added. The latter was bifurcated and ran along the fuselage flanks, ending in fairings at the wings' trailing edge. In order to cope with the additional power, the original five-bladed propeller had to be replaced by a six-bladed, indigenously developed propeller. Together with the more pointed spinner and the raised propeller position, the Sea Fury's profile changed dramatically, even though the good field of view for the pilot was retained. Officially, the modified machines were just called 'Sea Fury FB.61', inofficially they were called 'Turbo Furies' or 'وایلار' (Urdu: Wailer), for their characteristic, penetrating engine and propeller sound.

 

Internally, structural reinforcements had to be made and new wing spars were introduced. These allowed higher g forces for low level maneuvers and also carried additional ordnance hardpoints under the outer wings - these enabled the aircraft to carry HVARs of American origin and/or several small caliber bombs instead of only a single pair of up to 1.000 lb (454 kg) caliber.

 

The last piston engine Sea Furies in Pakistani service were ultimately retired in 1960, while the Turbo Fury fleet was used throughout the 1965 India-Pakistan War. After the end of hostilities, the 'Turbo Furies' were quickly phased out since it had become clear that they had become too vulnerable in battlefield conditions.

 

Some of these machines were sold to Thailand, though, where it served with the Royal Thai Marine Corps (นาวิกโยธินแห่งราชอาณาจักรไทย) in the CAS role and saw frequent use: The Chanthaburi and Trat borders with Cambodia gave the Marine Corps Department its first assignment, safeguarding the coastline and southeastern border. Since 1970 the Marine Corps' Chanthaburi-Trat Task Force had been officially assigned the defense of this area.

 

During 1972 and 1973, Thai Marines were involved in the "Sam-Chai" anti-communist operations in Phetchabun Province and the "Pha-Phum" anti-communist operations in Chiang Rai Province. In 1973 and 1974, they took part in anti-communist operations in the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. After ten years of frequent and successful use, the end of the Thai TurBo Furies came - the type was retired in late 1975. Two specimen were sold into the USA to Flight Systems Inc., where the machines were de-militarized and modified to be used as fast low-level target tugs.

 

Still, the aircraft would see a late career for the USAF, even though only an indirect one - and ironically against another WWII veteran reincarnation! In 1971 Piper Aircraft Corp. at Lakeland, Florida, built for the USAF's PAVE COIN programm (calling for a simple aircraft tailored to the ground attack role for small armies) two Piper Enforcers by heavily modifying two existing P-51 Mustang aircraft and fitting them with Lycoming T55-L9A turboprop engines, along with numerous other significant modifications.

 

Prior to the PAVE COIN evaluation, N202PE was lost in a crash off the Florida Coast. Although the Enforcer performed well in PAVE COIN, Piper failed to secure a United States Air Force contract. Anyway, Piper kept on lobbying Congress for another 8 years to force the USAF to officially re-evaluate the Enforcer.

 

Eventually in the 1979 defense bill $11.9 million was allocated for Piper to build two new prototypes and for the USAF to perform another flight evaluation. Since the Enforcer was never in the Air Force inventory, it was not given an official military designation and did not receive an Air Force serial number. Instead, it carries the Piper designation PA-48 and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) registration numbers N481PE and N482PE.

 

During 1983 and 1984 the PA-48s were pitted against several "modern" jets at 1984 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida and Edwards Air Force Base, California. Beyond 'state of the art' competirion, the USAF wanted a direct competitor - and found Flight Systems Inc's Turbo Furies. One of these, aircraft N287FS, was leased in 1981 and revamped to military status in order to act as a further benchnmark and as aggressor.

 

By the time the machine had already undergone some major modifications, including an ejection seat for the pilot and a new five-bladed propeller plus exhaust dampers in order to minimize the machine's distinctive, penetrating noise.

Further modifications saw the re-installment of armament, including wing hardpoints and the respective wiring, as well as adding four 20mm cannon, this time domestic Pontiac M39A1 revolver cannon - easily recognizable through the longer gun barrels that protruded from the wings' leading edge.

 

During the two years of evaluation the revamped Turbo Fury fared well, while its sister ship remained in the target tug role - and it was the only machine to survive, since N287FS crashed on 8th of August 1984 at Eglin AB due to hydraulic failure, with the pilot escaping securely thanks to the new ejection seat.

  

General characteristics

Crew: One

Length: 36 ft 2 in (11.05 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft 43⁄4 in (11.69 m)

Height: 15 ft 101⁄2 in (4.84 m)

Wing area: 280 ft2 (26.01 m2)

Empty weight: 10.500 lb (4.767 kg)

Loaded weight: 14,100 lb (6.400 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 15,650 lb (7.105 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Allison T56 turboshaft engine rated at 2.206 kW (3.000 hp) plus 750 lbs of residual thrust

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 490 mph (427 knots, 790 km/h) at 18,000 ft (5,500 m)

Range: 700 mi (609 nmi, 1,126 km) with internal fuel;

1,040 mi (904 nmi, 1,674 km) with two drop tanks

Service ceiling: 35,800 ft (10,910 m)

Rate of climb: 4,320 ft/min (21.9 m/s)

 

Armament:

4× 20 mm (0.787 in) Pontiac M39A1 revolver cannon

Eight underwing hardpoints for an external load of 4.000 lb (1.814 kg),

including bombs, unguided rockets, napalm tanks or drop tanks

 

The kit and its assembly:

Turbo Fury V3.0, spinning forth the initial fictional background story of this whif conversion. The combination of a WWII figher design and a C-130 Hercules sounds unlikely, but that's what I built. The idea of revamped piston-engine aircraft for a post-WWII-use has its charm and continually brings forth impressive designs, like the real world Piper PA-48.

 

Inspiration came with a set of 1:72 aftermarket C-130J resin engine nacelles from OzMods, which I had bunkered a while ago. This time the engine was mated again to the single seater kit from Pioneer2/PM Models. The Hercules engines are an almost perfect fit - the original fuselage just had to be cut away behind the original exhaust reflectors. Some sculpting had to be done on both sides, and the wing roots filled up in order to match the new, more narrow engine, but things went really smoothly.

 

This time, the Turbo Fury was to have a more modern touch - we are in the 80ies now. So I decided to use the original C-130 sickle blades that come with the OzMods conversion kit, even though I only used five of them instead of six (the spinner was modified accordingly). Another idea was to conceal the original exhaust pipes under the cockpit - I scratched dampers with intakes that would muffle engine sound and mix the hot gases with fresh air. These break up the sleek lines of the Fury, but I think that this installation makes sense, also as a potential survival measure that reduces the aircraft's IR signature?

 

Otherwise, only little things were changed. In the cockpit a new seat and a dashboard cover were added. The underwing hardpoints were new, too, and I added some antennae for a more modern and purposeful look. All pylons are new, and the bomb ordnance was puzzled together from the spares box, including four Rockeye CBUs from an Italeri F-16, an camera pod (from an Italeri F-18, IIRC) and a single ACMI pod from an Italeri F-21.

 

Painting and markings:

Piper's PA-48 was a bit of inspiration for this build, and I wanted the final Turbo Fury to be an American aircraft. USAF use would have been unlikely, though, but a private operator like Flight Systems Inc. (Which also operated F-86 as target tugs!) opened a new opportunity, as well as the historic trials of the PA-48 in the early 80ies.

 

Well, how to paint the Turbo Fury? An early idea had been a simple, all Gunship Grey aircraft with low-viz markings, but I eventually settled for the contemporary "USMC Land Scheme", applied to helicopters (AH-1, CH-46) and some of the USMC's OA-10. On a classic airframe like the Sea Fury's it would look totally anachronistic - but for an aggressor and test aircraft? Why not?

 

This wraparound scheme consists of grey, green and black - I used FS 35237 (Humbrol 145), FS 34097 (Humbrol 105) and FS 37038 (Humbrol 85, slightly lightened with some Humbrol 32 Dark Grey). The cockpit interior was kept in dark gray, the landing gear is in Aluminum, just like on the former builds of this series.

 

As per usual the kit received a light black ink wash and some dry painting that emphasizes the panel lines.

 

Decals were puzzled together from the scrap box, with some typical US markings and modern stencils.

  

Even though the paint finish turned out to look a bit more worn than initially intended, I am very happy with the result of this "Final Turbo Fury", esp. with its modern details. It looks rather odd and purposeful! And there's still one Hercules engine left... maybe a forth Turbo Fury might come forth, in the hands of another obscure operator's hands. ;)

 

WSDOT has marked a major milestone in its effort to replace the aging and vulnerable State Route 520 floating bridge. After 13 years of thorough analysis and input from thousands of people, the state has announced a preferred alternative for the I-5 to Medina: Bridge Replacement and HOV Project.

 

Major safety, transit and environmental improvements are in store for the SR 520 corridor from I-5 in Seattle across Lake Washington to Medina. The SR 520 preferred alternative takes key steps to get ready for future light rail, help manage traffic in the Arboretum and transform the future highway with a landscaped lid and median for a parkway experience.

 

The new floating bridge and highway will have six lanes, including two general-purpose lanes and a new transit/HOV lane in each direction. Adding transit/HOV lanes makes travel in the corridor faster and more reliable for buses and carpools and supports regional plans for completing the HOV system to reduce the number of single-occupancy vehicles.

 

Details are on our website, including images of what a new, larger landscaped lid at Montlake Boulevard would look like. The preferred SR 520 alternative directly responds to input we received from the public, the City of Seattle, the University of Washington and environmental regulatory agencies. Work continues on design refinements for the Montlake area with those groups as well as transit agencies.

 

Highlights include:

 

Room for future light rail: The bridge deck will accommodate future light rail trains and the west end of the floating bridge will have room for trains to leave the corridor and head to the University of Washington area. Pontoons could be added to the floating bridge in the future to carry the weight of the trains.

 

Less traffic in the Arboretum: The project removes the ramps that currently carry traffic directly to Lake Washington Boulevard and the Washington Park Arboretum. Westbound off-ramps instead will carry buses and general purpose traffic to 24th Avenue E. and continue on to Montlake Boulevard.

 

Buses and a lid at Montlake: New direct-access ramps will carry buses to a new landscaped park lid at the Montlake Boulevard interchange. The open space will extend from Montlake Boulevard into the Arboretum.

 

Parkway on Portage Bay: A slimmed-down Portage Bay Bridge will be built as a 45-mph landscaped parkway with a 6-foot-wide planted median. The 105-foot-wide bridge is narrower than the 154 feet previously planned in the 2006 draft environmental impact statement.

 

Identifying a preferred design keeps us on track for opening a new bridge to traffic in 2014.

 

www.wsdot.wa.gov/Communications/ExpressLane/2010/05_07.htm

 

www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR520Bridge/I5ToMedina/Default....

 

SR 520 - I-5 to Medina: Bridge Replacement and HOV Project

 

Status

February 2011

 

ESSB 6392 reports now available

  

We've sent two final reports to the governor and state legislators (High Capacity Transit Planning and Financing and the Washington Park Arboretum Mitigation Plan). This completes the requirements of Senate Bill 6392.

Floating bridge construction

  

Three teams have until spring to submit their bids and proposals for the new SR 520 floating bridge. Construction starts in 2012 and the bridge opens in 2014.

Overview

 

The I-5 to Medina: Bridge Replacement and HOV Project will replace the interchanges and roadway between I-5 in Seattle and the eastern end of the floating bridge.

   

Why is WSDOT pursuing this project?

About 115,000 vehicles and more than 190,000 people cross Lake Washington every day on the SR 520 floating bridge. It’s a key regional route for commuters and freight.

 

After floating for nearly 50 years, the four-lane bridge is often clogged by traffic and is showing its age.

 

The floating bridge pontoons are vulnerable to windstorms, and bridge support columns are vulnerable to earthquakes.

  

The End Result

  

The I-5 to Medina Bridge Replacement and HOV Project includes a new floating bridge and highway with six lanes, including two general-purpose lanes and one new transit/HOV lane in each direction.

 

The project also takes key steps to get ready for future light rail, help manage traffic in the Arboretum and transform the future corridor from Montlake to I-5 into a city parkway with landscaped lids and medians.

  

Project Benefits

  

The new SR 520 corridor through Seattle will:

 

Provide transit connections and priority.

Create a pedestrian-friendly urban interchange at Montlake Boulevard.

Restore park area and connections next to the Washington Park Arboretum.

Reduce noise levels from the Portage Bay Bridge.

Be ready for light rail if the region chooses to fund it in the future.

 

What is the project timeline?

  

Spring 2011: Publish final environmental impact statement

Mid-2011: Select contractor team for new SR 520 floating bridge

2012: Begin construction of floating bridge

2014: Open new floating bridge to drivers

The schedule for constructing the segments of the corridor west of Lake Washington is pending additional funding.

  

Financial Information

 

We are moving forward with construction on a new SR 520 floating bridge, which is fully funded by a variety of state and federal sources, including SR 520 tolling that is set to begin in spring 2011.

 

We are continuining to work with the Legislature to fund the elements of the project from I-5 to the floating bridge.

 

Visit the SR 520 Costs, Funding and Tolling page for additional information.

  

How can I get more information?

Contact:

E-mail: SR520bridge@wsdot.wa.gov

 

Phone: 206-770-3500

 

Infoline: 1-888-520-NEWS (6397)

 

Mail: I-5 to Medina: Bridge Replacement and HOV Project

SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program

600 Stewart Street, Suite 520

Seattle, WA 98101

Here's another from my New Year's day trip to Cocklawburn.

 

It's a real gutter when you witness an amazing sunrise whilst you are at work. This has happened twice to me this week. Hopefully I will get the sunrise I want tomorrow but given my luck that seems highly unlikely. The lie in may win this round..

 

Ventured out yesterday afternoon but just didn't get anything worthy, but that's Photography.. The fact that this big galoot dropped his cable release in a rock pool is making things difficult too, but they are cheap enough to replace thankfully enough!

 

Lee 0.6 Hard grad used.

Replacing span-wire 8" signals with mast-arm 12" faces, plus backplates.

Replacing rail ties and spikes. www.dailydieseldose.com for more!

Replaced the rocker cover gasket as I noticed traces of oil underneath the car and at the back of the rocker cover.

 

Not too bad of a job and worth it in the end. Also replaced the rusty bolts with new stainless hex bolts & new rubber washers.

This is City Hall in Norwich. The home of Norwich City Council. It is near the markets.

 

I think it was built to replace the old Guildhall nearby, as it was too small for the local political needs of Norwich.

 

The tower of the City Hall from St Giles Street, with 1930s clock face and topped off in copper.

 

It is an Art Deco building finished in 1938. Designed by the architects Charles Holloway James and Stephen Rowland Pierce, after Robert Atkinson had prepared a layout for the whole Civic Centre site at the request of Norwich City Council.

 

It was opened in 1938 by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.

 

It is a Grade II* listed building.

 

City Hall with attached police station. 1932-38 by C. H. James and S. R. Pierce. Brick with stone dressings, lower 2 storeys of stone. Flat roof. 5 storeys, with tower to right-hand side. Twenty-five 4th floor windows. Central entry with 6 polygonal columns above rising from the first-floor balcony and supporting entablature. Triple doors and steps up flanked by lions. Metal casement windows with glazing bars throughout. Small semi-circular balconies in penultimate end bays with small fan-lights above doors. The three end bays project. Parapet. Square clock tower topped with square cupola and finial. The exterior also has applied and freestanding sculpture in stone and stone. The bronze lions either side of the main stairs are by Alfred Hardiman, and the three pairs of main bronze doors with 18 plaques depicting Norwich history and trades were sculpted by James Woodford. The Bethel Street façade has the entrance to the Rates Hall with a stone relief panel of the City arms by Eric Aumonier who was also responsible for London Underground station sculpture. The former entrance to the Police Station within this wing has an ornate bronze lantern and relief stone panels depicting police helmets by H. Wilson Parker. The left of the wing, the police station, was extended 1965-7 in a similar style by the City Architect, David Percival. The north wing was unfinished but the Council Chamber projects to the rear in the middle of the main range and the wall facing the rear has, as well as decorative brickwork, three tall narrow niches from which project sculptures also by Alfred Hardiman of Recreation, Wisdom and Education.

 

INTERIOR: The extremely impressive interior includes an entrance hall with stone and marble clad walls and columns, stairs lit by a window with textured engraved and painted glass and a ceiling painting designed by Eric Clarke and painted by James Michie. The hall above is also marble clad, and leads to a long suite of committee and reception rooms including the Lord Mayor's parlour. This suite stretches all along the main front and there is a long (365') balcony outside and most rooms are finely panelled with various varieties of wood, including inlay, and have original fine fireplaces, fittings and textiles. The Lord Mayor's Parlour is very fine being an octagon with shallow vaulted ceiling and fully panelled in sycamore with the veneers cut using the highest expertise to produce a brilliant effect of intensely rich dado figuring and lighter cloud-like wall figuring. In addition the Council Chamber itself is very fine with curving seating in mahogany with inlaid brass edges and mahogany entrance wall columns, and also wall panelling to half height with a variety of panel designs. Many light fittings which were designed for the building by the architects also survive.

 

Other elements of the fine interior include the third floor hall with lift entrance, lantern and balcony, all in austere classical Art Deco styling, and the former marriage suite on the lower ground floor.

 

HISTORY:

Norwich City Hall was designed in 1931 and built in 1937-8. The design by the architects James and Pierce was the winning entry in a public competition which attracted 143 entries. The there had long been felt a need for a fitting city hall and an area to the north of the market place was cleared to provide a suitable space which would be still at the very centre of the city. Following discussions with the R.I.B.A., Robert Atkinson was appointed as the supervisor of the development of the Market Place and produced his own plans. In the end there was competition with Atkinson as the sole judge and his ground plan was retained as one of the many conditions.

 

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE:

Norwich City Hall is one of the landmarks of the city and one of the finest municipal buildings of the interwar period in England. It is in an austere Classical style with Art Deco detailing and makes reference also to Scandinavia and in particular Stockholm City Hall. The prominent tower contrasts successfully with the long principal front standing above the sizeable Market Place. The exterior is very impressive, being on 5 storeys with a prominent portico and applied and freestanding sculpture in stone and bronze. The interior is also impressive with a long suite of committee and reception rooms including the Lord Mayor's Parlour. The rooms are finely panelled with various varieties of wood and original fine fittings and textiles. In addition the Council Chamber itself is very fine with curving seating in walnut with inlaid brass edges and wall panelling to half height with a variety of panel designs. The sculpture and plaques in bronze and stone include work by Alfred Hardiman and Eric Aumonier. The totality of the exterior and interior, complete with fine sculpture in stone and bronze and the finest interior fittings in contemporary style, is particularly successful.

 

City Hall, Norwich - Heritage Gateway

The Postcard

 

A postcard bearing no publisher's name that was posted using a 2d. stamp in Weymouth, Dorset on Thursday the 4th. July 1957 to:

 

Miss Doswell,

77 Ryedale,

East Dulwich,

London SE.

 

The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

 

"Dear Miss Doswell,

We are having a nice

holiday. We had a bad

storm on Tuesday night -

thunder and lightning

all night.

Nice yesterday and

today again.

We hope you are keeping

well.

We have just had a boat

trip around Portland

Harbour.

Best wishes,

Mr. & Mrs. Voak."

 

Weymouth

 

Weymouth is a seaside town in Dorset, England, situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey on the English Channel coast. The town is 11 kilometres (7 mi) south of Dorchester and 8 kilometres (5 mi) north of the Isle of Portland. The town's population in 2011 was 52,300.

 

Weymouth is a tourist resort, and its economy depends on its harbour and visitor attractions; the town is a gateway situated halfway along the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site on the Dorset and east Devon coast, important for its geology and landforms.

 

Weymouth Harbour has provided a berth for cross-channel ferries, and is home to pleasure boats and private yachts, and nearby Portland Harbour is home to the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, where the sailing events of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games were held.

 

The history of the borough stretches back to the 12th century; including involvement in the spread of the Black Death, the settlement of the Americas, the development of Georgian architecture, and a major departure point for the Normandy Landings.

 

Greenhill Gardens

 

Greenhill Gardens in the Greenhill suburb of Weymouth is a public garden positioned at the edge of the town centre, sloping up from the beach and promenade.

 

The Gardens were originally part of the Wilton Estate and were handed over as a gift to the local council in 1902 for 'the benefit of the inhabitants of Weymouth.'

 

Bennett's Shelter

 

Within the gardens, Bennett's Shelter, a benevolent donation made by Mayor V. H. Bennett, was constructed in 1919. The original shelter had lower wooden sections that have since been replaced by Portland stone walling, whilst the upper timber structure and tiled roof are essentially in their original form. The shelter continues to provide shelter to today's visitors.

 

The Schneider Trophy Weathervane

 

The Schneider Trophy weathervane is a memorial to the former Weymouth College student, Lieutenant George Stainforth, who set a world record air speed in a Schneider Supermarine S6B seaplane in 1931. The weather vane was originally presented to Weymouth College in 1932 as a memorial to Stainforth. Made of hardwood and covered in a copper sheath, the vane was erected above Weymouth College chapel in 1932, but moved for safety at the start of World War II.

 

The weathervane was later presented to the Borough Council and placed in the gardens in May 1952. In 1996, the vane had to be taken down after the effects of years of sea spray and coastal winds had taken their toll; however it was restored in 1999 by a local marine engineer.

 

The Floral Clock

 

In 1936, a floral clock with a cuckoo type chime was built by Ritchie & Sons of Edinburgh. The Company also designed the famous floral clock in Princes Street Garden in Edinburgh.

 

It features an adjacent clock house, holding the original mechanism that keeps the clock ticking. The clock house has two holes in the side where the noise of a cuckoo comes out.

 

Since its creation, it has become one of the most popular features of the gardens.

 

The Wishing Well

 

In the late 1980's, a wishing well, donated by Melcombe Regis Rotary Club, was introduced into the lower gardens, and any monies thrown into the well are collected and presented to a local charity.

 

The Tennis Courts

 

In 2006, the council were considering plans to erect a large restaurant on the tennis courts in the Gardens. This plan was received with almost universal dismay, and was subsequently shelved.

 

The Floral Bedding Design

 

Each year a large crescent shaped bed is given over to a charity or organisation which is celebrating a significant anniversary. The Gardeners painstakingly plant out thousands of tiny bedding plants, and where necessary, use coloured gravel to replicate the selected organisation's logo.

 

Eleanor Boucher

 

The gardens were highlighted on national news in the summer of 2009 when pensioner Eleanor Boucher from Glastonbury, Somerset, found a postcard from Weymouth on her doormat of the gardens.

 

After looking at it for a few moments she realised she was there - sunning herself in the picture taken 17 years before as a photographer snapped the shot for the postcard as Boucher and her two daughters enjoyed a family day trip to Weymouth in 1992.

 

Seventeen years later, her brother-in-law and his wife, who were visiting the resort, picked out the postcard by chance without noticing her in the picture.

 

Jenny Seagrove

 

So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?

 

Well, the 4th. July 1957 marked the birth of the English actress Jenny Seagrove.

 

She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and first came to attention in the film Local Hero (1983), as well as playing the lead in a television dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance (1984).

 

Jenny starred in the thriller Appointment with Death (1988) and William Friedkin's horror film The Guardian (1990). She later played Louisa Gould in Another Mother's Son (2017).

 

Jenny is known for her role as the character of Jo Mills in the long-running BBC drama series Judge John Deed (2001–07). Her credits as a voiceover artist include a series of Waitrose television advertisements.

 

-- Jenny Seagrove - The Early Years

 

Jenny was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya (now Malaysia) to British parents, Pauline and Derek Seagrove. Her father ran an import-export firm, which afforded the family a privileged lifestyle.

 

When Seagrove was less than a year old, her mother suffered a stroke, and was unable to care for her. Seagrove attended St. Hilary's School in Godalming, Surrey, from the age of nine.

 

After leaving school, Seagrove attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, in spite of her parents' wishes for her to have a career as a professional cook.

 

Seagrove developed bulimia in her early adulthood, but recovered:

 

"I could feel myself tearing my stomach,

and I kind of pulled out of it. It was a

very slow process."

 

-- Jenny Seagrove's Career

 

(a) Theatre

 

Seagrove's theatre work includes the title role in Jane Eyre at the Chichester Festival Theatre (1986); Ilona in The Guardsman at Theatr Clwyd (1992); and Bett in King Lear in New York, again at Chichester (1992).

 

Jenny played opposite Tom Conti in Present Laughter at the Globe Theatre (1993); Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker at the Comedy Theatre (1994); and Dead Guilty with Hayley Mills at the Apollo Theatre (1995).

 

She played in Hurlyburly for the Peter Hall Company when the production transferred from the London Old Vic to the Queen's Theatre (1997); co-starred with Martin Shaw in the Parisian thriller Vertigo (Theatre Royal Windsor October 1998) and then with Anthony Andrews (also Windsor, 1998).

 

In 2000 she appeared in Brief Encounter at the Lyric Theatre; followed by Neil Simon's The Female Odd Couple at the Apollo (2001). Again at the Lyric Theatre in 2002 she played the title role in Somerset Maugham's The Constant Wife, followed by a revival of David Hare's The Secret Rapture in 2003, and The Night of the Iguana two years later in 2005.

 

Coming to the West End from a UK tour, she played Leslie Crosbie in Maugham's The Letter at Wyndham's Theatre (2007), co-starring with Anthony Andrews.

 

In December 2007, Jenny played Marion Brewster-Wright in the Garrick Theatre revival of Alan Ayckbourn's dark, three-act comedy Absurd Person Singular.

 

In 2008, she and Martin Shaw starred in Murder on Air, at the Theatre Royal, Windsor.

 

In 2011, Jenny once again starred alongside Martin Shaw in The Country Girl at the Apollo Theatre, playing the part of Georgie Elgin.

 

In early 2014, she appeared as Julia in a revival of Noël Coward's Fallen Angels. The production was produced by her partner Bill Kenwright, and also starred Sara Crowe.

 

In 2015, she and Martin Shaw starred in an adaptation of Brief Encounter, using an original radio script from 1947 and staged as "A live broadcast from a BBC radio studio", at the Theatre Royal Windsor.

 

Returning to the West End in October 2017, Seagrove played Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist at the Phoenix Theatre.

 

(b) Film

 

Jenny Seagrove starred alongside Rupert Everett in the Academy Award-winning short film A Shocking Accident (1982), directed by James Scott. Her first major film appearance was in Local Hero (1983) in which she played a mysterious environmentalist with webbed feet.

 

Roles in a number of films including Savage Islands (1983) opposite Tommy Lee Jones, and Appointment with Death (1988) followed.

 

One of her lead starring roles was in The Guardian (1990), directed by William Friedkin, in which she played an evil babysitter.

 

In 2017, she played the lead role in Another Mother's Son, starring as Louisa Gould, a member of the Channel Islands resistance movement during World War II, who famously sheltered an escaped Russian slave worker in Jersey and was later gassed to death in 1945 at Ravensbrück concentration camp.

 

(c) Television

 

Seagrove first came to mass public attention in the 10-episode series of the BBC production Diana (1984) adapted from an R. F. Delderfield novel, in which she played the title role as the adult Diana Gaylord-Sutton (the child having been played in the first two episodes by Patsy Kensit).

 

Seagrove starred in two American-produced television miniseries based upon the first novels of Barbara Taylor Bradford: as Emma Harte in A Woman of Substance (1984) and Paula Fairley in Hold the Dream (1986).

 

Jenny portrayed stage actress Lillie Langtry in Incident at Victoria Falls (1992), a UK made-for-television film. As the female lead, Melanie James in the film Magic Moments (1989), she starred with John Shea, who played the magician Troy Gardner with whom she falls in love.

 

Seagrove, along with Simon Cowell, presented Wildlife SOS (1997), a documentary series about the work of dedicated animal lovers who save injured and orphaned wild animals brought into their sanctuary.

 

Most of Seagrove's filmed work since 1990 has been for television. Between 2001 and 2007, she appeared as QC Jo Mills in the series Judge John Deed. She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 2003 when she was surprised by Michael Aspel.

 

With John Thaw she guest starred in the episode "The Sign of Four" (1987) of the series Sherlock Holmes. She also guest starred in episodes of Lewis ("The Point of Vanishing", 2009) and Identity ("Somewhere They Can't Find Me", 2010).

 

A few years later, she appeared in the series Endeavour (the prequel to the Inspector Morse series), in the episode "Rocket" (2013).

 

-- Jenny Seagrove's Personal Life

 

Seagrove is an animal rights activist and an advocate for deregulation of the herbal remedy industry in the United Kingdom, and promotes a vegetarian diet.

 

Since 1994, her partner has been the theatrical producer Bill Kenwright, chairman of Everton F.C. The couple appeared together as contestants on a charity edition of ITV1's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, winning £1,000. They also appeared together on a celebrity edition of the BBC's Pointless which aired on 3 January 2014.

 

Seagrove was previously married to British and Indian actor Madhav Sharma from 1984 to 1988​, and then dated film director Michael Winner from 1989 until 1993.

 

-- Mane Chance Sanctuary

 

Mane Chance Sanctuary is a registered charity that provides care for rescued horses, based in Compton, Guildford. The charity aims:

 

"To provide sanctuary and relief from suffering

for horses, while promoting humane behaviour

to all animals and mutually beneficial relationships

with people who need them".

 

Mane Chance Sanctuary was established in 2011 by Seagrove, who stepped in to support a friend facing financial difficulties. Seagrove was able to secure land on Monkshatch Garden Farm, and has since grown the charity which today cares for over 30 horses using a unique system of equine welfare.

 

The charity's trustees include the actor Sir Timothy Ackroyd and the philanthropist Simrin Choudhrie. The chairman is James McCarthy.

 

In 2014, she performed a duet alongside singer Peter Howarth called The Main Chance, as part of a promotion for the Mane Chance Sanctuary.

 

Lonnie Donegan

 

Also on that day, the Number One chart hit record in the UK was 'Gambling Man' by Lonnie Donegan.

 

Lonnie Donegan

 

Also on that day, the Number One chart hit record in the UK was 'Gambling Man' by Lonnie Donegan.

 

Anthony James Donegan MBE, who was born in Bridgeton, Glasgow, on the 29th. April 1931, was known as Lonnie Donegan. He was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960's British pop and rock musicians.

 

Born in Scotland and brought up in England, Donegan began his career in the British trad jazz revival, but transitioned to skiffle in the mid-1950's, rising to prominence with a hit recording of the American folk song "Rock Island Line" which helped spur the broader UK skiffle movement.

 

Donegan had 31 UK top 30 hit singles, 24 were successive hits and three were number one. He was the first British male singer with two US top 10 hits.

 

Donegan received an Ivor Novello lifetime achievement award in 1995, and in 2000 he was awarded an MBE. Donegan was a pivotal figure in the British Invasion due to his influence in the US in the late 1950's.

 

-- Lonnie Donegan and Traditional Jazz

 

As a child growing up in the early 1940's, Donegan listened mostly to swing jazz and vocal acts, and became interested in the guitar.

 

Country & western and blues records, particularly by Frank Crumit and Josh White, attracted his interest, and he bought his first guitar at 14 in 1945.

 

He learned songs such as "Frankie and Johnny", "Puttin' on the Style", and "The House of the Rising Sun" by listening to BBC radio broadcasts. By the end of the 1940's he was playing guitar around London and visiting small jazz clubs.

 

Donegan first played in a major band after Chris Barber heard that he was a good banjo player and, on a train, asked him to audition. Donegan had never played the banjo, but he bought one for the audition, and succeeded more on personality than talent.

 

Lonnie's stint with Barber's trad jazz band was interrupted when he was called up for National Service in 1949, but while in the army at Southampton, he was the drummer in Ken Grinyer's Wolverines Jazz Band at a local pub.

 

A posting to Vienna brought him into contact with American troops, and access to US records and the American Forces Network radio station.

 

In 1952, he formed the Tony Donegan Jazzband, which played around London. On the 28th. June 1952 at the Royal Festival Hall they opened for the blues musician Lonnie Johnson.

 

Donegan adopted Lonnie's first name as a tribute. He used the name at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall on the 2nd. June 1952.

 

In 1953, after cornetist Ken Colyer was imprisoned in New Orleans over a visa problem, he returned to Great Britain and joined Chris Barber's band. The band's name was changed to Ken Colyer's Jazzmen before making their first public appearance on the 11th. April 1953 in Copenhagen.

 

The following day, Chris Albertson recorded Ken Colyer's Jazzmen and the Monty Sunshine Trio—Sunshine, Barber, and Donegan—for Storyville Records. These were amongst Donegan's first commercial recordings.

 

-- Lonnie Donegan and Skiffle

 

While in Ken Colyer's Jazzmen with Chris Barber, Donegan sang and played guitar and banjo in their Dixieland set.

 

He began playing with two other band members during the intervals, to provide what posters called a "skiffle" break, a name suggested by Ken Colyer's brother, Bill, after the Dan Burley Skiffle Group of the 1930's. In 1954 Colyer left, and the band became Chris Barber's Jazz Band.

 

With a washboard, tea-chest bass, and a cheap Spanish guitar, Donegan played folk and blues songs by artists such as Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie.

 

This proved popular, and in July 1954 he recorded a fast version of Lead Belly's "Rock Island Line", featuring a washboard but not a tea-chest bass, with "John Henry" on the B-side.

 

The record was a hit in 1956, but because it was a band recording, Donegan made no money beyond his session fee. It was the first debut record to go gold in the UK, and it reached the Top Ten in the United States. It also later inspired the creation of a full album, An Englishman Sings American Folk Songs, released in America on the Mercury label in the early 1960's.

 

The Acoustic Music organisation made this comment about Donegan's "Rock Island Line":

 

"It flew up the English charts. Donegan had

synthesized American southern blues with simple

acoustic instruments: acoustic guitar, washtub bass,

and washboard rhythm. The new style was called

'Skiffle'.... and referred to music from people with

little money for instruments. The new style captivated

an entire generation of post-war youth in England."

 

Lonnie's next single for Decca, "Diggin' My Potatoes", was recorded at a concert at the Royal Festival Hall on the 30th. October 1954.

 

Decca dropped Donegan thereafter, but within a month he was at the Abbey Road Studios in London recording for EMI's Columbia label. He had left the Barber band, and by the spring of 1955, had signed a recording contract with Pye.

 

Lonnie's next single "Lost John" reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart.

 

He appeared on television in the United States on the Perry Como Show and the Paul Winchell Show.

 

Returning to the UK, he recorded his debut album, Lonnie Donegan Showcase, in summer 1956, with songs by Lead Belly and Leroy Carr, plus "Ramblin' Man" and "Wabash Cannonball". The LP sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

 

The skiffle style encouraged amateurs, and one of many groups that followed was the Quarrymen, formed in March 1957 by John Lennon. Donegan's "Gamblin' Man"/"Puttin' On the Style" single was number one in the UK in July 1957, when Lennon first met Paul McCartney.

 

Lonnie's Skiffle rendition of Hank Snow's Country song "Nobody's Child" was also the inspiration for Tony Sheridan's blues version which he recorded with the Beatles as his backing band.

 

Donegan went on to successes such as "Cumberland Gap" and "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour on the Bedpost Overnight?", which was his biggest hit in the US.

 

Lonnie turned to music hall style with "My Old Man's a Dustman" in 1960. This was not well received by skiffle fans, and unsuccessful in America, but it reached number one in the UK.

 

Donegan's group had a flexible line-up, but was generally Denny Wright or Les Bennetts playing lead guitar and singing harmony, Micky Ashman or Pete Huggett—later Steve Jones—on upright bass, Nick Nichols—later Pete Appleby, Mark Goodwin, and Ken Rodway on drums or percussion, and Donegan playing acoustic guitar or banjo and singing the lead.

 

His last hit single on the UK chart was his cover version of "Pick a Bale of Cotton." Ironically, or perhaps appropriately, his fall from the chart coincided with the rise of The Beatles and the other beat music performers whom he inspired.

 

-- Lonnie Donegan's Later Career

 

Donegan recorded sporadically throughout the 1960's, including sessions at Hickory Records in Nashville with Charlie McCoy, Floyd Cramer, and the Jordanaires. After 1964 he was a record producer at Pye Records. Justin Hayward was one of the artists with whom he worked.

 

Donegan was not popular through the late 1960's and 1970's (although his "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" was recorded by Tom Jones in 1967 and Elvis Presley in 1976), and he began to play the American cabaret circuit.

 

A departure from his normal style was a cappella recording of "The Party's Over". Capella means a purely vocal recording with no musical backing.

 

Donegan reunited with the original Chris Barber band for a concert in Croydon in June 1975. A bomb scare meant that the recording had to be finished in the studio, after an impromptu concert in the car park. The release was titled The Great Re-Union Album.

 

He collaborated with Rory Gallagher on several songs, notably "Rock Island Line" with Gallagher performing most of the elaborate guitar work.

 

Lonnie had his first heart attack in 1976 while in the United States, necessitating quadruple bypass surgery. He returned to prominence in 1978 when he recorded his early songs with Rory Gallagher, Ringo Starr, Elton John, and Brian May. The album was called Putting on the Style.

 

A follow-up featuring Albert Lee saw Donegan in less familiar country and western vein.

 

By 1980, he was making regular concert appearances again, and another album with Barber followed. In 1983, Donegan toured with Billie Jo Spears, and in 1984 he made his theatrical debut in a revival of the 1920 musical Mr Cinders.

 

More concert tours followed, with a move from Florida to Spain. In 1992 Lonnie had further bypass surgery following another heart attack.

 

In 1994, the Chris Barber band celebrated 40 years with a tour with both bands. Pat Halcox was still on trumpet (a position he retained until July 2008).

 

Donegan had a late renaissance when in 2000 he appeared on Van Morrison's album The Skiffle Sessions – Live in Belfast 1998, an acclaimed album featuring him singing with Morrison and Chris Barber, with a guest appearance by Dr John.

 

Donegan also played at the Glastonbury Festival in 1999, and was made an MBE in 2000.

 

Donegan also appeared at Fairport Convention's annual music festival on the 9th. August 2001. His final CD was This Yere de Story.

 

-- Peter Donegan

 

Peter Donegan started touring as his father's pianist when he was aged 18. In 2019, Peter appeared on the show The Voice as a contestant, and dueted with Tom Jones with a song Lonnie had written for Tom, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again". Anthony Donegan also performs under the name, Lonnie Donegan Jr.

 

-- Lonnie Donegan's Private Life and Death

 

Donegan was the son of an Irish mother (Mary Josephine Deighan) and a Scots father (Peter John Donegan), a professional violinist who had played with the Scottish National Orchestra.

 

In 1933, when Donegan was aged 2, the family moved to East Ham in Essex. Donegan was evacuated to Cheshire to escape the Blitz in the Second World War, and attended St. Ambrose College in Hale Barns. He lived for a while on Chiswick Mall in Middlesex.

 

Donegan married three times. He had two daughters (Fiona and Corrina) with his first wife, Maureen Tyler (divorced 1962), a son and a daughter (Anthony and Juanita) with his second wife, Jill Westlake (divorced 1971), and three sons (Peter, David and Andrew) with his third wife, Sharon whom he married in 1977.

 

Lonnie Donegan died on the 3rd. November 2002, aged 71, after having a heart attack in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire mid-way through a UK tour. He died before he was due to perform at a memorial concert for George Harrison with the Rolling Stones.

 

-- The Legacy of Lonnie Donegan

 

Mark Knopfler released a tribute to Lonnie Donegan titled "Donegan's Gone" on his 2004 album, Shangri-La, and said that Lonnie was one of his greatest influences.

 

Donegan's music formed a musical starring his two sons. It was called Lonnie D – the musical took its name from the Chas & Dave tribute song which started the show.

 

Subsequently, Peter Donegan formed a band to perform his father's material, and has since linked with his father's band from the last 30 years with newcomer Eddie Masters on bass.

 

They made an album together in 2009 titled Here We Go Again. Lonnie Donegan's eldest son, Anthony, also formed his own band, as Lonnie Donegan Junior, who also performed "World Cup Willie" for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

 

On his album A Beach Full of Shells, Al Stewart paid tribute to Donegan in the song "Katherine of Oregon". In "Class of '58" he describes a British entertainer who is either Donegan or a composite including him.

 

In a 2023 video interview with Steve Houk, Al Stewart stated:

 

"'Rock Island Line' is a record that completely

changed the complexion of English society,

and changed my life and everybody else's".

 

Peter Sellers recorded Puttin' on the Smile featuring "Lenny Goonagain", who travels to the "Deep South" of Brighton and finds an "obscure folk song hidden at the top of the American hit parade", re-records it and reaches number one in the UK.

 

David Letterman pretended to try to remember Jimmy Fallon's name during the Tonight Show conflict between Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien, calling Fallon "Lonnie Donegan."

 

In the 2019 movie Judy, the actor John Dagleish portrays Lonnie Donegan, who replaces an ill Judy Garland. He is shown in the (entirely fictional) final scene generously allowing her to make one last appearance on stage.

 

-- Quotations Relating to Lonnie Donegan

 

"He was the first person we had heard of from

Britain to get to the coveted No. 1 in the charts,

and we studied his records avidly. We all bought

guitars to be in a skiffle group. He was the man."

– Paul McCartney

 

"He really was at the very cornerstone of English

blues and rock."

– Brian May.

 

"I wanted to be Elvis Presley when I grew up,

I knew that. But the man who really made me

feel like I could actually go out and do it was

a chap by the name of Lonnie Donegan."

– Roger Daltrey

 

"Remember, Lonnie Donegan started it

for you."

– Jack White's acceptance speech at

the Brit Awards.

 

-- Final Thoughts From Lonnie Donegan

 

"I'm trying to sing acceptable folk music. I want to

widen the audience beyond the artsy-craftsy crowd

and the pseudo intellectuals–but without distorting

the music itself." NME – June 1956

 

"You know in my little span of life I've come across

such a sea of bigotries and prejudices. I get so fed

up with it now. I feel I have to do something about it."

- BBC Panorama

 

"In Britain, we were separated from our folk music

tradition centuries ago, and were imbued with the

idea that music was for the upper classes. You had

to be very clever to play music. When I came along

with the old three chords, people began to think

that if I could do it, so could they. It was the

reintroduction of the folk music bridge which did

that." – Interview, 2002.

At Wembley 66067 was replaced by two class 90s numbers 037 and 021 the wagons continuing on to Daventry under headcode 6B41.

 

DB Schenker Rail (UK) Ltd's class 66 (JT42CWR) number 66067 in English, Welsh and Scottish Railway maroon livery with zigzag gold band, large number and EWS logo works 6B20 from Dollands Moor to Wembley European Freight Operations Centre on 20 January 2015 hauling 27 Tonne (tare du wagon) G.E. Rail Services owned IZA (GE117CT Hfirrs 3) semi-perminantly coupled 4-wheeled CARGOWAGGON vans with shared running numbers built by Duewag. Having started out in France and passed through the channel tunnel each pair of vans is used to transport approximately 59,000 litters (59 Tonnes) of Danone bottled mineral water (eau minerale) in crates of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles such as Evian imported from Évian-les-Bains in the French Alps and Volvic from the Massif Central. Evian bottled at the SAEME plant Post is transported by train (for a map of the route click here) from Évian-les-Bains to the UK via Publier, (Bellegarde Longeray or Annemasse?), Culoz, Ambérieu-en-Bugey, Bourg-en-Bresse, Louhans, Gevrey-Chambertin, Dijon-Perrigny, Chalons-en-Champagne, Reims, Longueau and Calais-Frethun. For Volvic the route is thought to be from the SEV bottling plant in Riom to the UK via Gannat, Saincaize, Vierzon, Valenton (Paris), Longueau and Calais Frethun. From Wembley this train continues on route to Crick under headcode 6B41 and is ultimately unloaded at a distribution warehouse at Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT).

 

A similar set of cargowaggon vans was photographed by Nicolas Villenave on 9 May 2014 returning empty passing through Écaillon (department Nord) on their way from Calais Frethun to Culoz railway junction in the Ain department in the Rhône-Alpes region of France, by Mattias Catry at Boisleux-au-Mont on 9 September 2012 and by Laurent Knop at Béthisy-St.-Pierre, Picardie in the Oise department on 12 March 2014. 66067 (works number 968702-067) was built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division, London, Ontario, Canada in 1998 and unloaded from the Heavy Lift Ship MV "Fairlift" at Newport Docks on 5 February 1999.

 

According to Realtime Trains the route and timings for 6B20 were;

Dollands Moor Sidings .........0707.........0727..........20L

Ashford International UML...0723.........0746 3/4..23L

Maidstone East [MDE] 1.........0750 1/2..0814 1/4....23L

Otford Junction[XOT]............0817 1/2....0839 1/2...22L

Swanley [SAY] 1.......................0829 1/2..0851...........21L

St Mary Cray Junction...........0835.........0856 1/4....21L

Bickley Junction[XLY]............0836 1/2..0859 1/4...22L

Bromley South [BMS].............0840.........0904 1/2...24L

Shortlands [SRT].....................0842.........0907.........24L

Shortlands Junction...............0843.........0909 1/2...26L

Voltaire Road Junction.........0906 1/2..0922..........15L

Latchmere Junction...............0911 1/2....0931 1/2....20L

Imperial Wharf [IMW] 2..........0915 1/2...0934 1/4....18L

West Brompton [WBP] 4.......0918..........0936 1/4....18L

Kensington Olympia .............0922........0938 3/4...16L

Shepherds Bush [SPB] 2.......0923.........0942..........19L

North Pole Signal Vc813.......0924 1/2..0944..........19L

North Pole Junction...............0925........0943 1/2....18L

Mitre Bridge Junction............0926 1/2..0946..........19L

Willesden West Londn Jn.....0928.........0947 1/2....19L

Wembley Eur Frt Ops Ctr.....0939.........0952..........13L

 

At Wembley 66067 was replaced by two class 90s numbers 037 and 021 the wagons continuing on to Daventry under headcode 6B41.

Wembley Eur Frt Ops Ctr................1143..........1308...........85L

Wembley Central [WMB] 5..............1148 1/2...1312 1/2......84L

Harrow & Wealdstone 5..................1154 1/2...1317 1/2......83L

Watford Junction [WFJ] 8................1202........1323 1/2......81L

Apsley [APS] 3....................................1209 1/2..1329 1/2.....79L

Hemel Hempstead [HML] 3............1211 1/2....1331.............79L

Bourne End Junction(Herts) ...........1213..........1332............79L

Berkhamsted [BKM] 3.......................1216 1/2...1335............78L

Tring [TRI] 3.........................................1222........1340 1/4.....78L

Ledburn Junction[XOD]...................1228.........1347............79L

Leighton Buzzard [LBZ] 3................1230.........1351 3/4......81L

Bletchley [BLY] 3...............................1237.........1400...........83L

Denbigh Hall South Junction.........1238 1/2..1401 1/4......82L

Denbigh Hall North Junction..........1240.........1402 1/4.....82L

Milton Keynes Central 3..................1242.........1403 3/4.....81L

Hanslope Junction[XHN].................1248.........1410 1/4......82L

Northampton [NMP] 1.......................1259........1428 1/2.....89L

Northampton Mill Lane Junction...1300 1/2..1501 1/4....120L

Long Buckby [LBK]............................1311...........1511 3/4....120L

Daventry South Junction.................1318..........1520 3/4..122L

  

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

The CAC Sabre, sometimes known as the Avon Sabre or CA-27, was an Australian variant of the North American Aviation F-86F Sabre fighter aircraft. In 1951, Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation obtained a license agreement to build the F-86F Sabre. In a major departure from the North American blueprint, it was decided that the CA-27 would be powered by a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce Avon R.A.7, rather than the General Electric J47. In theory, the Avon was capable of more than double the maximum thrust and double the thrust-to-weight ratio of the US engine. This necessitated a re-design of the fuselage, as the Avon was shorter, wider and lighter than the J47.

 

To accommodate the Avon, over 60 percent of the fuselage was altered and there was a 25 percent increase in the size of the air intake. Another major revision was in replacing the F-86F's six machine guns with two 30mm ADEN cannon, while other changes were also made to the cockpit and to provide an increased fuel capacity.

 

The prototype aircraft first flew on 3 August 1953. The production aircrafts' first deliveries to the Royal Australian Air Force began in 1954. The first batch of aircraft were powered by the Avon 20 engine and were designated the Sabre Mk 30. Between 1957 and 1958 this batch had the wing slats removed and were re-designated Sabre Mk 31. These Sabres were supplemented by 20 new-built aircraft. The last batch of aircraft were designated Sabre Mk 32 and used the Avon 26 engine, of which 69 were built up to 1961.

 

Beyond these land-based versions, an indigenous version for carrier operations had been developed and built in small numbers, too, the Sea Sabre Mk 40 and 41. The roots of this aircraft, which was rather a prestigious idea than a sensible project, could be traced back to the immediate post WWII era. A review by the Australian Government's Defence Committee recommended that the post-war forces of the RAN be structured around a Task Force incorporating multiple aircraft carriers. Initial plans were for three carriers, with two active and a third in reserve, although funding cuts led to the purchase of only two carriers in June 1947: Majestic and sister ship HMS Terrible, for the combined cost of AU£2.75 million, plus stores, fuel, and ammunition. As Terrible was the closer of the two ships to completion, she was finished without modification, and was commissioned into the RAN on 16 December 1948 as HMAS Sydney. Work progressed on Majestic at a slower rate, as she was upgraded with the latest technology and equipment. To cover Majestic's absence, the Colossus-class carrier HMS Vengeance was loaned to the RAN from 13 November 1952 until 12 August 1955.

 

Labour difficulties, late delivery of equipment, additional requirements for Australian operations, and the prioritization of merchant ships over naval construction delayed the completion of Majestic. Incorporation of new systems and enhancements caused the cost of the RAN carrier acquisition program to increase to AU£8.3 million. Construction and fitting out did not finish until October 1955. As the carrier neared completion, a commissioning crew was formed in Australia and first used to return Vengeance to the United Kingdom.

The completed carrier was commissioned into the RAN as HMAS Majestic on 26 October 1955, but only two days later, the ship was renamed Melbourne and recommissioned.

 

In the meantime, the rather political decision had been made to equip Melbourne with an indigenous jet-powered aircraft, replacing the piston-driven Hawker Fury that had been successfully operated from HMAS Sydney and HMAS Vengeance, so that the "new jet age" was even more recognizable. The choice fell on the CAC Sabre, certainly inspired by North American's successful contemporary development of the navalized FJ-2 Fury from the land-based F-86 Sabre. The CAC 27 was already a proven design, and with its more powerful Avon engine it even offered a better suitability for carrier operations than the FJ-2 with its rather weak J47 engine.

 

Work on this project, which was initially simply designated Sabre Mk 40, started in 1954, just when the first CAC 27's were delivered to operative RAAF units. While the navalized Avon Sabre differed outwardly only little from its land-based brethren, many details were changed and locally developed. Therefore, there was also, beyond the general outlines, little in common with the North American FJ-2 an -3 Fury.

Externally, a completely new wing with a folding mechanism was fitted. It was based on the F-86's so-called "6-3" wing, with a leading edge that was extended 6 inches at the root and 3 inches at the tip. This modification enhanced maneuverability at the expense of a small increase in landing speed due to deletion of the leading edge slats, a detail that was later introduced on the Sabre Mk 31, too. As a side benefit, the new wing leading edges without the slat mechanisms held extra fuel. However, the Mk 40's wing was different as camber was applied to the underside of the leading edge to improve low-speed handling for carrier operations. The wings were provided with four stations outboard of the landing gear wells for up to 1000 lb external loads on the inboard stations and 500 lb on the outboard stations.

 

Slightly larger stabilizers were fitted and the landing gear was strengthened, including a longer front wheel strut. The latter necessitated an enlarged front wheel well, so that the front leg’s attachment point had to be moved forward. A ventral launch cable hook was added under the wing roots and an external massive arrester hook under the rear fuselage.

Internally, systems were protected against salt and humidity and a Rolls-Royce Avon 211 turbojet was fitted, a downrated variant of the already navalized Avon 208 from the British DH Sea Vixen, but adapted to the different CAC 27 airframe and delivering 8.000 lbf (35.5 kN) thrust – slightly more than the engines of the land-based CAC Sabres, but also without an afterburner.

 

A single Mk 40 prototype was built from a new CAC 27 airframe taken directly from the production line in early 1955 and made its maiden flight on August 20th of the same year. In order to reflect its naval nature and its ancestry, this new CAC 27 variant was officially christened “Sea Sabre”.

Even though the modified machine handled well, and the new, cambered wing proved to be effective, many minor technical flaws were discovered and delayed the aircraft's development until 1957. These included the wing folding mechanism and the respective fuel plumbing connections, the landing gear, which had to be beefed up even more for hard carrier landings and the airframe’s structural strength for catapult launches, esp. around the ventral launch hook.

 

In the meantime, work on the land-based CAC 27 progressed in parallel, too, and innovations that led to the Mk 31 and 32 were also incorporated into the naval Mk 40, leading to the Sea Sabre Mk 41, which became the effective production aircraft. These updates included, among others, a detachable (but fixed) refueling probe under the starboard wing, two more pylons for light loads located under the wing roots and the capability to carry and deploy IR-guided AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, what significantly increased the Mk 41's efficiency as day fighter. With all these constant changes it took until April 1958 that the Sabre Mk 41, after a second prototype had been directly built to the new standard, was finally approved and cleared for production. Upon delivery, the RAN Sea Sabres carried a standard NATO paint scheme with Extra Dark Sea Grey upper surfaces and Sky undersides.

 

In the meantime, the political enthusiasm concerning the Australian carrier fleet had waned, so that only twenty-two aircraft were ordered. The reason behind this decision was that Australia’s carrier fleet and its capacity had become severely reduced: Following the first decommissioning of HMAS Sydney in 1958, Melbourne became the only aircraft carrier in Australian service, and she was unavailable to provide air cover for the RAN for up to four months in every year; this time was required for refits, refueling, personnel leave, and non-carrier duties, such as the transportation of troops or aircraft. Although one of the largest ships to serve in the RAN, Melbourne was one of the smallest carriers to operate in the post-World War II period, so that its contribution to military actions was rather limited. To make matters worse, a decision was made in 1959 to restrict Melbourne's role to helicopter operations only, rendering any carrier-based aircraft in Australian service obsolete. However, this decision was reversed shortly before its planned 1963 implementation, but Australia’s fleet of carrier-borne fixed-wing aircraft would not grow to proportions envisioned 10 years ago.

 

Nevertheless, on 10 November 1964, an AU£212 million increase in defense spending included the purchase of new aircraft for Melbourne. The RAN planned to acquire 14 Grumman S-2E Tracker anti-submarine aircraft and to modernize Melbourne to operate these. The acquisition of 18 new fighter-bombers was suggested (either Sea Sabre Mk 41s or the American Douglas A-4 Skyhawk), too, but these were dropped from the initial plan. A separate proposal to order 10 A-4G Skyhawks, a variant of the Skyhawk designed specifically for the RAN and optimized for air defense, was approved in 1965, but the new aircraft did not fly from Melbourne until the conclusion of her refit in 1969. This move, however, precluded the production of any new and further Sea Sabre.

 

At that time, the RAN Sea Sabres received a new livery in US Navy style, with upper surfaces in Light Gull Gray with white undersides. The CAC Sea Sabres remained the main day fighter and attack aircraft for the RAN, after the vintage Sea Furies had been retired in 1962. The other contemporary RAN fighter type in service, the Sea Venom FAW.53 all-weather fighter that had replaced the Furies, already showed its obsolescence.

In 1969, the RAN purchased another ten A-4G Skyhawks, primarily in order to replace the Sea Venoms on the carriers, instead of the proposed seventh and eighth Oberon-class submarines. These were operated together with the Sea Sabres in mixed units on board of Melbourne and from land bases, e.g. from NAS Nowra in New South Wales, where a number of Sea Sabres were also allocated to 724 Squadron for operational training.

 

Around 1970, Melbourne operated a standard air group of four jet aircraft, six Trackers, and ten Wessex helicopters until 1972, when the Wessexes were replaced with ten Westland Sea King anti-submarine warfare helicopters and the number of jet fighters doubled. Even though the A-4G’s more and more took over the operational duties on board of Melbourne, the Sea Sabres were still frequently deployed on the carrier, too, until the early Eighties, when both the Skyhawks and the Sea Sabres received once more a new camouflage, this time a wraparound scheme in two shades of grey, reflecting their primary airspace defense mission.

 

The CAC 27 Mk 41s’ last carrier operations took place in 1981 in the course of Melbourne’s involvements in two major exercises, Sea Hawk and Kangaroo 81, the ship’s final missions at sea. After Melbourne was decommissioned in 1984, the Fleet Air Arm ceased fixed-wing combat aircraft operation. This was the operational end of the Sabre Mk 41, which had reached the end of their airframe lifetime, and the Sea Sabre fleet had, during its career, severely suffered from accidents and losses: upon retirement, only eight of the original twenty-two aircraft still existed in flightworthy condition, so that the aircraft were all scrapped. The younger RAN A-4Gs were eventually sold to New Zealand, where they were kept in service until 2002.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 37 ft 6 in (11.43 m)

Wingspan: 37 ft 1 in (11.3 m)

Height: 14 ft 5 in (4.39 m)

Wing area: 302.3 sq ft (28.1 m²)

Empty weight: 12,000 lb (5,443 kg)

Loaded weight: 16,000 lb (7,256 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 21,210 lb (9,621 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Rolls-Royce Avon 208A turbojet engine with 8,200 lbf (36.44 kN)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 700 mph (1,100 km/h) (605 knots)

Range: 1,153 mi, (1,000 NM, 1,850 km)

Service ceiling: 52,000 ft (15,850 m)

Rate of climb: 12,000 ft/min at sea level (61 m/s)

 

Armament:

2× 30 mm ADEN cannons with 150 rounds per gun

5,300 lb (2,400 kg) of payload on six external hardpoints;

Bombs were usually mounted on outer two pylons as the mid pair were wet-plumbed pylons for

2× 200 gallons drop tanks, while the inner pair was usually occupied by a pair of AIM-9 Sidewinder

AAMs

A wide variety of bombs could be carried with maximum standard loadout being 2x 1,000 lb bombs

or 2x Matra pods with unguided SURA missiles plus 2 drop tanks for ground attacks, or 2x AIM-9 plus

two drop tanks as day fighter

  

The kit and its assembly:

This project was initially inspired by a set of decals from an ESCI A-4G which I had bought in a lot – I wondered if I could use it for a submission to the “In the navy” group build at whatifmodelers.com in early 2020. I considered an FJ-3M in Australian colors on this basis and had stashed away a Sword kit of that aircraft for this purpose. However, I had already built an FJ variant for the GB (a kitbashed mix of an F-86D and an FJ-4B in USMC colors), and was reluctant to add another Fury.

 

This spontaneously changed after (thanks to Corona virus quarantine…) I cleaned up one of my kit hoards and found a conversion set for a 1:72 CAC 27 from JAYS Model Kits which I had bought eons ago without a concrete plan. That was the eventual trigger to spin the RAN Fury idea further – why not a navalized version of the Avon Sabre for HMAS Melbourne?

 

The result is either another kitbash or a highly modified FJ-3M from Sword. The JAYS Model Kits set comes with a THICK sprue that carries two fuselage halves and an air intake, and it also offers a vacu canopy as a thin fallback option because the set is actually intended to be used together with a Hobby Craft F-86F.

 

While the parts, molded in a somewhat waxy and brittle styrene, look crude on the massive sprue, the fuselage halves come with very fine recessed engravings. And once you have cleaned the parts (NOTHING for people faint at heart, a mini drill with a saw blade is highly recommended), their fit is surprisingly good. The air intake was so exact that no putty was needed to blend it with the rest of the fuselage.

 

The rest came from the Sword kit and integrating the parts into the CAC 27 fuselage went more smoothly than expected. For instance, the FJ-3M comes with a nice cockpit tub that also holds a full air intake duct. Thanks to the slightly wider fuselage of the CAC 27, it could be mounted into the new fuselage halves without problems and the intake duct almost perfectly matches the intake frame from the conversion set. The tailpipe could be easily integrated without any mods, too. The fins had to be glued directly to the fuselage – but this is the way how the Sword kit is actually constructed! Even the FJ-3M’s wings match the different fuselage perfectly. The only modifications I had to make is a slight enlargement of the ventral wing opening at the front and at the read in order to take the deeper wing element from the Sword kit, but that was an easy task. Once in place, the parts blend almost perfectly into each other, just minor PSR was necessary to hide the seams!

 

Other mods include an extended front wheel well for the longer leg from the FJ-3M and a scratched arrester hook installation, made from wire, which is on purpose different from the Y-shaped hook of the Furies.

 

For the canopy I relied on the vacu piece that came with the JAYS set. Fitting it was not easy, though, it took some PSR to blend the windscreen into the rest of the fuselage. Not perfect, but O.K. for such a solution from a conversion set.

 

The underwing pylons were taken from the Sword kit, including the early Sidewinders. I just replaced the drop tanks – the OOB tanks are very wide, and even though they might be authentic for the FJ-3, I was skeptical if they fit at all under the wings with the landing gear extended? In order to avoid trouble and for a more modern look, I replaced them outright with more slender tanks, which were to mimic A-4 tanks (USN FJ-4s frequently carried Skyhawk tanks). They actually come from a Revell F-16 kit, with modified fins. The refueling probe comes from the Sword kit.

 

A last word about the Sword kit: much light, but also much shadow. While I appreciate the fine surface engravings, the recognizably cambered wings, a detailed cockpit with a two-piece resin seat and a pretty landing gear as well as the long air intake, I wonder why the creators totally failed to provide ANY detail of the arrester hook (there is literally nothing, as if this was a land-based Sabre variant!?) or went for doubtful solutions like a front landing gear that consists of five(!) single, tiny parts? Sadism? The resin seat was also broken (despite being packed in a seperate bag), and it did not fit into the cockpit tub at all. Meh!

  

Painting and markings:

From the start I planned to give the model the late RAN A-4Gs’ unique air superiority paint scheme, which was AFAIK introduced in the late Seventies: a two-tone wraparound scheme consisting of “Light Admiralty Grey” (BS381C 697) and “Aircraft Grey” (BS 381C 693). Quite simple, but finding suitable paints was not an easy task, and I based my choice on pictures of the real aircraft (esp. from "buzz" number 880 at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, you find pics of it with very good light condition) rather than rely on (pretty doubtful if not contradictive) recommendations in various painting instructions from models or decal sets.

 

I wanted to keep things simple and settled upon Dark Gull Grey (FS 36231) and Light Blue (FS 35414), both enamel colors from Modelmaster, since both are rather dull interpretations of these tones. Esp. the Light Blue comes quite close to Light Admiralty Grey, even though it should be lighter for more contrast to the darker grey tone. But it has that subtle greenish touch of the original BS tone, and I did not want to mix the colors.

 

The pattern was adapted from the late A-4Gs’ scheme, and the colors were dulled down even more through a light black ink wash. Some post-shading with lighter tones emphasized the contrast between the two colors again. And while it is not an exact representation of the unique RAN air superiority scheme, I think that the overall impression is there.

 

The cockpit interior was painted in very dark grey, while the landing gear, its wells and the inside of the air intake became white. A red rim was painted around the front opening, and the landing gear covers received a red outline, too. The white drop tanks are a detail I took from real world RAN A-4Gs - in the early days of the air superiority scheme, the tanks were frequently still finished in the old USN style livery, hence the white body but fins and tail section already in the updated colors.

 

The decals became a fight, though. As mentioned above, the came from an ESCI kit – and, as expected, the were brittle. All decals with a clear carrier film disintegrated while soaking in water, only those with a fully printed carrier film were more or less usable. One roundel broke and had to be repaired, and the checkered fin flash was a very delicate affair that broke several times, even though I tried to save and repair it with paint. But you can unfortunately see the damage.

 

Most stencils and some replacements (e. g. the “Navy” tag) come from the Sword FJ-3. While these decals are crisply printed, their carrier film is utterly thin, so thin that applying esp. the larger decals turned out to be hazardous and complicated. Another point that did not really convince me about the Sword kit.

 

Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) and some soot stains were added around the exhaust and the gun ports with graphite.

  

In the end, this build looks, despite the troubles and the rather exotic ingredients like a relatively simple Sabre with Australian markings, just with a different Navy livery. You neither immediately recognize the FJ-3 behind it, nor the Avon Sabre’s bigger fuselage, unless you take a close and probably educated look. Very subtle, though.

The RAN air superiority scheme from the late Skyhawks suits the Sabre/Fury-thing well – I like the fact that it is a modern fighter scheme, but, thanks to the tones and the colorful other markings, not as dull and boring like many others, e. g. the contemporary USN "Ghost" scheme. Made me wonder about an early RAAF F-18 in this livery - should look very pretty, too?

Bath, New York. April 2014.

 

In 2013, Tractor Supply remodeled a former P&C supermarket and moved in while Save a Lot relocated from an old location elsewhere in Bath into a former Eckerd that was never a Rite Aid.

 

This Sign used to house both companies logos.

Southbound I-5 between the Convention Center and I-90 was reduced to one lane over President’s Day weekend to replace several aging expansion joints. Replacing the old joints helps prevent emergency repairs in the future, which are costly and can cause unplanned backups during rush hour.

"The building replaced an older one on the site known as "India Building's", built in the 1830s for George Holt, the father of Alfred. The new building was constructed in two stages, the first stage being alongside the earlier building, and the second stage demolishing and replacing it. The two stages straddled the former Chorley Street. Before the design was approved, Liverpool Corporation stipulated that an arcade of shops should run through the centre of the building on the route of the street, and this was incorporated into the design. The original occupants included Lloyds Bank, a Post Office, commercial and insurance companies, solicitors, and government offices. Alfred Holt and Company occupied most of the sixth, seventh and eighth floors. Also in the building were a public hall and a constitutional club. India Building was badly damaged by bombing in 1941, and was later restored to its original condition under the supervision of Herbert J. Rowse."

www.indiabuilding.co.uk/

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 24-Dec-19.

 

First flown with the Airbus test registration F-WWDI in Nov-92, the aircraft was originally ordered by lessor GPA Airbus A320 but the order had been cancelled and the aircraft was stored at Toulouse, France in Dec-92.

 

It was delivered to ILFC International Lease Finance Corporation and leased to Monarch Airlines as G-OZBB in Mar-94.

 

It was sub-leased to Skyservice Airlines, Canada as C-FDTW for several winter seasons, between Nov-94/May-95, Nov-95/May-96, Nov-96/Apr-97, Nov-97/Apr-98 and Nov-98/Apr-99. In Dec-99 the aircraft was sub-leased to Airtours International Airways and returned to Monarch in Apr-00.

 

Between Dec-00/Apr-01 it was off to Canada again for the winter, this time on lease to Canada 3000 as C-GXBB. In Dec-02 the aircraft was sub-leased to Zoom Airlines (Canada) as C-GZUM and returned to Monarch as G-OZBB in Apr-03.

 

It was returned to the lessor in Nov-13 and permanently retired at Tupelo, MS, USA. It was last noted still there in Apr-14 and the registration was cancelled in May-14.

Replaced all of the sound proofing under the cab

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

The Tornado ADV had its origins in an RAF Air Staff Requirement 395 (or ASR.395), which called for a long-range interceptor to replace the Lightning F6 and Phantom FGR2. The requirement for a modern interceptor was driven by the threat posed by the large Soviet long-range bomber fleet, in particular the supersonic Tupolev Tu-22M. From the beginning of the Tornado IDS's development in 1968, the possibility of a variant dedicated to air defence had been quietly considered; several American aircraft had been evaluated, but found to be unsuitable. However, the concept proved unattractive to the other European partners on the Tornado project, thus the UK elected to proceed in its development alone. On 4 March 1976, the development of the Tornado ADV was formally approved.

 

In 1976, British Aerospace was contracted to provide three prototype aircraft. The first prototype was rolled out at Warton on 9 August 1979, before making its maiden flight on 27 October 1979. During the flight testing, the ADV demonstrated noticeably superior supersonic acceleration to the IDS, even while carrying a full weapons loadout.

 

The Tornado ADV's differences compared to the IDS include a greater sweep angle on the wing gloves, and the deletion of their kruger flaps, deletion of the port cannon, a longer radome for the Foxhunter radar, slightly longer airbrakes and a fuselage stretch of 1.36 m to allow the carriage of four Skyflash semi-active radar homing missiles. The stretch was applied to the Tornado front fuselage being built by the UK, with a plug being added immediately behind the cockpit, which had the unexpected benefit of reducing drag and making space for an additional fuel tank (Tank '0') carrying 200 imperial gallons (909 l; 240 U.S. gal) of fuel. The artificial feel of the flight controls was lighter on the ADV than on the IDS. Various internal avionics, pilot displays, guidance systems and software also differed; including an automatic wing sweep selector not fitted to the strike aircraft.

 

Production of the Tornado ADV was performed between 1980 and 1993, the last such aircraft being delivered that same year. A total of 165 Tornado ADVs were ordered by Britain, the majority being the Tornado F3. However, the Tornado ADV’s replacement, the aircraft that is known today as the Eurofighter Typhoon, met several delays – primarily of political nature. Even though the first production contract was already signed on 30 January 1998 between Eurofighter GmbH, Eurojet and NETMA for the procurement of a total of 232 for the UK, the development and eventually the delivery of the new aircraft was a protracted affair. It actually took until 9 August 2007, when the UK's Ministry of Defence reported that No. 11 Squadron RAF, which stood up as a Typhoon squadron on 29 March 2007, had received its first two multi-role Typhoons. Until then, the Tornado F.3 had become more and more obsolete, since the type was only suited to a limited kind of missions, and it became obvious that the Tornado ADV would have to be kept in service for several years in order to keep Great Britain’s aerial defence up.

 

In order to bridge the Typhoon service gap, two update programs had already been launched by the MoD in 2004, which led to the Tornado F.5 and F.6 versions. These were both modified F.3 airframes, catering to different, more specialized roles. The F.5 had a further extended fuselage and modified wings, so that it could operate more effectively in the long range fighter patrol role over the North Sea and the Northern Atlantic. On the other side, the F.6 was tailored to the mainland interceptor role at low and medium altitudes and featured new engines for a better performance in QRA duties. Both fighter variants shared improved avionics and weapons that had already been developed for the Eurofighter Typhoon, or were still under development.

 

The Tornado F.6’s new engines were a pair of Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofans, which offered 30% more dry and 20% more afterburner thrust than the F.3’s original Turbo-Union RB199-34R turbofans. These more modern and fuel-efficient engines allowed prolonged supercruise, and range as well as top speed were improved, too. Furthermore, there was the (theoretical) option to combine the new engine with vectored thrust nozzles, even though this would most probably not take place since the Tornado ADV had never been designed as a true dogfighter, even though it was, for an aircraft of its size, quite an agile aircraft.

 

However, the integration of the EJ200 into the existing airframe called for major modifications that affected the aircraft’s structure. The tail section had to be modified in order to carry the EJ200’s different afterburner section. Its bigger diameter and longer nozzle precluded the use of the original thrust reverser. This unique feature was retained, though, so that the mechanism had to be modified: the standard deflectors, which used to extend backwards behind the nozzles, now opened inwards into the airflow before the exhaust.

Since the new engines had a considerably higher airflow rate, the air intakes with the respective ducts had to be enlarged and adapted, too. Several layouts were tested, including two dorsal auxiliary air intakes to the original, wedge-shaped orifices, but eventually the whole intake arrangement with horizontal ramps was changed into tall side intakes with vertical splitter plates, reminiscent of the F-4 Phantom. Even though this meant a thorough redesign of the fuselage section under the wing sweep mechanism and a reduction of tank “0”’s volume, the new arrangement improved the aircraft’s aerodynamics further and slightly enlarged the wing area, which resulted in a minor net increase of range.

 

The F.3’s GEC-Marconi/Ferranti AI.24 Foxhunter radar was retained, but an infrared search and track (IRST) sensor, the Passive Infra-Red Airborne Track Equipment (PIRATE), was mounted in a semispherical housing on the port side of the fuselage in front of the windscreen and linked to the pilot’s helmet-mounted display. By supercooling the sensor, the system was able to detect even small variations in temperature at a long range, and it allowed the detection of both hot exhaust plumes of jet engines and surface heating caused by friction.

PIRATE operated in two IR bands and could be used together with the radar in an air-to-air role, adding visual input to the radar’s readings. Beyond that, PIRATE could also function as an independent infrared search and track system, providing passive target detection and tracking, and the system was also able to provide navigation and landing aid.

In an optional air-to-surface role, PIRATE can also perform target identification and acquisition, up to 200 targets could be simultaneously tracked. Although no definitive ranges had been released, an upper limit of 80 nm has been hinted at; a more typical figure would be 30 to 50 nm.

 

The Tornado F.3’s Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon was retained and the F.6 was from the start outfitted with the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile, with the outlook to switch as soon as possible to the new, ram jet-driven Meteor AAM with higher speed and range. Meteor had been under development since 1994 and was to be carried by the Eurofighter Typhoon as its primary mid-range weapon. With a range of 100+ km (63 mi, 60 km no-escape zone) and a top speed of more than Mach 4, Meteor, with its throttleable ducted rocket engine, offered a considerably improvement above AMRAAM. However, it took until 2016 that Meteor became fully operational and was rolled out to operational RAF fighter units.

 

A total of 36 Tornado F.3 airframes with relatively low flying hours were brought to F.6 standard in the course of 2006-8 and gradually replaced older F.3s in RAF fighter units until 2009. The Tornado F.3 itself was retired in March 2011 when No. 111 Squadron RAF, located at RAF Leuchars, was disbanded. Both the F.5 and F.6 will at least keep on serving until the Eurofighter Typhoon is in full service, probably until 2020.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 2

Length: 18.68 m (61 ft 3½ in)

Wingspan: 13.91 m (45 ft 7½ in) at 25° wing position

8.60 m (28 ft 2½ in) at 67° wing position

Height: 5.95 m (19 ft 6½ in)

Wing area: 27.55 m² (295.5 sq ft)

Empty weight: 14,750 kg (32,490 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 28,450 kg (62,655 lb)

 

Powerplant:

2× Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofans with 60 kN (13,500 lbf) dry thrust and

90 kN (20,230 lbf) thrust with afterburner each

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: Mach 2.3 (2,500 km/h, 1,550 mph) at 9,000 m (30,000 ft)

921 mph (800 knots, 1,482 km/h) indicated airspeed limit near sea level

Combat radius: more than 1,990 km (1.100 nmi, 1,236 mi) subsonic,

more than 556 km (300 nmi, 345 mi) supersonic

Ferry range: 4,265 km (2,300 nmi, 2,650 mi) with four external tanks

Endurance: 2 hr combat air patrol at 560-740 km (300-400 nmi, 345-460 mi) from base

Service ceiling: 15,240 m (50,000 ft)

 

Armament:

1× 27 mm (1.063 in) Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon with 180 RPG under starboard fuselage side

A total of 10 hardpoints (4× semi-recessed under-fuselage, 2× under-fuselage, 4× swivelling

under-wing) holding up to 9000 kg (19,800 lb) of payload; the two inner wing pylons have shoulder

launch rails for 2× Short-Range AAM (SRAAM) each (AIM-9 Sidewinder or AIM-132 ASRAAM)

4× MBDO Meteor or AIM-120 AMRAAM, mounted under the fuselage

  

The kit and its assembly:

The eight entry for the RAF Centenary Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, and after 100 years of RAF what-if models we have now arrived at the present. This modified Tornado ADV was spawned through the discussions surrounding another modeler’s build of a modified F.3 (and examples of other Tornado conversions, e. g. with fixed wings or twin fins), and I spontaneously wondered what a change of the air intakes would do to the aircraft’s overall impression? Most conversions I have seen so far retain this original detail. An idea was born, and a pair of leftover Academy MiG-23 air intakes, complete with splitter plates, were the suitable conversion basis.

 

The basic kit is the Italeri Tornado ADV, even though in a later Revell re-boxing. It’s IMHO the kit with the best price-performance ration, and it goes together well. The kit was mostly built OOB, with some cosmetic additions. The biggest changes came through the integration of the completely different air intakes. These were finished at first and, using them as templates, openings were cut into the lower fuselage flanks in front of the landing gear well. Since the MiG-23 intakes have a relatively short upper side, styrene sheet fillers had to be added and blended with the rest of the fuselage via PSR. The gap between the wing root gloves and the intakes had to be bridged, too, with 2C putty. Messier affair than it sounds, but it went well.

 

In order to make the engine change plausible I modified the Tornado exhaust and added a pair of orifices from an F-18 – they look very similar to those on the Eurofighter Typhoon, and their diameter is perfect for this change. This and the different air intakes stretch the Tonka visually, it looks IMHO even more slender than the F.3.

 

Another issue was the canopy: the 2nd hand kit came without clear parts, but I was lucky to still have a Tornado F.3 canopy in the spares box – but only the windscreen from a Tornado IDS, which does not fit well onto the ADV variant. A 2mm gap at the front end had to be bridged, and the angles on the side as well as the internal space to the HUD does not match too well. But, somehow, I got it into place, even though it looks a bit shaggy.

The IRST in front of the windscreen is a piece of clear styrene sprue (instead of an opaque piece, painted glossy black), placed on a black background. The depth effect is very good!

 

More changes pertained to the ordnance: the complete weaponry was exchanged. The OOB Sidewinders were replaced with specimen from a Hasegawa F-4 Phantom (these look just better than the AIM-9 that come with the kit), and I originally planned to mount four AIM-120 from the same source under the fuselage – until I found a Revell Eurofighter kit in my stash that came with four Meteor AAMs, a suitable and more modern as well as British alternative!

 

All in all, just subtle modifications.

  

Painting and markings:

Well, the RAF was the creative direction, so I stuck to a classic/conservative livery. However, I did not want a 100% copy of the typical “real world” RAF Tornado F.3, so I sought inspiration in earlier low-visibility schemes. Esp. the Phantom and the Lightning carried in their late days a wide variety of grey-in-grey schemes, and one of the most interesting of them (IMHO) was carried by XS 933: like some other Lightnings, the upper surfaces were painted in Dark Sea Grey (instead of the standard Medium Sea Grey), a considerably murkier tone, but XS933 had a mid-height waterline. I found that scheme to be quite plausible for an aircraft that would mostly operate above open water and in heavier weather, so I adapted it to the Tonka. The fact that XS 933 was operated by RAF 5 Squadron, the same unit as my build depicts with its markings, is just a weird coincidence!

An alternative would have been the same colors, but with a low waterline (e.g. like Lightning XR728) – but I rejected this, because the result would have looked IMHO much too similar to the late Tornado GR.4 fighter bombers, or like a Royal Navy aircraft.

 

Since the upper color would be wrapped around the wings’ leading edges, I used the lower wing leading edge level as reference for the high waterline on the forward fuselage, Behind the wings’ trailing edge I lowered the waterline down to the stabilizers’ level.

All upper surfaces, including the tall fin, were painted with Tamiya XF-54, a relatively light interpretation of RAF Dark Sea Grey (because I did not want a harsh contrast with the lower colors), while the fuselage undersides and flanks were painted in Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 165). The same tone was also used for the underwing pylons and the “Hindenburger” drop tanks. The undersides of the wings and the stabilizers were painted in Camouflage Grey (formerly known as Barley Grey, Humbrol 167).

 

Disaster struck when I applied the Tamiya paint, though. I am not certain why (age of the paint, I guess), but the finish developed a kind of “pigment pelt” which turned out to be VERY sensitive to touch. Even the slightest handling would leave dark, shiny spots!

My initial attempt was to hide most of this problem under post-shading (with Humbrol 126, FS 36270), but that turned the Tonka visually into a Tiger Meet participant – the whole thing looked as if it wore low-viz stripes! Aaargh!

 

In a desperate move (since more and more paint piled up on the upper surfaces, and I did not want to strip the kit off of all paint right now) I applied another thin coat of highly diluted XF-54 on top of the tiger stripe mess, and that toned everything done enough to call it a day. While the finish is not perfect and still quite shaggy (even streaky here and there…), it looks O.K., just like a worn and bleached Dark Sea Grey.

 

A little more rescue came with the decals. The markings are naturally low-viz variants and the RAF 5 Sq. markings come from an Xtradecal BAC Lightning sheet (so they differ from the markings applied to the real world Tornado F.3s of this unit). The zillion of stencils come from the OOB sheet, but the walking area warnings came from a Model Decal Tornado F.3 sheet (OOB, Revell only provides you a bunch of generic, thin white lines, printed on a single carrier film, and tells you “Good luck”! WTF?). Took a whole afternoon to apply them, but I used as many of them as possible in order to hide the paint finish problems… Some things, like the tactical letter code or the red bar under the fuselage roundel, had to be improvised.

  

With many troubles involved (the paint job, but furthermore the wing pylons as well as one stabilizer broke off during the building and painting process…), I must say that the modified Tonka turned out better than expected while I was still working on it. In the end, I am happy with it – it’s very subtle, I wonder how many people actually notice the change of air intakes and jet exhausts, and the Meteor AAMs are, while not overtly visible, a nice update, too.

The paint scheme looks basically also good (if you overlook the not-so-good finish due to the problems with the Tamiya paint), and the darker tones suit the Tonka well, as well as the fake RAF 5 Squadron markings.

Built in 1913, replacing an earlier wooden pole light dating from 1887, when the station was established. The octagonal brick tower is 37 feet tall and attached to a one story fog signal building. The original 4th order Fresnel lens has been replaced with a VRB 25 aero beacon, which provides a white flash every 5 seconds.The original one and one half story wooden keeper's house is now the residence for the 13th District Coast Guard commander.

 

Located on an active Coast Guard base in the southwest part of Seattle.

Conrails red class marker lights are alight on the 8753 as a west bound freight waits at SEPTA's Cheltenham Station, for the SEPTA' dispatchers permission to proceed.

The factory premium sound system was buggered. My friend Will donated this old Pioneer in dash and I reworked the original faceplate to hold it.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

Uruguay, like several other countries in South America, has been a traditional customer of US military hardware. In Uruguay’s case, this first example were 40 M3A1 Stuart light tanks delivered in 1944-1945. In the years following the Second World War and the Korean War, obsolete armored vehicles which were no longer deemed as required for the current situation of the US military were given as military aid to US allies, particularly in Latin America. It was in this context that Uruguay would receive 17 M24 Chaffee light tanks and 12 M4A3E8 Sherman medium tanks in 1957-1958 from American surplus stock.

 

Deliveries were completed on September 30th, 1958. This was part of the American Military Assistance Program (MAP), under which the US provided military equipment to aligned nations within the context of the Cold War. These tanks did not come from the mainland US but were instead delivered from US Army stocks in Japan and Korea. A considerable number of spare parts were likely delivered along with these, too, as well as in the coming years. Along with the Chaffees and Shermans, Uruguay furthermore received a single Sherman-based M74 Armored Recovery Vehicle.

 

By the time of the Korean War, the M4 series had evolved into its final form, often referred to as the M4A3E8, and this was the Sherman version that was also delivered to Uruguay. To the Marines in Korea, they were known as the “Old Reliables”. Entering service late in the Second World War, this model featured an improved Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension (HVSS) that replaced the iconic Vertical Volute Spring Suspension (VVSS) of earlier models. This suspension allowed for a wider track, improving grip and lower ground pressure on softer ground.

Propulsion was provided by the Ford GAA all-aluminum 32-valve DOHC 60-degree, 500 hp, V8 gasoline/petrol engine. This could propel the tank to a top speed of 40 – 48 km/h (25 – 30 mph). Armor on the vehicle was up to 76 mm (3 in) thick. The tank had a crew of five, consisting of a commander, driver, co-driver/bow machine gunner, gunner, and loader.

 

Even though a large number of newer 90mm gun armed M26 Pershings and M46 Pattons were dispatched to the Korean Peninsula, multiple variants of the HVSS Sherman were also used in the Korean War. These included the regular M4A3(76)W HVSS, which was armed with the 76mm Tank Gun M1A1 or M1A2, the M4A3(105) HVSS, armed with the 105mm Howitzer M4, and finally, the POA-CWS-H5, a specialist version armed with both a 105mm Howitzer and a coaxial flamethrower.

 

The ex-American tanks were delivered to Uruguay’s Batallón de Infantería Nº 13 (13th Infantry Battalion), founded in 1904, and with the arrival of the new equipment at the Durazno Arsenal in central Uruguay the regiment was aptly renamed Batallón de Infantería Blindado Nº 13 (13th Armored Infantry Battalion). The tanks formed two Compañías Blindada de Tanques (Armored Tanks Companies), formally created on 12 July 1958. In each company, two tanks formed a command section while the remaining were divided into platoons of five. Each platoon was coded with an individual color and the command tanks received colored shields as background to their tactical codes. Additionally, the command tanks received individual names, beginning with letters corresponding to their respective commanded platoons, e. g. “Ceasar” for one of the 3rd platoon’s commanding M4s, which carried the tactical code "2" on a green background, the 3rd platoon’s color.

 

The tanks were delivered in a unicolor camouflage, likely U.S. Army olive drab. They received prominent Uruguayan army roundels on the turret flanks, comprising a blue roundel in the center, circled by white and then further circled by blue again, with a red bar going through the roundel diagonally. Later, likely in the 1960s, the tanks were given a disruptive four-color scheme, comprising medium green, dark green, tan and a dark brown bordering on black.

 

The first months of the new tanks’ service were marked by several instances of ceremonial use in foreign presidential visits to Uruguay, during which the tanks would perform a parade in the streets of Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital – often in the company of the vintage M3A1 Stuarts which were still retained in service by this point for training.

 

The 1960s were a decade of turmoil in Uruguay, with an economic crisis caused by struggling Uruguayan exports causing significant unrest and political uproar. This led to the rise of an armed revolutionary left-wing movement known as the Tupamaros or MLN-T (Movimiento de Liberación Nacional-Tupamaros, Tupamaros National Liberation Movement) which would progressively grow more violent. In 1968, the Uruguayan president, Jorge Pachero, declared a state of emergency that would see the military largely deployed in the streets. The following president, Juan María Bordaberry, would continue authoritarian policies and suspend civil liberties. In June 1973, he dissolved the Uruguayan congress and became a de facto dictator sponsored by the Uruguayan military.

 

During this time, the Tupamaros fought in an urban guerilla war against the Uruguayan military. The Uruguayan tanks, especially the compact M24s, were regularly employed in the streets as a show of force, being a very intimidating presence to potential insurgents. For this mission, a few M4s and M24s, primarily command tanks, were outfitted with locally developed hydraulic dozer blades. These were detachable, though, and the tanks should retain the installations for the rest of their career.

 

By mid-1972, the Tupamaros had largely been defeated, killed, captured, or forced into exile, as many other Uruguayans had been. The Uruguayan dictatorship would maintain itself all the way to 1985 however, engaging in repressive policies which, while often overshadowed by some employed by other regimes, such as Augusto Pinochet’s Chile, would see many Uruguayans exiled, and many assassinations performed against political opponents, even though most of which took place outside of Uruguay’s borders. The M4s and M24s would continue to regularly be used for intimidation purposes during this era, though Uruguay would also purchase more modern tanks in 1982, including twenty-two M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks from Belgium. These didn’t replace the vintage WWII vehicles, though.

 

In 1984, elections were finally held, seeing Uruguay return to civilian rule from this point onward. Though amnesty for human rights abusers would be declared, Uruguay would move back towards being one of the more democratic and stable countries in South America in the next decades, which would culminate in a former Tupamaros, who had spent fifteen years in prison, José Mujica, being elected president in 2009.

At the same time as Uruguay was transitioning back to democracy, the M4s and M24s the country had now operated for about thirty years were becoming increasingly obsolete. The tanks’ engines were worn out after 30 years of constant use and useful ammunition for the M4s 76 mm gun was not available anymore. Funds for new/more modern tanks were not available at that time, therefore, it was decided to modernize the powerplants and drivetrains of the tanks and outfit the Shermans with a modern, bigger main gun.

 

For this purpose, the Brazilian company Bernardini was contracted. The Bernardini S/A Industria e Comercio (Bernardini Industrial and Commerce Company), based at São Paulo, was originally a safe manufacturer which operated from 1912, but during its later years it branched out into vehicle production, too, and created several conversions and indigenous tanks for the Brazilian Army.

Bernardini outfitted the light M24s with a Saab-Scania DN11 220-230 hp engine, a Swedish industrial truck engine manufactured in Brazil. This was a commercially available engine for which parts could be very easily sourced, and it was coupled with a new GAV 762 automatic gearbox. Mounting these totally different engines called for considerable modifications, including a completely new raised engine deck with integrated coolers.

The Shermans received new Continental AOS-895-3 six-cylinder air-cooled petrol engines, which had been procured together with the Belgian M41s as part of a spares deal and directly delivered to Brazil for the conversions. This engine delivered 500 bhp (370 kW), the same as the former Ford GAA V8, but provided more torque, was lighter and more compact, and had a considerably lower fuel consumption. It was coupled with a new gearbox, an Allison CD-500-3, with 2 ranges forward, 1 reverse.

 

For the planned armament upgrade, the modern 90 mm Cockerill Mk. 7 gun was chosen, another item procured from Belgium. Weighing less than ¾ of a ton and with a length of 4.365 m, the 90 mm Cockerill operated at a pressure of just 310 MPa and produced a recoil stroke of only 350 to 370 mm. Ammunition for the Cockerill gun was made by MECAR (another Belgian arms company) and included a potent Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilised Discarding Sabot – Tracer (APFSDS-T) round with a muzzle velocity of 1,500 m/s, able to defeat even heavy targets. Furthermore, there were High Explosive Plastic rounds (HEP) to defeat bunkers, structures, light armor and also for indirect fire use, smoke, canister, High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT), and training rounds.

 

However, the plan to simply exchange the old 76 mm gun in the original M4A3 turret turned out to be impossible, so that Bernardini offered to adapt one of the company’s own turret designs, a cast turret for an upgrade for the indigenous CCL X1A2 “Carcará” tank that never materialized due to low Brazilian funds, to the M4’s very similar hull. The Uruguayan government agreed and the deal for the conversion of all M4s left in service was closed in late 1982. Some sources refer to this modernization as having occurred in 1983, while some others mention 1987.

 

The new Bernardini turret resembled the earlier Sherman turret, but it was overall larger and featured a long, characteristic jutty as a counterweight for the bigger and longer gun. It also offered ample space for a radio set and ammunition. The turret had a maximum armor strength of 114 mm (4.5 in) at the front, instead of the former 76 mm (3 in); traverse was full 360° (manual and electric-hydraulic) at a rate of 36°/sec. The turret’s higher overall weight was compensated for by the relatively light gun and the lighter engine – even though this raised the tank’s center of gravity and somewhat reduced its handling quality. The commander and gunner sat in the turret on the right side, with the commander provided with a domed U.S.-style cupola. The gunner did not have a hatch and was seated forward of the commander. A loading assistant was placed on the left side of the gun, with a separate hatch that was also used to board the tank by the crew and to load ammunition. A tool storage box was normally mounted externally on the rear of the already long bustle, and smoke grenade launchers could be mounted on each side of the turret – even though this never happened, and Uruguay apparently never procured such devices. A large radio antenna was mounted to the turret roof and at the rear of the jutty, command tanks had a second antenna for a dedicated inter-tank communication radio set next to the cupola.

 

The 90 mm Cockerill Mk. 7 gun had a rifled L/52 barrel and was outfitted with a light T-shaped muzzle brake and a smoke ejector. The secondary armament was changed to two 7.62 mm Browning M1919 machine guns (which were able to fire 7.62×51 mm NATO standard ammunition), one coaxial with the main gun and the other in the hull. A manually operated 12.7 mm Browning M2HB machine gun was mounted in an anti-aircraft position on the turret roof, in front of the commander cupola. A total of 55 rounds for the 90 mm gun were carried, plus 4,750 rounds for the 7.62 mm machine guns and 600 rounds for the 12.7 mm gun. This ammunition was mostly stored in the hull, the turret jutty held a new ammunition-ready rack with 11 rounds.

 

At some point following their modernization, during the late Eighties, all Uruguayan tanks were given a new, more subdued camouflage scheme, vaguely resembling the American woodland scheme, consisting of a very dark brown/black, light brown, and dark green. The prominent roundel was removed, too, an the vehicles’ tactical code was now either retained in a dark color on the turret side or completely omitted.

 

The 1990s saw the 13th Armored Infantry Battalion receive a fleet of fifteen BVP-1s purchased from the Czech Republic; ten more were delivered in 1996, with a further five in 1998, plus three vehicles for spare parts in 1999. These more modern infantry fighting vehicles would be operated alongside the M4s and M24s within the battalion’s fleet during the coming decades. Other purchases from the 1990s included, for example, Tiran-5Sh main battle tanks (revamped captured T-55s from Israel) and 2S1 self-propelled artillery pieces.

 

Uruguay retired its M4 fleet around 2012, but the light M24s soldiered on until 2019, when the last WWII type in Uruguayan service was eventually sorted out, after a long process that was delayed by a lack of an export permission for M41s as replacement from the United States for no less than six years.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Five (commander, gunner, loader, driver, radio operator/hull machine gun operator)

Weight: 33.7 tons combat loaded

Length: 6.87 m (22 ft 6 in) hull only

8.21 m (26 ft 10 1/2 in) overall with gun forward

Width: 3.42 m (11 ft 3 in) hull only

Height: 3,45 m (11 ft 3 3/4 in) w/o AA machine gun

Tread: 89 in

Ground clearance: 17 in (0.43 m)

Fire Height: 90 in (2.29 m)

Suspension: Horizontal volute spring

Fuel capacity: 168 gallons 80 Octane gasoline

 

Armor:

0.5 – 4.5 in (13 – 114 mm)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 30 mph (48 km/h) in a dash

26 mph (42 km/h) sustained on road

Operational range: 120 mi (193 km) on roads

Maximum grade: 60 percent

Maximum trench: 7.5 feet

Maximum vertical Wall: 24 inches

Maximum fording depth: 36 inches

Minimum turning circle: (diameter) 62 feet

Power/weight: 13.5 hp/ton

Ground pressure: Zero penetration 11.0 psi

 

Engine & transmission:

Continental AOS-895-3 six-cylinder air-cooled petrol engine with 500 bhp (370 kW),

coupled with an Allison CD-500-3 gearbox with 2 ranges forward, 1 reverse

 

Armament:

1× 90 mm (L/52) Cockerill Mk. 7 gun with 55 rounds

2× 7.62 mm Browning M1919 machine guns with a total of 4,750 rounds,

one co-axial with the main gun, another in the front glacis plate

1× 12.7 mm Browning M2HB anti-aircraft machine gun on the commander cupola with 600 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:

This whiffy M4 Sherman was inspired by two things: one was that I have so far never built a fictional M4 before, despite the type’s large number in WWII and thereafter. And I had a surplus turret from a Japanese 1:72 Type 61 tank (Trumpeter kit) in the donor bank, which frequently grinned at me – but I never had a proper idea how to use it.

 

This changed when I combined both, and the idea of a post-WWII M4 conversion/modernization was born, inspired by the successful Israeli M50/51 upgrades. I also settled for an M4A3E8 chassis, because I wanted a relatively modern Sherman with a welded hull and the new running gear as the basis – and the choice fell on the respective Hasegawa kit (which has its fundamental scale and proportions flaws, but it was cheap and readily available). Using an alternative Trumpeter kit might have been a better choice from a detail point of view, but I think that the Hasegawa kit’s weaknesses are negligible – and this here is whifworld, after all.

 

The next conceptual problem arose quickly, though: who’d be the operator of this tank? A natural choice was Japan’s JGSDF, because they received M4A3E8s from the USA (the Hasegawa kit even provides decals for such a vehicle), and the Type 61 was its successor. But the Sherman was not very popular in Japan – it was quite big, with logistics problems (tunnel sizes, train transport), and the interior was not suited to the smaller Japanese crews. The JGSDF was quite happy to get rid of the vintage Shermans.

The IDF was another candidate, but the M50/51s were “already there”. After long further research I went across Middle and South America. Chile, for instance, operated a highly modified M4A3E8 upgrade with a 60 mm high-velocity gun called “M-60”. And Paraguay decided to re-activate its M3 and M4 fleet in 2014, even though only for training purposes.

I eventually settled for a small and rather exotic operator: Uruguay! I found a very good article about the M24 Chaffee’s active duty in this country, which lasted from 1958 until 2019(!), and these Chaffees underwent massive conversions and upgrades during their long career – and some M4s would be a nice and plausible company. Another selling point was that the Uruguayan Army’s roundel was easy to replicate, and, as a bonus, the M24s carried a very attractive camouflage early in their career.

 

With this concept, the build was straightforward: The M4A3E8 was basically built OOB, it went together with no trouble, even though its details appear rather clumsy and almost toylike these days. A good thing about the kit is, though, that you can paint the small road wheels separately, while the HVSS suspension can be attached to the hull. This makes painting quite easy and convenient.

Trumpeter’s Type 61 turret was another matter, though, because its fit was rather dubious and called for some PSR. Furthermore, it was incomplete: some small parts of it had already been used in other projects, so that I had to improvise.

First, I had to create an adapter so that it could be combined with the Sherman hull – it was created from styrene sheet and profiles, together with a “floor” for the turret with 0.5 mm sheet. But now the turret can be mounted into the original opening, and it fits like a glove into the intended space. Even the low deflector walls that protect its base fit snuggly around it, it’s a very natural combo (at least on the Hasegawa hull!).

Biggest problem was the missing original commander cupola. The spare box did not yield a proper replacement, so I ordered M48/M60 cupolas from Bulgaria-based OKB Grigorovich – very crisp stuff, the set comes with four pieces and the cupolas are even made from clear resin so that the periscopes have a natural look on the model. As a lucky coincidence, the cupola’s diameter perfectly matched the respective hole in the turret, so that the implant looks very natural. Because the cupola came with a separate hatch, I fixed it in an open position and added a crew figure from the Hasegawa Sherman.

 

The dozer blade was a late addition, inspired by equipment carried by some real Uruguayan M24s. However, in this case the device was scratched from the remains of a dozer blade from a WWII Bergehetzer. Hydraulic rams to lift it and some hoses were scratched from steel wire and various bits and pieces. Improvised, but it looks the part, and it’s a nice detail that fits well into the model’s real world historic background.

  

Painting and markings:

The camouflage is based on a single-color picture I was able to find of a Uruguayan M24 wearing it, providing a guesstimate basis for the four tones, and a profile drawing of the same vehicle, just from the other side. I settled upon Humbrol 63, 75, and mix of 150 with 63 and 10 with 85 for the respective tan (which appears very yellow-ish), dark green, light green and the very dark brown tone. The pattern is a free interpretation of what could be discerned on the reference material, with guesstimates for front, back and upper surfaces. As it is a retrofitted piece, the dozer shield became all dark green.

 

The model then received an overall washing with a highly thinned mix of black and dark brown acrylic artist paint. The vinyl tracks were painted, too, with a mix of grey, red brown and iron, all acrylic paints, too, that do not interact chemically with the soft vinyl in the long run.

 

Markings are minimal; the Uruguayan Army roundel is an Argentinian cocarde from an Airfix Skyhawk (and a bit pale) with a separate red decal stripe placed over it – unfortunately it’s a bit obscured by the handles running along the turret. The tactical code number came from an Israeli tank, and it had to be placed quite high because of the handles/rails.

Uruguayan tanks from the Eighties and earlier seem to have carried additional registration numbers, too, and I gave the Sherman the fictional code "A 247" on the glacis plate and its flanks. The nickname "Caesar" is a personal twist.

 

Dry-brushing with earth brown to further emphasize edges and details followed. Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic vanish (Italeri) overall, and some very light extra dry-brushing with silver and light grey was done to simulate flaked paint, esp. on the dozer blade. Dirt and rust residues were added here and there. After final assembly (the vinyl tracks refused to stick to the road wheels!), the lower areas of the model were powdered with mineral pigments to simulate dust.

  

All in all, this fictional Uruguayan Sherman update looks very natural and convincing. The Type 61 turret matched the M4A3E8 hull in an almost unnatural fashion, and the dozer blade adds a certain twist to the tank, even though this detail is rooted in Uruguay’s tank operations history. The disruptive “tiger stripes” paint scheme is also very attractive, and together with the unusual roundels the whole thing has a very exotic look – but it’s not unbelievable. :D

WashTec SoftCare Pro Classic in white/yellow "Shell Design" with red SofTecs brushes installed in 2016, replacing a WashTec SoftCare Pro

 

Video - youtu.be/7E3GGgg5hnw

 

• Operator •

Shell

 

• Supplier •

WashTec UK

 

• Address •

Shell Petrol Station

Hitchin Road

Luton

LU2 7UP

England

 

Car Wash replaced in 2026 with a brand new Karcher CW5

flic.kr/p/2rTECYQ

Students, families, teachers and staff will soon benefit from a new Lord Nelson Elementary with construction now underway to seismically replace the school thanks to $18.4 million from the Province.

 

Education Minister Mike Bernier joined Vancouver School Board official trustee Dianne Turner and the Lord Nelson community today to mark the beginning of construction for the replacement school with a formal groundbreaking ceremony.

 

The project includes replacing the existing Lord Nelson Elementary school with a state-of-the-art building on the same site. The new school will be built to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standard and will support B.C.’s new curriculum with modern and open learning spaces. The new three-storey school will have a Neighbourhood Learning Centre and a StrongStart program.

 

Learn more:

news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2016EDUC0260-002540

Replaces the 737 Service

Replacing an eyesore with a lovely little ecosystem pondless recirculating stream

Built in 1970-1974, this Modern International-style skyscraper was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and Fazlur Rahman Khan for Sears, Roebuck and Company, replacing their earlier headquarters in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood where the company had been since 1905. The Sears, Roebuck and Company headquarters remained in the building until 1994, when they moved to a new suburban office park in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The Sears Tower stands 108 stories and 1,451 feet (442 meters) tall, becoming the tallest building in Chicago in 1972, surpassing the Aon Center, which had held the title for only a month, and surpassing the height of the Empire State Building in New York City in early 1973. The building surpassed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City when it topped out on May 3, 1973, and was the world’s tallest building from 1973 until 1998, when the spires of the Petronas Towers were completed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The building, however, did not hold the title of the world’s tallest structure, being surpassed by several communication towers, and did not hold the designation as the tallest structure in North America, as the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada stood 350 feet taller, but as the CN Tower does not have habitable floors for much of its height, it is not defined as a building. The building also did not hold the designation of having the world’s tallest pinnacle height until 2000, with the 1,500-foot antennas atop the older John Hancock Building to the northeast being taller than the building upon its completion, and the 1,727-foot high antenna atop One World Trade Center holding the designation for decades. The land for the building was acquired by Sears in 1970, and involved the closure of one block of Quincy Street, as well as the acquisition and demolition of two blocks full of buildings. The construction process was fraught with difficulties as bad weather and labor strikes delayed the project, with five workers dying during construction. The building also faced controversy over the tower blocking television signals being broadcast from other towers in the Chicago Loop, which was the subject of lawsuits during construction that ultimately led to the building receiving broadcast antennas atop the roof, resulting in its eventual distinctive silhouette and height of 1,729 feet from the ground to the top of the western antenna after it was extended in 2000. The building was also the first structure in the Chicago Loop to feature blinking FAA beacons to warn air traffic atop the roof, due to its height. The building was not fully leased for over a decade due to its immense size and a massive wave of office construction around the time it was built, leading to a 50% vacancy rate during the 1970s and much of the 1980s.

 

The building was designed as a clustered series of nine 75-foot square tubes of varying heights within the structural grid of the building’s 225-foot square footprint, with the full site being occupied by the building on the lower floors, gradually tapering as various tubes terminate on the upper floors, eventually leaving only two tubes at the top that rise from the base of the site. Two tubes, at the southeast and northwest corners, rise 50 floors, with the tubes at the southwest and northeast corners rising 66 floors, the tubes in the middle of the south, north, and east sides of the building rising 90 floors, and the central tube and the tube in the middle of the west side of the building rising the full 108 floors of the building’s overall height. This system of construction and method of design was highly economical, and has been repeated by subsequent supertall skyscrapers, including the Burj Khalifa. The exterior of the building is clad in anodized aluminum, which has been painted black, with columns evenly spaced 15 feet apart on the exterior, with bronze-tinted ribbon windows, and bands of louvers at the mechanical floors. The building was renovated in 1984, with a shopping center being added to the first four floors of the building, and a visitor center was added for the building’s skydeck observation deck. The building has two lobbies, one on the north side of the building, utilized by office tenants, and one on the south side of the building, utilized for visitors, with the entrances being located on the first floor and ground floor of the building, respectively, due to the grade change and sloping of the site from north to south. The lobbies contain artworks by Jacob Hashimoto and Olafur Eliasson, a sculpture honoring Fazlur Rahman Khan, and from 1974 until 2017, the building’s lobby housed a notable sculpture by Alexander Calder, which was removed during the building’s renovations. The 103rd floor of the building houses the skydeck observation deck, which features several boxes made entirely of glass that extend outside of the building’s exterior walls and allow visitors a 180-degree viewing experience of the city outside, outwards, above, and below their feet, with the glass floors of the boxes allowing visitors to see the streets below.

 

The building today is the third-tallest in the western hemisphere, being surpassed by the new One World Trade Center in 2014 and Central Park Tower in 2020, both in New York City, and the twenty-third tallest building in the world, with the list now being dominated by towers in Asia. However, despite its reduced status on the world stage, the building remains the tallest in Chicago. In 2009, the building’s naming rights were sold to Willis Group, which renamed the building the Willis Tower, with Sears having sold the tower in 1994 and the naming rights in 2003. The tower’s original namesake, a far cry from the robust and successful company it was a half-century ago, is now bankrupt and on the verge of going defunct. In 2017-2022, the building underwent a substantial renovation that involved the addition of a three-story podium, which wraps the base of the tower, and replacing building's original plaza and entrances. The new podium contains a food hall, two lobbies, and an atrium with a glass roof, with the exterior matching the appearance of the original building, with the exception of a dynamic sculptural facade on the exterior of the previously existing mechanical ventilation shaft along Jackson Boulevard. The building houses multiple office tenants with retail space in the base, and attracts many visitors annually who mostly visit to ascend to the skydeck and view the city from the building’s impressive height.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

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

 

However, when it became clear that the new jet engine carried the potential for aircraft that were faster than piston engine counterparts, the German Navy urged the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) to develop an amphibian fighter, attack and reconnaissance aircraft. This was not to be a navalized Me 262 (which was regarded as impossible due to the aircraft’s layout with low wings and underslung engine nacelles, and added floats would have ruined the aircraft’s aerodynamics, too), but rather a dedicated single-seat jet aircraft. This new design was to be either operated from catapults (replacing the Marine’s standard on-board aircraft, the Arado Ar 196 floatplane) or, with foldable wings, from submarines with water-tight hangars. This concept had already been discussed in the mid-late 1930s, when German class III submarines were to be outfitted with such compartments – but at that time for small motorboats only, for covert landing operations, and no submarine was converted accordingly. But the concept still found a lot of attention.

 

Dornier was tasked with the development of such an aircraft, based on the experience gained with the Me 262 and its innovative means of propulsion. Dornier realized that the new turbojet engine presented an opportunity to overcome the drawback of floatplanes if it was possible to combine the light jet engine with a streamlined flying boat hull, which would impose only a small aerodynamic penalty. Such an aircraft could still be at least on par with piston-engine land-based aircraft.

Using aerodynamic research data from the Messerschmitt fighter, Dornier conceived a compact flying boat with shoulder-mounted gull wings, carried by a narrow pylon behind the single seat cockpit. The engine nacelles were placed on the wings’ upper sides, as far away from spray water as possible. Through this layout, however, stabilizer floats would have necessitated very long and draggy struts, and the relatively thin, swept wings did not allow a (favored) retracting mechanism.

As a consequence, the aircraft was designed with Dornier’s trademark stub-wing floats, which added uplift in both water and air and offered, despite a permanent drag penalty, a convenient amount of space for extra fuel and the wells for a fully retractable landing/beaching gear, which made the aircraft fully amphibious and independent from a beaching trolley. Armament consisted of four 30mm MK 108 machine guns in the aircraft’s nose section, and the aircraft’s main task would be ground attack, air defense and, as a secondary mission, fast tactical reconnaissance.

 

Dornier first presented the initial concept to the RLM in mid-1943. Performance with two Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow turbojet engines was – naturally – lower than the clean Me 262 fighter, but still impressive. The Me 262 was supposed to achieve a maximum speed of 900 km/h (559 mph), while the Dornier aircraft, with basically the same engines, was expected to have a top speed of 520 mph at 40,000 ft. But this was still regarded as sufficient, and the project was officially given the RLM’s type number 319. Two prototypes were built (under the designation Do 319 A-0), the first one making its maiden flight in February 1944.

 

However, at that time the German navy had lost much of its power and sovereignty, and more and more resources had to be allocated to defense projects. As a consequence, the Do 319 as a combat aircraft (originally designated Do 319 A) became a secondary priority only, and the original aircraft was cancelled. Still, the small amphibious aircraft attained a lot of interest through the type’s potential as a fast reconnaissance plane and for special purpose transport duties – namely as a personal transport for high-ranking officials and for covert operations behind enemy lines and at foreign shores – was discovered and the type nevertheless ordered into small-scale production.

 

As a consequence and as an adaptation of the airframe to its new role, the Do 319’s design was modified: the fuselage behind the cockpit was widened into a compartment for passengers, cargo or other equipment. The cabin could hold up to two passengers, sitting vis-à-vis, and it was accessible through a watertight door on each side above the stub floats. The cabin was open to the cockpit in front of it, but the opening was blocked if the front passenger seat was in place. Alternatively, up to 300 kg (660 lb) of cargo or photo equipment could be carried, and one or both seats could also be replaced by internal auxiliary tanks. The provision for the Do 319 A’s cannon armament was retained, but the weapons were rarely mounted in order to save weight.

 

In this form, and now designated Do 319 B and christened “Seeschwalbe”, the aircraft entered service with the Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine on a limited scale. Most machines were exclusively assigned to staff units and reserved for special missions like liaison duties for high ranking officials, but they were also used in recce and other special missions. At least one Do 319 B was shot down over the American east coast, probably while deploying German agents from a submarine. How the aircraft with its limited range itself could come close to American shores remains a mystery until today, since Germany did not build or operate submarine aircraft carriers.

 

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

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 pilot plus up to 2 passengers

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

Wingspan: 12.60 m (41 ft 6 in)

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

Wing area: 26.8 m² (288 ft²)

Aspect ratio: 7.32

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

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

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

 

Powerplant:

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

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 820 km/h (510 mph)

Range: 1,200 km (652 mi)

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

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

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

 

Armament:

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

  

The kit and its assembly:

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

  

Painting and markings:

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

  

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

View from the N of Rosendale Road railway bridge "No.2" (Herne Hill and West Dulwich, London) carrying suburban line services to and from London Bridge terminus.

 

The green and grey bridge has recently replaced an older one, during work carried out in the early hours of January 19th 2014. The previous bridge (1950s-1960s) replaced an even older one (1866) supported on the same cast iron columns (not visible here but see accompanying photos in this series). During the present replacement work, the columns were then also removed forever.

 

The railway plaque is the original one, mounted on a new concrete replacement capital. The plaque bears the coat-of-arms of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway on the L, and of the Dulwich Estate on the R. The Dulwich Estate own, or owned, much of the land in this area, including, I assume, the land on which this bridge was built. The shield in the middle of the plaque carries the date "1866", the date of construction the original bridge, though the main span has been replaced at least twice since then. The initials "AC"on the central shield stand for Alleyn College, the former name of Dulwich College (founded 1619 by the Shakespearean actor-manager, Edward Alleyn.)

 

----------

 

ROSENDALE ROAD RAILWAY BRIDGES

 

There were three railway bridges over Rosendale Road, two of which still exist. They don't appear to have names, so I have numbered them arbitrarily.

 

"No.1" is the most northern one, close to Brockwell Park, behind the camera viewpoint. It currently carries suburban line services of the Thameslink network between Wimbledon and Sutton and central London (and beyond).

 

This view shows "No.2" orignally built in 1866 for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway. It rested on brick abutments and on red cast iron columns. But the girder bridge itself, and its railings, must have been younger, having apparently replaced the older, more ornate, structure some time after 1952 (compare the photo of its more ornate predecessor in Edwin Course's article, below). The original bridge was designed by Charles Barry Junior. The large sums paid by the then railway company (London, Brighton and South Coast Railway) for construction of its line across the Dulwich Estate, with other bridges matching this one, enabled the Estate to build the present main building of Dulwich College (1857-1866). There were a pair ornamental plaques on each side of the road on this N side of Rosendale Railway bridge, each on its own pilaster - four in all. Some or all of the upper parts of the older pillasters were removed and replaced by modern concrete ones, but the old plaques were retained and remounted on the new pilasters (as here, upper R). It seems that the pilasters had to be replaced by narrower ones (i.e. as measured in the direction away from the camera) to allow for the installation of the access walkway (in grey undercoat on the L) along the outside of the bridge proper.

 

This view also shows the site of "No.3". This bridge was demolished some time after 1966. It was very ornate in cast iron and ran across the road here, in the background immediately beyond "No.2", supported on brick abutments and cast iron columns. The eastern abutment can just be seen through the bridge in the distance (lower L) (see also notes on the picture). The bridge carried coal trains of the former London and North Western Railway into Knight's Hill Sidings and its former coal depot. The sidings included the former bridge, which was therefore much wider than "No.2". The sidings extended to the R beyond the R side of this view behind the embankment of the nearer bridge, where they are now covered by houses of the Lairdale Estate of the London Borough of Lambeth (one of these houses can be seen upper R). Although the depot was an LNWR one, the abutments for the demolished bridge actually bear plaques (not visible here) with the coat-of-arms of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the Dulwich Estate, and the date "1866" - just as on "No.2". It is clear from the photo in Course's article that the original designs of both bridges also matched each other. However, an iron plaque on the bridge proper bore the date 1891.

 

--- belowtheriver.co.uk/wednesday-picture-the-bridges-of-west...

--- Course, Edwin, 1960. The foreign goods depots of South London. Railway Magazine [vol?] (for November 1960), pp. 761-766. www.semgonline.com/RlyMag/ForeignDepotsofSthLondon.pdf

 

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RAILWAY BRIDGE REPLACEMENT WORK IN DULWICH & HERNE HILL, JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014 (32/39)

  

This bridge, and two further sister bridges carrying the same line over neighbouring streets, had been in poor condition for some time. After a period of preparation work, the replacement work happening here began in January 2014. Two neighbouring streets, one of them a busy main road, were closed to traffic concurrently for about two weeks, and another was closed for work on the third bridge shortly afterwards. To minimise disruption to train services, the main replacement work was carried out night and day in continuous shifts over two weekends. Huge hydraulic cranes had to come from Scotland (James Jack, Ainscough) to do this engineering work because there were no cranes available nearer to London capable of handling the old and new bridges.

 

--- belowtheriver.co.uk/wednesday-picture-the-bridges-of-west...

 

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for COMMUTE ROUTE set:

SERIES 1. MY USUAL ROUTE (& POINTS IN COMMON TO ALL ROUTES).

 

This view looks in the direction of returning to our house. (I've uploaded many other photos of this bridge replacement work, but for the 'Commute Route' set here, I have included only those that I took on the way to work.)

  

My standard outward commuting route:

home > (walk) > Rosendale Road > (walk) > Brockwell Park > (walk) > Herne Hill station > (National Rail suburban service) > London Victoria station > (District/Circle Line) > South Kensington > (walk) > Natural History Museum.

 

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Photo

© Darkroom Daze Creative Commons.

If you would like to use or refer to this image, please link or attribute.

ID: DSC_8701 - Version 2

Some background:

The Bentley 4½ Litre was a British car based on a rolling chassis built by Bentley Motors. Walter Owen Bentley replaced the Bentley 3 Litre with a more powerful car by increasing its engine displacement to 4.4 L (270 cu in).

Bentley buyers used their cars for personal transport and arranged for their new chassis to be fitted with various body styles, mostly saloons or tourers. However, the publicity brought by their competition programme was invaluable for marketing Bentley's cars.

 

At the time, noted car manufacturers such as Bugatti and Lorraine-Dietrich focused on designing cars to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a popular automotive endurance course established only a few years earlier. A victory in this competition quickly elevated any car maker's reputation.

A total of 720 4½ Litre cars were produced between 1927 and 1931, including 55 cars with a supercharged engine popularly known as the Blower Bentley. A 4½ Litre Bentley won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1928. Though the supercharged 4½ Litre Bentley's competitive performance was not outstanding, it set several speed records, most famously the Bentley Blower No.1 Monoposto in 1932 at Brooklands with a recorded speed of 222.03 km/h (138 mph).

 

Although the Bentley 4½ Litre was heavy, weighing 1,625 kg (3,583 lb), and spacious, with a length of 4,380 mm (172 in) and a wheelbase of 3,302 mm (130.0 in), it remained well-balanced and steered nimbly. The manual transmission, however, required skill, as its four gears were unsynchronised.

 

The robustness of the 4½ Litre's lattice chassis, made of steel and reinforced with ties, was needed to support the heavy cast iron inline-four engine. The engine was "resolutely modern" for the time. The displacement was 4,398 cc (268.4 cu in): 100 mm (3.9 in) bore and 140 mm (5.5 in) stroke. Two SU carburetters and dual ignition with Bosch magnetos were fitted. The engine produced 110 hp (82 kW) for the touring model and 130 hp (97 kW) for the racing model. The engine speed was limited to 4,000 rpm.

A single overhead camshaft actuated four valves per cylinder, inclined at 30 degrees. This was a technically advanced design at a time where most cars used only two valves per cylinder. The camshaft was driven by bevel gears on a vertical shaft at the front of the engine, as on the 3 Litre engine.

 

The Bentley's tanks - radiator, oil and petrol - had quick release filler caps that opened with one stroke of a lever. This saved time during pit stops. The 4½ was equipped with a canvas top stretched over a lightweight Weymann body. The hood structure was very light but with high wind resistance (24 Hours Le Mans rules between 1924 and 1928 dictated a certain number of laps for which the hood had to be closed). The steering wheel measured about 45 cm (18 in) in diameter and was wrapped with solid braided rope for improved grip. Brakes were conventional, consisting of 17-inch (430 mm) drum brakes finned for improved cooling and operated by rod. Semi-elliptic leaf springs were used at front and rear.

  

Building the kit and its display box:

I normally do not build large scale kits, except for some anime character figures, and I especially stay away from car models because I find it very hard to come close to the impression of the real thing. But this one was a personal thing, and I got motivated enough to tackle this challenge that caused some sweat and shivers. Another reason for the tension was the fact that it was intended as a present - and I normally do not build models for others, be it as a gift or on a contract work basis.

 

The background is that a colleage of mine will retire soon, an illustrator and a big oldtimer enthusiast at the same time. I was not able to hunt down a model of the vintage car he actually owns, but I remembered that he frequently takes part with his club at a local car exhibition, called the "Classic Days" at a location called Schloss Dyck. There he had had the opportunity some time ago to take a ride in a Bentley 4.5 litre "Blower", and I saw the fascinationn in his eyes when he recounted the events. We also talked about car models, and I mentioned the 1:24 Heller kit of the car. So, as a "farewell" gift, I decided to tackle this souvenir project, since the Bentley drive obviously meant a lot to him, and it's a quite personal gift, for a highly respected, artistic person.

 

Since this was to be a gift for a non-modeler, I also had to make sure that the car model could later be safely stored, transported and displayed, so some kind of base or display bon on top was a must - and I think I found a nice solution, even with integrated lighting!

 

As already mentioned, the model is the 1:24 Heller kit from 1978, in this case the more recent Revell re-boxing. While the kit remained unchanged (even the Heller brand is still part of the molds!), the benefit of this version is a very nice and thin decal sheet which covers some of the more delicate detail areas like gauges on the dashboard or the protective wire mesh for the headlights.

 

I had huge respect for the kit - I have actually built less than 10 car models in my 40+ years of kit building. So the work started with detail picture research, esp. of the engine and from the cockpit, and I organized appropriate paints (see below).

Work started slowly with the wheels, then the engine followed, the steerable front suspension, the chassis, the cabin section and finally the engine cowling and the mudguards with the finished wheels. Since I lack experience with cars I stuck close to the instructions and really took my time, because the whole thing went together only step by step, with painting and esp. drying intermissions. Much less quickly than my normal tempo with more familiar topics.

 

The kit remained basically OOB, and I must say that I am impressed how well it went together. The car kits I remember were less cooperative - but the Heller Bentley was actually a pleasant, yet challenging, build. Some issues I had were the chrome parts, which had to be attached with superglue, and their attachment points to the sprues (the same green plastic is used for the chrome parts, too - a different materiallike silver or light grey would have made life easier!) could only hardly be hidden with paint.

 

The plastic itself turned out to be relatively soft, too - while it made cleaning easy, this caused in the end some directional issues which had to be "professionally hidden": Once the cabin had been mounted to the frame and work on the cowling started, I recognized that the frame in front of the cabin was not straight anymore - I guess due to the engine block which sits deep between the front beams. While this was not really recognizable, the engine covers would not fit anymore, leaving small but unpleasant gaps.

The engine is OOB not über-detailed, and I actually only wanted to open the left half of the cocling for the diorama. However, with this flaw I eventually decided to open both sides, what resulted in having the cowling covers sawn into two parts each and arranging them in open positions. Quite fiddly, and I also replaced the OOB leather straps that normally hold the cowling covers closed with textured adhesive tape, for a more voluminous look. The engine also received some additional cables and hoses - nothing fancy, though, but better than the quite bleak OOB offering.

 

Some minor details were added in the cabin: a floor mat (made from paper, it looks like being made from cocos fibre) covers the area in front of the seats and the steering wheel was wrapped with cord - a detail that many Bentleys with race history shared, for a better grip for the driver.

 

Overall, the car model was painted with pure Humbrol 239 (British Racing Green) enamel paint, except for the passenger section. Here I found Revell's instructions to be a bit contradictive, because I do not believe in a fully painted car, esp. on this specific Le Mans race car. I even found a picture of the real car as an exhibition piece, and it rather shows a faux leather or vinyl cladding of the passenger compartment - in a similar dark green tone, but rather matt, with only a little shine, and with a lighter color due to the rougher surface. So I rather tried to emulate this look, which would also make the model IMHO look more interesting.

As a fopundation I used a mix of Humbrol 239 and 75 (Bronze Green), on top of which I later dry-brushed Revell 363 (Dark Green). The effect and the gloss level looked better than expected - I feared a rather worn/used look - and I eventually did not apply and clear varnish to this area. In fact, no varnish was applied to the whole model because the finish looked quite convincing!

 

The frame and the engine were slightly weathered with a black ink wash, and once the model was assembled I added some oil stains to the engine and the lower hull, and applied dust and dirt through mineral artist pigments to the wheels with their soft vinyl tires and the whole lower car body. I wanted the car to look basically clean and in good shape, just like a museum piece, but having been driven enthusiastically along some dusty country roads (see below). And this worked out quite well!

  

Since I wanted a safe store for the model I tried to find a suitable display box and found an almost perfect solution in SYNAS from Ikea. The sturdy SYNAS box (it's actually sold as a toy/Children's lamp!?) had very good dimensions for what I had in mind. Unfortunately it is only available in white, but for its price I would not argue. As a bonus it even comes with integrated LED lighting in the floor, as a rim of lights along the side walls. I tried to exploit this through a display base that would leave a 1cm gap all around, so that light could be reflected upwards and from the clear side walls and the lid onto the model.

 

The base was created with old school methods: a piece of MDF wood, on top of which I added a piece of cobblestone street and grass embankment, trying to capture the rural atmosphere around Schloss Dyck. Due to the large scale of the model I sculpted a light side slope under the pavement (a Tamiya print with a light 3D effect), created with plaster and fine carpenter putty. The embankment was sculpted with plaster, too.

The cobblestone cardboard was simply glued to the surface, trimmed down, and then a fairing of the base's sides was added, thin balsa wood.

Next came the grass - again classic methods. First, the surface was soaked with a mix of water, white glue and brown dispersion paint, and fine sand rinsed over the surfaces. Once dry, another mix of water, white glue and more paint was applied, into which foamed plastic turf of different colors and sizes was dusted. After anothetr drying period this area was sprayed with contact glue and grass fibres were applied - unfortunately a little more than expected. However, the result still looks good.

 

At the border to the street, the area was covered with mineral pigments, simulating mud and dust, and on the right side I tried to add a puddle, made from Humbrol Clearfix and glue. For some more ambiance I scratched a typical German "local sight" roadsign from cardboard and wood, and I also added a pair of "Classic Days" posters to the mast. Once in place I finally added some higher grass bushels (brush fibres) and sticks (dried moss), sealing everything in place with acralic varnish from the rattle can.

 

In order to motivate the Bentley's open cowling, I tried to set an engine failure into scene: with the car abandoned during the Classic Days' demo races along the local country roads, parked at the side of the street, and with a puddle of engine below and a small trail of oil behind the car (created with Tamiya "Smoke", perfect stuff for this task!). A hay bale, actually accessory stuff for toy tractors and in fact a square piece of wood, covered with straw chips, subtly hint at this occasion.

 

Finally, for safe transport, the model was attached to the base with thin wire, the base glued to the light box' floor with double-sided adhesive tape and finally enclosed.

  

Quite a lot of work, the car model alone took four patient weeks to fully materialize, and the base in the SYNAS box took another two weeks, even though work proceeded partly in parallel. However, I am positively surprised how well this build turned out - the Heller kit was better/easier to assemble than expected, and many problems along the way could be solved with patience and creative solutions.

 

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

  

Some background:

HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81) was a Colossus-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Formerly the British ship HMS Venerable, she was sold to the Netherlands in 1948 as a light attack carrier and operated Fairey Firefly strike fighters and Hawker Sea Fury fighters, which were in 1958 replaced by Hawker Sea Hawk jet aircraft. In 1960, she was involved in the decolonization conflict in Western New Guinea with Indonesia. After a major refit in 1964, following the settlement of issues threatening its former colonial territories and changes in the mission for the Royal Netherlands Navy within NATO, the role was changed to anti-submarine warfare carrier and primarily ASW aircraft and helicopters were carried. At that time, the last Dutch Sea Hawks were phased out and the Koninlijke Marine ’s FJ-4B fighter bombers were relegated to land bases and soon handed back to the USA and re-integrated into USMC units. As an alternative multi-role aircraft that could both deliver strikes against ground as well as sea targets and provide aerial defense for the carrier or escort its slow and vulnerable ASW aircraft, the American Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was procured.

 

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet-powered Skyhawk was designed and produced by Douglas Aircraft Company, and later by McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D under the U.S. Navy's pre-1962 designation system. The Skyhawk was a relatively light aircraft, with a maximum takeoff weight of 24,500 pounds (11,100 kg), had a top speed of 670 miles per hour (1,080 km/h) and very good handling, making it a serious threat in an aerial dogfight. The aircraft's five hardpoints supported a variety of missiles, bombs, and other munitions.

The A4D (re-named into A-4 under the USA’s unified designation system) was capable of carrying a bomb load equivalent to that of a World War II–era Boeing B-17 bomber and could even deliver nuclear weapons using a low-altitude bombing system and a "loft" delivery technique. The A-4 was originally powered by the Wright J65 turbojet engine, but from the A-4E onwards, the more fuel efficient and powerful Pratt & Whitney J52 engine was used. The Skyhawk proved to be a relatively common United States Navy aircraft export of the postwar era. Due to its small size, it could be operated from the older, smaller World War II-era aircraft carriers still used by many smaller navies during the 1960s. These older ships were often unable to accommodate newer Navy fighters such as the F-4 Phantom II and F-8 Crusader, which were faster and more capable than the A-4, but significantly larger and heavier than older naval fighters.

 

At the same time as the Netherlands, Australia was looking for a new carrier-borne jet aircraft, too, and in negotiations with Douglas for newly built A-4s for the RAN's carrier HMAS Melbourne, a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier. These aircraft had a very similar duty profile to those the Royal Netherlands Navy was looking for, and in order to save development costs and speed up the procurement process, the Royal Netherlands Navy simply adopted the Australian specifications which became the unique A-4G variant, the Skyhawk’s first dedicated export version.

 

The A-4G was directly developed with minor variations from the current, most modern Skyhawk variant, the USN's A-4F. In particular, the A-4G was not fitted with the late Skyhawk variants' characteristic avionics "hump", had a simple ranging radar for air-to-air combat and was modified to carry four underwing Sidewinder AIM-9B missiles (instead of just two), increasing their Fleet Defense capability. Additionally, the A-4Gs for the Royal Netherlands Navy received the avionics package to deploy radio-controlled AGM-12 Bullpup missiles, which the Kon. Marine had been using together with the FJ-4Bs for some years, and Skyhawks’ capability to provide buddy-to-buddy refueling services with a special pod made them a vital asset for carrier operations, too.

 

A total of twenty A-4G Skyhawks were purchased by the Royal Australian Navy in two batches for operation from HMAS Melbourne, and the Koninlijke Marine ordered twelve. These aircraft were part of the first A-4G production batch and arrived in 1967, together with four TA-4J trainers, for a total fleet of sixteen aircraft. The machines were delivered in the contemporary US Navy high-visibility scheme in Light Gull Grey and White, but they were soon re-painted in a less conspicuous scheme of Extra Dark Sea Grey on the upper surfaces and Sky underneath, conforming to NATO standards of the time. After initial conversion training from land bases the re-formed MLD 861 Squadron (a carrier-based unit that had operated Fairey during the Fifties) embarked upon HNLMS Karel Doorman in February 1968 with a standard contingent of six carrier-based aircraft. The rest was stationed at Valkenburg Naval Air Base for maintenance and training and frequently rotated to the carrier.

 

However, the Dutch Skyhawks' career at sea was very short – it lasted in fact only a couple of months! A boiler room fire on 26 April 1968 removed HNLMS Karel Doorman from Dutch service. To repair the fire damage, new boilers were transplanted from the incomplete HMS Leviathan. But this did not save the ship, and in 1969 it was decided that the costs for repairing the damage in relation to the relatively short time Karel Doorman was still to serve in the fleet proved to be her undoing and she was sold to the Argentine Navy, renamed Veinticinco de Mayo, where she would later play a role in the 1982 Falkland Islands Conflict.

Additionally, the fatal fire accident coincided with the arrival of land-based long range maritime patrol aircraft for the Royal Netherlands Navy that were to take over the ASW role Karel Doorman had been tasked to perform ever since the start of the 1960s. These were one squadron of Breguet Atlantique sea-reconnaissance aircraft and one of P-2 Neptunes, while the international NATO anti-submarine commitment was taken over by a squadron of Westland Wasp helicopters operated from six Van Speijk-class anti-submarine frigates.

 

This left the Royal Netherlands Navy with a full operational squadron of almost brand-new aircraft that had overnight lost their raison d'être. To avoid sunk costs the government decided to keep the Skyhawks in active service, even though only land-based now and as part of the Netherlands air force's home defense – a plan that had been envisioned for the A-4Gs for the mid-Seventies, anyway.

In 1974, the A-4G's MLD 861 Squadron was disbanded (again) and the aircraft were formally transferred to the Royal Netherlands Air Force, where they received new tactical codes (H-30XX - H- 30YY) and formed the new RNLAF 332 Squadron, primary tasked with aerial support for the Netherlands Marine Corps. To avoid staff and equipment transfer costs to a different location, the Skyhawks stayed at their former home base, Valkenburg Naval Air Base, where they operated alongside the MLD’s new long-range maritime patrol aircraft.

 

At that time, the machines received a small update during regular overhauls, including the ability to deploy the new TV-guided AGM-65 Maverick missile (which replaced the unreliable and rather ineffective AGM-12) as well as more effective AIM-9J air-to-air missiles, and an AN/APQ-51 radar warning system, recognizable through small cone-shaped radomes under the nose, at the tail and under the wing roots. Being land-based now, some machines received a new NATO-style camouflage in Olive Drab and Dark Grey with Light Grey undersides, even though the Skyhawks’ full carrier capability was retained in case of a NATO deployment on another nation’s carrier.

In 1979, when the RNLAF received its first F-16A/B fighters, all Skyhawks eventually received a more subdued grey three-tone camouflage with toned-down markings which was effective both over the sea and in the sky, similar to the RNLAF’s NF-5A/B day fighters.

 

However, the arrival of the modern F-16, which was in any aspect superior to the A-4 except for a lack of carrier-capability, meant that the RNLAF Skyhawks’ career did not last much longer. In the early Eighties, all Dutch A-4Gs were replaced with license-built F-16A/B fighter bombers. They were placed in store and eventually sold to Israel in 1985, where they were revamped and re-sold with surplus A-4Es to Indonesia as attrition replacements after high losses during the anti-guerilla warfare in East Timor. They were delivered in 1986 and served in Indonesia until 2003, where the last Skyhawks were finally retired in 2007.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 40 ft 1.5 in (12.230 m)

Wingspan: 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)

Height: 15 ft 2 in (4.62 m)

Wing area: 260 sq ft (24 m²)

Airfoil: root: NACA 0008-1.1-25; tip: NACA 0005-.825-50

Empty weight: 9,853 lb (4,469 kg)

Gross weight: 16,216 lb (7,355 kg)

Max takeoff weight: 24,500 lb (11,113 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney J52-P-6A turbojet engine, 8,500 lbf (38 kN) thrust

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 585 kn (673 mph, 1,083 km/h) at sea level

Range: 1,008 nmi (1,160 mi, 1,867 km)

Ferry range: 2,194 nmi (2,525 mi, 4,063 km)

g limits: +8/-3

Rate of climb: 5,750 ft/min (29.2 m/s)

Wing loading: 62.4 lb/sq ft (305 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.526

 

Armament:

2× 20 mm (0.79 in) Colt Mk 12 cannon with 100 RPG

5× hardpoints with a total capacity of 8,500 lb (3,900 kg)

  

The kit and its assembly:

This what-if project was more or less a stopgap: I had a Hasegawa 1:72 A-4E/F kit in The Stash™, primarily bought for its separate avionics hump that is supposed to be transplanted on a Fujimi A-4C someday to create an A-4L, of which AFAIK no OOB kit exists. However, I played with potential fictional operators, and read about the Australian A-4Gs. When I compared them with the historic timeframe of the Dutch HNLMS Karel Doorman, I recognized very close parallels (see background above) so that a small Skyhawk fleet for a single carrier with a focus on ASW duties would make sense – even though Karel Doorman was soon struck by a fire and ended the story. However, this was a great framework to tell the story of Dutch Skyhawks that never had been, and my model depicts such an aircraft soon after its update and in late RNLAF colors.

 

The Hasegawa kit is not bad, but IMHO there are better offerings, you can see the mold’s age. It goes together easily, comes with a good pilot figure and offers optional parts for an E or F Skyhawk, plus lots of ordnance, but it comes with raised (yet very fine) panel lines and an odd canopy: the clear part is actually only the canopy’s glass, so that the frame is still molded into the fuselage. As a result, opening the cockpit is a VERY tricky stunt (which I eventually avoided), and the clear piece somehow does not fit well into its intended opening. The mold dates back to 1969, when the A-4E/F was brand new, and this was all acceptable in the Seventies and Eighties. But for today’s standards the Hasegawa kit is a bit outdated and, in many cases, overpriced. Permanent re-boxings and short-run re-issues do not make the old kit any better.

 

Despite these weaknesses the kit was built OOB, without big modifications or the optional camel hump for the A-4F, with the early straight IFR probe and with parts from the OOB ordnance. This included the ventral drop tank (which comes with an integral pylon) and the underwing pylons; from the outer pair the integral launch rails for the Bullpups were sanded away and replaced with a pair of longer launch rails for AIM-9B Sidewinder AAMs from the scrap box.

As a modern/contemporary detail I scratched a training/dummy AGM-65 Maverick without fins for one of the inner underwing stations, which would later become a colorful eye-catcher on the otherwise quite subdued aircraft. Additionally, some small blade antennae were added around the hull, e. g. on the front wheel well cover for the Bullpup guidance emitter.

  

Painting and markings:

A Kon. Marine Skyhawk offers a wide range of painting options, but I tweaked the background that I could incorporate a specific and unique Dutch paint scheme – the early Eighties livery of the RNLAF’s NF-5A/Bs. These aircraft initially wore a NATO-style green/grey livery with pale grey undersides, but they were in the late Seventies, with the arrival of the F-16s, repainted with the F-16s’ “Egypt One” colors (FS 36118, 36270 and 36375). However, the Egypt One scheme was not directly adopted, only the former RAF-style camouflage pattern was re-done with the new colors. Therefore, the Skyhawks were “in my world” transferred from the Dutch Navy to the Air Force and received this livery, too, for which I used Humbrol 125, 126 and 127. The pattern was adapted from the sleek NF-5s as good as possible to the stouter A-4 airframe, but it worked out.

However, the result reminds unintentionally a lot of the Australian A-4Gs’ late livery, even though the Aussie Skyhawks carried a different pattern and were painted in different tones. Even more strangely, the colors on the model looked odd in this striped paint scheme: the dark Gunship Gray appeared almost violet, while the Medium Gray had a somewhat turquoise hue? Weird! Thankfully, this disappeared when I did some post-panel-shading after a light black in washing…

 

The cockpit became Dark Gull Grey (FS 36231, Humbrol 140), even though there’s hardly anything recognizable through the small canopy: the pilot blocks anything. The landing gear and the respective wells became classic bright white (Revell 301), as well as the air intake ducts; the landing gear covers received a thin red outline.

The Sidewinders and their launch rails became white, the drop tank was painted in FS 36375 like the underside. The dummy AGM-65 was painted bright blue with a white tip for the live seeker head.

 

The decals were gathered from various sources. The RNLAF roundels came from a generic TL Modellbau sheet, the tactical code from a Swiss F-5E. The small fin flash is a personal addition (this was not common practice on RNLAF aircraft), the red unit badge with the seahorse comes from a French naval WWII unit. Most stencils were taken from the OOB sheet but supplemented with single bits from an Airfix Skyhawk sheet, e. g. for the red trim around the air intakes, which was tricky to create. The interior of the fuselage air brakes was painted in bright red, too.

  

After a Koninlijke Marine FJ-4B Fury some years ago, here’s a worthy and logical successor, even though it would have quickly lost its naval base, HNLMS Karel Doorman. Really bad timing! Even though not much was changed, this simple looking aircraft has IMHO a certain, subtle charm – even though the paint scheme makes the Dutch Skyhawk look more Australian than intended, despite representing an A-4G, too. But time frame and mission profiles would have been too similar to ignore this parallel. Not a spectacular model, but quite convincing.