ok, roughly dropping in MY ultimate ‘hotties’…

Hawker Fury (the biplane)
D520
Spitfire
dH Mosquito
A-26 Invader
F-86 Sabre (any except the D,K or L)
F-104
Super Mystere
Mirage F.1 (ultra hottie)
IAI Lavi
YF-23

and… I can’t leave out our sweetheart – the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow (attached)

Now a comment… anyone else think there’s a heck of a lot of F-4 Phantom in that J-8??? and that particular J-10B photo – way, wayyyy too much photoshop happening there – I’ve seen less PS in some of the “gentlemen’s magazines” – and I’m not one to necessarily bark about PS work.

inside a Vulcan bomb-bay… (looking aft per chance?)

me no brain think what yous is typings… and me even lives on same piece rock. 😀 😉

now is that labor or labour, camoflage or camouflage… can I write you a cheque (check)(czech 😀 )?

I’ve only ever seen one reference anywhere to the Mirage 3000 (no pics or info) – listed as predecessor to the Rafale.

Only Dassault twin in that time period I know of was the 4000. ‘Scaled-up’ 2000, one prototype built – test flown in the early 80s.

PS. late edit.. There was a thread here last year regarding Indian AF interest in the 4000 in which a reference was made regarding the 4000 as pitched to the UK as the 3000. Later paint scheme for marketing purposes was a sand/brown camo.

excellent shots! that certainly looks to be a small ‘office’ to clamber into.

Any off-chance that anyone has some detail photos of that Blue Steel? I’m still working on a rebuild of my Airfix Vulcan and would love to get that monster out of the spares box.

James
(wow! – just noticed – 400 posts, I feel ‘special’ :rolleyes: )

must say that what intrigued me most in there was the ‘low-viz’ Mongolian AF markings on the tail of the MiG

Ollie,

This advice I give to you as a professional – heed my words.

Unsharp mask is one of those tool which you use in a ‘as I see it mode’ A photo which is out of focus is not necesarily helped by this tool – a blurry photo is a blurry photo, you’ll never change it – it IS however exceptionally helpful when dealing with older photos or those that just aren’t sharp enough.

My best advice is to select a photo and ‘play’ with it – you’ll know when you’ve gone too far… Keeping the Threshold at 0, Start small on the radius – 0.5 px… then increase your Amount (top bar)… keep the ‘preview’ box checked and you will be able to see what is happening to the photo. If, by the time you reach an amount of ‘200%’ things don’t look that much better, back that off and increase the Radius and start increasing the Amount again. There is no magic formula to using Unsharp Mask, as no 2 photos are alike.

What ever you do, do no use the ‘dust/scratches’ tool… that has a tendency to remove too much detail – its a heavy handed ‘gaussian blur’ and removes toanl levels and detail – you’ll regret ever using it.

The samples I’ve attached (simply scanned – no colour balancing) will hopefully illustrate what I’ve said here. The first pic is untouched – simply scanned from the 4 x 6 print, the second has Unsharp Mask applied with a radius of 0.5 Pixels and an amount of 136%, the third has received 136% but at a pixel radius of 2 pixels. Download them and view them in sucession in Windows Media Viewer – you’ll be more able to notice the nuances in detail.

All effects of course are dependent upon the resolution of the image.

James

Thank you from across ‘the Pond’ Moggy…

Any of us fortunate enough to enjoy our current freedom – standards of living and way of life – certainly cannot begin to comprehend the moods and actions of our respective populations and governments in those early days of September ’39.

I believe that I can honestly state that IF such circumstances were to arise today, that public opinion and reaction would not be the same. Our hearts, minds and souls are indeed indebted to those who rose – with little or no encouragement – to face an aggressor, for ‘King and Country!’.

Imagine, what would/could have happened, if Britain and done nothing in ’39!

My nearest relative story I can recount is that of my uncle who joined the RCAF and served as an instructor within the BCATP (instructing mostly Naval pilot candiates) until he finally received orders to a manning depot in the UK shortly before hostilities ended.

It is indeed these moments from our history that we should learn from and never forget.. as the old addage goes (please forgive any paraphasing) ‘those who forget their history, are doomed to repeat it’.

We all owe it to ourselves to thank a Veteran… not only today, but at every opportunity!

JJ