Out Of The Silent Planet Composite

Here is my composite image of my 1/72 scale scratch build Weston Spacecraft from C.S. Lewis's novel "Out Of The Silent Planet"leaving the Earth's influence.

Images of the model can be seen here.

Junkers JU 87-D (Stuka)

Here are some more images of Revell's (Hasegawa Molds) 1/32 scale Junkers JU 87-D (Stuka).

From Wikipedia"
Despite the Stuka's vulnerability to enemy fighters having been exposed during the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe had no choice but to continue its development, as there was no replacement aircraft in sight. The result was the D-series. In June 1941, the RLM ordered five prototypes, the Ju 87 V21–25. A Daimler-Benz DB 603 powerplant was to be installed in the Ju 87 D-1, but it did not have the power of the Jumo 211 and performed "poorly" during tests and was dropped. The Ju 87 D-series featured two coolant radiators underneath the inboard sections of the wings, while the oil cooler was relocated to the position formerly occupied by the coolant radiator. The D-series also introduced an aerodynamically refined cockpit with better visibility and space. In addition, armor protection was increased and a new dual-barrel 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 81Z machine gun with an extremely high rate of fire was installed in the rear defensive position. Engine power was increased again, the Jumo 211J now delivering 1,420 PS (1,044 kW, 1,401 hp). Bomb carrying ability was nearly quadrupled from 500 kg (1,100 lb) in the B-version to 1,800 kg (3,970 lb) in the D-version (max. load for short ranges, overload condition), a typical bomb load ranged from 500-1,200 kg (1,100-2,650 lb).

Kette of Ju 87 Ds in flight, October/November 1943

The internal fuel capacity of the Ju 87D was raised to 800 L (of which 780 L were usable) by adding additional wing tanks while retaining the option to carry two 300 L drop tanks. Tests at Rechlin revealed it made possible a flight duration of 2 hours and 15 minutes. With an extra two 300 L (80 US gal) fuel tanks, it could achieve four hours flight time.
The D-2 was a variant used as a glider tug by converting older D-series airframes. It was intended as the tropical version of the D-1 and had heavier armour to protect the crew from ground fire. The armour reduced its performance and caused the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe to "place no particular value on the production of the D-2". The D-3 was an improved D-1 with more armour for its ground-attack role. A number of Ju 87 D-3s were designated D-3N or D-3 trop and fitted with night or tropical equipment. The D-4 designation applied to a prototype torpedo-bomber version, which could carry a 750–905 kg (1,650-2,000 lb) aerial torpedo on a PVC 1006 B rack. The D-4 was to be converted from D-3 airframes and operated from the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin. Other modifications included a flame eliminator and, unlike earlier D variants, two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon, while the radio operator/rear gunner's ammunition supply was increased by 1,000 to 2,000 rounds.
The Ju 87 D-5 was based on the D-3 design and was unique in the Ju 87 series as it had wings 0.6 metres (1 foot) longer than previous variants. The two 7.92 mm MG 17 wing guns were exchanged for more powerful 20 mm MG 151/20s to better suit the aircraft's ground-attack role. The window in the floor of the cockpit was reinforced and four, rather than the previous three, aileron hinges were installed. Higher diving speeds were obtained of 650 km/h (408 mph) up to 2,000 m (6,560 ft). The range was recorded as 715 km (443 mi) at ground level and 835 km (517 mi) at 5,000 m (16,400 ft).
The D-6, according to "Operating instructions, works document 2097", was built in limited numbers to train pilots on "rationalised versions". However, due to shortages in raw materials, it did not go into mass production. The D-7 was another ground attack aircraft based on D-1 airframes upgraded to D-5 standard (armor, wing cannons, extended wing panels), while the D-8 was similar to the D-7 but based on D-3 airframes. The D-7 and D-8 were both were fitted with flame dampers, and could conduct night operations.
Production of the D-1 variant started in 1941 with 495 ordered. These aircraft were delivered between May 1941 and March 1942. The RLM wanted 832 machines produced from February 1941. The Weserflug company was tasked with their production. From June to September 1941, 40 Ju 87 Ds were expected to be built, increasing to 90 thereafter. Various production problems were encountered. Just one of the planned 48 was produced in July. Of the 25 the RLM hoped for in August 1941, none were delivered. Only in September 1941 did the first two of the planned 102 Ju 87s roll off the production lines. The shortfalls continued to the end of 1941. During this time, the WFG plant in Lemwerder moved production to Berlin. Over 165 Ju 87s had not been delivered and production was only 23 Ju 87 Ds per month out of the 40 expected. By the spring of 1942 to the end of production in 1944, 3,300 Ju 87s, mostly D-1s, D-2s and D-5s had been manufactured.
Total production amounted to 3639 Ju 87D (592 D-1, 1559 D-3 and 1448 D-5), all built by Weserflug. The last Ju 87 D-5 rolled off the production lines in September 1944.
The Ju 87 E and F proposals were never built, and Junkers went straight onto the next variant. Another variant derived from the Ju 87D airframe, the Ju 87H saw service as a dual-control trainer.
In January 1943, a variety of Ju 87 Ds became "test beds" for the Ju 87 G variants. At the start of 1943, the Luftwaffe test centre at Tarnewitz tested this combination from a static position. Oberst G. Wolfgang Vorwald noted the experiments were not successful, and suggested the cannon be installed on the Messerschmitt Me 410. However, testing continued, and on 31 January 1943, Ju 87 D-1 W.Nr 2552 was tested by Hauptmann Hans-Karl Stepp near the Briansk training area. Stepp noted the increase in drag, which reduced the aircraft's speed to 259 km/h (162 mph). Stepp also noted that the aircraft was also less agile than the existing D variants. D-1 and D-3 variants operated in combat with the 37 mm (1.46 in) BK 37 cannon in 1943.

Romulan Bird's Of Prey Composite

Here is my composite image of AMT's 1/537 scale Romulan Bird's of Prey from Star Trek TOS flying in formation against a star field.

Images of the model can be seen here.

H.M.S. Bounty's Jolly Boat

Here are some more images of Artesania Latina's 1/35 scale H.M.S. Bounty's Jolly Boat.

From Wikipedia"
The jolly boat was a type of ship's boat in use during the 18th and 19th centuries. The origins of the name is the subject of debate, but it was by the 18th century one of a number of ship's boats, and was used mainly to ferry personnel to and from the ship, or for other small scale activities. The design continued to evolve throughout its period in service.
 The term 'jolly boat' has several potential origins. It may originate in the Dutch or Swedish jolle, a term meaning a small bark or boat. Other possibilities include the English term yawl, or the 'gelle-watte', the latter being a term in use in the 16th century to refer to the boat used by the captain for trips to and from shore. The term appears in Chamber's Encyclopedia between 1727 and 1741, and as 'jolly' in the works of Frederick Marryat, though it may have been in use considerably earlier, as the record of the voyages of Francis Drake and John Hawkins has 'That day the Pegasus jolly was going on shore for water, carying no guarde. The Spaniards perceiving it came downe upon them.
Jolly boats were usually the smallest type of boat carried on ships, and were generally between 16 and 18 feet long. They were clinker-built and propelled by four or six oars. When not in use the jolly boat normally hung from davits at the stern of a ship, and could be hoisted into and out of the water. Jolly boats were used for transporting people and goods to and from shore, for carrying out inspections of the ship, or other small tasks and duties that required only a small number of people, and did not need the use of the larger boats, such as the launch or cutter. Jolly boats were carried on practically all types of warships of the Royal Navy during the age of sail, from ships of the line down to sloops and brigs. Ships of the line would carry a barge, launch, pinnace, two cutters, all of various sizes, and a jolly boat, while the brigs might just carry a jolly boat and a cutter.
The application of the jolly boat was developed further during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, particularly by the frigate commander Sir George Collier. Collier, who was active in the close blockade of the Spanish coast during the Peninsular War, combined the features of a jolly boat with those of a whaleboat and found the result extremely seaworthy and particularly effective in carrying out shore landings. The design was particularly buoyant and was often described as a type of lifeboat. Several captains ordered these boats for their own ships, while the Admiralty considered the possibility of ordering a general replacement of old-style jolly boats with the new 'lifeboat' design on several occasions, but were deterred by the cost. By 1815 however the Stores Committee had authorised the replacement of the old-style jolly boats with the improved versions as and when it proved practical for a ship's commander to carry this out.


Some 1,300 miles (2,100 km) west of Tahiti, near Tonga, mutiny broke out on 28 April 1789. Despite strong words and threats heard on both sides, the ship was taken bloodlessly and apparently without struggle by any of the loyalists except Bligh himself. Of the 42 men on board aside from Bligh and Christian, 22 joined Christian in mutiny, two were passive, and 18 remained loyal to Bligh.
The mutineers ordered Bligh, two midshipmen, the surgeon's mate (Ledward), and the ship's clerk into the ship's boat. Several more men voluntarily joined Bligh rather than remain aboard. Bligh and his men sailed the open boat 30 nautical miles (56 km) to Tofua in search of supplies, but were forced to flee after attacks by hostile natives resulted in the death of one of the men. Bligh then undertook an arduous journey to the Dutch port of Coupang, located over 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) from Tofua. He safely landed there 47 days later, having lost no men during the voyage except the one killed on Tofua.
The mutineers sailed for the island of Tubuai, where they tried to settle. After three months of being terrorized by the natives, however, they returned to Tahiti. Sixteen of the mutineers and the four loyalists who had been unable to accompany Bligh remained there, taking their chances that the Royal Navy would find them and bring them to justice.
Immediately after setting the sixteen men ashore in Tahiti in September 1789, Fletcher Christian, eight other crewmen, six Tahitian men, and 11 women, one with a baby, set sail in Bounty hoping to elude the Royal Navy. According to a journal kept by one of Christian's followers, the Tahitians were actually kidnapped when Christian set sail without warning them, the purpose of this being to acquire the women. The mutineers passed through the Fiji and Cook Islands, but feared that they would be found there. Continuing their quest for a safe haven, on 15 January 1790 they rediscovered Pitcairn Island, which had been misplaced on the Royal Navy's charts. After the decision was made to settle on Pitcairn, livestock and other provisions were removed from Bounty. To prevent the ship's detection, and anyone's possible escape, the ship was burned on 23 January 1790 in what is now called Bounty Bay.
Thirty-five years later in 1825, HMS Blossom on a voyage of exploration under Captain Frederick William Beechey, arrived on Christmas Day off Pitcairn and spent 19 days there. Captain Beechey later recorded this in his 1831 published account of the voyage, as did one of his crew, John Bechervaise, in his 1839 Thirty-Six years of a Seafaring Life by an Old Quarter Master. Beechey wrote a detailed account of the mutiny as recounted to him by the last survivor, Adams. Bechervaise, who described the life of the islanders, says he found the remains of Bounty and took some pieces of wood from it which were turned into souvenirs such as snuff boxes.

Christopher Columbus's Santa Maria 1492

Here are some images of Artesania Latina's 1/65 scale Santa Maria used by Christopher Columbus in 1492.

From Wikipedia"
The Santa María was probably a medium sized nao (carrack), about 58 ft (17.7 m) long on deck, "very little larger than 100 toneladas" (100 tons, or tuns) burthen, or burden, and was used as the flagship for the expedition. The other ships of the Columbus expedition were the smaller caravel-type ships Santa Clara, remembered as La Niña ("The Girl"), and La Pinta ("The Painted One"). All these ships were second-hand (if not third or more) and were never meant for exploration. The Niña, Pinta, and the Santa María were modest sized merchant vessels comparable in size to a modern yacht, and not the largest ships in Europe at the time. The exact measurements of length and width of the three ships have not survived, but good estimates of their size can be judged from contemporary Spanish and Portuguese ship wrecks from the late 15th and early 16th centuries; These include the ballast piles and keel lengths of the Molasses Reef Wreck and Highborn Cay Wreck in the Bahamas. Both were caravel type vessels 22 m (72 ft) in length overall, 12.6 m (41 ft) keel length and 5 to 5.7 m (16 to 19 ft) in width, and rated between 100 and 150 tons burden. The Santa María, being Columbus' largest ship, was only about this size, and the Niña and Pinta were even tinier, at only 50 to 70 tons burden (updated dimensional estimates are discussed below in the section entitled Replicas).
The Santa María was built in Castro-Urdiales, Cantabria, in Spain's north-east. It seems the ship was known to her sailors as Marigalante, Spanish for "Gallant Maria". The naos employed on Columbus's second voyage were named Marigalante and Gallega. Bartolomé de Las Casas never used La Gallega, Marigalante or Santa María in his writings, preferring to use la Capitana or La Nao.
The Santa María had a single deck and three masts. She was the slowest of Columbus's vessels but performed well in the Atlantic crossing. After engaging in festivities and drinking, Columbus ordered that the crew continue sailing to Cuba late into the night. One-by-one the crew kept falling asleep until only a cabin boy was steering the ship which caused the ship to run aground off the present-day site of Cap-Haïtien, Haiti on December 25, 1492, and was lost. Realizing that the ship was beyond repair, Columbus ordered his men to strip the timbers from the ship. The timbers from the ship were later used to build La Navidad (Christmas) because the wreck occurred on Christmas Day, north from the modern Limonade.
The anchor of the Santa María now resides in the Musée du Panthéon National Haitien (MUPANAH), in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Columbus's crew was not composed of criminals as is widely believed. Many were experienced seamen from the port of Palos in Andalusia and its surrounding countryside, as well as from the region of Galicia in northwest Spain. It is true, however, that the Spanish sovereigns offered an amnesty to convicts who signed up for the voyage; still, only four men took up the offer: one who had killed a man in a fight, and three friends of his who had then helped him escape from jail.
Despite the romantic legend that the Queen of Spain had used a necklace that she had received from her husband the King as collateral for a loan, the voyage was principally financed by a syndicate of seven noble Genovese bankers resident in Seville (the group was linked to Amerigo Vespucci and funds belonging to Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de Medici). Hence, all the accounting and recording of the voyage was kept in Seville. This also applies to the second voyage, even though the syndicate had by then disbanded.

Very little is known definitively about the actual dimensions of this vessel, since no documentation or illustration has survived from that era. Interest in reconstructing the Santa María started in Spain at around 1890 for the 400th anniversary of Columbus's voyage. The 1892 reconstruction, by the Spanish government, depicted the ship as a nao. A subsequent replica built in 1929 depicts the Santa María as a caravel without the high forecastle of the nao. As the ship is most commonly considered to have been a nao, the 1992 reconstruction returned to that model, and is generally considered to be an authoritative representation of modern consensus among academics and historians.
The 1992 replica was built by the Scarano Brothers Boat Building Company in Albany who later cut the ship in half with a chainsaw and transported it by semi truck to the Scioto River in Columbus, OH who paid for the replica in 1990. The replica cost about 1.2 million dollars. The ship was constructed out of white cedar wood as opposed to an oak wood used on the original to give the ship a long life in the Scioto River and to save on cost. The main mast was carved out of a single douglas fir tree like the original and was equipped with a top sail (since removed). The ship was built using power tools, with a hull length of 29.6 m (97 ft), keel length 16.1 m (53 ft), beam 7.9 m (26 ft), depth 3.2 m (10 ft) and load 223.8 metric tons of displacement. The foremast is 9.7 m (32 ft) high, the mainmast is 15.9 m (52 ft) and mizzen mast is 10.4 m (34 ft). The replica was declared by Jose Maria Martinez-Hidalgo, an internationally recognized Spanish marine historian, to be the most authentic replica of the Santa María in the world during the ship's coronation on October 12, 1991:

"I have studied Christopher Columbus for nearly fifty years. I can state that this Santa María has been perfectly rebuilt. Many compliments to the builders. I can think of only one real difference between this replica and the real Santa María. One was built in Europe, this one was built in America."

The mayor of Columbus, Dana Rinehart later christened the ship as part of the 500 year anniversary of Columbus sailing to the New World. It was rumoured that during the first christening of the ship, that the bottle did not break which is seen as bad luck. The replica has been a sight for tourism ever since.
Anchored in "Deep Sea Adventure Lake", West Edmonton Mall's Santa María is another replica located in Canada. Built at False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ship was hand-carved and hand-painted and then transported in flatbed trucks across the Rocky Mountains to Edmonton, Alberta. (I would like to point out that though its name is the Santa Maria, the ship in West Edmonton Mall looks more like a Spanish Gallion instead of a 15th century carrack).
The functional replica of Santa María was built on the island of Madeira, between July 1997 and July 1998, in the fishing village of Camara de Lobos by Robert Wijntje, a dutchman and by local craftsmen. Length of that ship is 22 m (72 ft), and width of 7 m (23 ft). In 1998, the Santa María represented the Madeira Wine Expo 98 in Lisbon, where she was visited by over 97 thousand people in only 25 days. Since then thousands more have sailed and continue to sail aboard that Santa María which is situated in Funchal.

The Mayflower

Here are some more images of Constructo's 1/65 scale Mayflower.

From Wikipedia"
When and where the Mayflower of the Pilgrim voyage of 1620 was built is not known, but it is not improbable that she was launched at Harwich in Essex county, England, and although later known ‘of London’, she was designated as ‘of Harwich’ in the Port Books of 1609-11. Harwich was the birthplace of Mayflower master Christopher Jones about 1570.
The Mayflower was rated at 180 tons—meaning it had a hold that could accommodate 180 casks of rum or wine—and was about 100 feet in length. Since Captain Jones became master eleven years prior to the Mayflower Pilgrims' voyage, the ship had sailed cross-Channel taking English woolens to France and bringing French wine to London. In addition to wine and wool, Jones had transported hats, hemp, Spanish salt, hops and vinegar to Norway and may have taken the Mayflower whaling in the North Atlantic in the Greenland area. It had traveled to Mediterranean ports, being then owned by Christopher Nichols, Robert Child, Thomas Short and Christopher Jones, the ship’s master. In 1620 Capt. Jones and Robert Child still owned their quarter shares in the ship, and it was from them that Thomas Weston chartered her in the summer of 1620 to undertake the Pilgrim voyage. Weston was deeply involved in the Mayflower voyage due to his membership in the investor group Merchant Adventurers, and eventually came to Plymouth Colony himself.
From the Port Books of England in the reign of James I (1603-1625), there were twenty-six vessels bearing the same name as the Pilgrim ship and the reason for such popularity has never been found.
A particular Mayflower that has caused historical confusion is a ‘Mayflower’ erroneously named as the Mayflower of the 1620 Pilgrims. This particular ship was partly owned by John Vassall and was outfitted for the queen in 1588 during the time of the Spanish Armada, a war for which he outfitted several ships. There are no records of this Vassall ‘Mayflower’ beyond 1594.
From records of the time, and to avoid confusion with the many other ‘Mayflower’ ships, the identity of Captain Jones’ Mayflower is based on her home port, her tonnage (est. 180-200 tons), and the master’s name in 1620.
August 1609 records first note Christopher Jones as master and part owner of the Mayflower when his ship was chartered for a voyage from London to Drontheim (Trondheim) in Norway, and back to London. Due to bad weather, on her return, the ship lost an anchor and made short delivery of her cargo of herrings. Litigation was involved and was proceeding in 1612.
In a document of January 1611, Christopher Jones is described as being ‘of Harwich’, and his ship is called the Mayflower of Harwich (in Essex co.). Records of Jones’ ship Mayflower have the ship twice in the Thames in London in 1613 – once in July and again in October and November.
Records of 1616 again state Jones’ ship was in the Thames and the noting of wine on board suggests the ship had recently been on a voyage to France, Spain, Portugal, the Canaries, or some other wine country.
After 1616, there is no record which specifically relates to Jones’ Mayflower until 1624. This is unusual for a ship trading to London, as it would not usually disappear for such a long time from the records. There is no Admiralty court document relating to the pilgrim fathers' voyage of 1620 that can be found. Perhaps the situation of the way the transfer of the pilgrims from Leyden to New England wa
The Mayflower embarked about sixty-five passengers in London, probably off Blackwall or Wapping, about the middle of July 1620 and proceeded down the Thames into the English Channel and then on to Southampton Water, the rendezvous, where for seven days she awaited the coming of the Speedwell, bringing the Leyden church members, who had sailed from Delfshaven about the 22nd of the month (Bradford).
About August 5, the two ships set sail for their destination. The unseaworthy Speedwell sprang a leak shortly after they put into Dartmouth for repairs. After the repairs, a new start was made. They were more than two hundred miles beyond Land’s End at the southwestern tip of England when Speedwell sprang another leak. Since it was now early September, they had no choice but to abandon the Speedwell and make a determination on her passengers. This was a dire event, as the ship had wasted vital funds and was considered very important to the future success of their settlement in America. Soon after the Mayflower continued on her voyage to America, Speedwell was sold, refitted, and, according to Bradford, “made many voyages…to the great profit of her owners.” Bradford later assumed that the Speedwell master Mr. Reynolds’s “cunning and deceit” (in causing what may have been ‘man-made’ leaks in the ship) had been motivated by a fear of starving to death in America.
In addition to the 102 passengers, the officers and crew consisted of about 50 persons, including about 36 men before the mast, bringing the total persons on board the Mayflower to about one hundred and fifty.
In early September, western gales begin to make the North Atlantic a dangerous place for sailing. The Mayflower's provisions, already quite low when departing Southampton, became much less by delays of more than of a month, and the passengers, having been aboard ship for all this time, were quite worn out by then and in no condition for a very taxing lengthy Atlantic journey cooped up in cramped spaces in a small ship. But on September 6, 1620, the Mayflower sailed from Plymouth with what Bradford called “a prosperous wind.”
The known names of the ship’s crew are as follows: Christopher Jones Captain/Governor; masters mates: John Clarke (Pilot), Robert Coppin (Pilot), Andrew Williamson and John Parker; Surgeon: Doctor Giles Heale; Cooper: John Alden. Alden would later marry Priscilla, daughter of William Mullins, Mayflower passengers, and together would have a large family.
Tradition has it that the last port in England for the Mayflower was actually not Plymouth but Newlyn in Cornwall on the Land's End peninsula when it was found that the water picked up at Plymouth was contaminated. Scholarly works do not mention this stop, but Newlyn has a plaque to this effort on its quay. Only the year "1620" is provided, with no date.
Aboard the Mayflower were many stores that supplied the pilgrims with the essentials needed for their journey and future lives. It is assumed that among these stores, they would have carried tools and weapons, including cannon, shot, and gunpowder; as well as some live animals, including dogs, sheep, goats, and poultry. Horses and cattle would come later. The Mayflower would also carry two boats: a long boat and a “shallop”, a sort of twenty-one foot dinghy. She also carried twelve artillery pieces (eight minions and four sakers), as the Pilgrims feared they might need to defend themselves against the Spaniards, Frenchmen, or the Dutch, as well as the Natives.

For more details on acquisition of the ship and the planning of the voyage, see Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony).

It had been a miserable passage with a huge wave crashing against the ship’s topside until a structural support timber fractured. So far the passengers had suffered agonizing delays, cold and the scorn and ridicule of the sailors, but had done everything they could the help the carpenter repair the fractured ship’s beam. A mechanical device called screw-jack was loaded on board to help them in the construction of homes in the New World. The beam was loaded into place with the screw jack making the Mayflower secure enough to continue the voyage.
There were two deaths, but this was only a precursor of what happened after their arrival in Cape Cod, where almost half the company would die in the first winter.
On November 9/19, 1620, they sighted land, which was present-day Cape Cod. After several days of trying to sail south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia where they had already obtained permission from the Company of Merchant Adventurers to settle, strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook, well north of the intended area. where they anchored on November 11/21. To establish legal order and to quell increasing strife within the ranks, the settlers wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact after the ship dropped anchor at the tip of Cape Cod on November 11/21, in what is now Provincetown Harbor. The Mayflower Compact was signed that day.
On Monday, November 27, an exploring expedition was launched to search for a settlement site under the direction of Christopher Jones. As master of the Mayflower, Jones was not required to assist in the search, but he apparently thought it in his best interest to assist the search expedition. There were thirty-four persons in an open shallop – twenty-four passengers and ten sailors. They were obviously not prepared for the bitter winter weather they encountered on their reconnoiter, the Mayflower passengers not being used to the winter weather much colder than back home. Due to the bad weather encountered on the expedition, they were forced to spend the night ashore ill-clad in below freezing temperatures with wet shoes and stockings that became frozen. “(s)ome of our people that are dead,” Bradford wrote,”took the original of their death here.”
The settlers explored the snow-covered area and discovered an empty native village. The curious settlers dug up some artificially made mounds, some of which stored corn, while others were burial sites. Nathaniel Philbrick claims that the settlers stole the corn and looted and desecrated the graves, sparking friction with the locals. Philbrick goes on to say that, as they moved down the coast to what is now Eastham, they explored the area of Cape Cod for several weeks, looting and stealing native stores as they went. He then writes about how they decided to relocate to Plymouth after a difficult encounter with the local native, the Nausets, at First Encounter Beach, in December 1620.
However, Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation records that they took "some" of the corn to show the others back at the boat, leaving the rest. Then, later, they took what they needed from another store of grain, paying the locals back in six months, and it was gladly received.

Also there was found more of their corn and of their beans of various colors; the corn and beans they brought away, purposing to give them full satisfaction when they should meet with any of them as, about some six months afterward they did, to their good content.

During the winter, the passengers remained on board the Mayflower, suffering an outbreak of a contagious disease described as a mixture of scurvy, pneumonia and tuberculosis. When it ended, there were only 53 passengers, just over half, still alive. Likewise, half of the crew died as well. In the spring, they built huts ashore, and on March 21/31, 1621, the surviving passengers disembarked from the Mayflower. The Mayflower lay in New Plymouth harbor through the winter of 1620-1. On April 5/15, 1621, the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth to return to England, where she arrived on May 6/16, 1621.
Due to the fear of Indian attack, in late February 1621, the settlers decided to mount “our great ordnances” on the hill overlooking the settlement. Christopher Jones supervised the transportation of the “great guns” – about six iron cannons that ranged between four and eight feet in length and weighed almost half a ton. The cannon were able to hurl iron balls as big as 3 ½ inches in diameter as far as 1,700 yards. This action made what was no more than a ramshackle village almost into a well-defended fortress.
Jones had originally planned to return to England as soon as the Pilgrims found a settlement site. But after his crew members began to be ravaged by the same diseases that were felling the Pilgrims, he realized he had to remain in Plymouth Harbor “till he saw his men began to recover.”
On April 5, the Mayflower, her empty hold ballasted with stones from the Plymouth Harbor shore, set sail for England. As with the Pilgrims, her sailors had been decimated by disease. Jones had lost his boatswain, his gunner, three quartermasters, the cook, and more than a dozen sailors. The Mayflower made excellent time on her voyage back to England. The westerlies that had buffeted her coming out pushed her along going home and she arrived at the home port of Rotherhithe in London on May 6, 1621 – less than half the time it had taken her to sail to America."
Jones died after coming back from a voyage to France on March 5, 1622, at about age 52. It is suggested that his journey to the New World may have taken its toll on him. For the next two years, the Mayflower lay at her berth in Rotherhithe, not far from the grave of Captain Jones at St. Mary’s church there. By 1624, the Mayflower was no longer useful as a ship and although her subsequent fate is unknown, she was probably broken up about that time. The Mayflower was the final casualty of a voyage that had cost her master, Christopher Jones, everything he could give.”
s arranged may account for this. Or possibly many of the records of the period have been lost.

TIE M1 Experimental (Bizarro)

Here are some more images plus an older composite of my scratch 'n ' bash 1/48 scale TIE M1 Experimental (Bizarro) from the Star Wars universe.

From Wookieepedia"
The TIE Experimental M1, also known as the TIE Bizarro, was an experimental member of the TIE series and a part of the TIE Experimental Project.
One of the starfighters built by an Imperial research project led by Director Lenzer under the command of Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin, the M1 consisted of a single standard TIE/LN starfighter wing panel with two wing braces connected to a pair of standard TIE series cockpit pods. The port pod held the control systems, and the starboard pod held a turbolaser much heavier than the laser cannons equipped on any previous TIE.
Both pods had the trademark twin ion engines of the TIE series, and the fighter was actually slightly faster than the standard TIE/LN. The fighter was equipped with a hyperdrive, which was slaved to remote systems in a controller ship.
Rebel forces first encountered the M1 when they responded to a distress signal from a civilian convoy near the Belat system. A pair of A-wings escorting a staff transfer from Defiance to Liberty picked up the distress call during a course change between hyperspace jumps and responded to the attack. They found a squadron of TIE Experimental M1 fighters attacking a Cloburi Freight convoy, while a Beta-class ETR-3 escort transport stood by. The A-wings defeated the TIE M1s with minimal Rebel or civilian losses.
Later, when the Alliance ordered an intelligence-gathering strike on a TIE Experimental production facility, several waves of M1 fighters were found in the station's defense screen. They were also present at the main research facility, defending the hangar ship Sardis and space station Obsidian.
After the destruction of space platform Obsidian, no TIE Experimental fighters were seen again.

Vulcan Long Range Shuttle Surak

Here are some more images of AMTs (Aluminum Model Toy) 1/187 scale Vulcan Long Range Shuttle Surak from Star Trek the Motion Picture.

From Memory Alpha"
A long range shuttle was a type of shuttlecraft utilized as a courier during the late 23rd century. They carried a Federation registry.
These long range shuttles featured a detachable cabin, capable of acting as an independent craft from the stardrive section.


In 2273, the long-range courier Surak transported Commander Spock from planet Vulcan to rendezvous with the USS Enterprise, which was en route to intercept V'Ger. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
In that same year, another long range shuttle, the Laika, attempted to contact the communications array Epsilon IX. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
A model of a long range shuttle was on display in the guest quarters aboard the USS Enterprise-D that the Brekkians Langor and Sobi stayed in late 2364. (TNG: "Symbiosis")
Wesley Crusher kept a similar model of the shuttle in his quarters aboard the Enterprise-D in 2365. (TNG: "The Dauphin")
A graphic display of a long range shuttle appeared on the USS Voyager's library computer screen that was viewed by One after Seven of Nine had activated the drone's linguistic database, and allowed him to assimilate information. (VOY: "Drone")
Throughout the rest of 2374, as well as in the year that followed, graphics of the long range shuttle appeared on the USS Defiant's library computer display. (DS9: "Favor the Bold", "Sacrifice of Angels", "What You Leave Behind")
The graphic was also seen among the data that Seven of Nine assimilated in early 2376. (VOY: "The Voyager Conspiracy")

Photo Montage

Here are a couple of photo montage's of my science and science fiction plus my aviation composites I have put together. I hope you like them.

Lambda Class Shuttle Composite

Here is my composite image of MPC's 1/72 scale Lambda Class Shuttle from the Star Wars universe against an intense star field.
The star field of course is a manipulation of an original star field created by Dark Maiden.

Images of the model can be seen here.