Herzog Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria von Österreich-Este

Gräf & Stift Bois de Boulogne phaeton 

On June 28 1914 at 10:45 am Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot and killed by Gavrilo Princip whilst riding in the back of this car with his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg who was also killed.

The car is housed at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna, where I took this photograph on July 4, 2009.

Within a few weeks, a chain of events would precipitate the commencement of the Great War, 1914-18.

In the words of British Foreign secretary Sir Edward Gray on August 3, 2014 "The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time". The British Empire entered the War at 23:00 GMT August 4, 2014.

More Shapeways Custom Aircraft

Here are my latest Shapeways 1/144 prints. I have not been able to find tail decals for the Short Bomber and Caudron G4 and, based on my last experiments, my hand is not steady enough to paint them free-style. Hopefully someone will make such decals eventually for a retrofit. Meanwhile, I am happy with the Shapeway models.  This time I used Frosted Ultra Detail (FUD) plastic for the SE5a's. As delicate as they are, I think this was worth the additional cost. Also given how expensive Wings of Glory SE5a's have become, a Shapeway model is a good alternative and a simple paint job. The Short Bomber, like my earlier Handley Page 0/400 was a joy to make and paint.

Short Bomber by Kampfflieger

Flight of SE5a's by Decapod

 

Caudron G4 by  Kampfflieger 

Caudron G-4 on reconnaissance near Verdun in 1917

Caudron G-4 on patrol near Laguna Niguel in 2014