To Whatiff or Not to Whatiff

[Daryl J.]

They are all what-ifs.  Some are slightly less so.




Daryl J., with a rare dogmatic statement  

[AeroplaneDriver]

What if the F-18 was 9" long?

What if the RAF lost the Battle of Britain because the Spitfires and Hurricanes were grounded by a lack of the correct color of paint.

[cthulhu77]

(which I never would as I hate scones).

Ah, but you have never had Shanyln's scones!  That Irish lass can bake these things that have a golden sugar crust, with a soft, textured inside stuffed with little bits of bitter chocolate that would make you cry.
 Unbelievably good...and I never likes scones before, either.

   Man, I am one lucky dude.

  Glad you all feel the same way. It really pissed me off to hear those wankers, to borrow another English term, jawing off about how incorrect certain bits were.

[david sMiGielski]

What cracks me up is seeing those types talk to active-duty military types, such as F-15 drivers. I was at an airshow once where a guy who looked like a sterotypical JMN (picture comicbook guy from The Simpons wearing a "Jet Noise, the sound of freedom" shirt) was proding the pilot about camo, FS#s, etc. The pilot finally responded: "It's grey."

My general response to those types is: you start paying for my kits, supplies, and time; then you can tell me how to build my models.

[The Rat]

...and one thing that was drilled into my head from every story they told was of the shortage of supplies at the front, and the amazing ability of the soldiers to "make do" with whatever they could find.

Back in the 70s our regiment had a few excercises with the Ohio National Guard, and on one occasion we were on the range and one of their blokes was deriding the fact that we were stuck with the FN C1 rifle, which in his opinion was useless because it was only semi-automatic. One of our chaps then did what every Canadian infantryman learned to do during the first week - he went behind a truck, quietly took apart the trigger group, inserted the shaft of a paper match in the right spot, reassembled it, laid down, and proceeded to fire off an entire magazine in beautiful burping full auto bursts.    

Congratulations Greg, you're a credit to the fraternity!  

[Brian da Basher]

Way to go, Greg!!! I think your response was most appropriate! Those guys that prattle on endlessly about the correct RLM color or the exact shade of Olive Drab have absolutely no connection with reality in my book. Kind of ironic that in their quest for "accuracy" they've totally missed the mark on how things work in the real world.

In my opinion, it takes a lot more knowledge to come up with a plausible what-if and backstory than it does to merely parrot some reference materials. I think those JMN reactions are more about those folks covering for their own lack of imagination and other indadequacies than it is about modelling. True skill and artistry cannot be denied. You either acknowledge and applaud it or pitch a fit because you didn't (or couldn't) think of it.

Brian da Basher

[Daryl J.]

BdB,

That's some very agreeable commentary.    


This ''Almost Lighter Than Air" Pirate airship in preliminary stages has required getting a set of plans for the 16-sided R-100 Airship, a trip to the CIA website for some facts for the backstory, and will require a lathe, brass, some welded exhausts, and a paper skin.    Not bad for a plastic kit eh?      Hasegawa's beautiful Bf-109K4 is a bit more simplistic isn't it.


The point being whatiffery when effective is an entirely different level of modeling.


:ar:
Daryl J.


Edit:  BdB, there will likely be no spats on the ''Almost Lighter Than Air" Airship, but it did pass through my mind!    

[Hobbes]

Since it doesn't make sense to have a non fun hobby, being a JMN makes as much sense as a 8 ft Wookie, living on Endor with 3 ft Ewoks.

Ah, the Chewbacca defence. I never expected to see that outside of Slashdot...  

[Mossie]

Glad you all feel the same way. It really pissed me off to hear those wankers, to borrow another English term, jawing off about how incorrect certain bits were.

'Wankers' is an excellent English term, & along with 'bollocks' (& Wooksta's Numpties) pretty much perfectly sums them up Greg!

Going off topic again, but is it true that some enterprising fella in New York got rich by naming his beer 'Wanker' (guess most Americans are unaware of it's meaning over here), covering the label in pics of scantilly clad ladies & selling it by the bucket load to British ex-pats?!?

Simon.

[Gary]

I pointed out to a JMN one day that his model of a tank was made of plastic.

Wot?

I pointed out that the fact that the model was 1/35th scaled the original and made of plastic thus rendered it an inaccurate reproduction of the original. If he wanted to make something truely accurate he needed to go to a foundry and have the exact mix of metals made, then cast or wielded using accurate plans, have the correct engine scratch built and the exact octaine of fuel and SAE's of lubricants mixed to match the standards of the day. Then he had to convince a paint company to blend the perfect colour of lead based paints and it would have to be sprayed by a compressor at the exact pressure, from an exact replica spray gun. Then there was the issue of ammunition and applying for the license's to build an obtain explosives and projectiles of the correct calibre. The explosive mix had to conform to the then mix of nitrates etc. Radio gear would have to be scratch built and glass for the lenses and such would have to be manafactured in the exact manner glass was in the day.

The guy looked kind of blank at this. After a considerable pause I pointed out that in so far as accuracy is concerned neither of us is accurate, we simply have varrying degrees of inaccuracy. He's now a great friend and has since taken the challange to build a wiff, an IDF Panther tank. I'll see if I can get a pic.

[The Rat]

Great reply Gary! Next time somebody tries that take it one step further - ask them if they want to go to war in a styrene tank.    

[cthulhu77]

Great reply Gary! Next time somebody tries that take it one step further - ask them if they want to go to war in a styrene tank.  

Crikey, don't give our politician's any ideas!
   Congressman Trentnor ®:
        "Is it true that styrene based main battle tanks would be cheaper to produce, yet the weapons plant could charge the same amount?'

    Male aid with the tight pants:
       "Yes sir, but wouldn't that cause more casualties in our armed services?"

   Congressman:
      "Let me worry about that. Now email me some naughty pictures."        

[Alvis 3.1]

When I get stunningly rich, I'm forming a legal firm: Bollocks, Wanker and Numptie.



Alvis 3.1

[nev]

Basically, they were ridiculing the what if models that I make now and again as being historically innaccurate, and therefore, not true models

Incredible that anyone would even question your models Greg.  You are, without question, one of THE most talented modellers I have ever had to pleasure to "know".  As far as this website goes, you are on the same Champions League level as JHM, Wolfik, Leigh & Matrixone.

You combine oodles of imagination with veritable bucket-loads of talent, and you have the courage to combine the two to create the most incredible models.

Screw the JMNs.




[size=8]but that painting of yours still scares me[/size]

[cthulhu77]

Nev, praise like that from you is like having icing on a great cake (or scone), and a double of single malt on the side !
  The quality of models produced on this site certainly give a lie to the JMN's who say that whatiffer's can't build  !

  Oh yeah, and this is for you: