GB proposal: Africa!

[ChernayaAkula]

Having recently watched "Blood Diamond", "The Constant Gardener" and "Wild Geese" again (each for the umpteenth time), I thought an Africa-themed GB would be cool.

The main idea is that the build has something to do with Africa. Basically, the only rule would be that an entry would have to be based in Africa or at least be tied into a backstory centred around Africa. Apart from that, let your imagination run wild.  

- South African F-16/Lightning/Mi-24.... Kenyan Gripen/MiG-21/Leopard 1... Rhodesian A-10/OV-10/Harrier...Cote d'Ivoirean J-10... Libyan or Moroccan Rafale..... you get the idea...
- Imperial Ethiopian Air Force Dewoitine D.520/Spitfire/Hawker Hunter.... Songhai Empire Albatros D.V.... Carthagian MiG-21.... Pharaonic Egypt Spitfire/Type 22 frigate (with eye above the ram bow)
- Portuguese A-10s over Mozambique, British Sabres over Kenya, German Fokkers over Deutsch-Ostafrika....
- Warsaw Pact and NATO fighting out a war in an African setting
- Gekko's Lightnings over Burkina Faso story
- creating your own African country
- what would Bongoswana's airline look like? Or it's railway company?
- improvised aircraft, armour, whathaveyou (mix Fishbed forward fuselage with Mirage 5 rear fuselage and wings and stick some Congolese roundels on it or Centurion turrets on T-55 hulls operated by Nigeria)
- build something from Larry Bond's "Vortex"
- pirate-busting in Somalia
- whiffed COIN aircraft
- technicals/gun trucks
- whiffed transport in UN colours
- British vs. French in Africa (instead of America)
- more CIA aircraft in Congo or Biafra
- UN in Congo Crisis (2000s instead of 1960s): Swedish Gripens instead of Tunnans, Iranian F-4s instead of Sabres, Indian Su-30 instead of Canberras
- USN TPS F-4s could take part if the backstory is set in Africa. The backstory would have to be a bit more elaborate in that case.
- wrecked piece of equipment. Build something that hasn't been used in ages and weather the heck out of it

- standalone profiles and backstories are very welcome, too. It doesn't have to be plastic (or resin, PE....) models only.


This could be a very colourful GB. Any type of model, from the usual suspects ( aircraft and armour) to ships, figures and cars, could take part. It all very much depends on the backstory.

Just throwin' this out there! How about it?

REASONS FOR EDIT
- forgot about the wrecked equipment before
- 19th of Dec: included profiles and backstories in the options list (sorry I forgot that earlier)

[Daryl J.]

Very broad spectrum.

I like it.


Perhaps Porco Rosso and Curtiss met off the shores of Tripoli.   Perhaps Sopwith made a Desert Camel.     And the Dreamliner AWACS patrols the sands of the Sahara.   And the Viking longboats hauled Obelisks down the Nile.   

[puddingwrestler]

Steam powered cybernetically enhanced gorillas VS dinosaurs. Need I say more?

[philp]

I would support this GB idea.

[Fulcrum]

I could take part if my possible contribution is a profile with a back story(hmmm... some african air force with flankers ...)

Not depending on if I paricipate or not, I would still support the GB idea.

[thedarkmaster]

I would support it for as i have said before " gotta love African roundels"  .........

[beowulf]

depending on the 'when' it happens, i might be in 

[ysi_maniac]

 

[GTX]

I could be in for this - already have an idea.

There are also some ideas in my A Simple Issue of Metals story, such as this:



Regards,

Greg

[Taiidantomcat]

I am very much in on this one. Look up Gekko's African profiles if you need inspiration (worked on me I have dozens of African jets planned now) 

[pyro-manic]

I predict a run on Zotz decal sheets! Sounds like a great idea.

[ChernayaAkula]

Cool to see people would be interested.   Damian's/Greg's Mustang above is a prefect example of what could be done for such a GB.

Another thing that I forgot is a wrecked piece of equipment. Build something that hasn't been used in ages and weather the heck out of it.   Say, some MiG towed to a forlorn corner of the airport and left there to rot (for lack of spares or because it was retired). Tropical humidity, scorching sun and general neglect leave their marks, yellowed, blind canopy, sagged landing gear oleo, flaps, body panels or radomes scavenged for spare parts for other aircraft.

Very broad spectrum.
I like it.

Yeah, a very broad spectrum indeed. That's why I mulled over this GB suggestion for such a long time. Is it maybe too broad? In some cases, only the backstory would tie a build into this GB. On the other hand, I thought that Africa as a setting hasn't seen much action in whiffing (apart from SAAF builds  ), let alone in GBs, although the setting could make for some wild and wonderful creations, from camouflage schemes to constructions. Therefore I thought that having such a broad spectrum (not limited in time or type subject) might garner interest from all aspects of whiffing. In a way, this would be one of them "blank canvas" things with a pretty open terms, as opposed to, say, the Spanish Civil War GB, where the time and "area of operations" were pretty well outlined.

One of the grey areas (wide vs. too wide) could be the USN Phantom in TPS colours operating from a carrier off the African coast. What sprang this idea were the USN Hornets flying off US carriers in Larry Bond's "Vortex". In case one wanted to build such an F-4 for the GB, I think there should be a more elaborate than usual backstory, lining out why this certain F-4 flies in this and that configuration, with some wider remarks regarding the circumstances or a short story of such a sortie.

Perhaps Porco Rosso and Curtiss met off the shores of Tripoli.   Perhaps Sopwith made a Desert Camel.     And the Dreamliner AWACS patrols the sands of the Sahara.   And the Viking longboats hauled Obelisks down the Nile.    

Oh yeah! And with US Marines landing on the shores of the pirate hide-outs. Think that the Porco Rosso idea could be one where only the backstory would keep it in the realms of the GB. A dio that shows a bit of the harbour of Tripoli where the planes are moored could change things, though.
The Desert Camel ( ), on the other hand, could make perfect sense. Flying from Kenya in a scheme fit to camouflage it against the bush, such a Sopwith could combat Lettow-Vorbeck's aviation assets.  

I could take part if my possible contribution is a profile with a back story(hmmm... some african air force with flankers ...)

I'd say that profiles and/or backstories are very welcome to such a GB.   Many of the recent GBs had a special poll for profiles and backstories and I think that this GB should do this the same way.

[Daryl J.]

Smugglers looting Treasures of the Pharoahs loading them into the bombay of something appropriate rather than the gold being unloaded from the bay of the Douglas airliner in the original Italian Job.       Worn out Flak 88's pulled by teams of camels,  dusty old VW's, Demag 10's,  & Canberras,  shiny Cigarette boats & Rolls Royces, etc. etc. etc.  A pat answer to where some of the P-47N's or Hellcats went to?    Indiana Jones as you would have told the story.  Endless endless possibilities.    


Apart from the word 'woman', few single words call to the exotic, the mysterious like 'Africa'.    It's one of my favorite suggestions to-date on all the interwebs beginning with Mike Reeve's Bucc Off from the late 1990's, from which the nearly-finished NeOmega cockpit still resides in my basement.  



Daryl J.

[Gondor]

I could take part if my possible contribution is a profile with a back story(hmmm... some african air force with flankers ...)

Not depending on if I paricipate or not, I would still support the GB idea.

Some African air forces already have operated the flanker......

see here http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/BT7225

Gondor

[Fulcrum]

Yeah, I'll avoid Ethiopia, Eritrea, Angola, Algeria.