The Chat

[NARSES2]

This is the place for any general chit chat re the GB. Any questions on the rules should be asked/commented on in that thread

Chris

[Weaver]

Might as well use this for any 'inspirational' posts too.

[Weaver]

In that vein, since I shan't be competing, here's a loose background idea that I probably would have been using if I was. If anybody feels inspired by this, please feel free to use it or adapt it to your hearts content.

Towards the end of WWII, the Germans stage a last-minute rally based on high-tech (i.e. Luft'46-ish) weaponry. This results in the war dragging on into early 1946, and knocks the Russians back very badly. The western allies, who have more of their own high-tech stuff ready to go, are less badly affected, but the war essentially stalemates with the front lines approximately on the German borders until the Americans atom-bomb Berlin, thus bringing matters to a swift conclusion.

The result is that Soviet influence is considerably reduced, and a different post-war settlement is thrashed out in which a line of states separating East and West are designated 'treaty-neutrals' as a buffer between the two sides. These countries have a status similar to real-world Austria in that they are forbidden from entering political alliances (even with each other) and the quantity and nature of military hardware they can have is strictly limited to what's considered 'defensive'. They can import arms, but it must be on a strictly commercial basis, i.e. not as 'aid' or part of some political quid-pro-quo. All of this is monitored by an international commission. Many of them, particularly the ones with a pre-war industry or significant capability 'inherited' from the Germans choose to develop their own arms industries, partly to guarantee their independence and partly as a post-war jobs/industry/exports effort.

One possible list of Treaty Neutrals:

East Germany
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
Romania
Bulgaria


Alternative list of Treaty Neutrals:

East Germany
Czech Republic (i.e. Czechoslovakia partitioned)
Hungary
Serbia (i.e. Yugoslavia partitioned)
Macedonia
Bulgaria


Suggested rules for Treaty Neutrals:

No aircraft with more than two engines.

No aircraft with an internal bomb bay.

No guided or unguided rockets/missiles weighing over 250kg.

No AFV with a gun over 50mm calibre that has more than 90deg of rotation (so 'defensive' tank destroyers and armoured cars/light tanks are okay, but not MBTs).

No tube artillery over 155mm.

No atomic weapons, bio weapons or chemical weapons.



I intend to build a short series of Czech aircraft from this background (one of these year), on the basis that they inherited substantial Messerschmitt tooling from the Germans. Possibilities include:

Me 262/Avia S-99 (real world, just to confuse matters... ).
Developed Me 262 with greater wing sweep (from 1/100th Vautour).
P.1099 (fat multi-place 262) as a night fighter.
P.1111 as an advanced fighter.

[Dizzyfugu]

I have a bunch of projects on the long idea list that qualifies for this GB - a good reason to start them... First one will be an aircraft from the final Cold War stages, a model of the MiG-33 (or better Izdeliye 33, never went beyond that and some air tunnel models), the "F-16 that was not".

[Librarian]

Probably an also-ran colossal cliche but I rather like the idea of F-14s in RAF service, brought online from 1975 to replace Lightnings being phased out. Phoenix armed primarily as long-range bomber-killers with Tornado F3s as fighters. Be fun to see both next to each other in RAF greys.

[Steel Penguin]

a slew of variations on a theme
Challenger AAA GAU-8, or  a gun tank with a couple of sneb pods on, as a riff on the Guards armoured ones from the end of WW2 with the 60lb rockets, or with a crew in hull turret ( taken shamelessly from the table top RPG twilight 2000),  flame thrower version with trailer, 
Warrior,  maverick  guided missile carrier,  mortar vehicle ( tube in the back),  rescaled 1:35 PIVAD on a 1:48 hull, scout version with a camera arm similar to the US army FIST,   ignore the tracks add a skirt and make it a hover APC similar to the one from "the zone" books
Stalwart  "gun truck"  with multiple MGs and gunshields,   hillbilly MLRS ( more sneb pods)

for flyers,
ive got a TSR2 ( or 2 ) I could do in wrapround and stuff
a f-117A  in RAF colours,
RAF Chinook gunship
RAF osprey, possibly a cargo hauler, possibly a gunship / missler 
RAF A10,  ive got 2 in the stash one with no engines to convert to a prop job using the props from the trashed AC130

[Ed S]

Some Cold War inspiration.

A few years ago, the theme for our local club's annual contest was "The Cold War".  So my interpretation was a snowball fight between two groups of snowmen.









Ed

[zenrat]

I like that idea Ed.

However, for my main entry in the GB I shall be building a turboprop Beagle.  This will bear the markings of the People's Democratic Republic of Victoria.

[NARSES2]

a slew of variations on a theme
Challenger AAA GAU-8, or  a gun tank with a couple of sneb pods on, as a riff on the Guards armoured ones from the end of WW2 with the 60lb rockets,

Oh love the idea of the SNEB pods 

The Snowball fight is just inspired Ed 

[Dizzyfugu]

Those snow men are great! 

[Gondor]

I was just thinking, if we had an Irish themed group build then this part would be called "The Crack"

Gondor

[Librarian]

I like the idea of a GAU-8 on a tracked vehicle...been quietly reading several Googly pros and cons about the concept. I would have have thought a powerful APC would be the best platform with the entire soldier compartment reconfigured into a large ammo tank. If the APC had the speed and manoeuvrability it would be a useful suppression/distraction weapon rather than an actual tank killer....very effective against soft targets that tend to swarm around a tank-battle (think Kursk). In Anime they are superb at taking out walls, buildings etc....sledgehammer to crack a nut.

[Weaver]

I love that one Ed! 

On a similar 'playing with the words' theme, how about something like Ice Station Zebra, where the Cold War gets toe-to-toe confrontational in the Arctic or Antarctic?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Station_Zebra

[Weaver]

Probably an also-ran colossal cliche but I rather like the idea of F-14s in RAF service, brought online from 1975 to replace Lightnings being phased out. Phoenix armed primarily as long-range bomber-killers with Tornado F3s as fighters. Be fun to see both next to each other in RAF greys.

It was seriously considered in real life, with some RN admirals being particularly keen on the idea. The main arguments against it were cost, the F-14's engine troubles, and the fact that the F-14's future was uncertain at the time the decision had to be made. Cost issues didn't just affect the purchase price but also the cost of training with Phoenix, and without Phoenix, the Tomcat was felt to be over-price and over-spec.

You could easily concoct a scenario that comes to a different conclusion: cancelled MRCA programme, richer & more US-oriented UK, Speys to replace the TF-30s etc... It would probabkly be an alternative to the Tornado F.3 rahter than additional to it though.

[Steel Penguin]

Ed that is a brilliant take on the name   

Narses, if you ( or any one else for that matter) want to build anything I come out with,  grab the idea and run off giggling,  the differences in finish, scale and construction will make it different enough.