What-if versus fantasy

[AS.12]

Something that came to mind the other day: is there a point at which wiffery becomes fantasy?

Just to use a neutral example:

1. MiG-29 with Finnish markings: close-to reality WHIF, since the Finns did evaluate it.
2. MiG-29 with RAF markings: veering into fantasy now.
3. MiG-29 with forward-swept-wings: pure fantasy, no real-World basis.
4. MiG-29 combined with a submarine: well...

I suppose what I'm anchored on is a real-World point of divergence; I'm not comfortable with ideas that have no grounding in something that wasn't speculatively reported in Flight, for example. 

Perhaps I'm just to closed-minded?

[zenrat]

5. MiG-29 combined with an octopus...

All whiffs and all fantasy IMO.

[kitbasher]

And that's all OK, A.S.12, whatever floats your boat!  One's proximity to reality is one's choice.  Just like real life

[strobez]

5. MiG-29 combined with an octopus...

All whiffs and all fantasy IMO.

Do you count the rivets... or the suckers?

[TheChronicOne]

Well, I've always had plans to make a twin fuselage Spitfire that carries a mini-sub in the middle that it can drop into the ocean.

It will be the Submarine Splitfire.


That said, limiting oneself to only building things that are one degree from reality seems far too restrictive to me. But, If that's what floats yer boat, then go for the gusto! Nothing wrong with that at all. 

[Old Wombat]

I've always considered whiffery to be a rather well-developed arm of science fiction, personally.

[Rheged]

Personally, I don't really care how it is categorised, just as long as patrons of this site keep up their superb output of models/artwork/backstories etc for us all to enjoy.

[JayBee]

I think that the first question you have to consider is " Fantasy ". What exactly is it?
My thoughts are that anything considered as What If can also be considered as Fantasy, and likewise anything considered as Fantasy is also a What If idea.
Seriously, in all cases, you are asking What If this is how it was.

Anyway, I have my own personal rules for building What If models:

1/ Model built OOB but with a variation in the markings.

2/ Model built but with some modifications, to make it different from the original.

3/ Subject built from existing model(s) but with significant changes, to make a new creation.

4/ Totally scratch built idea.

5/ Anything Sci-Fi.

It does not matter how far your mind strays from reality (ask Dali and Picasso), in this world it is the unbounded creativity that is our forte.

Cheers guys, keep taking the tablets. 

[Weaver]

I can get my head into (and out of - important) various different frames of reference. To me, being more grounded in sci-fi than fantasy, the important thing is that things are internally consistent within the frame of reference. So if the premise is "what if WWII started in 1938?", then I don't expect to see dragons and magic spells, however if the premise is "what would a sword-and-sorcery world look like if it advanced to the diesel-punk era?" then I'm fine with giant eagles battling Bf-109s...

[NARSES2]

And that's all OK, A.S.12, whatever floats your boat!  One's proximity to reality is one's choice.  Just like real life

Agree totally. I've thought about this myself on the odd occasion and never come to a satisfactory answer so I've given up. The nearest I got was :-

What if - the subject is plausible

Fantasy - the subject isn't.

However the problem with that is that what is plausible to me, isn't necessarily so to others and vice versa. So as said, I gave up.

5. MiG-29 combined with an octopus...

All whiffs and all fantasy IMO.

Do you count the rivets... or the suckers?

[Weaver]

Also, the plausibility level can vary between the basic premise and what you do with it in detail. For instance, you could concoct any number of backgrounds involving 'extra' countries, big islands in the Pacific or Atlantic for example, which are preposterous in and of themselves, but then work out military history and technology for them which is 100% grounded in real-world principles and 'fits' perfectly into whatever era you're considering. Is this fantasy, sci-fi, what-iffery, alt-history, all of the above, something else entirely, and does it even matter?

[NARSES2]

Harold, that's exactly why I stopped trying to work it out 

[zenrat]

If it didn't happen, then it's fantasy.

In this time line anyway.

[The Rat]

'Reality'? Had to look up that word. Could be an interesting world to explore, but seems a bit restrictive. 

[PR19_Kit]

'Reality'? Had to look up that word. Could be an interesting world to explore, but seems a bit restrictive. 

CLASSIC! I love it! 

Quote Wikipedia 'Reality is all of physical existence, as opposed to that which is merely imaginary.'

'Merely' imaginary? How DARE they!!!!