2019/2020 GB Season suggestions.

[NARSES2]

4. The Edsel Memorial GB - glorious, ridiculous, ugly failures

I do like the sound of this one. It might even combine with the Dick Dastardly/Wylie Coyote sort of vibe.

Must admit I like it to, and was thinking of possibly linking it as per your suggestion to give it a better chance. We shall see.

[NARSES2]

Also how about 'swords into ploughshares' (done in the past I think) ot 'ploughshares into swords'?  And the latter wouldn't just be a case of impressed civil stuff but civil stuff repurposed into a military role.

Your getting old mate. You already nominated this on page 1  Mind you in fairness you have since added the ploughshares into swords'   

I may well combine them in the Poll

[kitbasher]

Also how about 'swords into ploughshares' (done in the past I think) ot 'ploughshares into swords'?  And the latter wouldn't just be a case of impressed civil stuff but civil stuff repurposed into a military role.

Your getting old mate. You already nominated this on page 1  Mind you in fairness you have since added the ploughshares into swords'   

I may well combine them in the Poll

Ha ha ha!
I was
a) emphasising the suggestion.
b) making sure you're paying attention.

That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  Will be keeping an eye on you in future, mateyboy! 

[NARSES2]

That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  Will be keeping an eye on you in future, mateyboy! 

Yup. Those who live in glass houses etc

[Weaver]

The Earl(ier) Jets GB

We often see What-If scenarios where jet engines are never invented, thus giving an excuse for 'ultimate' prop-jobs to get into service. However, what if it was the other way around, and jets became practical up to ten years earlier? A lot of the delay in getting them into service was down to lack of support and funding, so you might imagine a scenario where governments get solidly behind them in the early 1930s, with the result that jet aircraft enter squadron service just before WWII starts.

There are some easy things you could do for this of course, such as Meteor/Vampire Mk.1s in green/brown cammo with black/white undersides, or operational He 280s. However there are also some more conceptual things to think about. The real-life early jets benefitted from experience gained on the brutal learning curve of the early years of WWII. Without that, if they were based on the mixture of right and wrong ideas knocking around in the late 1930s, what might they have looked like? Jet turret fighters? Jet three-seater 'fighter control' aircraft? Also, how many more Yak-15-style converted piston types with a jet in/under the nose would have appeared as first steps? Would the first Spitfire have been literally spitting fire?

[zenrat]

The Earl(ier) Jets GB

We often see What-If scenarios where jet engines are never invented, thus giving an excuse for 'ultimate' prop-jobs to get into service. However, what if it was the other way around, and jets became practical up to ten years earlier? A lot of the delay in getting them into service was down to lack of support and funding, so you might imagine a scenario where governments get solidly behind them in the early 1930s, with the result that jet aircraft enter squadron service just before WWII starts.

There are some easy things you could do for this of course, such as Meteor/Vampire Mk.1s in green/brown cammo with black/white undersides, or operational He 280s. However there are also some more conceptual things to think about. The real-life early jets benefitted from experience gained on the brutal learning curve of the early years of WWII. Without that, if they were based on the mixture of right and wrong ideas knocking around in the late 1930s, what might they have looked like? Jet turret fighters? Jet three-seater 'fighter control' aircraft? Also, how many more Yak-15-style converted piston types with a jet in/under the nose would have appeared as first steps? Would the first Spitfire have been literally spitting fire?

Excellent.  If this gets selected then I have an excuse to buy the Clear Prop Gloster E28/39.

[loupgarou]

The Earl(ier) Jets GB

We often see What-If scenarios where jet engines are never invented, thus giving an excuse for 'ultimate' prop-jobs to get into service. However, what if it was the other way around, and jets became practical up to ten years earlier? A lot of the delay in getting them into service was down to lack of support and funding, so you might imagine a scenario where governments get solidly behind them in the early 1930s, with the result that jet aircraft enter squadron service just before WWII starts.

There are some easy things you could do for this of course, such as Meteor/Vampire Mk.1s in green/brown cammo with black/white undersides, or operational He 280s. However there are also some more conceptual things to think about. The real-life early jets benefitted from experience gained on the brutal learning curve of the early years of WWII. Without that, if they were based on the mixture of right and wrong ideas knocking around in the late 1930s, what might they have looked like? Jet turret fighters? Jet three-seater 'fighter control' aircraft? Also, how many more Yak-15-style converted piston types with a jet in/under the nose would have appeared as first steps? Would the first Spitfire have been literally spitting fire?

With gull wings, fixed undercarriage and spats, obviously! 

[Weaver]

The Three's Company GB.

We're always making up fictional countries and writing histories for them, but the history of companies can be just as interesting. The challenge therefore, is to make up a fictional manufacturing company, or radically alter the story of a real one, and then build three models that illustrate that history. It doesn't have to be aircraft and it doesn't have to be military: if you can make up an interesting bus company and find/scratch the models then go for it.

[NARSES2]

Right just over a week to go and then I'll collate the suggestions and organise the Poll

[Weaver]

The Weapons GB.

Another thing we're always doing is concentrating on the weapon platforms, rather than the weapons themselves, so how about a GB where the object is to build a what-if weapon? Eligible items might include missiles, bombs, rockets or guns (everything from small arms up to artillery pieces). The principle is that it should be a single-use device intended to cause damage or destruction to a target, and the element which does the destruction should be un-crewed (a gun is crewed but it's shells arn't), the exception being devices wherein the crew is supposed to die in the process, i.e. a suicide weapon like an Ohka.

The question arises: to what degree should launch vehicles be included in the build, i.e. if you build an anti-aircraft missile, can you build the launch vehicle it travels on? I would say yes, if the launch vehicle is single-purpose. That is to say, it has no purpose other than carrying and launching the weapons. Thus a tank chassis used as a SAM launcher would count, but a fighter plane carrying an ASM wouldn't, since the fighter plane can do other things too.

[sandiego89]

I think there are some interesting anniversaries that could serve as themes:

2019: D-Day, 75th Anniversary of D-Day (modification of kitbashers nomination if ok kitbasher).  Build something that could have played a part in D-Day, sea, air, land, either side.

2019: Soccer War 50th Anniversary.  Build something in Central American service in the 1969 timeframe.

2020. Discovery of Antarctica 200th Anniversary.  Build something that could have operated in, near or over Antarctica.  Sea, air, land, ice.  Any time frame from 1820 to 2020.  Secret Nazi bases allowed, aliens not.     

[kitbasher]

2019: D-Day, 75th Anniversary of D-Day (modification of kitbashers nomination if ok kitbasher).  Build something that could have played a part in D-Day, sea, air, land, either side.

Not a problem, it's exactly what I had in mind.

[Dizzyfugu]

Oh, I can see a lot of BW stripes coming along...

[Rheged]

The Three's Company GB.

We're always making up fictional countries and writing histories for them, but the history of companies can be just as interesting. The challenge therefore, is to make up a fictional manufacturing company, or radically alter the story of a real one, and then build three models that illustrate that history. It doesn't have to be aircraft and it doesn't have to be military: if you can make up an interesting bus company and find/scratch the models then go for it.

I could quite fancy this one.  Start with the Supermarine  Spitfire, go on to the Supermarine Scimitar, then the 1982 Supermarine Switchblade ( a swing wing carrier based strike aircraft)  the 1995 Supermarine Skean Dhu ( a small VTOL  strike fighter capable of being positioned on container vessels) and finally the Supermarine Stiletto of 2037, an exo-atmospheric interceptor of  the Royal Naval Air Service  Aerospace Command.   ...................and as for the sidearm, sickle, skewer, scythe , scalpel , sabre, spike, spear, slingshot, shotgun  and sword........ladies, gentlemen, fellow whiffers and other indeterminate sentient beings.............I await your ideas.  We haven't even touched on the civilian splendid, superb, sybarite or swan yet!   I might even try to write up a backstory for the company  for someone else more manually dextrous than me to transmute into styrene or resin.

[PR19_Kit]

Alliteration Rules OK!