2019/2020 GB Season Possible Topics

[NARSES2]

Right gentlemen I've been through all the suggestions and made some small changes by combing some similar ones in order that they stand a better chance in the Poll and also by fleshing out a couple of the others, again so that they stand a better chance.

Can people have a look through the list and check that I haven't missed any out or that the changes I've made haven't affected the "feel" of the original suggestion. Also please check for more general screw ups - there's bound to be some 

If anyone would like some of the suggestions fleshing out then please ask and I will do my best.

I'll leave this open for 10 days or so and then I'll organise the actual Poll it'self.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Chris

1. The anywhere but Europe and North America GB. Build anything from anywhere in or that has anything to do with Asia, Africa, South and Central America and the Pacific Ocean and its environs.

2. Former members of the Warsaw Pact. Anything to do with those countries that were part of it, including the then Soviet Union, since it's demise.

3. Singles twinned or twins singled. Take a single engine aircraft and give it multiple engines or reverse the process and make a multi engine one into a single engine aircraft. (Yes I know the title is "twinned" but it rolls of the tongue better than "multi engine singled".

4. In the Navy (can be vehicles, boats, aircraft or figures as long as they are naval subjects)

5. Firsts. Build something that represents the first "something" to do/achieve something in the Whiff Universe. First to the Moon, first to cross the Pacific, first to break the speed of light etc. You get the idea.

6. . "Means of propulsion GB". Submit a subject that has a significant change in the means or type of propulsion: piston to turbine, sail to steam, horse to horseless, rotor to fixed, piston to turboprop, gas to electric, coal to nuclear, jet to rocket,  etc.  Changes using variation of the same mode of power NOT allowed: bigger engines, turbo/supercharger, adding more of the same engine, booster jets etc.

7. "Out of retirement GB". Bring a museum piece or retired type back into service. Type should be recognized as being out of major service, but also allowing for nearly retired types such as a target tug reverted back to front line service, types being used as technical demonstration examples being brought back into service etc.

8. D-Day. 75th anniversary of the 6th June 1944.

9. The Munich Agreement never happened. So WWII commences in March 1938 with France and the GB declaring war on Germany in defence of Czechoslovakia. What happens in Spain ? What does Italy do etc ?

10. The United Commonwealth of North America. What would have happened if the Empire Loyalists had won back in the day ?

11. What if the jet engine hadn't been invented or hadn't worked. Do what it says on the lid and build something that reflects designers not having recourse to jet technology, but perhaps the rocket engine would still have been available to them.

12. Swords into ploughshares. Again do what it says it says on the lid and convert something that had been designed purely with warlike thoughts in mind but then went on to find useful service post conflicts in civilian use.

13. "Red". Something quite abstract that's pretty free for interpretation and can be anything from a standard vehicle in a whiffy red livery, fire engines, Ferrari whifs, mecha galore, figures, maybe something Soviet from the Cold War era, or other weird ideas in... red, Red Herrings came to Jim's mind for instance (I hummed and ahhed about appending other colours to this, but in the end decided to just stick with the one option)

14. The James Bond GB. Fairly self explanatory I think

15. Stop That Pigeon GB/Whacky Races GB - AKA Dastardly & Muttley and "friends" in their flying or road machines GB.  Build something that would not look out of place in the cartoons.

16. Special Schemes GB.  The special schemes that never were (E.g. Luftwaffe BoB 75th anniversary Eurofighter) or RW special schemes transplanted to other aircraft (E.g. one of the more colourfull Japanese schemes on an RAF F-35) or a special scheme on something other than an aircraft (E.g. Agincourt commemorative scheme Centurion, Armada commemorative scheme on a submarine ?).

17. Armoured Vehicles GB.  Armoured cars, armoured trucks, armoured trains, armoured boats, armoured aircraft.  Take a vehicle and add armour.

18. Simply the best GB.  Build it and justify it  Biggest, fastest, highest, deepest, most expensive...I think the justification is almost as important as the model itself in this build.

19. Between the wars GB.  1919 to 1938.  You must use the technology that was actually available at the time.

20. Sports Team GB.  Paint something in the colours of your favourite team.

21. Doctors and Nurses GB.  Ambulances, hospital ships, flying doctor...

22. Scaleorama GB.As it says on the lid, take a kit that is in one scale and build it into something that is in another – a 1/72 kit becomes a model of something but in 1/48 etc.

23. The build anything as long as it can't fly, was never intended to fly and can't be made to fly. You get the idea I think.

24. Parts Box GB.  Build something from spare parts.  50% by weight of the finished model must be from the parts box.  The rest can be scratchbuilt, aftermarket, kitbashed, found or whatever.  Almost impossible to police but I like to think we can all trust each other to be honest. 

25. The Government's  Run Out of Money GB – Extend the service lifetime of items of kit by a ridiculous extent. General Eisenhower touring the troops in Kent before D-Day in a Model T Ford etc.

26. The No one Loves Monoplanes GB - monoplanes converted to biplanes, triplanes, sesqui-planes etc. Just make sure it has more then one wing.

27. The Asymmetrically Perfect GB - whatever it is (aircraft, vehicle, ship, space invader) build it so that there is no symmetry around any axis. (We could almost call this the Tophe GB)

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

29. The Leonardo Da Vinci GB – Anything based on his ideas using any and all means of propulsion, methods of flight etc.

30. Wet Stuff GB.  Anything designed to operate on or in the water.  Carrier aircraft included.

31. Europe PPLS 1936-43  - Projects, prototypes & limited series, but strictly within the timeframe.

32. The Earl(ier) Jets GB. What-If  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. This leads to some interesting possible scenarios. 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?

33. 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.

34. The Weapons GB. We generaly as Wiffers seem to concentrate 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 aren't), the exception being devices wherein the crew is supposed to die in the process, i.e. a suicide weapon like an Ohka. Launch vehicles can be included in the build, as long it 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.

35. 2019: Soccer War 50th Anniversary.  Build something in Central American service in the 1969 timeframe.

36. 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.     

37. The Para-national GB:  Doesn't matter what you do... create anything... but it has to be affiliated with a nation that doesn't currently exist. Could be historic like the Roman Empire, the Aztecs etc or a completely made up nation. I'm not sure what to do about something like the Hapsburg Empire which ceased to exist as an empire but where the individual parts carried on ? We'll consider this if the subject gets selected (I have a scenario where WWI never happens and the Hapsburgs continue through to the modern day)

38. Camper van GB.  Convert anything into a camper van - car, ship, tank, aircraft.  I can already envisage a sky van with a pop-top and an awning...

39. Trikes and taildraggers: just what it says, take any aircraft and swap the landing gear arrangement. It's easy to change a tricycle gear to conventional, but a fair bit of surgery to go the other way.

[JayBee]

13. "Red". Something quite abstract that's pretty free for interpretation and can be anything from a standard vehicle in a whiffy red livery, fire engines, Ferrari whifs, mecha galore, figures, maybe something Soviet from the Cold War era, or other weird ideas in... red.  (I hummed and ahhed about appending other colours to this, but in the end decided to just stick with the one option)

Chris,

there was another variation on the "Red" idea proposed some years ago that you may like to include here.

the RED HERRING GB.

[Rheged]

That is a very comprehensive list, Chris.  Thank You for sorting it out and promulgating it so clearly.   Now comes the really difficult bit.....making a sensible series of choices from such a magnificent array!!

[zenrat]

Good work Chris.

I started noting down points relating to some of the items but then realised I was being far too pedantic and nothing was that important it might affect selection.

[NARSES2]

there was another variation on the "Red" idea proposed some years ago that you may like to include here.

the RED HERRING GB.

Cheers Jim. Noted and acted upon 

[NARSES2]

Good work Chris.

I started noting down points relating to some of the items but then realised I was being far too pedantic and nothing was that important it might affect selection.

Believe you me mate that is so easy to do, and indeed it is something I used to try and do, almost got the lawyers in 

However now I've gone the other way and try and make them as open as possible, unless by its very title the subject is a "closed" one. I feel this gives everyone's suggestion a better shot at getting selected, plus the majority of builds tend to be based around the core of the origional suggestion anyway.

[Old Wombat]

There are a number of these subjects I would be glad to see up & running but the three below would be SO useful in getting my arse into gear!

4. In the Navy (can be vehicles, boats, aircraft or figures as long as they are naval subjects)

17. Armoured Vehicles GB.  Armoured cars, armoured trucks, armoured trains, armoured boats, armoured aircraft.  Take a vehicle and add armour.

30. Wet Stuff GB.  Anything designed to operate on or in the water.  Carrier aircraft included.

I'm so far behind on armour builds that it's almost become ridiculous calling myself an "armour modeller who dabbles in aircraft"!

4. & 30. are interchangeable as either can get me building ships & I have quite a collection building in the stash, untouched!

[NARSES2]

4. & 30. are interchangeable as either can get me building ships & I have quite a collection building in the stash, untouched!

Interesting you should say that. There is a trader who attends a couple of the (very few) Southern shows who specialises in naval models. Anyway when I saw him at Southern Expo I grabbed a card and plan to visit his emporium in Dorking the week after next (he opens his shop 3 days a week  ) with a vague idea in mind to obtain a couple of pre-Dreadnaught types  Plus I think there's a couple of decent pubs in Dorking ? Haven't been there for at least 30 years so we shall see 

[zenrat]

Dorking is one of those place names that puts you off visiting.
Like Staines or Flushing

[The Rat]

1. The anywhere but Europe and North America GB. Build anything from anywhere in or that has anything to do with Asia, Africa, South and Central America and the Pacific Ocean and its environs.

I assume 'Central America' would include the Caribbean? I've already done a couple of Jamaicans, another on the go, possibly more.

[NARSES2]

1. The anywhere but Europe and North America GB. Build anything from anywhere in or that has anything to do with Asia, Africa, South and Central America and the Pacific Ocean and its environs.

I assume 'Central America' would include the Caribbean? I've already done a couple of Jamaicans, another on the go, possibly more.

Yes it would Ratty

[The Rat]

 

[NARSES2]

Right lads I'll get the Poll sorted sometime early Sunday afternoon (UK time) so you've about 26 hours left for comments.

Chris