What is your opinion about what if kits?
Do you like them or do you think there is no room for them in modelling.
I mainly build kits of aircraft that exist but when I have an idea that is plausible and more than one example of a kit that is not too expensive I build it.

Thank you very much in advance

Saluti

Giampiero+Christian

I enjoy doing something different. I think my what ifs are usually more of context rather than hardware- for example, I've been hung up on the idea of Finland getting the F3F-2 instead of the Buffalo... and I've got several of the Acc Min F3Fs...

For airframe mods I am more inclined to reproduce something real, like a unique prototype or a "Tora Zero". Come to think of it I'm more likely to do an oddball historical scheme than a purely fanciful one, unless there is some historical "It almost went THIS way instead..." But like I said, I enjoy thinking about them!

bob

I like creating What-If models, it gives me a chance to use some artistic flair or create something beyond reality. It also like many what if creations gives an opportunity of what tomorrow might bring. Combine a what-if with a fictional story and you have given your mind a workout.






http://hawkeyes-squawkbox.com/story-time/testing-the-rocket-interceptor/

http://www.warbirdradio.com/2012/01/the-plastic-scale-modeling-hour-what-if-modeling-ep7/

I've done a few, fake markings, fake variants, and entirely fake aircraft types altogether. For me though, it creates a problem of how to display them. They don't sit well next to actual types, and end up being oddballs, Almost requiring their own display area. Still, I like how what-ifs open doors for creativity, making it possible to use whatever colors and schemes one wishes to make. Also, a great way to use up some of those spare decals!I've only recently noticed people making movie aircraft; Hollywood mockups of Bf 109's and Japanese Texans. I think it's a great idea, and to be fair, those aircraft DO exist. ANother possiblity I've been considering is the warbird types, that are often in slightly wrong schemes for the actual variant, or even warbirds which have been modified to fit passengers, like the P-40 that sells rides in Nampa, Id. It's an E model, but it has an extended cockpit. Or the famous ex-French Skyraider, with side doors, etc, posing with the stinging bee markings and a full load of fake missiles! Great building opportunities.

With respect to the question regarding whatif KITS (like Luft 46) I can answer with a simple "No I donot like them". However they have their origine in a PC game called Aces of the Luftwaffe. Which was nice in it's days and went beyond the downfall of 1945.
When I think of whatif models in general - I like them. All kind of colours can be used, all kind of Airforces can have something they never ever had - like the Dutch Spiteful which now come to mind.
One nice thing is the story you will have to make up. Why did the Dutch by the Mirage or Phantom as they already had the F-104G? The Starfighter was no dog fighter and the Soviets carrier was in the North Sea WITH fighter aircraft. So an answer was wanted.
It is something else. Display them next to your "real" mjodels WITH a short explanation.
Enjoy your modelling.

... the exceptional what-if artwork which one can see on the web.

I got to many actual aircraft to build. Though if I find an aircraft I really like that didn't get of the drawings board I might have a go. Also if I want to use up some spares decals I might do a what-if paint scheme.

...but I don't have any problem with those that do.  As long as folks are building models of SOMETHING, I'm happy!

What does it matter what others think? If you want to build it then do whatever you want.

I enjoy building many types of "What if" models from those already made as models from the various kit manufacturers to many that I make up myself. Remember many of the "What if" models have ended up as real airplanes, Rutan's Scale composites Inc. makes many "real" aircraft for many newly starting companies. Most prototypes start with an idea in the "What if" category, most all models from movies are also in this category, Star Trek, Star Wars, etc.

I think they are fun to dream up. I am working on a particular plane and thinking how would future camouflage go? So I started to draw up various ideas and ended up with big blocks all over it...guess what the Russian T-50 that came out later and was almost the same! So, yes, I like what-if because it's fun to dream and come up with odd ideas. I am also working on a Mig that has two bodies-like a P-38 of sorts, not particularly a new creative idea, but still not real...what if...the ideas are endless. I also find that once I start building from my imagination I complete the model quicker for some strange reason.

what-if color schemes I think. I really like a lot of the "X" type planes (from any country) and like to speculate what the scheme might of been had they gone operational. Most of the "test" planes usually had pretty lifeless color schemes, so projecting what they might of looked like , withing their possible service period, allows a freedom of imagination. I do enjoy seeing others imaginative creations, but would confine my own interests to paint schemes and decal options (my favorite part of modeling).
McLents

I'll finish a model any way I want. That being said, for my what ifs I'll create a plausible back story to make the model more interesting. For example, I created an entire back story on the use of the XFY-1 Pogo in Vietnam. It was just as much fun writing the story as building the model. Link here: http://www.internetmodeler.com/artman/publish/aviation/The_Pogo_Experiment.php

I also wrote an article on the US Navy flying the XF5V-1(what would have been the Navy designation of the F-104). I used the 72nd Hasegawa kit as the basis for my what if and I'm very proud of the fact that my story was plausible enough to be picked up an RUN AS FACT in no less than THE HOOK magazine, the publication of the Tailhook society. It was so much fun telling them that it was actually an April Fools story that appeared in Internet Modeler!





The Hook article describing the "real" XF5V. They did print a retraction...



Look, when a vastly superior alien culture comes all this way to take over your world, certain basic laws of planetary conquest apply. For example, when someone points a Quad Vectored Hypo Thermic Cosmo Blaster at you, it's a fair bet you are about to become toast. And in your case, a whole loaf of toast!

http://floch5.com/

http://floch5.com/he123fin.htm

Here's a pic of an example:

I really enjoy your work !

Jim

everyone knows a "know-it-all" - he may be as close as the mirror

Mainly because I wouldnt have a plane in my stash that I couldn't find an interesting scheme/history for it.

There are some fictional aircraft I would like to model. The Draka series of novels from Steve Sterling have descriptions of interesting aircraft. Marching Through Georgia takes place in an alternative WW2 and in it the Draka forces have a fighter that seems to be like a super-P-51 and a ground attack airplane that might look like a turboprop powered and heavily armored DeH Hornet. In Under The Yoke, they use gunship helos and a hypersonic bomber/recon a/c. Stone Dogs covers 30 years or so of the timeline and there are various high performance fighters in it.

. . . to express your inner "artist" or comedian! I've done a few, these the most notable. The F-7D makes the Cutlass look like a success. The F-76 "Twin Lightning" is a bit far fetched, but the Twin Mustang and the He 111Z were almost as outrageous!

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

I have a 1/48th B-58 Hustler done up as Sterling Marlin's Coor's Light race car ie: Silver Bullet yes I said B-58.
Thanks
Harry O.

Only some of the most fun I have ever had in this hobby!

























Luft '46: "When you absolutely, positively want to annoy the hell out of a rivet counter."

n/t

Luft '46: "When you absolutely, positively want to annoy the hell out of a rivet counter."

My kind of model. And the black TSR-2. And the Me-163 with the REALLY BIG GUNS



Look, when a vastly superior alien culture comes all this way to take over your world, certain basic laws of planetary conquest apply. For example, when someone points a Quad Vectored Hypo Thermic Cosmo Blaster at you, it's a fair bet you are about to become toast. And in your case, a whole loaf of toast!

Some are very interesting and plausible and some are frankly ugly or badly done it depends of the subject I think.

Serge Dompierre

Their idea is to ask "is the science valid? Is it possible that this could happen?" Then they proceed to entertain you.

I really dig the idea of a TSR2 in Gulf War markings, an F-107 and B-58 in Vietnam colors, a B-52 with engines from a 747 (6 of them?)

I liked Paul Boyer's 2-seat Cutlass (coulda worked if they'd not used Westinghouse engines).

Jim

Not everything has changed - only the important stuff. - Charles Stross

[IMG][/IMG]


What if? What if the Confederate States of America had survived the American Civil War? What if the CSA had survived right up into the present? Well, that's the premise behind this aircraft. I created a scenario in which today's CSA co-exists with the USA here in the 21st Century. I envisioned CSAF squadrons that were named for Confederate war heroes. I imagined four Maritime Air Stations; Norfolk, Charleston, Tampa and Biloxi, Miss. These squadrons are named after famous cavalry commanders of the Civil War. This CSAF Mirage F-1 is assigned to the Nathan B. Forrest Squadron based at Biloxi. Their primary mission is anti-ship interdiction. My "what if" Confederacy requires imported aircraft due to an aircraft industry that still hasn't reached maturity, nor any sort of parity with their neighbor, the United States. In these pictures, we see a CSAF Mirage F-1 at a small airfield in the Republic of Texas (yes, there's a "what if" story there too, lol. At some point in the future we may see a Republic of Texas Vampire, or maybe a Gloster Gladiator from the late '30s), making an unscheduled lay-over for some unspecified reason.

Texas seceded from the Confederacy in the early 20th century over economic issues and concerns about the intrusive reach of the Confederate government. I'm still working out how this event plays out geographically, with current possibilities including Texas "annexation" of Oklahoma and possibly a Republic of Texas reach for Pacific ports (and all that that might entail).

Confederate forces have been involved in several incidences in the recent past. These would include clashes with Venezuela and Cuba in the Gulf and Caribbean as well as joint missions conducted with Republic of Texas forces against insurgents/narco-terrorists in Mexico. The Maritime Air Stations share defense of the coast and other airbases throughout the interior of the South maintain bomber and interceptor squadrons. The choice of the Mirage F-1 for the role shown here was based on economy, simplicity and of course availability. France had been a supporter of the Confederacy from its beginning and provided various models for purchase by the CSA. The United Kingdom is the other major aircraft supplier for Confederate needs, having sold Hawker Hunters to the South as their first high-performance jet fighter.

It's fun to play these "what if" games with history. I've found that concocting these silly scenarios does really open up the creativity for me. I like to build one of these fictional planes from time to time and I hope these pics, and story might persuade someone else to do one too.

Gary


The kit is the Italeri Mirage F-1 in 1/48 scale. The Exocet she's carrying came from the Monogram Mirage 2000, the rails and Sidewinders from an old Testor's F-18 and the drop tank from Monogram's F-84F, and modified for its role here. I guess I might mention an experiment of sorts. I dipped the canopy in Future colored with MM teal acrylic to get a tinted look. It worked alright here but the first test canopy from the scrap pile actually looked much better. Oh well. I learned a new trick, thanks Swanny! The low-viz markings were created by me and drawn by my son on an Autocad program and I printed them on our home printer. Primary colors are Humbrol enamels, Gull Gray and Lt. Ghost Gray.



Harry S. Truman - Everybody has the right to express what he thinks. That, of course, lets the crackpots in. But if you cannot tell a crackpot when you see one, then you ought to be taken in.

I'm more inclined towards speculative markings (what might really have happened, but for which there's little or no documentation) and an occasional hypothetical, but complete flights of whimsy are pretty much a non-starter.

"Don't take your life too seriously, son. At the end of it, you won't be alive anyway."

Red Skelton's mother

so getting them out of a box with defined parts and instructions in a way beats the purpose. But ultimately, it's a purely commercial question. If there are enough people to make them profitable, they have a place in modeling, that's all there is to say about it. Sure some might bemoan the impreatives of market economy, but should we ask kits as a form of charity?

Happy modeling,

Matthias

I did a few some time ago, but my "What If" moment was more like:

"What if I put the wings of a Spitfire on the fuselage of a P-40 or a 109? Or the wings of a P-39 on a Spitfire fuselage? Or straightened out the wings of a Corsair?"

I also did a couple of OOB builds, then 'decorated' them with the colors and markings for a pro football team, using both homemade and extra kit decals. Also built an OOB kit and painted it in the favorite colors of a great granddaughter - purple & pink.

Lots, and I mean LOTS, of fun. I think most of them have been posted before.

An old soldier, but not faded away. Yet.

go here ....
http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php



Come over & join the insanity !!

What ifs are just about all I do now, they're just so much fun. I'm actually finding it difficult to looks at anything in my stash without thinking "what the heck can I do to this one?!" I am far from a technically proficient modeler, so it lets me get away with just using my imagination.

Here's a few from my sordid past

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]
Hobbycraft CF-100 with Airfix U-2 wings

[IMG][/IMG]
DC-4 taildragger

[IMG][/IMG]
Old mold Airfix Gnat as a target drone

[IMG][/IMG]
Revell Seamaster, Canadian Coast Guard

[IMG][/IMG]
Revell Bowrider, Newfoundland water bomber

[IMG][/IMG]
Little Dubena Comet as an amphib

[IMG][/IMG]
Rapala fishing lure turned into a Finnish helicopter

[IMG][/IMG]
Heller Transall (the tiny scale one) as a flying boat

[IMG][/IMG]
Airfix Boeing 727 as an ekranoplan

A couple of years ago I finished this Italian Macchi 335. It was all part of a group build which other may know about. In all actuallity I really wanted to use Mike Grant's smoke ring decals. If I had to do it again I would decal a little differently. They sure were thin but lay down beautifully.

This is the Tamiya kit with decals from Mike Grant as well as the Macchi 205 decals from Hasegawa which were really Cartograph. I think my next what if is going to be a V-22 in Canadian Forces yellow rescue markings.

I think there is a site for modellers who build only what-ifs. I can't remember the link though.

Cheers
Chris

...from the rugged mental and physical demands of doing dental surgeries all day long.

It's still mind ''work'' but it's a fantastic escape from the narrow parameters in which we work. And compared to what we do throughout the work week, a model kit is literally huge.


And thanks Ray for showing the open cockpit, spatted Me-110! Woot!


Daryl J.

Besides - gotta have something to do with the scraps

My girl - well she's kind of an ugly girl. But,that's O.K. I like ugly girls. Because pretty girls can do anything, but ugly girls have to do everything.
-John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie

In my mind, they are what should have been.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dKTblTW8tcY/Rrv5Krr9UTI/AAAAAAAAADg/sjdvYM-1mN0/s640/P1010532.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SmgZIHOLTwQ/SHqH2sKPPPI/AAAAAAAAET8/Al_z3i7DQkw/s386/Israeli%2520S-92.jpg