Group Build Description: 1916 was a very important year, and this coming year is the 110th anniversary of it. Not only did it see the first use of a tank at the Somme in September, but in the air it saw the birth of the dedicated fighter plane, and at sea it saw the Battle of Jutland that put paid to the ambitions of the German High Seas Fleet. I’m not sure where Zeppelins fit into that time frame, but a model of one would be cool!
This Campaign is to celebrate all things 1916, whether on land, air, or sea! It’s open to all machines that were in use at some point in 1916, whether new that year or still in service from an earlier year - just tell us the story of your choice. And it’s even open to those dreaded part-built “shelf queens” as long as they are less than 50% completed. (Or, if you build a diorama with something new you can add other finished builds as part of it!) Anything fitting the year is OK - including trucks, trains, railway guns, and dioramas of infantry in trenches.
Timescale is to be 1 January to 31 December 2026.
Event Details: (Remember to click “Going” if you want to join the build!)
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Completion Award: To be designed…
A Note about Awards: The following text is a reminder that in order for people participating and finishing their projects to receive a badge on their forum profile, they will need to provide their account username to the group build leader by the completion date of the build. The leader will then provide this list to the site admin who will bulk award the badges to those users who have finished the group build. If you don’t provide your username or finish the project on the timetable the leader has setup you will not be able to receive an award.
I suggested this in the Campaign Ideas forum and it attracted a lot of attention, so I agreed to set it up! Sign up by choosing “Going”, and if we get enough I’ll make it official.
PS: I know there’s a bit of overlap with the 1917 RTR campaign, but that one covers all RTR up to the present day, while this is solely 1916 and is open to any type of model, not just tanks!
A lot of really interesting things happened in 1916.
First billionaire (John D. Rockefeller). First million dollar movie contract (Mary Pickford). First airship shot down over Britain. Paris is bombed by airship. HMHS Britannic, serving as a hospital ship, becomes the largest ship lost during World War I, by tonnage. The United States launches the punitive expedition against Pancho Villa, the first US military expedition using motor vehicles. Rasputin is murdered. Sykes–Picot Agreement cuts up the Middle East. The incident that inspired the movie Jaws happens off the Jersey shore. First flight of the Sopwith Camel. Voyage of the James Caird leads to the rescue of the Shackleton expedition to the South Pole. Karl Schwarzschild, the man who discovered the Black Hole one year earlier, dies at age 42.
It turns out there is some science fiction stuff.
A silent movie version of 20,000 League Under the Sea costs half a million dollars to make, starting a long trend of science fiction movies breaking the bank.
The End of the World is a 1916 silent movie depicting the end of civilization caused when a giant comet passes too close to the Earth. Bet you did not know that trope was so old!
Yeah! When I saw the wide scope of the campaign I went looking for diorama possibilities. Most are not possible without some serious CAD design time and a 3D printer. However, we are getting close. Just a few weeks back, a company offered to turn any picture of a person into a figure. Really exciting possibilities are on the horizon.
I may join this campaign but first I have to check which Austin armoured car kit I have from Miniart. It this is an 1916 ot earlier version than it is legit to join.
According to the Wikipedia “Sixty units of Austin 3rd series were ordered on 25 August 1916. The vehicles were similar in characteristics to the 2nd series, but had modified rear hull with driving post, MG shields, bulletproof glass in the front vision slots and lacked big side windows.”
I have read a historical article about the Austin vehicles in Russia and that cites that the first 3rd series vehicles were handed over to Russia in February 1917 and the last ones were handed over by the summer. That means the production definitely had to start in 1916.
So the question arises: is this kit legit to the campaign?
A fahrpanzer sounds interesting! And the Austin 3rd series should be fine as it was being built in 1916 and I can find nothing to suggest they weren’t ready before year’s end.
Very tempted to join but dependant on finances and courage (LOL) as I’m thinking of getting a Lukgraph Albatros DII to build as part of this campaign . My first foray into a total resin kit if I do.
Wow - that would be a really cool model! But I agree about the sticker-shock - it makes Wingnut Wings kits look reasonable. Still, you can always enter with something less costly, as an appetiser and add a second build if time and wallet allow the purchase of that resin beauty.
I’m going to do a stash raid rather than buy something new.
So thinking about what’s there, my choices are either the ye olde Airfix Mk1 Male or Female (with all the associated problems with it being based on a hybrid museum exhibit), their fairly new BE2c, or one of CSM’s armoured cars. Thinking either the Renault or Belgian Minerva. Pretty sure they have a 1916 finishing option on the markings? I’ll dig them out and have a look.
