Well it is that time of the year we call the ‘Silly season’ - the time when weird and wonderful Group Build / Campaign ideas, intended to start after the new year, are proposed.
I’m setting up this thread as posting new proposals in the current 2023 thread would seem …err…silly.
So… in the Campaign Staging Area, the proposed builds for 2024 at the moment are:
Build Name
Shermania 2024
Skis, Skids and Floats
Gimme some LUVin’
B-25 in 2024
The Mustang: NA-73X to the Enforcer
Workin’ on the Railroad 2024
1942: Turning of the Tide
Now for new ideas for later in the year. Post 'em up guys.
One I will propose myself - “Got Hitched”. Any scale, any genre.
Is anyone up for a campaign involving a vehicle connected to another vehicle, trailer or object? Basically models that are joined by hitch, cable/rope, etc. I am thinking along the lines of:
Land Military
Tank Transporter and trailer (and tank on the trailer if you want to go the ‘Whole Hog’).
Recovery vehicles and the vehicle being recovered
Artillery tractor and artillery piece
Jeep/Kubel/kettenkrad, etc, and trailer, etc.
Horse drawn wagon hitched to a team
Aircraft
Aircraft being moved by a tow vehicle
Bomb/drop tank trailer towed by its tractor
C47 and Glider!
Ships and submarines
Tugboat and Ship, Sub or Barge
Horse pulling a canal boat
Sci-fi / Fantasy
Blurrg towing a sled (with or without the Razorcrest’s recovered parts)
Something being towed by a ‘Tractor Beam’ (as long as there is a visible ‘beam’ between the model objects, go for it!)
Railroad
Railroad engine and truck/s
Civilian
Prime mover (Semi for you Americans) and Trailer
Tow Truck and automobile
Automobile and caravan (are there even caravan kits? Oooo, anyone want to scratch built a caravan…)!
I really like the idea of a project involving hauling, recovering, or towing. In fact, I like the idea so much my closet contains many half tracks, prime movers, and trucks intended for that very purpose. However, those projects are very complicated and would result in sure fire failures. Therefore, I would need to find something cheap and easy for such a campaign.
Campaigns like Unfinished Business allowing partially or fully built models in need of paint are super helpful.
Any campaign allowing me to build a Jagdpanther, King Tiger, Panther, or Tiger will go to the front of the queue. Such vehicles really were the might of the Wehrmacht and my 1/35 collection does not include most of those.
An ‘Unfinished Group Build’ for 2024 goes without saying…it is tradition.
If I don’t get my digit out and get back to my Renault FT for this year’s unfinished build campaign, I may have to start an "Unfinished, Unfinished group build, group build’… and yes, there are probably plenty of guys out there that would be eligible to enter that one too.
The subject of most companies is self-propelled devices: tankai, cars, airplanes. I have been on the site for several years now, but I have never come across towed artillery. Firstly, it would work well as part of the “Got Hitched” theme. Secondly, it can be divided into two: large and small calibers. I’m interested in the first one. It can be limited to calibers larger than 100mm. If I had launched such a company on my own (I would have been able and had the right), I would have called it “Tsar Cannon”.
PS In case of agreement and organization of such a company, I undertake to purchase the required number of badges for the company participants (approximately as in the picture - these are Soviet badges) and send them to those brave who are not afraid to accept a small parcel from Russia.
A good idea Yuri. A specifically ‘Towed artillery’ group build is definitely something that has not been done as far as I can remember. I have a couple of kits that would fit in the ‘large’ category.
The hitching sounds great, but would need at least a year I think, especially when (tank) transporters are appearing in my mind… they will need a load… figures… base… well, they will in my case
Yes, I plan for a year if there are enough takers. A big difference in time commitment between a say something from the Airfix 1/72nd 8th Airforce set:
Here are my suggestions…I’ll add to this list as I come up with new ideas.
I believe we did some of these before so I apologize for the repeat ideas.
Figures:
Female figures (clothed or not X-Rated, any era and any scale)
Fictional characters with a creative story (any scale and any era. Build a figure and write a creative story explaining the figure as if a famous or ordinary person like a journal or a diary entry).
Resin and printed 3D figures only (any era and any scale)
Plastic figures only (any era and any scale)
Police, fire, and medics (any scale and any era. Can include dogs and medic animals)
Body armor (knights, modern body armor, EOD in bomb suits, etc)
Any video game or TV character (most likely 3-D printed)
Steampunk or Diesel punk
Large scale figures 1/16 (120mm) and greater
Sci-Fi:
Gundam only
Armored suit (MaK or any armored trooper including Stormtroopers, video game troopers, etc.)
Monsters
Fantasy figures (any scale and any topic as long as not Sci-Fi)
Wargaming miniatures
What If? campaign (campaign number?)
Sci-Fi structures made from scratch (design and build your own Sci-Fi building like architecture class)
Angels and demons (angel figures with wings and demons with horns and hooves)
Armor:
Air defense (from soldiers with portable missiles to AFVs with SAMs)
Anti-Tank (from soldiers with portable missiles to AFVs with ATGMs)
Motorcycles and bicycles (any scale and any era—military and civilian)
Snow and arctic (can be a white or whitewashed vehicle, or a vehicle with snow groundwork)
Long .50cal anti-material guns (any man-portable gun .50cal or above with figure. Can include machine gunners, snipers, or EOD. It’s like the Sniper campaign, but this one is .50cal and above scales (no 7.62mm) as there is a 25mm anti-material sniper rifle).
Lush landscape gardener (any scale as long as it’s foliage, trees, groundwork, shrubs, flowers, etc. It has to be lush and green and cannot be desert. Can include rocks, water, structures, railroads, and figures. No vehicles. Wow us with your realistic landscaping skills).
Decals rule (Decals have to cover 50% or more of the model kit, any scale and any topic. Can be a figure, aircraft, ship, vehicle, structure, truck, etc. The focus is on the decal(s) so custom decals or artwork is emphasized).
Special Forces Campaign This was proposed, but in reality, never got started into a campaign.
Night vision and thermal imaging campaign Paint your figure, vehicle, aircraft, or ship in black or white as “hot” or green and black as seen through night vision goggles. Photo from studiojollyroger.com
Having done some research, there are many cheap and easy to build trailers and towed guns available so Got Hitched need not be a complicated project. Tamiya recently released an updated 1/35 Kettenkraftrad that includes a trailer. A couple companies sell 1/35 Jeeps with trailers. Tamiya sells three very cheap 1/35 towed guns.
Figure campaigns definitely appeal to me. Figure projects can be relatively quick and I could certainly use the practice.
Science fiction themed campaigns are almost always welcome. However, even though I have watched many incarnations of Gundam, I am not a fan of giant samurai suits with swords. On the other hand, I could definitely work with the body armor idea. Science fiction structures could be a lot of fun.
Air defense is good. Another anti-tank is good. Motorcycles is good.
Would a campaign for submarines (and sub hunters) make sense? There are lots of relatively cheap, easy to build options. The inclusion of sub hunters opens it up to many aircraft and ships.
Main Battle Tank: This campaign is for tanks designed from the ground up to dominate the battlefield in large numbers using maneuver warfare. To qualify, the vehicle must be fully tracked, have a single turret, mount a long barrel 75mm or better gun in the turret (no low velocity howitzers or missile nonsense), weigh 30 tons or more (it has real armor), have a maximum road speed of 25 miles per hour or more, and the developing nation must have procured 500 or more.
I am gong to bump my opinion of Anti-tank from 'Good" to ‘Do That One’ because it will get me a Jagdpanther.
…
What are the dimensions of campaign badges in pixels? The two I have are 128 x 128 in .png format.
