Arctic / Antarctic Group Build

[Aaronw]

Welcome to the Arctic / Antarctic GB of 2011-2012.

The rules are pretty simple, it is open to anything the lives / works in the arctic or antarctic which for this GB is being called 60 degrees north and above or 60 degrees south and below. The dates are Dec 22, 2011 to June 20, 2012.

The Arctic circle is located at 66 degrees, 33 minutes, 44 seconds north latitude which marks the edge of the region that recieves more than 24 hours of sunlight at the summer solstice.

The Antarctic circle is similarly located at 66 degrees, 33 minutes, 44 seconds south latitude which marks the edge of the region that receives more than 24 hours of sunlight at the winter solstice.

For the group build the region has been extended to 60 degrees north / south to allow for more options. This is also the edge of the region known for its "white nights" or midnight twilight (the sun sets but during the solstice the sky remains light).

Possibilities are pretty broad, USCG at Kodiak (base is just below 60 degrees but the aircraft visits often enough), equipment assosiated with NORAD's DEW line (69 degrees), northern military bases in the US (Alaska), Canada, and Russia. Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland. Scientific bases in the Arctic, Greenland and Antarctica and the equipment used to support them.

If in doubt here is a handy map tool that can be used to find the latitude of an area.

Below the map there are boxes allowing you to enter a desired lat / long

A quick reference to longitude 0 degrees runs through the UK, 180 degrees runs to the east of the Bering straight (between Alaska and the USSR), 90 degrees east runs through the middle of the USSR, and 90 degrees west runs through the middle of the USA / Canada.

http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html

It uses +/- instead or NSEW, so you need to use a - sign in front of the numbers for degrees west or south.

The default is satellite so you may want to change to map (box in the upper right corner) to show boundry lines and other map features.

A quick reference for locations 60 degrees north and above

USA - Alaska

Canada - Yukon, North West Territories, Nunavut, tips of Quebec and Newfoundland.

Greenland

Iceland

UK - Shetland Islands

Norway

Finland

Sweden - North of Stockholm

Denmark - Faroe Islands

Russia - North of St Petersberg

In the south only Antarctica is located below 60 degrees south.

Argentina and Chile extend to Cape Horn which is located at 55 degrees south latitude. This may provide some potential subjects that patrol the trecherous Drake Passage (between Cape Horn and Antarctica) or supporting operations in Antarctica.

[Aaronw]

There is no need to make a seperate post to join the GB, just start a post to document your build progress.

If you have a question about the appropriateness of a subject you can ask in the questions and inspiration post.

There are no hard and fast rules for documenting your progress, but it is expected that you will show your work. Ideally I'd like to see a box / sprue shot so we can see where you started, and at least something showing the major assembly steps, paint steps and when you are done several photos of the completed model.