Why the animosity towards WIFFs (What If builds)?

[dmk0210]

Always loved this one. When the NAvy was doing all those retro schemes last year I was hoping we would get one like this!

Me too. The VX-9 F/A-18E with the Green XE flash on the tails should have been in gray over white like the originals were. I think I am going to paint mine that way.

Edited July 12, 2012 by dmk0210

[Eddie M.]

Eddie M.....you have mad skills!!!! Those are awesome!!!!

CONGRATS on a great lesson and display where fantasy and accuracy live harmoniously...

Thank you very much. I appreciate it!

Eddie M

WOW ..JUST WOW !!WOW !! Those are EXTRAORDINARY builds.

Thank you very much as well. your kind comments are greatly appreciated!

Now, if you indulge me for a few more photos, here are a few more that are some of my favorites. This one is the 31 Flavor Flankenstein. I used that name because I used parts from about 6 or 7 different aircraft. At this time when I was building ,I was cutting up sub-par builds from years past, so I was recycling parts.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/scurrfy/1st%20Junk%20build%20GB/May08036-1.jpg

Super Scooter

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/scurrfy/A-4%20Super%20Scooter/639be992.jpg

I got the idea to do a AEW Tigercat from seeing one of those dodads you put under furniture legs so as not to scratch wood floors.

My Crusader/ Falcon bash

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v669/scurrfy/Crusade%20Falcon/Nov08037.jpg

Red Arrow whif

Finally, a WIP. A F-105/106 bash. I wanted a smaller version of the B-58, so this is what I came up with. Lots of work to be done.....My apologizes for the thread hijack. Any would be kitbashers out there, grab that saw or Dremel and get after it! It's more fun that you can imagine. Thank y'all for the compliments. :)

Edited July 13, 2012 by Eddie M.

[Wolfgun33]

Awesome builds as always Eddie. :thumbsup:

[TaiidanTomcat]

Any would be kitbashers out there, grab that saw or Dremel and get after it! It's more fun that you can imagine.

So well said! I had never seen your Slider AEW Cat before either!!

[TheGloriousTachikoma]

Dang Eddie, that's actually a pretty good idea for a rotodome. Now we just need to find one for an AESA-equipped bird...

And I don't remember ever being treated with animosity when I was here. disinterest, maybe, but I tended to be somewhat iconoclastic. But sometimes, you just have an idea that needs to be expressed. (old projects, but good examples)

[/img]http://sadpanda.us/images/1080670-4RQWYZ1.jpg

[TaiidanTomcat]

Dang Eddie, that's actually a pretty good idea for a rotodome. Now we just need to find one for an AESA-equipped bird...

And I don't remember ever being treated with animosity when I was here. disinterest, maybe, but I tended to be somewhat iconoclastic. But sometimes, you just have an idea that needs to be expressed. (old projects, but good examples)

[/img]http://sadpanda.us/images/1080670-4RQWYZ1.jpg

Like those!

[Kevan Vogler]

Seeing as how everyone is pulling their WHIFFs out here:

[MarcDuhon]

It's nice to take on a whimsical approach every now and then, and feel unconstrained. I have seen some very impressive builds that took a great deal of thought..... not just in the artistic skill needed to pull off a realistic paint scheme, but also the proper believable construction that is correctly engineered. This is more apparent when modifications are made obviously, and much more involved than just"What if Israel was a Mig 25 operator.".... etc etc... I think the line between fantasy and reality gets kind of blurry and obviously a Flanker built as a Rebel alliance fighter with photon torpedoes and blasters on the wingtips is in a different category then say, a Ukrainian T-50 Pak-fa ... but as long as both are done well, and the appropriate level of detail and realism is present, then I see both as equally credible..... ..... I think it takes as much skill to creatively pull off the most whimsical What-if's as it does to correctly model a specific airframe... both require different skills, but can both be works of art in their own right....

I think modelers that discount these builds need to take themselves a little less seriously.... this is still a hobby to be enjoyed...Even the rivet counter with the most attention to detail is still making a scale representation of the real thing... not an exact copy

[FAR148]

Finally, a WIP. A F-105/106 bash. I wanted a smaller version of the B-58, so this is what I came up with.

Very Cool

Can't wait to see her done!

Steven L

[Diamondback Six]

And, just to toss some fuel on the fire, the guy who built the Blackbird and the P-38 was a WHIFfer as a kid... scratchbuilding models of his own designs, and even described one such build getting an award at the local fair in his autobiography.

Source: Johnson, Clarence L. "Kelly" and Maggie Smith. Kelly: More Than My Share Of It All.

Anybody here feel like stepping to the late Chief Skunk himself? *raises eyebrow*

LOL

[CorsairMan]

One of the things that has kept me away from clubs and such are the strange 'isms' that some modelers have. You have the single scale devotees, the rivet counters and the 'accuracy' gurus. And really - why not? If they enjoy the hobby that way, then more power to them. What-ifs? I say why not? A good model is a good model no matter what it is.

But of course - that's just me and there are those who just cannot get along. So yes - I can believe the animosity or the non-inclusiveness. With any such animosities... you generally have to discount the opinions of a vocal minority and keep doing what you love doing.