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Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 2nd, 2012, 9:22 pm
by Gregers
As of the 1st April I became leader of the Cold war sig from the safe hands of Chris / Falcon. I had various reasons for wishing to do this but the main driver for me was that I did not want this group to wither and die. The sig concentrates on creating replicas in miniature the historic tools of Armageddon that were fielded by the NATO and the Warsaw pact nations in this almighty face off that lasted for over four decades and is probably THE most important part of our modern history.

For my part I am a child of the 60's. 1965 to be exact. The two factions were at their most aggressive and the Cuban missile crisis had taken the world to the brink of total war just three years before.

It was less than two decades before that the soviet union had blockaded Berlin (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) and the Allies had taken the unprecedented and audacious step of supplying the city with all it's needs by air, the operation being called Operation Planefare by the British and Operation Vittles by the Americans.

Lets wind the clock forward. On Christmas eve 1991 the US President, George H.W. Bush received a phone call from the Premier of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin. The contents of the conversation led George H.W. Bush to announce to the world on his Christmas day speech that the cold war was over. The end of a period in history which could very easily have ended civilization, and probably almost ALL life on our planet.

The thought that only cockroaches would have survived may have meant that political infrastructure may have been unaffected, or even improved is beside the point.
Joking aside this period shows that man's ultimate folly could have been it's ultimate destruction.

Thankfully it did not happen as it would have been a war with no winners. only losers.

All the best.

Greg

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 2nd, 2012, 10:01 pm
by Ian
Congrats Greg!

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 2nd, 2012, 11:27 pm
by jssel
Good intro Greg. I grew up in the departure/approach pattern of Wurtsmith AFB (SAC) and live by the former K.I. Sawyer AFB (SAC). Both of these bases were cocked and ready to fire. Boy can I tell stories and have access to data. My brother was in US Army Air Defense missles. More stories and data.

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 2nd, 2012, 11:39 pm
by Gregers
Cheers guys. Most of the above is right out of my head but I did google and wiki some details and dates. I have got some serious building to do before the Nats and thats assumingthe CW sig gets space.

All the best.

Greg

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 3rd, 2012, 5:17 pm
by Falcon
Nice one Greg.

You will need to make an announcement on the IPMS forum and contact Phil Cater, the IPMS (UK) Branch/SIG liason officer.

I will need your email addie too so I can send you the current SIG membership details.

Cheers,
Chris.

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 3rd, 2012, 6:01 pm
by Falcon
MerlinJones wrote:And that colourful COLD WAR SIG LEADER is really, REALLY unpleasant!
It is a bit too much. Just one colour would be so much better Greg.

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 3rd, 2012, 7:05 pm
by Gregers
I suppose but there is sybolism in there. blue and red are obvious. the multicoloured part is of course greenpeace colours. I'll get rid of the multicolours.

All the best.

Greg

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 3rd, 2012, 8:15 pm
by MerlinJones
That's much, much better. Thank you, Greg.

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 3rd, 2012, 8:19 pm
by Gregers
No worries.

All the best.

Greg

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 4th, 2012, 1:27 am
by JohnRatzenberger
I thought the multi-colors were to "celebrate" the psychedelic portion of the Cold War era .... Bummer.

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 4th, 2012, 8:33 am
by Gregers
Well. Greenpeace was born from the 'treehuggers' generation when they (almost) grew up. And smoking mother nature never bothered the avarage hippie so yes Jef, you're right. Also there was heavy use of the recreational during the Vietnam war too.
I wonder if I can include this in a s.i.g. display without getting arrested?. :shock: :lol:

All the best.

Greg

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 8th, 2012, 6:30 pm
by ShaunW
This is very good to see on this forum Greg and good on you for taking over this SIG. I am also a child of the 60's (1961) and spent a lot of my youth poring over grainy pics of Warsaw Pact aircraft taken behind the Iron Curtain by brave people who were probably risking their necks. From a modeller's standpoint this era of history provides plenty of interesting subjects - particularly if, like me, you are a fan of post war jet aircraft. Maybe it's time I re-joined the IPMS!

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 9th, 2012, 12:58 am
by Gregers
Cheers Shaun.
It would be cool if you join the IPMS (It's worth it for the Mag and the Telford entry being free) but I don't mind sig members who are not in the IPMS.

All the best.

Greg

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 15th, 2012, 1:14 pm
by Old_Tonto
Well done on picking up the baton of Cold War SIG leader Greg. I am also a child of the 60's and remember studying maps of Eastern Europe and marking the location of every Warsaw Pact air base on them. There were a lot of them.

I am learning a lot more about the politics of the Soviet bloc too as I research my East German project. So maybe it is time I joined this SIG. How do I go about that?

Re: Cold war sig. Announcement

Posted: April 15th, 2012, 1:43 pm
by Gregers
You just did it :grin: , welcome aboard. Please PM me your details (Name e-mail addy and IPMS number if your a member and I'll add you to the member list.

All the best.

Greg