The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

Next year is the centenary of the closing year of the Great War, when things really heated up in the skies of France. A group build of some sort seems in order. A few suggestions of varying degrees of specificity:

- Western Front 1918 (generic)
- Springs Offensive
- "Spads & Spandaus" (US Pursuit Squadrons)
- Biggles of the Camel Squadron (most of the stories are set 1918 or late 1917)

Any interest in any of these? I thought I'd flag it now to get some ideas floating.

Yep.
Definitely.
Certainly.

Might be good to mark the last year of the war.

Excellent, gents. Let's see how many more are keen. It may be a little early right now to get too many takers yet.

As a reminder, we have the RAF 100th penciled in from 1 April to 30 June, see http://www.uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=15521;.

jRatz wrote:As a reminder, we have the RAF 100th penciled in from 1 April to 30 June, see http://www.uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=15521;.

We must never speak of this thread again....

That said though, I think there's still scope for a centenary build for some aspect of 1918 as long as it's focused and doesn't overlap/interfere significantly with the RAF build. Spring Offensive is probably the only one of my original options that fits the bill, unless someone has an alternative to suggest.

VickersVandal wrote:That said though, I think there's still scope for a centenary build for some aspect of 1918 as long as it's focused and doesn't overlap/interfere significantly with the RAF build. Spring Offensive is probably the only one of my original options that fits the bill, unless someone has an alternative to suggest.

Only reason I pointed out the RAF 100th was to avoid a conflict that might harm participation in both.

Spring Offensive is a good idea as it just precedes and then overlaps the formation of the RAF.

However, as it is early in the year it leaves out a number of important types just coming out of the factories and into service as well as the arrival of the Americans. The last half of the year is also the beginning of the end for the rotary engine and the arrival of the radial with the Salmson SA.2.

I'd lean toward a 1918 generic, if nothing else it offers more options for those who might not be inclined to a pure RAF GB.

I have more than a few Great War a/c kits around here that I think I think I could participate as well.

jRatz wrote: Only reason I pointed out the RAF 100th was to avoid a conflict that might harm participation in both.

Absolutely! That's the last thing I want. Thanks for flagging the RAF build.

Spring Offensive is a good idea as it just precedes and then overlaps the formation of the RAF.

However, as it is early in the year it leaves out a number of important types just coming out of the factories and into service as well as the arrival of the Americans. The last half of the year is also the beginning of the end for the rotary engine and the arrival of the radial with the Salmson SA.2.

I'd lean toward a 1918 generic, if nothing else it offers more options for those who might not be inclined to a pure RAF GB.

You're right about the Spring Offensive being a bit limiting. I was hoping for some thinking-out-loud like this with this thread. There was a Fokker D.VII build mooted if I recall, but I'm not sure what is happening with that. If it were to go ahead I wouldn't want to overlap with it either. I'll see if I can dig it up. I'm perfectly happy with a generic 1918 build so long as it doesn't overlap unhelpfully with other more specific GBs.

TBH when I first saw this thread I thought about the RAF build as was going to mention it - but then I thought that both were wide enough scope that it shouldn't be an issue.

If there's the RAF build and the D.VII build, that might have it covered but I guess we can see how much interest there is in a generic for people who might want to build other German types or French or American.

I would encourage you to draw the proposed D.VII GB into your 1918 GB.

WWI is not always a good draw here, but certainly the RAF 100th and the 1918 Air War, provide numerous opportunities, well other than pre-1918 WWI but I think we've tried to explore that already.

Ooooohhh...all that rigging! Me and biplanes have previous, unfortunately. However, push the boundaries, count me in.

If there was an aircraft that did not need rigging I would be in.