Pure Civilian GB

[rallymodeller]

Sort of like the past proposed "Swords into Plowshares" GB proposal, but more open while at the same time more strictly defined.

The idea is that the resulting model must be pure civilian with no armament whatsoever; no military or paramilitary applications (includes police and USCG) allowed. Open to all genres of modeling: armour, aircraft, SF, seaborne.

Examples off the top of my head:

--A Trumpeter LCAC converted to a car ferry
--An M2 Bradley as a firefighting vehicle (sort of like the NASA M113s)
--An A-10 crop duster

And so forth. The only other rule, and this is the tricky one, is that whatever model is done must be repurposed in the true What-If spirit. So no simple things like OV-10 waterbombing bird-dogs, 'cause they exist IRL.

Whaddya think?

[GTX]

Could be a good change of theme from the usual - I support it.

Regards,

Greg

[The Rat]

I like it!

[PR19_Kit]

--A Trumpeter LCAC converted to a car ferry

Hm, I have one of those too, it'd look good a more colourful scheme than normal..............

[Weaver]

Should be interesting. Couple of questions:

1: not all coastguards are "paramilitary". The UK's isn't, and the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute) is not only civilian but volunteer! These folk never use weapons under any circumstances and have almost nothing to do with law enforcement; all they do is SAR. Would these be acceptably "civilian"?


2: does it have to be re-purposed from military to civilian, or is civilian to different civilian allowed?

[philp]

My FireKing (S-3 firebomber) would work for this.

[rallymodeller]

Should be interesting. Couple of questions:

1: not all coastguards are "paramilitary". The UK's isn't, and the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute) is not only civilian but volunteer! These folk never use weapons under any circumstances and have almost nothing to do with law enforcement; all they do is SAR. Would these be acceptably "civilian"?

That's why I specified USCG. The Canadian Coast Guard is the same as the UK's and Japan's -- ours is a department of the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans. Basically I figured that the over-arching theme for this GB should be "unarmed".

2: does it have to be re-purposed from military to civilian, or is civilian to different civilian allowed?

Nope, civvy to different civvy is fine, as I see it.

Actually, the idea came to me as I was doing a reskin for the FS9 Alphasim Lockheed C-141A; the Starlifter was built from the get-go to civilian flight standards and Lockheed actually offered a civilian variant called the L-300. Then I started to think about what other military equipment could have a non-aggressive role...

[Weaver]

Good! 

What made me think of those questions was wondering what to do with all the leftover bits and decals once an RNLI lifeboat has been converted into a KGB Border Guard vessel and then looking thoughtfully at one of those Revell Sunseeker luxury yachts......

[rallymodeller]

OK, just had a really wacky idea -- gives one an insight as to how I'm thinking when it comes to this:

FedEx (or UPS, or Flying Tigers) Boeing B-52.

Stay with me. A B-52 can carry an enormous payload a really long way at relatively high speeds, right? Problem is the payload area is kind of restricted.

So since the bomb bay isn't needed anymore, convert it to a standard cargo bay. Same goes for the lower deck, formerly reserved for ESOs. Remove unnecessary ECM and ESM, relocate the avionics to the lower deck.

But that still leaves a lot of payload available in a fuselage that really can't take it. Solution?

Cargo pods. The wing pylons can carry 25,000lbs or more each. Construct an airworthy, pressurized (the hookups are already there) pod that fits on the wing pylon. The entire pod can be removed and swapped at the destination, sort of like an ISO cargo container. Suddenly the BUFF becomes an airborne intermodal transport...

[Weaver]

Neat idea! 


Couple of others that have occured to me:

Podded crop spraying system. A drop tank with an internal pump that can be linked to externally fitted spray bars, thus allowing you to convert any military type into a crop sprayer. Doesn't matter if it's a bit draggy - speed isn't an issue. Obviously, things like the A-10 are favorite, and I can also see an Su-25 with a similar system. Model it by putting a mini propellor on the nose of a standard drop tank (to run the pump), attach mounting frames to all the other wing pylons, then link them all up with Evergreen/Brass Rod spray bars and fuse wire pipes.

Disaster Relief Ship.   Something I've seriously proposed: use Arapaho principles to turn old container ships into civilian helo carriers for disaster relief, using mothballed helos from Davis Monthan. The fact that it's civilian immediately overcomes lots of problems that have restricted conversions like this: it doesn't have to befast or defend itself and the less-than-state-of-the-art performance of old Hueys is irrelevent. Model it just like a military Arapaho, but leave off the CIWS/PDMS/radar suite.

[The Rat]

FedEx Boeing B-52.

Don't mean to pee on your idea, and there's no good reason to not do it again, but it's already been done - link. Sorry... But maybe a B-1?

[GTX]

Or maybe a Fedex/UPS etc B-58 or B-70?  For those raid deliveries.

Regards,

Greg

[The Rat]

Couple of years ago I wrote up the back story for a UPS idea, just need to find the right sized... Nah, that would give it away!

[GTX]

Thinking a bit more, the B-58 would have that nice air drop-able external store...

[Rheged]

Would a civilianised Meteor PR 19 in Ordnance Survey colours  be acceptable here?  ...........even if only to bamboozle the men in black.