September 1, 2005
Hurricane Katrina is currently going through Louisiana, and parts of Mississippi and Alabama. Let's keep those who chose to stay in our thoughts.
July 7, 2005
Let's keep in mind today our friends in the United Kingdom who've been through a terrible day. I'd also like to say that all of our UK Whatiffers are safe, as well as Ollie who is visiting London at the moment.
February 28, 2005
Hey everybody, Hopefully everyone has had a safe and happy year so far. Your editor is now back to looking for a job and finishing up his certifications, so a little free time is now available and is catching up with updates and promises.
This is not a real update, but more of an unveiling of the first real draft of the site redesign, nicknamed "What If 4.0." This particular design has been given the catchy marketing codename "Concept 1," just so we can sound as cool as Microsoft with their operating system codenames. You can take a look at it here, and if you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know on the forums.
December 24, 2004
Just a quick update for you guys - Steve Nelson brings us his Santa Shuttle.
Happy Chrimbo gents - we'll see you back at the forum.
December 14, 2004
I finally have some space in between exams and what better than to get an update through before I get lost again. Anyway first of is a super gallery of Neil Dunn's much talked-about Tornado GR.1 in arctic markings. There are 12 images in all and to have with those with dial-up connections, the images are spilt into four images over three pages.
Also, because Glenn Ludgate has nothing better to do (seriously, ask him) he brings us two more entries into the Scale-O-Rama, which, incidentally, is ending in two weeks. Anyone who still has entries might want to send it in quick.
October 14, 2004
After a few unsuccessful attempts at redesigning the site, your editor has decided to say "sod it" and just do the regular updates while continuing work on the site redesign.
First off is Geoff Baker's scratchbuilt Hawker P.1152 Peregrine. There's also a picture of his P.1154 as a size comparison.
Glenn Ludgate is back with yet another Scale-O-Rama entry. He's actually got a few more coming along.
Also, a trip to the IPMS Kalamazoo contest on September has yielded a few interesting what-ifs.
Enjoy!
September 7, 2004
Small update for today - Edwin Ross Quantrall brings us his Lockheed/Aeritalia F-104S Super Starfighter for show today.
Wait till you see what's on the next update...
August 10, 2004
Hey everyone! The hard drive is back online, as well as an additional investment for a CD archiving system which will help with making sure that computer crashes don't get in the way of updates.
Anyway today's going to be a quick update, a Scale-O-Rama - Ronnie Murray's Gee Bee Racer. How's everyone else's Scale-O-Rama getting along?
July 20, 2004 - 35th Anniversary of the First Manned Landing on the Moon
Hi everyone! Since I missed the update last week, I've put up two major articles, both from Marty Shay. The big surprise here is that neither of them are ships, but tanks instead! The first one is his very interesting THEL Tank, based on a hypothetical study for a tank-based laser weapon. Second is his modified JGSDF Type 74 Tank with a what-if camoflage scheme.
July 5, 2004
Hello again everyone, hopefully those of you who celebrated Canada Day and 4th of July came home from your holidays safe and sound.
Today's main update is an RAAF P-61B Silver Widow, by Ray Seppala. Ray used the classic Airfix kit as a basis for his model.
Also, as a minor update, Barry Snell (aka John Howling Mouse) has sent in a few extra pictures of his CAF Super Hornet. The new pictures are the slightly smaller ones at the end of the article. Enjoy!
June 28th, 2004
Tom is actually afraid that I might steal his job for good, so that's why he did two updates in a row, to show that he's still around.
Now, the serious stuff. Scott Millican, aka viper29_ca presents us his CF-117A Nighthawk. Super job Scott, eh!
Glenn Ludgate has sent in his Scale-o-Rama entry.
- Ollie
June 22, 2004
While Ollie is still busy cooped up in his bedroom/basement/computer room/whatever playing Battlefield Vietnam, updates continue:
Marty Shay is back with his Stretch North Carolina, with quite a few pictures and some interesting numbers for you naval fans.
Allan McRae did a quick post-and-run with a short gallery of his MiG-19 Prop Driven Thai Special.
June 14, 2004
Today we welcome back an old (and slightly mad) friend, Alvis Petrie, with his NASCAR Tampon Racer.
Also, due to popular demand, his Canadian Lunar Lander is back on the article list after a short absence in the archives. His Soviet naval air wing is also back on the Soviet group build archive.
There is a new group build/contest - The F-Teeny Booper Alvis Tribute. More details to be revealed later, but the group build is already up.
June 7, 2004
Hello again comrades! We apologize for the delays in updates, as the transfer of the Directorate's office to a new location had taken longer than anticipated, along with the usual complications (those responsible have been sent to the gulag).
Today we bring two examples of the genius our glorious socialist thinkers are capable off. First we have Comrade Biggiski's (codenamed Raymond to fool those imperialist spies) long awaited and anticipated MiG-23K.
We also have a newcomer to our distinguished line of OKBs, comrade Muravski (codenamed Ronnie Murray, also to fool those imperialist American dogs), with his Tu-30. This exemplary line of socialist ingenuity is also an entrant in our Scale-O-Rama contest (a clever instrument of data gathering dreamt up by our crafty Canadian contact, comrade Snelleski).
By the way, Comrade Biggiski is to report to the gulag for a year of building Zhengdefu kits as punishment for letting a picture of a revealing, albiet low resolution spy image of the MiG-23K to be published on the front page.
June 1st, 2004
Hey, it's been a long time, eh? Summer time is here, and with it less time is spent on the computer and in front of them models! Chicks are showing more skin and beer is a necessity. But here's an update!!
Crazy Western Canadian Barry Snell (aka John Howling Mouse) has sent us images of his marvelous CF-18F Super Hornet. Ain't it sweet?
Glenn Ludgate is back with his photography article part 4.
- Ollie
May 11, 2004
Hey again everyone! Ollie and I finally figured out our confusion with who was supposed to do the update when, hooray! You can break out the crisps/chips/Ringolos/Twiglets/whatever now.
Local Canadian superhero and resident beer connoisseur Captain Canada (aka Todd Pomerleau) brings us his BAe Hawk (F)GR.1A Combat Hawk, along with a ton of pictures.
Also, we have Scale-O-Rama entry number two from Joe Poutre!
Well, that's about it, until next time!
April, oups, May 4th, 2004
Hi guys! Sorry if it took so long to have an update, me and Tom got mixed but, but things are back to normal now. We start off with a F-19A Specter from Steve Eggers, and we have Glenn's photography article in part 3.
- Ollie
April 13th, 2004
Hi folks!! Today we have a two-fer, first is Tony Inkster's (aka F-32) magnificient MiG-37 for the Soviet group build and Glenn Ludgate is back with part two of his model photography article. Enjoy!!
- Ollie
April 5, 2004
Hello everybody! Today we have 2 major events. Let's welcome Alasdair Ewen with his RAF Osprey. This is his first What If.
Also, I've noticed that as a community we're pretty much non-competitive, so instead of doing the contest like in Modeling Madness, I've included the entrant's name, and instead of one picture, let's have 4 pictures per entry. This will allow for more views of the work. That said, check out Gerald Ritcher's first Scale-O-Rama entry, the ATP-101!
The Airplane for Chairman Tom has been put on hold for a short while to recheck the rules. There are not enough entries to justify the contest. Apprently there is interest in the topic but the rules are a little too tight.
March 29th, 2004
Hey boys and girls!! Tonight we have a Canadian Jaguar, courtesy of James Adam (aka WeeJimmy). It has a neat background story and a sleek paint job.
Also, Glenn Ludgate is here with the first part of his model photography article. Read it, he provides excellent advice!!
- Ollie
March 27, 2004
Not really an update, but I've added the URL to Allen Ury's Fantastic Plastic on the links page. Check it out.
March 22, 2004
Hey everybody! Today is my turn to update the site while Ollie sits and sulks (he really wanted to do this week's update). I'll do the sulking next week.
We have a new What-Iffer. Let's put our hands together for Marty Shay. As promised, here's his little surprise for you naval fans, the CVF-1 Concept Ship. He's got a few more what-if ships in the works, so stay tuned. You can also see more of Marty's models by clicking on this link.
March 15, 2004
Hello to all of you. I'm back with an update featuring some pretty sleek stuff from Neil Dunn aka Nev. First we start with his magnificient BAC Storm Lightning EF.9, a work of art. Neil has included some nice pictures for us, check them out.
Next we have his gorgeous Hasegawa Thunderbolt Mk.II in SEA camouflage. Enjoy!
Now, send me all your articles and they'll get published. If you don't, well, no updates.
- Ollie
February 25, 2004
Hello What-Iffers! It's good to be back from my little "vacation" (damn that Plastic Liberation Army!). During the past three weeks we received articles from Ray Seppala, Neil Dunn, Todd Pomerleau and an article from a newcomer that would make you naval fans dance a little tune. It looks like we'll be in for a treat for the next few weeks!
For now, Stuart Beatson returns to us with his menacing People's Republic of China Assault Ekranoplan. Stuart has included a very detailed and credible backstory.
Also, I'd like to announce a new contest: An Aircraft for Chairman Tom! Write an essay about a production export version of the Xian FBC-1 Flying Leopard and win the new Trumpeter 1/72 kit! You have to build it according to your essay and send the article and photos to us, of course.
In light of the issues some users have been having using the top navigation bar, I've added text links under the banner. You should be able to see them, but they will only be accessible from the home page. This is a temporary fix until I can figure out why the banner will only show up on some computers.
Finally, the TSR.2 group build has been retired since nobody has submitted anything. The discussion thread will be recategorized as a research discussion thread.
February 16, 2004
Good evening everybody! Tonight's update was made by me, Olivier Lacombe. It's a CF-166E Maple Falcon, successor to the CF-166 Freedom Falcon made by our beloved Todd Pomerleau.
Stay tuned for we have very interesting stuff in the pipeline for you.
- Ollie
February 13, 2004
While looking around the What-If servers I found a folder entitled "Tom's To-Do List" and in it were several files (some containing ramblings which further convinces me that he's quite mad). Anyway one of them was a note that says "must replace !@$#@$! banner with smaller one that everyone else can use because my kung fu is the best and so there." The note also contained instructions on uploading the file. According to the note if this works, 95% of you should be able to see the "contact us" button on the lower right corner of the banner. Since he's still missing I took the liberty of uploading it for him. At least we have a ransom note so we somewhat know what happened to him and who is responsible. Superaircraftwashingwhatiffingsecretagentman Vesper has been assigned to look for him.
February 9, 2004
Well, well! An update! How peculiar! Before proceeding with the goodies, just a quick word to let you know that our beloved editor, Supertom, has been kidnapped by some extremist group. We do not yet know if Harmony has taken some advance on Valentine's Day or if a JMN squad has infiltrated the What-If Headquarters, but Vesper will overfly the area with his EB-1 and will give us some infos on the situation. In the mean while, I'm Deputy Editor Olivier Lacombe, or Ollie, or C-FWOL or what ever name you want to call me.
Today we have a very nice Luft '46 model built by Stuart Beatson from Australia. His Huma 1/72 Junkers EF 128 features a very nice camouflage and some subtle weathering. Great job Stuart!
- Ollie
December 23, 2003
Today we welcome Ray Seppala as he presents to us the Australian Air Force Boeing 777. His accompanying backstory is very much in the spirit of What If!
As a Christmas extra, Bud Sliger (aka Vesper) has six images of What If models from the recent Tigerfest 2003 contest, as well as pictures from his day at the Pensacola Air Show at NAS Pensacola, FL.
Finally, I have posted new guidelines for posting images. Please read these new guidelines properly and keep to these guidelines before sending me any new images. I wasted half an hour renaming and resorting the last batch of images.
December 11, 2003
Today we have another Soviet carrier based fighter, a Lavochkin La-15K from OKB Lacombski (aka Olivier Lacombe). Feel the ecstatic patriotism of his glorious contribution to the Motherland!!!
On a more uh, capitalistic note, Kit Spackman brings us a preview of some of his work. Some of you might recognize his work from Mushroom Models Magazine.
December 5, 2003
Lance Salter presents his update for the day with his Luftwaffe Blackburn Buccaneer S2B.
Stuart Beatson is also here to share with us pictures of What-Ifs at the recent SAPMA Model Expo in Adelaide.
Speaking of model shows, What-If is looking for someone to do a write-up of the IPMS 2003 Telford Nationals in general, and also of the What-If SIGs' performance at the show, as well as any juicy tidbits of news concerning the What-If world.
December 3, 2003 (30 minutes later)
Okay, it's fixed. Thanks to Jimbofoxman (our resident lurking admin) who figured it out just as that dim lightbulb went off in my head suggesting I diagnose the files first.
December 3, 2003
$@#%&*#@! The discussion board is down. Apparently something in there got corrupted somehow. It'll be a while before I can figure it out. In the mean time, try using the chatroom.
November 25, 2033
After three attempts, I've finally managed to complete the update in my medicated stupor without passing out halfway. Here it is!
Neil Dunn returns with his Canadian CH-166 Comanche. Neil cunningly wrote in some prominent Canadian names into the article.
Also, What-If is participating in a worldwide petition to get Airfix to kit the BAC TSR.2 in 1/72. Contact Thorvic via the Discussion Board and he'll give you some details. We're very close to having a new TSR.2 kit!
November 14, 2003
Peter Hobbins, our resident lurker from Down Under brings us his RAAF Lockheed F-104K and his one-of-a-kind CAC CA-13 trainer.
Also, we have a new group build, entitled Allied Naval Forces. There is a thread going on at the discussion boards at the moment as to what the rules are. Feel free to drop in and offer suggestions, ideas, and of course, new What-If's!
November 9, 2003
Neil Dunn brings us his F-14K which was one of the unused articles lost in the file migration.
Neil also has a glowing review of an out of the box Tamiya MiG-15 that he thinks will be an easy basis for many what-if conversions, and has used it to make a diorama of a giant cat conquering a MiG-15!
November 4, 2003
Bud Sliger (whom we all know as Vesper) brings us his recently built MiG-28 and MiG-28UB, made from a combination of kitbashing and a little scratchbuilding. Three guesses as to what his favorite movie is.
November 1, 2003
Barry Snell (aka John Howling Mouse) rushes in Hobbycraft's newly tooled 1/48 Avro CF-105 Arrow kit for a quick look in the box. From reading Barry's review, this editor believes the new offering definitely sounds like a marked improvement over the older kit.
October 28, 2003
Comrade Andrei Desautski (aka Andrew Desautels) also ramps up his socialist patriotic fervour with his MiG-21K. Andrew had his in-progress pictures posted on our discussion board for some time now and today he gives us a full write-up along with 11 pictures. Incidentally this is his first article for What-If, and his second What-If. We have brought another one to see the light!!!
October 25, 2003
Comrade Alviski Petrovomichskiskatesnowshoe (aka Alvis Petrie) does his bit for the Motherland today for our Soviet Naval Carrier Group Build. Onward to progress, comrade!
October 22, 2003
Stuart Beatson presents his Vought F5U-1 in RAAF New Guinea Campaign colors today.
Batma - er, I mean, Nick would also like to remind you that Racing Tanks are fun and encourages you to go out and get a cheapo motorized tank so we can have a little dash time contest.
Later in the day...
I've added Olivier "C-FWOL" Lacombe's schoolday doodles on to the Gallery.
October 21, 2003
If you've been paying attention, you might have noticed that the banner for the Soviet Naval Aviation group build is up, along with its own title page. As I get around to designing the new banners an title pages for the other group builds I'll add them to group build list and also make some smaller banners from the front page.
Later in the day...
Yes, I have a lot of free time today! I've added the Racing Tanks group build banner and also added it to our group build list.
October 20, 2003
As you may have noticed, the official banner for Scale-O-Rama contest is up. Take a look at the new rules. Barry, let me know if there are any changes to the rules.
Another banner is in the works - the one for the Soviet Carrier Group Build. All that's needed right now is a name for the group build. "Soviet Carrier Group Build" sounds somewhat generic and is quite a mouthful. Any suggestions?
Also, the computer shop that sold me the power supply (that burned out in 3 days and took them a week to replace) screwed me over again. No power. At the meantime I'm using the laptop, but if you've had any articles to send me, you'll have to resend them as they're stuck in the main computer.
Finally, Allan McRae's Lippisch Japanese P.13a can found here.