Ideas

You did not mention a scale preference, so i suppose the first suggestion would be contemplate the amount of room available for display.

You list a lot of categories which may require you to consider the smaller scales ( 1/72 aircraft / armor ) for easier storage and display -unless you were able to buy a fore-closed mansion at a cheap price.

1/72 aircraft kits are also available for the widest range of nations and time periods.

I have plenty of room for storing them so that isn't an issue.  I was thinking of 1:48 for Aircraft and 1:35 or larger for Armor.

Eric

Here are a couple of thoughts to help with your list, keeping in mind the aircraft/armor that defined that era for your countries:

Cold War:

USA - Aircraft:  F-4 Phantom, used by Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force.  Interceptor against the Soviet Tu-95's, fighter bomber in SE Asia, over 5000 built, etc.

USA - Armor:  Something along the lines of either the M113 (not sexy, I know) or possibly the M60 Patton as it's service history (1961-1997) fits the Cold War era almost completely.  Plus all the bonus coverage of the M60A3s in service with Egypt getting some press.

Soviet Union - Armor:  Either a T-62, T-72 or BMP variant.  Personally I would go with a BMP as it defined the role of mechanized infantry in the Cold War, as well as the radical design that provided almost no profile to target.

Soviet Union - Aircraft:  MiG-21bis, possible the Su-17/22/22M family.  The main rationale for using either of these designs are the sheer numbers of these two airframes that were exported.  Remember, it was a pair of Su-22's that were shot down in 1981 by the F-14 in the Gulf of Sidra.  I would consider either the iconic aircraft of the era for the Soviets.

Great Britain - Aircraft: Harrier GR.1 or FRS.1.  The signature British aircraft of the Cold War (well, maybe second to the Avro Vulcan, but at 1/48th scale, that would be a BIG plane).  Instantly recognizable around the world, combat tested in the 1982 Falklands campaign.  Other options include mainly consortium aircraft, such as the SEPECAT Jaguar or Panavia Tornado, but neither are purely British in nature.

Those would be my suggestions for some Cold War era stuff.  Hope it helps.

(I hate to start out like a school-marme, but penultimate means next to the last.)

That's a pretty big campaign you've got planned. Do you want to jump around amongst subject types (within the scales that you ultimately chose) or select a subset (ie., M26 based US tanks) and build the series?

I don'k know what you are talking about, penultimate isn't in my post (or I edited it out).  Thanks, I don't know what I was thinking.

As far as how I want to do everything, I just want to create the list and then jump around to whatever one I want to do next.

Eric

estein:

Don't mind me. It's just that they don't let me out that often. (BTW, I did the same thing in an eBay listing not long ago.)

It sounds like a fun plan. Based upon my dabbling, if you want to stay in scale and build the greatest number of kits available, it seems that 1/48 is your air craft scale and 1/35 would work best for armor.

Since I prolly don't have nearly as much time, I've opted to build the largest scale "whatevers" I can find.

E.g., Dora is around in (I just love artillery) 1/144, 1/72 and 1/35. You ca guess which steamer trunk I got. Plus, it'll go well with Leopold and Karl in same. (My eyes ain't what they once were, either.)

My lane stash is 1/32, but I'm fittin' to reel in some 1/24s.

Hope you keep your progress posted.

For WW II I'd say your on the right track.

German plane would be the Bf-109 since they Produced 30,000 of them.

Russian WW II plane an Il-2 Sturmovik.

British WW II armor is a toughie, but arguably the Churchill, but Matilda was common early on.

Japanese tank would be the Type 97 Chi-Ha

Cold War US armor the M-60. Modern the M1 Abrams

Cold War Soviet tank the T-55 or T-62. Modern the T-72

German modern the Leopard A6

British Cold War armor the Centurion. Modern the Challenger 2

Hmmm.  I am not sure about the P51.  Yes, it was a major player.  But don't forget aircraft like the B-17 which soldiered on bringing our crews back home despite terrific damage that would have taken any other aircraft out of the sky.  It went into harms way with absolutely no fighter escort into enemy territory until the P51 came around with the Merlin engine.  Maybe you should choose an aircraft from each type, Bomber, Fighter, Ground Attack, and Transport.  The same holds true for the other combatants, England, Spitfire or Hurricane and probably the Lancaster.  Germany FW190 or BF109 and HE111 probably, and so on.  Just a suggestion.

Rich

estein9077

I am the kind of person that needs a goal.   That said, I am setting a new goal for myself as it comes to modeling.  I want to build models for WWI, WWII, Cold War and modern eras.  Aircraft and Armor from each era from each of the major countries involved in that era.  I want all the Aircraft to be in the same scale as well as all of the armor in the same scale.  I want each model to be the ultimate example of the era for the country it represents.

Here is what I have come up with so far;

     WWI

• USA * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Undecided 
• Germany * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Undecided 
• Soviet Union * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Undecided 
• Great Britain * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Undecided 

     WWII

• USA * Armor - Some version of the Sherman / Aircraft - Some version of the P-51
• Germany * Armor - Maybe a Tiger / Aircraft - Undecided
• Soviet Union * Armor - Some version of the T-34 / Aircraft - Undecided
• Great Britain * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Some version of the Spitfire
• Japan * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Some version of the Zero

Cold War

• USA * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Undecided 
• Germany * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Undecided 
• Soviet Union * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Undecided 
• Great Britain * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Undecided 

Modern Day

• USA * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Undecided 
• Germany * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Undecided 
• Soviet Union * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Undecided 
• Great Britain * Armor - Undecided / Aircraft - Undecided 

 

This may take a little while to finish but, what the hell, why not.

 

Any suggestions on what I should do for each category?

Thanks

Eric

For WW1 you have a fair bit of overlap based on "ultimate" since the allied nations shared many designs. Going with a selection of equipment strongly associated with each, meets your intent I would assume. In that case I would go with something like:

Aircraft

USA SPAD XIII

UK Sopwith Camel

France (you really can't leave France out of WW1) Nieuport 11 or SPAD VII

Germany Fokker Dr1 or DVII (good argument either way)

Russia (not USSR yet) Nieuport 11 or 17

Armor is pretty limited

UK and US both used the Mk4 tank. UK used several armored cars based on large touring cars.

France, USA and Russia all used the FT-17. France had a number of other tanks, but the FT-17 was by far the most successful. FT-17s were widely exported and many were still in limited use in 1940. Germany even used some for policing duties during WW2.

Germany had the A7V and LKII, but probably actually used more captured British tanks than their own.

I've been thinking sort of along the same lines with my collection, but more limited. I was inspired by the "Dogfights" series on the History channel, so my current mode is doing a series of "Adversaries" mainly US produced or US flown fighter aircraft in 1/48 and any enemy that opposed them in combat, to limit the scope and make this manageable.

 So I'm starting with the most recognized and getting more obscure from there.  For example, P-51 vs FW-190, Spitfire (Eagle Squadron) vs BF 109, Wildcat vs A6M2, P-40 (AVG) vs. Japanese 'Oscar', F-86 vs. Mig 15, USAF F-4C Vs NVAF Mig-21, Navy F8U Crusader Vs NVAF Mig-17, F-15C vs Iraqi Mirage F1, etc.

Funny, I have a similar idea like that a while back, but more as "evolution of tanks and aircraft" But Your idea is good too.

For each, try to use the aircraft or the armor that first come to mind, not just the best, but the most produce, the most likeable and the most reliable and best combat performance.

For example, in cold war russia, the T-72 was better than the T-55, but the T-55 was much more commen, and has a better reputation.

I do admit for the US in WW2 aircraft is tricky, but I would go with P-51 but in 1/48 scale, if you want a bigger one, then the B-17 in 1/72 is just right.

So though are obvious like WW@ soviet tank, T-34 or WW2 british plane, spitfire. and modern american tank, Abram.

But do keep in mind with the scale, especially with aircraft. See some aircraft are massive, even in 1/48 like the F4 phantom and F-18. Tanks though are roughtly the same size (depending on the class like medium tanks) I fid they work best in 1/35 but if space is a issue, 1/48 is fine too.

I would recommend the Wingnut Wings Kits for British and German aircraft in WWI

I hate to be the cynic, but I predict that after two or three models you'll just start building what you want or what catches your eye. . Projects like this never seem to actually get finished.

Still it's interesting to read the opinions.

the doog

I hate to be the cynic, but I predict that after two or three models you'll just start building what you want or what catches your eye. . Projects like this never seem to actually get finished.

Still it's interesting to read the opinions.

Doog beat me to it. Not wanting to rain on your parade either but I think you'll find that as you start at whatever point you want, other ideas will spring into your own mind. Maybe you do like to be organized but OTOH you wouldn't want it to start to feel like work or a job just to be checking things off of a list, would you?