The Search for Truth and Knowledge

[DreamKnight]

Editorial by DreamKnight

In life, we all have the urge to search for truth and knowledge.  As human, we have an insatiable urge for the truth. That, and war but that's a topic for another day. Many of my hobbies include some kind of process where one must research for knowledge to be better at it. After all, knowledge is power.  Then there are those hobbies that is all about the search for truth.  The paranormal is one for me.  I used to work with the International Society for Paranormal Research out "ghost hunting" before it was cool.  There was always a cool feeling when you find out something new about a location that you have or are about to investigate (usually more so after an investigation).  Then there that certain rush you get during discovery.  When something happens and it SHOULD NOT have happened.

Though not as much as a rush, there's always that really cool feeling you get when discover something new for yourself in scale modeling.  It's all about discovery, even about horrible past events. Some people who never found themselves to be a "history buff" suddenly find themselve engrossed in the background of the subject they are currently building. It's bound to happen and it usually does happen.  It doesn't have to be a subject of the past but even Sci-Fi or Fantasy of a whole new world from another's mind.

   So the search for truth and knowledge for me in scale modeling have opened my eyes to a few facts that I found amusing and cool. When I start a model, I normally don't research about it out right. This process is different for many people.  Normally, I find myself first looking at what other modelers have done on the same subject and it spring boards from there.  It first starts out as research to see how others built or painted the same model and it usually ends up with me reading, buying books or watching shows and movies about it.

The F4F-4 Wildcat I did for the Promodeller's Pacific War Build was just a model plane I picked up at the LHS because it was a nice price and it looked pretty cool.  When I sat down with it it was a piece of plastic. Then it became a plane the US used in the Pacific Theatre.  Then I found out it was a hardy plane but difficult to out maneuver the Japanese Zero.  To counter that, they used something called the Thach Weave (aka Beam Defense Position), a tactic where one Wildcat (the bait) plays mouse to a Zero while his wing-man (the hook) position behind the cat. They get into a weaving pattern to where the first Wildcat weaves one way followed by the Zero and when the hook Wildcat is far enough behind during a pass he takes out the Zero. With this maneuver, US Wildcat pilot were able to hold up against some pretty impressive odds.

This tactic was developed by naval aviator John S. Thach (who achieved to be an Admiral) using matchsticks one night when he was trying to come up with a way to gain an edge over a Zero.  He also developed the Big blue blanket system to defend against Kamikaze suicide attacks in Midway.

In our own "The Battle of Britain" build, I entered a Hawker Hurricane. I learned much about the Hawker Hurricane (though I still have PLENTY to learn still) that I won't bored you with.  What really peaked my interest that I ran across when working on the plane was the story of the 303 Squadron.  This was a squadron of Polish Hawker Hurricane fighter pilots. They fled Poland to join the service in Britain.  Their story was comical in a way; breaking the language barrier, their casual air about them.  But when they given thier chance to fly finally, the surprised the hell out of the British.  They flew the Hurricane like no British have ever seen and soon the 303 Squadron held some of the highest scoring aces in the Battle of Britain.

Of course history is only as accurate as the story teller can tell it but sometimes we all need stories of heroics and inspiration. But heroic and inspirational stories just don't come from the past.  We move to a different kind of discovery of truth and knowledge in science fiction and fantasy.

Although you don't find historical truths, we find quite facinating stuff inside and outside our favorite sci-fi and fantasy worlds.  Did you know JRR Tolkien's inspiration for Bilbo and Frodo Baggins' home of Bag End came from Tolkien's aunt's farm of the same name? Did you know in the UK census of the year 2001, Jedi was listed as a religion? (LOL) And hey, Kirk had never utter the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" in any episodes or movies.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that had gathered and learned from this hobby so let's hear from you. Anything you'd like to share about some cool things you've learned while modeling or wargaming or just making terrains?  You're on the air with "This week on SMA..."!


Other "This Week on SMA..." topics:
What do you like about learning most in Scale Modeling?
The knowledge gained from building planes
What did you learn from building armoured vehicles?
Any cool facts you'd like to share that you discovered building cars?
Any knowledge you'd learn while building boats?
Any cool facts or things you learned when building terrain?
I bet you didn't know that in Star Wars...
I bet you didn't know that in Star Trek...
I bet you didn't know that in Lord of the Rings...
What's the most fasinating technique you've learned from building models?

[Exarkun77]

Didn't reply to this topic at first because i'm mostly a Sci-fi noob modeler.
I can't say i learned historical facts with this, although a lot of sci-fi movies use military references, so i became familiar with ranks (but don't know them by heart, and i know they are different in the navy), with some of the ships' classes or parts.
And it always made sense to me that movie makers used the same words to describe Christophe Colomb's crew and ship or Kirk's enterprise.

So i have a question for you guys who know more than me.
Recently, i often saw builds of ships labelled Mark I, Mark II, etc... I think they use the same word for the different versions of Iron man's suit.
So i was wondering where this "Mark" thing comes from, is it something the military used back in the day?

[Elm City Hobbies]

I believe it is a British term to denote a different version of the same aircraft.

Spitfire Mk. I, II, V, IX, etc, etc. Churchill Mk I, II, etc.

US is sort of the same way, just they denote their with letters and/or numbers.

F-15A, F-15C, F-15E

M1, M1A1, M1A2

Same basic vehicle, just an upgraded version of it.

The moniker in some shape or form has been carried over to Sci Fi, but is blurred a bit in some instances.

Star Trek is a good one. NCC1701 Enterprise, while the TV version, early movie version and refit are of similar design, only really the early movie and refit are actually the same basic ship (while the TV version is very similar so I guess you can count that as well) however once you get into the Enterprise B to E, they are a complete different class of ship, and really only the name is the same, NCC 1701 Enterprise.

Something like Battlestar Galactica, the Mk. system is just new with the new series that ended about a year ago. In the old series, the Viper was just a Viper, but in the new series you have the older Viper Mk.II, and the newer Viper Mk.VII. 

[Ken Abrams]

I agree with Scott that it is most likely a British term but it is something they've applied to many things besides aircraft. You can go back to the late 1800's and find Mk 1 and Mk 2 Enfield or Webley revolvers, WWI British tanks had Mk 1 - Mk5 notations etc. Basically I think it's just a term that the Brits coined to denote a Model.

I don't think it's as comparable to the US using F in F-15 because the F stands for Fighter, Like a C-130 is a Cargo plane and a B-19 is a Bomber etc.

The MI, M3, M16 comparison however would most definitely be along the same thought, as the M stands for 'Model', which is essentially what the British mean when they say 'Mark'. Much earlier in US military speak, a vehicle or weapon would first be called something like a T-19... T for 'Test' and then only once it was accepted would it receive the M classification, as that model received changes it would then get the 'A' designations, M4A1, M4A2 etc. and occasionally you may even get an Expedient designation to one of those model variations, like an M4A3E8.

The US has always been horribly confusing with their acronyms in the military, especially when you consider you could be holding an M3 while wearing and M3 while riding in an M3 and towing an M3 all at the same time and none of those objects are the same thing.

[Exarkun77]

There you go, thanks for the answers.

[HAT1701D]

 When it comes to American aircraft..military that is, it is actually more complicated.

 F-15A/B - F-15C/D for instance.....Both are Air Superiority fighters. A designates it as an early model, single seat. B designates it as an early model dual seat. F-15C/D..similar BUT slightly upgraded variant....

 F-15E..a whole different beast using the same basic platform. All are dual seaters but redesigned for ground pounding.

 If you dig into it deeper......as many who have worked the flightline do or have ( or will ), they are further broken down into the "Block" system. For example......
F-16C Block 20
F-16C Block 25
F-16C Block 30
F-16C Block 40
etc up to the current Block 60.......Most of the time, the external differences are small. It usually denotes avionics systems and engine differences.....Sometimes there may be something noticable like antenas or sensor mounts on one vs. the other not having them. The F-16C Block 60 is noticably different though.....

 One can get REALLY detailed if one wants to dig into a subject..especially in military aviation. Also if one has a friend who works on these beasts on a daily basis and can point things out that doesn't cross the lines of job security.

HAT