Author Topic: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale  (Read 6633 times)

Offline Brian da Basher

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While the 1969 Football War between El Salvador and Honduras is legendary among airplane modelers, utterly forgotten today is the conflict which presaged it, the 1936 Fooseball War.



The conflict was the result of long-simmering tensions between two small South American nations, Not-a-mala and No Way-aguay.



Things would come to a head when these two countries faced off in the Championship Final of the Copa de Fooseball.



The lid blew off when a controversial ruling went against Not-a-mala.



The Not-a-malan national team along with their many fellow countrymen in the stands marched out as one yelling, "This means war!"

This would also mean profit to an arms maker who was devious enough to supply weapons to both sides, the 2 Faced Bros.



Along with your run-of-the-mill rifles, machine guns, mortars, cannons and chlorine gas, 2 Faced Bros. also sold two fighter-bomber aircraft which were remarkably advanced for the time, the 2FBFB2-1 & 2FBFB2-2.



The 2FBFB2-2 biplane was the high-end model, much in demand.





The 2FBFB2-1 was the simpler, less-advanced monoplane with the budget-conscious in mind.





As No Way-aguay was a poor country, they could not afford the expense of the biplane's extra wing and were forced to buy the bare-bones monoplane variant.



#39 is a good example of the No Way-aguayan 2FBFB2-1s in the standard protective and, dare I say, sexy all-gray scheme. Why this aircraft was numbered 39 when No Way-aguay could only afford five of the things remains a mystery unsolved by scholars of this forgotten conflict.



Not-a-mala, having grown wealthy due to a rich trade in guar gum, was able to purchase two full squadrons of the cutting-edge, highly maneuverable 2FBFB2-2 biplane. Not only was the 2FBFB2-2 incredibly fast and able to out-turn anything else around, it had a long range for the type and was able to carry a 500 kilo bomb load along with its two, wing-mounted machine guns.







At noon on September 31st, a flight of Not-a-malan 2FBFB2-2 biplanes took off on a mission over No Way-aguay's capital, São No Wayo.



Three of these attackers were forced to abort due to mechanical problems and two others cut and ran at the sight of No Way-aguayan 2FBFB2-1 monoplanes rising to meet them.



The remaining Not-a-malan 2FBFB2-2 biplane completed its mission, but dropped propaganda leaflets instead of bombs. The pilot, one Capitán de Vuelo de los Capistrano, was awarded the Not-a-malan Cross of Apathy, the highest award for valor in that forbidding land.



The leaflets eventually became traded as an underground currency due to their usefulness as toilet paper since they were softer and more absorbent than the local money, the No Way-aguayan Nada. Eventually one small leaflet cost four Nadas.



Inflation like this could not be permitted to continue and the economy in neighboring Not-a-mala was little better. Eventually both sides returned to the bargaining table and hostilities ceased before the end of the year.





The treaty between Not-a-mala and No Way-aguay called for a re-match of the Fooseball Copa de Sudamericana final which ended in a nil-nil tie.





The 2FBFB2-1 & 2FBFB2-2 were eventually replaced with newer types on the eve of W.W. II and were soon forgotten, just like the Fooseball War. All that remains of those incredible aircraft today are two Never-Mo snap tite models that were available only at participating K-marts during the 1978 holiday season.



Brian da Basher

« Last Edit: October 15, 2016, 06:07:30 PM by Brian da Basher »

Offline Alvis 3.1

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Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2016, 06:26:55 AM »
 ;D ;D ;D

Hilarious and well executed, as always!

Alvis 3.1

Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2016, 06:35:55 AM »
This all began with a pair of 1/48 Testors Howard "Ike" racing planes. I took great comfort in the Skill Level 2 label. Maybe these babies would be within the scope of my ability?



This is a re-pop of the vintage Hawk classic. Mine still had Hawk Models engraved on the inside of the fuselage. Of course, a few extra parts would be needed, such as the lower wing from another Testors/Hawk classic, their 1/48 Curtiss floatplane racer. I also swiped the outside struts from that Curtiss too. The inner struts are from a Nieuport. Here's the main parts all cleaned up and ready for assembly.



Once all the engraved bits had been either filled in or sanded down, things went together nicely.



These kits may be old and almost childishly simple, but they sure build up easy!



I kept with kit parts as much as possible and the only bits not 1/48 scale are the biplane's inner struts & prop-spinner, the canopies and machine guns. The one on the monoplane 2FBFB2-1 is swiped from a Nieuport.



The under-wing guns on the biplane 2FBFB2-2 were the tail guns from another fine Testors product, their 1/72 Dauntless.



Both models were finished with the old hairy stick and acrylics. The Not-a-malan biplane in Poly Scale Pine Green and WarPac Gray (the light green) and Israeli light gray on the underside.





The No-Wayaguayan monoplane was finished in Model Masters Light Sea Gray, but I gave the engine a wash of black to grunge it up a little.





Decals were mostly from a Roundels of the World sheet Mr Fontaine sent me a while back (thanks a million, amigo!). Italian red crosses were set at an angle on top of Spanish roundels for those Not-a-malan markings.



Swiss markings defaced with red paint make up the No-way-aguayan insignia.



I had a blast building the 2FBFB2-1 & 2FBFB2-2 which took me about a week and a half to complete.





I also had a whale of a time participating in this group build! I'd like to thank our GB moderator for keeping everything running smoothly.





I hope you enjoyed the 2FBFB2-1 & 2FBFB2-2 and reading about yet another small conflict lost in the sands of time.



Brian da Basher
« Last Edit: October 10, 2016, 06:47:35 AM by Brian da Basher »

Offline finsrin

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Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #3 on: October 10, 2016, 07:02:27 AM »
Intense saga.  Edge of seat reading taking in every word. 
Remembering back, in 8th grade for months we studied South America.  Not a mention of this or the countries as best I recall.
Models depict the two airplane versions well. :)

Offline Brian da Basher

  • He has an unnatural attraction to Spats...and a growing fascination with airships!
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Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #4 on: October 10, 2016, 07:18:16 AM »
<snip>
Remembering back, in 8th grade for months we studied South America.  Not a mention of this or the countries as best I recall.
<snip>

This could mean one of two things:

These countries are in the heart of the Amazon rain forest and are so densely covered with jungle that they were omitted from many maps

or

your teacher is in on the conspiracy - WAKE UP SHEEPLE!

Either way, I'm glad you guys liked the models.

Brian da Basher

Offline The Big Gimper

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Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #5 on: October 10, 2016, 07:19:10 AM »
Brian: I didn't which which way the story was going. Maybe to a deadend. I thinking maybe the neutral European county of Cul-de-sac was going to help negotiate a peace treaty.  :)
Work in progress ::

I am giving up listing them. They all end up on the shelf of procrastination anyways.

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Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #6 on: October 10, 2016, 08:25:11 AM »
 :) :)
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline Kerick

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Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #7 on: October 10, 2016, 09:15:52 AM »
Entertaining as always! You must have a very large shelf of these obscure historical masterpieces.

Offline Tophe

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Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #8 on: October 10, 2016, 11:11:01 AM »
Congratulations, once more, both for your imagination and skills making it actually as very-possible models. ;)

Offline AXOR

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Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #9 on: October 10, 2016, 05:13:54 PM »
Brian,it's one of your best built...great work  :-*  :)
Alex

Offline ericr

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Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #10 on: October 11, 2016, 12:01:43 AM »

I love the use of roadsigns (or looking close) as roundels : there is potential there

Offline ed s

  • An outstanding, creative builder.
Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #11 on: October 11, 2016, 10:49:13 AM »
Great models and story.  Well done (again).

Ed

Offline apophenia

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Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #12 on: October 18, 2016, 11:19:34 AM »
Bravo Brian  :)  The story of la Guerra de Futbolín had to be exposed!

Coincidentally, CdV Capistrano's 1936 award - la Cruz del Apatía (con la Banda de Indiferencia) or CdA(BI) - recently popped up on eBay. The decoration is an impressive enameled Malteses cross. On the obverse is marked with the Not-a-malan slogan 'Quid Molestus Usqum?' ('Why Bother Anyway?'). On the reverse is stamped CdV Capistrano's name and número de servicio. In the centre is boldly marked in Latin 'Apathia'.

This Cruz del Apatía was advertised along with its original ribbon. Alas, CdV Capistrano's accompanying silver bar (emblazoned with a bas relief of the shrugging Presidente de Not-a-mala) has gone missing ... but no-one seems to care.
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Offline Camthalion

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Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #13 on: October 31, 2016, 09:06:33 PM »
Top work.  Nice one

Offline KiwiZac

  • The Modeller Formerly Known As K5054NZ
Re: 1936 Fooseball War Fighters - A Very Small Conflict in 1/72 Scale
« Reply #14 on: November 16, 2016, 04:45:26 AM »
Brian! You need to stop this! Your powers of Photoshop-fu and Styrenia are becoming far, far too great! Another amazing job my friend.
Zac in NZ
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