4 - Osario Inspiration!

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It was shortly after the debacle of my tiger stripe experience that I finally found a vision for my Osario's.

It started because I read - elsewhere on the Internet - that a reviewer criticized the Scotia sci-fi tanks for looking too much alike. My impression was that he essentially accused the sculptor of using a single master for all of the sci-fi Osarios, and throwing on some quick-and-easy details to knock out three science fiction versions.

Being curious, I asked the manufacturer if they wouldn't mind sending me some samples so that I could compare. They didn't send me the historical Osario - which was a real tank, made in Brazil, but it was only a prototype and was never put into production - but they did send me the sci-fi Osarios:

	The Osario 2000 is a tracked vehicle. Instead of a turret, it has some form of automated gun. The upper deck has the same general shape as the Osario 4000's deck, but has a different arrangement of the details (i.e., no hatches in the same place).
	The Osario 3000 is a hovertank. The upper deck resembles the Osario 4000 in shape, though it is nearly obscured by the added skirts and new engine housing. The turret has nothing in common with the Osario 4000 turret.

I disagree with that reviewer - I really don't see that much in common between the three tanks - to me, they look no more alike than would be expected considering they are supposed to be evolving from the same original design. There is too much difference between models for these to be simple knock-offs.

I also like the idea of being able to build three different "eras" of science fiction combat vehicles.

But that got me thinking about Brazil. I remembered reading in some science fiction novel - was it Gateway? - that Brazil would be a world power someday, simply due to its population and natural resources. And that made me consider that when Mankind someday began to colonize the stars, perhaps Brazil would be there, and perhaps luck and circumstance would allow a great Brazilian empire to be carved out among the stars.

And eventually such an empire would become corrupt and feeble - a perfect "villain" army for me to fight against! (Or with...)

Suddenly, the design of the Osario 4000 made sense. A vast empire needed a large army, but the expense would be enormous! So they would economize. They needed fast vehicles, sufficiently armored to withstand irregular forces, and with a big gun to impress the natives. That described my grav tank perfectly - small, compact, sleek, with a big gun.

The rest of the empire just fell into place. Of course, there had to be a dominant church of some kind, some futuristic mutation of the Universal Church. That would allow my armies to crusade in the name of their God, probably with fanatical elites and stalwart, faithful soldiers. The empire was so large that it would function as independent states loosely controlled by the Mother Planet, but with civil war always on the horizon, and with army chieftains eager to seize power on their own.

And that told me how to finish painting my tanks...