Archive for the ‘ things from the past ’ Category

Paper Panzer E-10

WWII tanks are very beautiful, especially the German ones. I like bricolage tanks (old or foreign tanks recycled for new roles with new armour and weapons) and late war tanks. Moreover there are so many project for future tanks that you can design your fictional tank of 1946 or 1947. These are called paper panzer because they existed only on paper.

The E series was the attempt to build a standardized series of tanks, from light ones to heavy ones. The E-10 was a jagdpanzer between 10 and 25 tons. I like its low profile and its flat top surface. I build even a E-10 panzer with a Leopard turret, just an historical extrapolation than a real project.

My tanks are resin models with late war colours and camouflage. They are in 1/56 scale because I wish to use them with 28mm soldiers. A King Tiger or a Maus tank could be just a little bigger for a table. If you want to play tanks in 28mm, a realistic table have to be big as a swimming pool.



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Sherman Firefly

I have miniatures stuffed inside all available space in my house. But here on this blog you can’t find them enough. So, after photos of vacations, conventions and playtests, something more oriented to the world of 28mm. These are my Sherman V, with two of them in Firefly version. Resin models and turnable turrets.





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Prague 2018: Games [part05]

And now something less macabre: games in Prague. Here the Golem in the local Hamleys shop.

The communist version of Playmobil.

Playing chess with three people.

Game pieces and dice from Celtic times.

Under a building, instead of a car parking, you can find two storeys with railway model dioramas. More then huge. An hell of buildings and water strangulated by rails that go nowhere. The heaven for a railway modeller.







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Another delicatessen from the Police Museum: an entire section on chemical warfare. Yes, Cold War was a real thing in these surroundings.








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Prague 2018: Firearms [part03]

A gate with a Soviet tank among partisans. Freedom from German rule, changed for a new rule. Near there is the Army Museum, closed for renovation. An excuse to visit again Prague in the next years. However we visited the Police Museum and it is amazing: weapons and stuff from Austrian Empire to modern times. Lots of firearms and uniforms.














And we met the paratroopers remembrance of the resistance of paratroopers in this church after the Heydrich ambush.

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Prague is a city with a strange mix of German and Slavic heritage, and with Hebrew heritage in the mix as well. It’s story has moments where these components collide. How to not remember Hussite period? And what happened in the last 100 years: part of the Austrian Empire, after the WWI as an independent country where German element was banned, then Nazi occupation where Slavic element was banned, followed by Soviet occupation when German element was obliterated, and after the fall of Berlin Wall the new German occupation thru economy. Ziska, from a hill, watch with his only eye the country.
















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Prague 2018: Walk around [part01]

During the winter, with rain and cold, people think about their next vacation in a warmer season. In the meantime here there is the report of my last vacation, the first real trip after the money drop due to my house buying.

Prague is a beautiful city in the middle of Europe, with a Slavic and German feel. Usually people go to Prague for a short trip, a weekend based on romantic views, beer and sex. We stayed for a week, and we based our trip on culture and historical views, instead. Prague is so perfect that it seems a fake city. There is a Disneyland feel that emerges from the tourist setting of the all the city centre: you can’t find real shops but only tourist ones, and this for miles and miles. Its soul is corrupted by tourist traps. Lots of historical things to see but you can find even fake historical things. Three vax museums at short distance are a sign of what I’m saying. However we had great moments and there are some posts about them. Here the first with an overview.








































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San Giovanni underground

Rome lacks of undergrounds. We waited for this stop too many years. At the last! San Giovanni underground stop is now the best station in Rome. There is a small museum on the walls with materials recuperated during the diggings. Moreover on the walls are signed the soil levels of the area. You can go from actual era to primitive times, a voyage in history inside the trip to your destination. All roads lead to Rome.





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