Internet Modeler review of new Airfix Bf-109

[J Boyle]

They like it for ther many options and price.

Review and photos of an unbuilt kit is here:
http://www.internetmodeler.com/artma...-1-E-3-E-4.php

One point: We expect the box art to not show the swastika.
But unlike many kits that don't show them on the box, the decal sheet does not include them.
Seems rather silly for a kit aimed at serious builders to not include them.

[...starfire]

One point: We expect the box art to not show the swastika.
But unlike many kits that don't show them on the box, the decal sheet does not include them.

From my experience, that's the norm for an Airfix (as well as Revell or Italeri) mainstream kit.

[Eddie]

I believe that in Germany (and France?) it's not legal to sell models with Swastika decals.

[...starfire]

That's correct (at least for Germany) and also refers to swastikas on Finnish or Latvian national markings as well things like as "swastika score boards" on a Hurricane, P-51, etc. . I know a guy who ordered a Wingnut Wings WWI kit featuring a big swastika on the fuselage and got into trouble with the customs and even the prosecutors' office ... although in the end all charges against him were dismissed.

Some brands like Tamiya (or the importing company) therefore cut the swastikas from the decal sheet and overpaint them on the box art. Academy on the other hand supplies with their 1/72nd Stuka "by chance" a swastika puzzle on the decal sheet which "strangely" is not mentioned in the instructions at all...

[AutoStick]

Any Nazi model without the swastika must be historicaly incorrect?? . here in the UK we must really stop this silly nonsense !!

Its bad enough changing poor dogs names to Jigger !!

[J Boyle]

The new Revell 1/32 Ju-88 has swastikas on the box art (fairly rare today)and on the decal sheet.
Again, its aimed at serious modelers.

[inkworm]

The logical thing would be to produce a second sheet but then would be easy to let a set slip through and get the company or importer in trouble.

Just means we have to order extra sheets. Interestingly magazines and books are sold in Germany which have the swastika on aircraft profiles and show historical accuracy.

[J Boyle]

Interestingly magazines and books are sold in Germany which have the swastika on aircraft profiles and show historical accuracy.

That's what makes the current rules so silly.
Yes, the Nazis were bad guys, no disputing that. But putting the emblem on a plastic model is hardly worshiping them.
Sure, leave it off the box art, and perhaps the entry-level (an auntie's birthday present for an 8 year-old) kits, but give serious modelers the option of building a correct model.

It's fairly clear that the Reich is not going to rise again, and with the war ending 67 years ago, those who were terrorized by the regime and its banner are getting fewer in number. Perhaps soon, these restrictions might be lifted.

Didn't we fight and win the war to prevent draconian restrictions like this?

[...starfire]

Interestingly magazines and books are sold in Germany which have the swastika on aircraft profiles and show historical accuracy.

Basically it is legal to reproduce historical pictures featuring swastikas for educational purposes. A model kit on the other hand is considered a TOY, so swastikas are a no-go there.

By the way: In a case of "over political correctness" German magazine "Flugzeug Classic" used (or maybe still uses) to edit even the swastikas from historic pictures on their front page.

Personally I don't care whether my Luftwaffe models carry swastikas or not.

[Dr Strangelove]

Fear nought lads, Fantasy Print Shop to the rescue!

http://www.fantasyprintshop.co.uk/Swastikas_B216N5.aspx

[inkworm]

Trouble with those sheets Dr is that I would then have to buy some more kits to make sure they are not all wasted, wonder if the other half would fall for that sort of logic?

I don't know about Flugzeug Classic but I know Klassiker der Luftfhart do print them in photos and art.

Even though it is unlikely for a similar party to the Nazi to gain power there is a strong right wing movement in not only Europe but the States which has carried on exploiting the symbol for the same purposes and I can understand why the ban is still in place, even if it is a little flawed for some purposes.

[J Boyle]

Even though it is unlikely for a similar party to the Nazi to gain power there is a strong right wing movement in not only Europe but the States which has carried on exploiting the symbol for the same purposes and I can understand why the ban is still in place, even if it is a little flawed for some purposes.

The same case could be made for anyone of a number of symbols....Crescents, crosses, penatgrams, national flags.
Extremist groups of the left and right could use almost any thing as their symbol. I'd wager there are peace groups that could make the same case agianst the RAF ensign. One man's meat is another man's poison.

Displaying the swastika is not illegal in the USA. The Consitiution protects such things, like the right of Nazis to march (see The Blues Brothers film...that was a hot topic around the time the film was made).
In the US, laws give you the freedom to be stupid, only correcting you if you do something hateful or violent. It's not like there is huge problem with Nazis here. If there is, we still have a few B-17s and Mustangs to take care of them.
Really, does anyone believe that banning swastiks from model kits is going to prevent the rise of neo-Nazis?
I'd wager that the perception of too much political correctness is a far more persuasive recruiting tool.

Seriously, that lack of prior restraint is probably a better way to go than to limit everyone's rights (if you're a model builder, historian, Nazi enthuiast, or law-abiding Nazi ) because some idiot MIGHT do something.

[inkworm]

[QUOTE=J Really, does anyone believe that banning swastiks from model kits is goingto prevent the rise of neo-Nazis? [/QUOTE]

You know how stupid people can be, I bet there are people who genuinely do think that is the case!

[Paul F]

You know how stupid people can be, I bet there are people who genuinely do think that is the case!

I sometimes wonder who's the most stupid, those that think like that, or those of us who (continue to) vote them into positions of power where their stupidity can be inflicted on the rest of us to save us from ourselves :diablo:

As J Boyle says, before long the do-gooders will be banning crosses from models of Crusaders (as in "knights of old", not as in jet fighters ), and also banning crescents from models related to middle eastern or asian based armed forces where htere may (or may not) have been evidence of extreme religious views or discriminatory policies ....

In fact, why stop at banning swastikas etc, why not actually ban models of the dastardly "war-mongering" aircraft that carried them, and of the war mongering aircraft types that fought back against them too .....oops, that's probably given them an idea, "why not just ban all models of military aircraft/shps/tanks full-stop, that way no one of a sensitive nature can be offended" !

[paul178]

I believe it is an offence to Play or publish the lyrics of 3rd Reich songs even today in Germany. If anyone nows better please tell me.If you have an interest in this music you can download about 1200 of them here

http://wahm.no-ip.com/music/music.htm

No I am not a Nazi (closet or otherwise) but the old saying goes "The Devil has the best tunes!"

[TonyT]

Various manufacturers spit the swaztika into two halves so they can be joined, this pc crap has lost Airfix a sale here...

If the Germans were so pc over it, remove them off the museum exhibits and chop down the bloody trees

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Swastikatree.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_swastika