chip,
by 'instruments of genocide and oppresion' i was refering to the fact that these people and their vehicles were responsible for some of the possibly the most wicked and despicable acts of the 20th century.
malmerdy, executing canadian pow's in normandy, all the attrocities on the eastern front,
the concentration camps etc.
all nations have done regretable things in wartime because these things sometimes happen in the heat of battle but no-one can really compare to the germans on the scale that these acts happened.
obviously not every german soldier was responsible for war-crimes, but it wasnt just the SS that perpertrated these acts, many were just wehrmacht troops.
my post has obviously caused offence to you and for that i oppologise
it was not intended to,

regards
joe

about those war crimes

ever tought on Russia ?? what they did with german pow's and the deportation of etnic groups ?

the allies who killed 1000's of civillians? bombing city's without any militairy strategie

chinese volounteers/korean soldiers who killed POW's during korea-war ?
POW's during vietnam war ?

Kosovo, Iraq bombed with uranium ? despite the risk of hurting there own troops

what they germans did with the jews etc was totally wrong, but i find it so strange that no one talks about wo 1 and other big war crimes and about there stupid strategies, arrogance on both sides ...

war is always wrong not even for a good cause but i'm sure that every respectable nation have there crimes .... even the USA

i'm not sympathizing with the 3th reich, but people should stop pointing on what the germans did during that period. if i get comments like: " but the killed thousends of innocent people " then only have to say my family lost 14 relatives by german bombings, but in whole europe i don't see people asking compensiation for what they lost.

if every nation would aks compensation for what other nations did, then they will start compensate the indians, african americans, freed slaves living in liberia, indians in Brazil, descendants of african slaves in jamaica, peru etc etc

and the UK ? aboriginals or decendants of prisoners on australia ? the maorie in new-zealand ?

china will free tibet ??

it's possible that i get a lot of bad comments about my reply but diep inside you all will now the truth and i don't find it fair

greetingss

I think it boils down to the fact that German stuff is just cooler to look at. i think the different variety of color schemes and variants (the Germans used just about every captured vehicle from the countries they conquered in way or another). Someone mentioned marketing French tanks with German markings...well...they were only inFrench service for about a month or so then with the Germans for 5 years..why not market them with German markings. I just bought a French Somua tank and it came with French markings too...I'm going to build it as an early war French tank. I build what appeals to ME..I'm not going to be Politically Correct and bow to pressure and build allied stuff because someone else wants me to. My fater-in-law asked me why I don't build more Allied stuff and i said BORING. I do have about 10 or 15 American,French,British and Russian tanks and softskins...if I see something that I like i buy it. The same goes with German figures and 1/32 scale Planes....just fascinated by the German stuff.
Also..look at the theaters of war they were involved in Russia,Africa,Italy andWestern Europe and all the uniforms to go with it. It really is a lot more interesting than kahki or OD Green. Hope this helps to explain the fascination with the German Stuff. Bodeen PS: I posted this before reading Hollowpoint's reply...Why does politics have to come into this hobby. If someone is interested in Napoleonic French troops and not English or Roman Legions instead of the Barbarians does that mean that they are Imperialistic Wannabees and wish that the French empire still had it's hold over Europe? I don't think so! It was a part of HISTORY! I don't condone warcrimes or feeding Christians to the lions or bombarding theSphinx with cannon fire. Do I think the uniforms and weapons of that time are cool...hell yeah! In the end, 100 years from now modellers who look at a Tiger won't say that was a Nazi tank they will just see a cool looking antique weapon. Leave politics OUT of modelling. Last time I looked It was still legal (in this country) for a person THINK or LIKE what he/she wants to. As long as I'm not hurting you..don't tell me what to think or build!!!!!!!!!!
oh yeah....GOOOOOOOOOOOOO S T E E L E R S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guys, I think you all need to go back to you work benches and start cranking out model kits in which ever genre you prefer.

You are turning this into a political flame war with pseudo-accusations of imaginary alliances just because of the kits someone builds. The world won't be changed in this forum, just hard feelings exchanged. Does no one any good.

Some people just build what appeals to them. If that happens to be a Sherman, Abrams, Panzer, Spitfire, U-boat, etc. so be it. If you think that building a King Tiger used in the Battle of the Bulge is a disservice to the men who fought there, get a grip.

Is there a preponderance of German models in the 1/35 scale world? Sure is. Why? Who really knows, may be the people in the home markets of the manufacturers buy more of that stuff. Do I really care? Not really, as long as there is stuff that appeals to me to spend my disposable income on.

Remember, this is a hobby where we build for fun (or as some of you build for profit).

This question has been asked and beaten to death hundreds of times on this site alone.

Look, I build whatever I find interesting (neat) at the moment.

Personally, I don't care for building something with SS markings and don't understand the people who seem obsessed with the SS anyway. And there are many WWII buffs who seem to love all that wierd Nazi dogma.

Yes, all sides in war do horrible things but you really can't and shouldn't compare anyone to the Germans and Japanese in WWII. They were horrible, evil, powers with twisted ideas.

I build German, American, British, whatever. Would love to do Japanese armor and they did some of the sickest stuff imaginable. Personally, I can hardly watch a show about the Baatan Death March without getting very angry. But, I can certainly separate that from my interest in fighting gear.

If I build a Lancaster should I think I'm sick or weird because the real thing was responsible for civilain deaths 60 years ago?

Really, if we feel this way we shouldn't be building things used for war anyway!

Yo, Bodeen. I'm not telling people what they ought to build. I'm telling why I build what I build. And if you go back and look at my post again, I give a few other reasons for my modeling preferences.

Some of the responses to GreatBrit's and my post point to "it's cool" as a reason to build a model. I have no problem with that. I very often build stuff because of the "cool" factor. And I agree, just because I build a model, it doesn't mean I support the political views it may represent to someone.

But I also think that if my model cases were filled with nothing but German vehicles and figures, I'm sure that many people who visit my home would come away with the impression that I am some kind of Nazi lover, which I am not. What I build reflects what I am interested in. I think the history and variants of the Sherman tank and other U.S. weapon systems are fascinating. It's nice to be able to discuss the development of a weapon system and be able to point it out on a model. That includes having a Panther, a Tiger, a Chi-Ha, some 250/251 halftracks and other Axis stuff -- including some SS figures -- in the collection. But my primary interest is U.S. and other Allies. That's what I like to build, and a glance in my model cases tells anyone that.




Man, that opens up another can of worms. The "best tanks were German" myth. If they were so good, how come there were so many different kinds? My vote for best tank of WWII goes to the T-34. Tough, simple, produced in huge numbers, mechanically reliable, and with the 85mm gun, pretty much a match for any MBT of the day. The Germans thought it was pretty good, too. The design of the Panther is based largely on the strengths of the T-34 design.

I'm not even going to get into the "good SS" discussion ...

You guys build whatever you want and whatever makes you happy. But categorizing U.S. vehicles as "boring" is naive.

I think HipPriest's question was answered, don't you? Before this travels too far down that dark road, lets call it a day.

Gentlemen, lets build what we like, how we like, when we like, where we like, and to "H" with all other opinions!

Cheers!

PS: GO MIAMI DOLPHINS!