I recently bought my first a/c kit…in many many years,the last one i built was an airfix 1:72nd scale lancaster back in 76…it looked really smart hanging from the ceiling amidst a gaggle of messerscmits and F.Ws [ ahhhh the nostalgia] anyway the kit i just bought is an FW 190 F8. by revell in 1:32nd scale.that was on offer at half price,
[nice kit] but…where are the hakenkreuz …as far as i am aware ALL german a/c had it on the tailfin! and all the german a/c kits i built as a boy had them on the decal sheet
when did this practice stop? and why ? have the sensitivities of peoples in europe gotten more acute since the 70’s? has societies penchant for political correctness gone mad? how can a modeller represent an authentic replica of german ww2 a/c without the hakenkreuz…if i enter it into a comp is it eligable for an OOB category if i have to use an aftermarket decal sheet,? and as the hakenkreuz is available as an aftermarket product…why is it not included on the sheet from the manufacturer…[corporate conspiracy theories on a postcard please] and my man at the mail order dept at the model shop here has just finished telling me that german national insignia in 1:32nd scale are as rare as hens teeth…[how irritating] oh well i guess i’ll just have to do some more surfing and find a set online somewhere
RANT OVER…
Svastikas disappeared from decal sheets back in the early '80s, Deakon… Nowadays, one can find items like that on ‘aftermarket’ decal sheets.
i just finished a Tamiya 1:48 FW 190, and the decal sheet had the swastika on it. There were none on the box art nor the instructions.
Here in Brazil, the decal sheets with swasticas isn´t forbidden…I´ll try to find an address for you…take it easy man…
Try a contact at
http://www.webspace.com.br/fcm/fcm.htm
It is illegal to display ANYTHING with the swastika in Germany, I don’t know about other countries.
Hey
The reason(s) some kits have them and some don’t is marketing and the global economy. Some places, like Germany , it is illegal to display the Swastika
others, like USA, it merely offends a group or groups who want to ignore history.
Since Tamiya doesn’t (to my knowledge) market aggresivly in Europe, they go
for history. Since Revell(Germany) markets primarily in europe they go for
abiding by the law.(Can’t really fault them for that!)
Good Hunting,
rdxpress
In several European countries it’s illegal to display the swastika in public, and many model manufacturers market their kits accordingly.
Most seem to simply omit swastikas from the box art either altogether or, as was more common in the recent past, they omitted them only on those kits marketed in Europe.
Some have even gone so far as to omit swastikas from the decal sheet, as well. The exact reasoning, to my knowledge, has never been revealed by those who have done so. But one can only deduce that it’s as a result of the proliferation of PC BS so prevelant in today’s world.
There are, indeed, many aftermarket sheets available with swastikas; as most aftermarket companies are dedicated to providing historically accurate markings for models and are less concerned with offending those who cannot bear to face the fact that evil has existed and continues to exist in this world.
Model manufacturers give in to the PC BS because thay have a broad target audience, so to speak. Therefore, if putting swastikas on or in their model boxes causes a decline in sales, then they will not do so.
Little Johnnie who wants to build a model airplane for fun and then blow it up on the 4th isn’t concerned with historically accurate markings. And if Johhnie’s parents have an aversion to the swastika (to which they have a perfect right) then they may not buy a model kit with a swastika on it.
The “hardcore” modeler, on the other hand, usually is interested in historically accurate markings; and further more is usually interested in a broad spectrum of subject matter.
Enter the aftermarket decal companies. They exist solely to satisfy the tastes and wants of the “hardcore” modeler. It’s because most kit decals have been and continue to be lacking in one way or another (or many!) that the aftermarket companies thrive. And one of the most recent ways in which kit sheets are lacking is the omission of swastikas.
Here’s a short list of aftermarket decal companies:
Aeromaster - Eagle Strike - Experten - EagleCals - Cutting Edge - Three Guys Replicas - Third Group - TwoBobs - Yellowhammer - Albatros and good 'ole Microscale, now known as Superscale. There are MANY others as well.
If you’ve been away from the hobby for awhile, it’ll boggle your mind how much stuff is out there for the modeler these days.
Fade to Black…
thanks for the input guys…i get the picture…sheesh…
to blackwolf…my mind is so boggled after trolling the web ,for decals. i think i gotta lie down for an hour…
I do understand why they don’t put the swastikas in the decal sheets, but what I cannot is that they refuse to print the Finnish Airforces’ luck-bringing mark, which is a similar shape to the swastika, but the “blades” point clockwise instead of counter-clockwise. The main cross is also horizontally aligned, the figure is blue and the background is a white square.
With all these differences they still won’t print the Finnish marks like they’re supposed and we have to buy our accurate decals from aftermarket, too.
I’m sorry for any inconvenience, English is not my mother tongue.
Zeb
LMAO
DEAKON,
Have a malt whiskey, that’ll calm you down. [;)]
-zeb-,
I know what you mean about the Finnish markings. Thank goodness for Aeromaster and the others! And don’t worry, my friend. Your English is excellent. Very good, better than my Finnish! [:p]
For those who don’t know, the swastika’s origins lay in a good luck symbol used by several civilizations for generations before that Austrian Corporal forever changed it’s popular meaning. I forget where it originated, but look into a little Native American Indian history and you’ll find that the swastika turns up here and there.
Fade to Black…
i think it originates from INDIA a hindu sun symbol or some such…
A quick search at Squadron turns up many sheets with Swastikas you can order:
http://www.squadron.com/SearchResults.asp?ScaleList=everything&TypeList=everything&ManuList=everything&Key=Swastika&Submit=Go
Wow… wow. Is society really that bankrupt that we aren’t even allowed to SEE something that represents the past? I don’t know why I’m so shocked by this. I shouldn’t be.
This is fun, check it out:
http://www.luckymojo.com/swastika.html
The swastika shows up in almost every continent and every culture. Even those isolated from one another. If it were a circle or simple geometric shape it would be one thing, but its pretty complex as geometric gylphs go so it makes you wonder… Greeks, Hindus, Ethiopians, American Indians, Celts, Vikings, Picts, Aztecs, all have this shape incorporated into design work.
It was that whole teutonic mojo thing he was on. Swastika, viking runes of power for the SS, Wagner. Teach one crazy facist about viking stuff …Ruined it for everyone…
Somewhere I have a photo from a magazine of an American Expeditionary Force pilot, sporting a swastika on the tale of his plane during WWI.
Mike
If I’m not mistaken, Carl Sagan in his book Comet explained that the svastika is a representation of a comet, viewed face-on. I actually noticed on a box cover, very recently (Roden???), that a Finnish svastika had been ‘modified’ so that it looked like a square made up of four squares, if you know what I mean… I think this is very stupid and even shortsighted. Why are we able to purchase kits with Hinomarus, then? Blanking out a single part of the history of humanity is not very useful nor helpful. Maybe we should all write to the German government and complain…?
This is one of a countless websites that deal with the subject. It seems that it is still actively used in bhuddist and hindi cultures.
http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/aa120699a.htm
I like that little bit of irony you brought up DJ, remember the 80’s, how popular the rising sun flag was in pop culture (and still is). Seems no one has a problem with that showing up everywhere. Except maybe if you lived in Nanking or served on Bataan, Wake or Corrigedor.
Stalin murdered how many more than Adolf yet we view the red star and cycal and hammer as little more than a political symbol?
Symbols have meaning only if we attach meaning to them and perpetuate the mythos surrounding them.
Mike
www.hannants.co.uk make and sell their own in most common scales. Cheap and easy. No trolling required 
WoW i open a thread to moan about the lack of hakenkreuz on a decal sheet, and i find an in depth discussion on the history and implementations of them throughout the known history of man!! … A friend told me once that if i was looking for a modelling magazine i should check out F.S.M as it would be an education in how to do models properly…and it was.and still is…
i didn’t think when i joined F.S.M online … that i would end up studying for a masters in history…[hehehehehehe] as i left school eons ago…
looks like this place is an education within itself , how refreshing…anyway i digress…i have since found and ordered several aftermarket decal sheets, with all the twisted crosses i could wish for , and in several scales just to make sure i dont run out…thank you all who furnished me with links to sites of suppliers… may the sun light up your lives…the rest of you…i want a full synopsis on the utilisation and implementation of the swastika throughout history…in no less than two thousand words on my desk by 9:am tommorow…oh and i like red apples…
This type of mentality would appear to stem from a “zero-tolerance” attitude adopted by certain officials, which results in scenarios such as the school boy who was expelled from school because he drew a picture of a gun, and the airport security guard who confiscated the G.I. Joe M-16 included with the action figure that the mother had purchased for her son (“anything that looks like a gun…”). Common sense needs to be addressed here, IMHO. The rules for “displaying a swastika” were obviously intended to discourage public display of flags, banners, and similar political embellishments. Who is acting like a Nazi NOW?
FITTER [V]