Political Correctness in Modeling

If the vehicle I'm modeling comes with SS markings that look cool,then I will use them.I guess the only one that I went out of my way to do was Michael Wittman's 007 and crew.But my builds are for me,I don't display them at work,so I can't say I have expierienced this.But personally I have no problems with SS vehicles or figures.

Pawel

Hello!

While I understand the concept behind Political Corectness and I don't want to insult anybody....

In Germany you run into problem when you put a swastika on your model....  

but they also show a complete lack of understanding of what model building is all about....

Paweł 

As Pawel States very well, I don't intentionally seek to offend, nor am I offended by the depictions, provided they are grossly offensive.

In Germany, (SFAIK) it is legal to use the Hakenkreutz in it's correct historical setting, but not to glorify it.

In practice this means that Model Mfrs either omit the Hakenkreutz or 'half' them, if they want to sell kits in Germany.

It also means that German Modellers who wish to display certain colour schemes in public, also omit the marking, or put a tent over them...

& then there's the line, 

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Those who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat their mistakes.

Those who do not read history are doomed to repeat it.

Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them.

Those who do not know history's mistakes are doomed to repeat them.

Yadda-ya... 

Hello!

While I understand the concept behind Political Corectness and I don't want to insult anybody, every now and then I encounter people who want to tell me what I am allowed to model and what I'm not. The so called communists in Poland pre-1989 didn't allow the modellers to build German subjects. After the system change some people tried to tell the modellers not to build the soviet units, especially the NKVD, Smersh and so on. Many were also outraged by the models of Pope John Paul II. In Germany you run into problem when you put a swastika on your model. Well I think such things are just awful - not only do they take away my freedom of expression, but they also show a complete lack of understanding of what model building is all about. If I choose to show a part of well researched history in my model, I should have the right to do so. Even if I a fellow modeller chooses to model some fictional subject (Fantasy, '46, Mecha) this should be considerer a work of art, where we need some freedom of expression. Finally, there's something everybody can do - if you don't like it, don't look at it.

Thanks for reading, good luck with your modelling projects and have a nice day

Paweł

gjw

I was curious as to anyone seeing a trend that has enveloped much of the Western world starting to creep into the modeling community. I have both experienced this at a project fair and seen some comments on this forum in which someone was ridiculed for doing a diorama of the 13th SS Handschar. I am not looking for a debate but rather a dialogue with the community as to any experiences.

Thank You!

 

 

Wel, i seem to have missed this dio and the comments made towards it. I have not recieved any sort of ridicule for my own builds. I am certainly not in favour of PC but i don't see it creeping into the hobby. I have taken some of my dio's to a couple of shows as well as the monthly meeting of the model club and never been told its not appropriate or had any negative somments.

No, I was a "errand boy" for IFOR/SFOR after they folded up house. Sent by gorcery clerks, to collect a bill. And no, the messes do not go away. It has kind of colored my view of things more so since then.

Stikpusher, didn't you serve in KFOR? These messes just seem to never go away.

I would not call my own view towards the SS as PC, but I do not care for most SS subjects. The 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions being the exception (as far as I know from my limited knowledge of those two units). In my personal view as a vet, most SS divisions sacrificed their honor as soldiers with the war crimes they committed. And the Waffen SS did so as a matter of policy, not exception. I'm not talking the Einsatzgruppen, but actual combat units. From the campaign in France of 1940 to the final days in 1945 SS units routinely slaughtered prisoners and non combatants. They lacked the soldierly honor that other members of the Wehrmacht in WWII did exemplify in thier refusal to implement National Socialist policies.