No, not the 1960s, but the City of Dortmund. An ancient city, but one that was broken and rebuilt, in fire and flame, three times in the modern period. First by economic restructuring, then by Allied aerial bombing, then, once more, by economic restructuring. So, instead of a permanent, industrial, coal and steel smog covering the city, now, as you can see above, there are blue skies.
I was only there for a few days, but between work commitments I was able to find, firstly, a decent toy and model shop, where, among the complicated, highly detailed modern 1:87s, I found this gem:
T54 in all its mass-produced splendour, in plastic, in 1:87. Now, of course, on seeing this little Minitanks machine I was riven with guilt - what had become of my old style Bay of Pigs project ?! I know that the Fidelistas didn't have T54s at the time, but it brought the BoP back to mind, and I decided there and then to stick to 'old style' in spirit as well as fact and deploy the T54 alongside the Minitanks JS3 that I already have.
I was also able to spend several hours in a beautiful park - the Westfallen Park - where the marvellous Romantic planting (so different from the classical formality of French-influenced Continental gardens) made me feel pleased that my own tiny garden matched this Romanticism so well:
But that was not all, as there is also a small, but very pleasant Alpine corner in the Westfallen Park:
On returning home, I promptly ordered some Edelweiss (above) for my own garden.
And, plenty of stone troughs, of which, not being a rich man, I can only dream.
Hopefully, I will return to Dortmund.
Sounds like a wonderful trip. Speaking of cheap Communist armour, Capability Savage and I have been looking at these.
ReplyDeletehttp://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/103531/T-72-Paper-Model?manufacturers_id=4613
Mmmmm, card? They look tricky, and perhaps not quite as robust as the products of Tankograd. But, do have a go - then we can all benefit from your experience!
DeleteSplendid trip and your tank reminds me of the Airfix pre assembled that I had and loved.I too dream of troughs. I was at the botanix in Edinburgh on tuesday and saw the new alpine house- very swish and modern. Many of the plug plants planted into drilled holes in the rock are not coping at all with the heat and appear to be dying.
ReplyDeleteYes, well, I suspect troughs are well out of the pocket range of teachers and uni types. They're probably a pain anyway,certainly not easy to move about. The Botanics faux pas seems odd, I'd have thought they would have waited until the autumn before planting the little fellows.
DeleteT54's are always handy additions. Nice buy.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, but they are dangerous ... just think of all the conflicts I could use them in !
DeleteOn a side note, it's funny being a Brit visiting German cities isn't it? My wife and I visited Cologne a couple of years back and I found myself having a twinge of guilt when the tour guide mention the destruction done by the RAF...Never mind the context.
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, nice find. Likewise I immediately thought of those green plastic Airfix toys - particularly the Patton.
Indeed; mind you, all of continental Europe feels pretty creepy if one has even the slightest historical knowledge. Mass killings, ethnic cleansing - yup, it's been the norm.
DeleteDo you know, I didn't think about the Airfix ones at all, even though, because you mentioned it, it looks remarkably like the Patton. What an odd thing - I think I must have been still under the childhood spell of 'Minitanks = Very Exotic and Rare'.
Fine gardens and a splendid tank. Why not use it indeed?
ReplyDeleteRomantic layout? I like that. I think of our garden layout as "erratic".
-Ross
Yes, it just has to be put into the field. All I have to do is finish my 20mm Cuban plastics - the only thing is, I've suddenly been hooked on A Rattle in 42mm!
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