I'm now back in the UK, and I've had a chance to put all this (and my photos) into perspective.
The event. It was hosted by Andreas and Peter, who are brothers, with willing assistants in Peter's girlfriend (Steffi), his son, his daughter (Lena), her boyfriend, and Lothar who doesn't have a tank but plays with steam engines (we had a good conversation about single cylinder working engines, or 'putt-putts' as I call them). The food and beer were good and plentiful, and paid for on an 'honesty box' system. The assembled tankies were from Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden (please forgive me if I've missed anyone out), with me as the solitary Brit (somewhat by accident, as I'd arranged to stay with Peter Quambusch for a week and the timing just matched perfectly. As I flew in he lent me his JagdPanther to play with). And, despite their protestations to the contrary, they all spoke pretty good English.
Their garden is huge ! It's along a valley, with about 4 lakes, streams running between, lots of woods to play in (avoiding the 'Achtung - Minen' signs
) and, at the end, a large tank playground with bridges over the streams, prepared gun positions and hull down scrapes. Any r/c tankies dream. And no Public - just us
.
This was billed as an Armortek event - Kian lent his Militracks signs. But people brought other models too - the level of scratch-building was just stunning. 3D printing was widely in evidence, for whole tanks and detail parts, including engines. The way of the future ?
I'll leave people to identify themselves in the group photo above (Data Protection and all that
). But I did make a list of the models:
Armortek
Tiger 1 (Early)
Stug III
M3 Lee
JagdPanther
2 x BergePanthers (the Europeans seem to have cornered the market in BP's !)
JagdTiger
SdKfz 7
2 x 88mm Flak
Pak 43/41
Elefant
Tiger 1 (Mid)
Famo
Non-Armortek (1/6 scale)
Opel Blitz truck
JagdTiger
Fennek
Buffel
Powered trailer (rear-wheel drive) with Marder III (which was being towed by the Famo. A very long and awkward combination, requiring good dual driving skills. The trailer almost slipped off a bridge into a stream - I winced, and then had to explain the phrase 'squeaky bum time'
).
And some absolute monsters in 1/4 scale:
King Tiger
JagdPanther
Leopard 1
Gepard Flak
That's a turnout any show organiser would be proud of. And a guest, which I'll get to shortly
.
I took many, many photos, but here are the Armortek related ones:
All-in-all, it was a great event. Everyone was so kind and friendly, even to an Englishman who struggled to come up with 'Mein Panzer Kameraden'
. I intend to go back - I've been ordered to bring my Centurion next time ! But that means braving the Autobahns, which look pretty scary ....
Many thanks to you all. I had a wonderful time.
Oh - I mentioned a guest:
A 1/6 scale Super Hind ! Superbly piloted, even near the surface of the lakes.
Best wishes, and thanks to all (especially Peter Q for hosting me, and for all the driving),
Chris
