Berliner Zinnfiguren/Modelling/Model Kits/Manufacturers O-Z/Roden/1:72 products

Borgward B3000 12,50 €

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 07:00:10 +0200

The Borgward B 3000 was a family of standardized 3-ton medium-duty trucks produced by the German manufacturer Carl F.W. Borgward GmbH. Production began in 1938 at the company's Bremen-Sebaldsbruck plant.
The first Borgward B 3000 variants served primarily for commercial purposes until 1939, when a significant number were requisitioned by the Wehrmacht for military logistics in anticipation of the conflict, including the campaigns in Poland and France.
Key variants included rear-wheel drive (4x2) models such as the B 3000 S/O with a 3.7-liter inline six-cylinder petrol engine producing 78 horsepower, and the B 3000 S/D with a 5-liter inline six-cylinder diesel engine producing 75 horsepower. All-wheel drive (4x4) variants such as the B 3000 A/O and A/D had improved off-road capability, were equipped with similar powerplants and a ladder-frame chassis, which supported a top speed of around 80 km/h and a range of up to 500 km.
This design was in line with German standardization efforts under the Einheits-Lkw 3t program, emphasizing durability and adaptability for Wehrmacht logistics in the diverse terrain of Europe, North Africa, and Russia.
Resource-saving adaptations were introduced in military production, such as replacing the early rounded all-metal cab with a standardized wooden EinheitsfÃ¼hrerhaus cab covered with tarpaulin, and eliminating the characteristic diamond-shaped radiator grille to simplify production.
The Borgward B 3000 functioned as a standardized medium-duty truck in the Wehrmacht's supply system, primarily performing the task of transporting ammunition, fuel, personnel, and general cargo to support front-line operations.
Widely used since its combat debut in the Balkan Campaign of 1941, the B 3000 participated in logistics in various theaters of war, including North Africa and the Eastern Front during the winters of 1942â1944, where its performance was degraded by severe cold, despite initial successes in Poland, France and the Balkans.
Luftwaffe units also used it for airfield supply and equipment towing, highlighting its versatility in inter-service transport roles. Variants such as tankers, ambulances and radio-equipped models (e.g. the Kfz. 42 Nachrichtenwerkstattkraftwagen) further integrated it into specialized logistics tasks, although its rear-wheel drive configurations proved less adaptable to off-road supply routes than the four-wheel drive models of the time.
By 1944, approximately 30,000 units had been built, underscoring the scale of the program in strengthening German logistics during the war. The Borgward B 3000 complemented vehicles such as the Opel Blitz and Mercedes L 3000, providing modular logistics in motorized convoys.
The standardized design of the Borgward B 3000 influenced Borgward's transition to heavier post-war trucks such as the B 4000. This four-ton model, often configured as a platform or bus, carried over elements such as inline-six petrol or diesel powerplants borrowed from pre-war Borgward engineering, adapted for civilian and export markets amid Germany's economic recovery.

Fairchild C-123 Provider 48,95 €

Wed, 27 May 2026 07:00:07 +0200

During World War II, transport aircraft played a very important role in delivering cargo and troops directly to the theater of operations. The vast majority of them could not take on board oversized cargo, due to the limited dimensions of the side hatches through which equipment was loaded and unloaded, although they had large cargo compartments.
In 1947, Chase Aircraft offered the military a new development, the XC-123. The main conceptual innovation in this design was a large loading ramp in the rear of the fuselage, which allowed the loading of oversized cargo quickly and without problems.The Air Force saw the potential of this machine, and in due course the design documentation was transferred to the Fairchild company, which had supplied the army with light transport aircraft during the war. Fairchild soon received an order from the Air Force for 302 aircraft, which were designated the C-123B. The first production machine flew in September 1954.
The aircraft entered service in mid-1955, officially named Provider. In addition to the Air Force, the Coast Guard became interested in the aircraft, and they received the newly designated HC-123B. A murky section of the biography of the C-123B relates to its participation in the activities of the airline Air America, which belonged to the CIA and carried out secret missions in Southeast Asia. As part of co-operation with friendly regimes, C-123Bs were delivered to the air forces of Thailand, South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, South Korea, Taiwan, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia. The aircraft's service in the Vietnam War became an infamous, but perhaps also tragic, chapter in its history.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which controlled air transportation in remote areas of the country, such as Alaska, also received the C-123B, as the aircraft performed very well in extreme operating conditions. Additional Fairchild J44 jet engines were installed on the wingtips to improve takeoff with heavy loads for use in the Arctic conditions of Alaska. Ski landing gear allowed landing on snow or ice. These Fairchild C-123J Provider aircraft became a key rescue tool during the 1964 Alaska earthquake due to their unique ability to operate in conditions of complete loss of infrastructure. Immediately after the earthquake, when the tower in Anchorage collapsed, C-123J aircraft offered the only means of air traffic control. Provider crews used on-board radios as mobile communication hubs with the outside world, directing other rescue aircraft, preventing collisions and assisting landings on damaged runways.
The aircraft from the 144th Squadron of the Alaska National Guard flew 77 sorties in the first week alone as part of the massive Helping Hand rescue operation. They transported more than 60 tons of cargo and hundreds of passengers. With their ability to take off from short and damaged runways, the C-123Js were the first to deliver fuel and medical supplies to the tsunami-stricken cities of Valdez, Seward, and Kodiak. Providers became the first aircraft to land in Valdez after the disaster, delivering those critically needed supplies. A group of 17 C-123 aircraft began mass deliveries of food and equipment to the cities of Seward and Kodiak, 12 hours after the earthquake. Due to their design, the aircraft performed tasks that were not achievable with other equipment. Together with other aircraft, Providers participated in the transfer of oversize Bailey Bridge components to restore transport links to the Kenai Peninsula.
Since the disaster occurred on Good Friday, Guardsmen on C-123Js organized a collection of gifts from local merchants and delivered Easter baskets of candy to children in the devastated villages to support morale. During one rescue mission, a Fairchild C-123J crashed in Valdez in a snowstorm. Adjutant General Thomas Carroll and three other crew members died in the crash. The C-123J modification was a specialized version - a total of 10 units were converted. No aircraft of this specific J modification is currently flying.
Several examples of this rare modification are preserved in museums, mainly in the USA (as they were used in the Arctic regions of Alaska). The most notable locations where you can see the C-123J: Museum of Alaska Transportation & Industry (Wasilla, Alaska, USA): This museum displays one of the Arctic C-123J aircraft (tail number 56-4395). It was previously stationed at Kulis Air National Guard Base.Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (Anchorage, Alaska, USA): Another aircraft from this series is on static display at the Air Force base.

North American AJ-1 Savage 54,95 €

Fri, 01 May 2026 07:30:11 +0200

B-Type Bus "Pigeon Loft" 14,95 €

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 09:15:10 +0200

From its start in the summer of 1914, the demands of the First World War provided the impetus for the development of the latest developments and technologies. It was at this time that the first warplanes, tanks and submarines appeared. In the context of hostilities over large areas, the problem of coordination between individual units became increasingly important, as the means of communication at that time still remained relatively imperfect.

The telegraph already existed, but mobile devices were relatively heavy and unreliable, and their use was accompanied by constant technical problems. Faced with the question of communication, military commanders compromised and decided to use a tool often employed in earlier conflicts, namely birds, as a connection to the location of previous deployment. The amazing ability of certain species of birds, pigeons in particular, to return to their homes from a great distance would once again save the lives of many soldiers in the coming years of the Great War.

A special miniature container was attached to the bird's foot, in which a note with a message could be placed. Given the fact that the speed of the pigeon could be up to 60 miles per hour (almost 100 km per hour), despite this rather archaic method the message could be delivered to its destination quite quickly.

Another factor was the possible destruction of the bird - for example, by heavy fire from enemy positions. This problem was overcome by the widespread use of pigeons, sending messages of the same content at the same time, carried by a large number of birds.

As early as 1914, during an intense German offensive towards Paris near the River Marne, pigeons released from their "lofts" delivered an important message to the command headquarters about the critical situation in this area, which allowed troops to regroup and prevent calamitous developments for the Allies.

In the following years of the Great War, despite the fact that the field telegraph continued to improve, communication with the help of birds still played an important role. Thus, in October 1918, when the conflict was almost at its end, a unit of American troops surrounded by the Germans released several birds with a note calling for immediate help. One of the birds named Cher Ami brought this urgent message to the headquarters in half an hour, and the unit was soon freed from the enemy's encirclement. For this act, the bird was given one of France's highest awards - the Order of the Croix de Guerre, which by any measure is a remarkable achievement.

To transport a large number of birds together special mobile carriages were used, the so-called "pigeon lofts". Initially, they were horse-drawn trailers, and later double-decker B-type buses were used as mobile bird shelters, which had now changed scene from the streets of London to the front lines of contact with the enemy on the Western Front.
Some of the two-story vehicles were rebuilt in order to perform their new task; the passenger seats on both levels were removed, the windows on the first floor were shuttered with boards, and the fence on the second floor was replaced by windows, cut out and covered with nets through which birds could fly simultaneously at the required time.

Fairchild C-123K/UC-123B/K Provider "Operation Ranch Hand" 48,95 €

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 07:20:11 +0200

The Vietnam conflict, which lasted for two decades in the mid-twentieth century, was one of the largest confrontations of the Cold War era between the two antagonistic poles of the world community, most notably the United States and the USSR, as well as their satellite countries. The Vietnam War also became a huge testing ground, in which the leading powers not only defended the values ??of their world views, but also widely used the latest weapons in real conflict. In addition to the comprehensive direct confrontation of the forces of the enemy on the ground, this conflict is also remembered for the large-scale use of the technical innovations of the era, primarily in the means of war in the air and the means of air defense.

One type of aircraft used throughout the conflict was the C-123 Provider transport, developed by the Chase Stroukoff Aviation Co in 1949, which was later swallowed up by Fairchild, another well-known corporation. This aircraft was extensively operated in the sky of Vietnam, delivering soldiers and equipment to the roughest areas of the East Asian country. Unlike other aircraft of this class, it had very good takeoff and landing characteristics, which allowed it to land and take off in quite difficult conditions. Initially, these were C-123B machines, which were later upgraded to the C-123K standard by installing additional jet engines under the wing, which improved their landing capabilities even further.

In the early 1960s, several C-123Bs were involved in an operation to remove from the air the populations of tropical mosquitoes that carried malaria and other dangerous diseases in the region. For this purpose, special spray tubes were installed under the wings, and the mosquito poison itself was fed to them from the tank inside the aircraft fuselage. About 10 airframes were converted for this task, and they proved effective for the meanwhile. However, this was merely the harbinger of that dark page in the thousands of books about this conflict, in which the future activities of the C-123 would soon be permanently written.

In the early 1960s, it finally became clear that the conflict would drag on indefinitely. Ongoing support for North Vietnam by the USSR and China, not only in the form of 'volunteers' but also with military equipment, had left the situation at a complete standstill. Matters were further complicated by the inability to effectively combat the proliferation of military equipment in the jungle, as the thick foliage impeded the effective conduct of aerial reconnaissance and the ability to attack the guerrillas directly from the air. Under these conditions, it was decided to apply heavy duty chemical poison, such as herbicides, to maximize the destruction of vegetation. Already in 1962, a special herbicide-based chemical reagent, called Agent Orange, was tested at a testing ground in the United States. The choice of aircraft for this mission was not difficult - the C-123 was ideally suited to this specific task. A 1,500-gallon tub was installed in the converted cargo compartment and other special equipment operated by an additional crew member. The poison was fed through the piping system not only under the wing as in the previous case, but also to the sprayer behind the fuselage, which increased the density of the spray of the deadly substance per unit area.

The new variant was designated the UC-123K, and in addition to special equipment, they also organised new procedures, since the poison spraying had to occur from a minimum height directly above the tree tops. In these circumstances, even shots from conventional small arms could be dangerous to the aircraft, and so training the crew was essential. Twenty-five C-123K aircraft were converted to a similar standard, creating a special aviation unit. In the following years, they would conduct thousands of dangerous missions, dropping countless tonnes of poison over the surface of Vietnam. Named Operation Ranch Hand, this work was subsequently practised by the military with increasing volume. In 1968, the success of the UC-123K's activities was so significant that the military command even gave it priority over other aviation activities during the conflict. In total, about 1,250 pilots and specialists were involved in the operation, and only 5 of the 25 aircraft were lost during missions. The total hits inflicted on the UC-123K from the ground exceeded 7,000, and one of the planes, which had its own name, Patches, received more than 500 of them just by itself, but survived the conflict and is currently on display at one of the US aviation museums. At the end of the operation, about 15 aircraft, which were considered fit for further use, were converted back to the C-123K standard, by removing all special equipment and carrying out complete disinfection.

Unfortunately, the Vietnam conflict, like any other war, was not a model of humanity or humanity. The damage from the defoliants that the C-123 sprayed over tens of thousands of acres was very significant, not only for vegetation but also for humans. Numerous diseases and deaths have affected not only Vietnam residents - many members of the C-123 crew have died in the decades since from the effects of direct contact with the toxic poison, most notably carcinogenic diseases.

Given the widespread propaganda campaign that the Soviet Union has waged since the 1970s, and the argument for the use of hazardous chemical weapons in the skies of Vietnam, the fact of the involvement of the C-123 being mainly now mentioned as a poison sprayer in historical studies of the conflict does not detract from the important role played by the C-123 as a whole during this prolonged military confrontation.

Type B Bus "LGOC" 13,95 €

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 09:00:09 +0200

At the beginning of the twentieth century, at a time when the United Kingdom was the main country of the world and its capital London was the center of political and economic activity on a global scope, due to the rapid pace of urbanization of large cities, the problem of carriage of groups of people became a fundamentally new means of transport, as typical horse-drawn carriages (the so-called "cabs") could no longer cope with this task in full.
This is how a fundamentally new mode of transport has emerged the omnibus, or bus in the modern sense of the word. Already in 1910, the London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) was established and soon occupied a dominant position in the field of transportation. Already in 1911, at its request, designer Frank Sierle created the design of the vehicle, which for many years became a "business card" of the city on the Thames. It was a two-story bus with stairs between floors, which significantly reduced the size of the vehicle while being able to transport a large group of people. The new bus was called "Type B" and was operated with considerable commercial success in the following years.
The Type B was able to transport up to 34 passengers 16 on the first level and another 18 on the second "floor", which was not covered by any roof, which apparently did not facilitate travel during bad weather, but allowed for a good view from the height of several feet from the surface. The first buses did not even have headlights, which caused some danger during their operation in the dark, but in 1912, all previously built buses, along with the new ones, received an electric lighting system.
The maximum speed of the bus was 16 miles per hour, but almost immediately the London police set a speed limit of 12 miles for reasons of traffic safety in the city. Immediately with the advent of a new mode of transport, an extensive itinerary network was created, and in this context the only transport was cabs that carried passengers solely by the modern principle of taxi transportation. Currently, passengers have been able to get from one end of the city to another on a specific route, knowing in advance the bus schedule of a particular route.
In the coming years, nearly 2,500 B-type buses have been built, and their use has become larger and larger.
The First World War, which began in the summer of 1914, prompted the search for means of rapid movement of large groups of soldiers as close as possible to points of contact with the enemy. The military leadership immediately became interested in the possibility of using omnibuses, and soon the first Type B machines were already in the army. In total, from October 1914 to March 1915, 300 Type B buses were requisitioned, which had to change the cobblestone streets of London to France's dirt-bombed roads.
Former civilian drivers from London were now forced to become military drivers, and bus operations, which involved the rapid transfer of groups of soldiers to the front, were quite dangerous given the possibility of shelling by the enemy, and therefore the transport of troops was carried out mainly at night.
After the end of World War I, a large number of omnibuses returned to their hometown, with the Main Bus Company redeeming them for the second time in the army, and they again began to dominate the streets of London as the main vehicle of mass use.

Vomag 8 LR Lkw Heavy Truck 18,95 €

Thu, 28 May 2026 06:40:05 +0200

The German automotive firm Vogtländische Maschinenfabrik AG (VOMAG) was established at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when an increasing number of different mechanical factories and enterprises turned their attention to the promising production of self-propelled carriages at that time. During the next 10 years, VOMAG has built several successful trucks, and since the beginning of the First World War, it has received a significant order from the military for the supply of three-tone trucks to the Army.
However, with the end of the First World War and the catastrophic consequences of articles on the surrender of Germany, VOMAG, like many other military-oriented enterprises, could no longer produce military equipment. Releasing a large part of the workers in 1918, VOMAG was re-owned as VOMAG Lastkraftwagen GmbH München.
In the 1920s, VOMAG concentrated its efforts on the production of municipal transport, since it allowed to receive regular orders from various municipalities from all regions of Germany. However, the production of trucks, too, was not stopped completely. The company concentrated its efforts on maximizing the specifics of orders and one of the first offered a truck of large dimensions with a three-dimensional scheme. This allowed to significantly increase the carrying capacity (up to 10-11 tons) and make the body part of the truck particularly dimensional in view of the possibility of transportation of super-large cargoes.
Even with the advent of German militarist nationalist socialists in the early 1930s and the gradual reversal of the entire economy to the production of dual-use goods (which could equally be used both in civilian and military use), VOMAG continued to manufacture machinery primarily for civilian needs. Its trucks, created in the middle of the 1930s, were the true rulers of the newly built highways throughout the country, and allowed the transportation of over-large cargo to any corner of the country.
One of these machines was a three-axle truck VOMAG 8LR, created in 1935. On its time, it was almost an engineering masterpiece, but in the next few years only 100 trucks of this type managed to be built, since VOMAG, like all other leading giants of the heavy industry, was increasingly involved in the execution of military orders due to the inevitability of a big war in Europe in the coming years.
With the start of the World War the Second, almost all VOMAG 8LRs, like other trucks, were requisitioned for the needs of the army. And if in the first months of the Blitzkrieg, when hostilities took place in Western Europe, they easily performed their tasks, since they moved cars only on beautifully covered roads, then with the start of the Eastern campaign, and especially after the attack on the USSR, their further fate proved to be fatal.
The complex engineering solutions laid down in the design of the suspension of the "king of the highways" were insignificant in the conditions of the Soviet off-road and the complete absence of normal road coverage. VOMAG 8LR one after another began to fail and was constantly in a state of repair, and already in 1942 their use was very limited under the conditions of conducting the Eastern Campaign of the Wehrmacht. Attempts to rebuild a truck on a technical support vehicle were few and not very successful. The latest known fact of the use of VOMAG 8LR in the territory of the USSR troops and the Verkhama is dated 1943, after which these giants, like ancient prehistoric animals, disappeared forever, remaining only in small photographs of the prewar years and the first years of the war.

Omnibus Type B "Ole Bill" 14,95 €

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 09:00:09 +0200

At the beginning of the 20th century, at a time when Great Britain was the world's preeminent superpower, and its capital London was the hub of the world's political and economic activity; due to the rapid pace of urbanization of large cities, the challenge of transporting groups of people with a completely new means of transport had arisen, as traditional horse-drawn carriages (the so-called "cabby") could no longer cope with such a task in its entirety. Thus, a fundamentally new kind of transport appeared - the "omnibus", or bus in the modern form of the word. Already in 1910, the LGOC (London General Omnibus Company) was established, soon occupying a dominant position in the field of transportation. Already in 1911, at his request, designer Frank Searle sketched out the design of a vehicle, which for many years was to become the "business card" of the city on the Thames. It was a twostory bus with stairs between the floors, which enabled a significant reduction in the size of the vehicle while still able to transport a large group of people. The new bus was named "Type B" and was exploited with significant commercial success in subsequent years.
The First World War, which broke out in the summer of 1914, immediately gained momentum, forcing a search for a means to rapidly move large groups of soldiers as close as possible to the points of contact with the enemy. The military leadership immediately became interested in the possibility of using omnibuses, and soon the first Type B vehicles had been delivered into military service. In total, from October 1914 to March 1915, 300 Type B buses were requisitioned, which were forced to exchange the streets of London for the shell-cratered terrain of France. Former civilian drivers from London were now obliged to become military drivers, and the work of the buses, which consisted in the rapid transfer of groups of soldiers to the front, was quite dangerous given the possibility of shelling by the enemy, and therefore the carriage of troops was carried out mainly at night.
The first buses to hit the Western Front were still in their civilian colors of bright red, and plastered with the advertisements of London newspapers or large stores, but soon they, like other military vehicles, had to wear uniform - all their surfaces were repainted in the protective color of the Khaki, the windshield was removed because it could not withstand bad roads and quickly shattered, the side windows were replaced with wooden boards, and a canvas covering was fitted to the open second floor. An omnibus could carry 34 passengers (16 on the first level and 18 above), but its capacity for the purposes of military use, of soldiers equipped with full ammunition, was only 24 to a bus; however that figure was a great improvement on what was possible with horse-drawn carts.
One of the first operational uses of the Type B was for the transfer of troops to the town of Ypres, where on October 21, 1914, one of the most significant battles of the Great War took place. In the next four years, omnibuses were used with unending intensity, sometimes seven days a week. Apart from the transport of ersonnel, they carried ammunition, food and medicine to the front line, and in the first postwar months after the signing of the Truce, they went back to permanent civilian work. In the spring of 1918, when Germany attempted a massive counteroffensive along the line of the Western Front, Type B buses, along with other types of omnibuses, carried at least 211 000 soldiers, with the total mileage covered by them amounting to over 1 million kilometers.
After the end of the First World War, a large number of omnibuses returned to their home town, and the LGOC redeemed them for the second time from the army, and once again they began to dominate the streets of London as the main vehicle of public transportation. One of the Omnibuses, which received the semi-official name"Ole Bill" (in honor of the cartoon character of the British soldier created by the artist Bruce Bairnsfather), was on February 14, 1920, inspected by His Majesty George V during a demonstration of the techniques of war, and in subsequent years it took part in numerous memorial parades for anniversaries of the Great War, and in 1970 it was transferred to the Imperial War Museum in London, where it is still preserved as one of the most significant artifacts of the "War, which was to end all wars".

BL 8-inch Haubitze Mk IV 12,50 €

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 07:40:20 +0200

The First World War is remembered as a new type of war, in which such technological developments as the tank and the aircraft were used for the first time, but also completely dependent on conventional weapons such as, for example, the rifle or the gun. There were no radical changes in the technology of these types of weapons during the four years of the Great War, but they were constantly improved and had already moved far away from comparable types of weapons used in the 19th Century and earlier. In 1915, the British corporation Vickers created a new 8-inch caliber gun, which received the military index Mk.VI. This was a significant constructive modernization of the previous development of Mk.V, the improvements touched first of all the hydraulic mechanism of the rollback of the gun barrel. In combat, the shelling sector was 4 degrees to the left or to the right, or to 50 degrees up. The state-owned part of the gun has acquired a new, more modern look. The combat range of the shot reached almost 10 kilometers, but the weight of the gun compared with the previous version increased by more than three tons. In order to transport the gun to combat positions, it clashed with a cumbersome fore part. Which clings to the heavy haulers of that time, such as the FWD truck or the Holt 75 tractor Besides the Vickers plants, artillery production was also initiated at the facilities of the Armstrong company, and licensed by the US plants of the Midvale Steel and Ordnance Co., at Nicetown, Pennsylvania. This type of gun was not only widely used on the First World War battlefields of the Western Front, but also in Macedonia and in Palestine. In addition to service in the British Army, it was employed by the artillery divisions of the Dominions of the Empire - Australia and Canada. Furthermore, within the framework of the co-operation agreements of the Entente, a small number of Mark VIs found their way to Imperial Russia. Most surprising was the story of the Mark VIs built in the USA. After the end of the First World War, they, like most of the rest of the armament of the American Army, returned home, where they were mothballed. However, in 1939, after the Soviet aggression against Finland and the Finnish appeal to the Western powers to provide military assistance, 32 Mark VI howitzers, along with other types of weapons, were sent to the country. They remained in service even after the end of the Second World War, and only in the late 1960s were withdrawn from the ranks of the army as obsolete, and individual examples were given to museums, which they are exhibited today.

1) BL 8-inch howitzer Mk. VI, U.S. Army Expeditionary Corps in Europe, Western Front, Summer 1918.
2) BL 8-inch howitzer Mk. VI,from the unknown artillery unit,British Expeditionary forces,Western Front, 1916.

Vauxhall D-Typ "Red Cross" 12,50 €

Wed, 20 May 2026 06:40:09 +0200

The first few months of fighting in 1914 gave rise to the picture we have now, that the war, only recently begun, would not just be long and exhausting - it would be a war of indefinite term and enormous losses, entailing in particular the loss of a large number of human lives. The assessment of losses at the end of 1914 was estimated in the tens of thousands, and the number of injured as a result of violent clashes on the battlefield was beyond all computation.
The British Army had been trying to bring its medical services to a much higher level to assist injured soldiers ever since the Crimean War of 1853-1856, but more than half a century later, not much had radically changed in this matter. The wounded were taken from the battlefield in wooden horse carts, which were in no way equipped to ease suffering. Losses during transportation of the wounded from the battlefield to hospitals were simply awful. The Director General Army Medical Services Sir Alfred Keogh called on the Secretary of State for War to give the army special ambulances, but this proposal was rejected because of its associated great cost. In October 1914 the leading, highly respected British newspaper The Times appealed to its readers to make financial contributions for the procurement of ambulances. It was a very effective appeal, and already by early 1915 the army had received 512 vehicles, which had typically been converted from conventional automobiles to primitive (by modern standards) ambulances. However, at that time this military aid was so significant and important that these simple medical vans became virtual 'guardian angels' for many who otherwise would have surely died from their injuries, never reaching a military hospital.
The ambulances of the time did not have a common standard and there were a wide variety of types. One of these vehicles, which had also been redesigned to suit medical needs, was the Vauxhall D-Type. The Vauxhall Motors Company was founded by Alexander Wilson in 1857 and it specialized in developing equipment for ships, but with the advent of the motor car the company became interested in this promising new industry and in 1903 produced its first example of a four-wheel car. By 1910 its main priority was the marketing of sports cars, but the beginning of the First World War radically changed the production profile of many companies, including Vauxhall. From 1912 to 1922 more than 1,500 cars of the Vauxhall D-type were produced. They were widely used as staff cars, but a certain number were refashioned for medical purposes and used on the Western Front side-by-side with many other ambulances which had to conduct perhaps the most important mission in the war - to save the army's most important assets, human lives.

Vauxhall D-Type 12,50 €

Thu, 28 May 2026 06:40:05 +0200

The Vauxhall Motors company was founded by Alexander Wilson in 1857, and specialized in the development of equipment for ships. However with the advent of the automobile it became interested in this new direction in engineering and in 1903 it constructed its first example of a four-wheel vehicle. Until 1910 its principal activity was the marketing of sports cars; but the outbreak of war in 1914 radically changed the industrial profile of many firms, including Vauxhall.
Even before the war Vauxhall had developed the C2 type, which had excellent characteristics for its time and received its own informal name, the 'Prince Henry'. For military needs the design was slightly simplified, and a less powerful engine was installed. The updated design was named the D-Type. From 1912 to 1922, more than 1,500 cars of this type were built. They were widely used as staff cars on every battlefield - on the Western Front, in East Africa, Palestine and even on the Russian Front. One of these cars was in the personal garage of the King of Great Britain, George the Fifth, and he made an inspection trip to troops on the Western Front in this car immediately after signing the Armistice in November, 1918.
This car became something of a legend in Great Britain. The leading newspaper of that time, the 'Morning Post', in its military review noted that the Vauxhall was the most acceptable car design for the headquarters requirements of his Majesty's armed forces.

Opel Blitz Kfz.385 Tanker 12,50 €

Thu, 28 May 2026 06:40:05 +0200

Decals to build the following vehicles are included:
1) WL-157059, Eastern Front, Odessa Airfield, November 1943 - April 1944.
2) WL-323851, Germany, Summer 1943.
3) WL-183675, Sicily, 1942.
4) Leningrad Front, Hostkino Airfield, February 1942.

FWD Model B 3-ton US Army Ammunition Truck 12,50 €

Wed, 20 May 2026 06:40:09 +0200

Decals for building the following vehicles are included:
1) US Army, 1919.
2) US Army, Western Front, France, late 1918.

British Armoured Car Pattern 1920 Mk.II (with Sand Tyres) 12,50 €

Wed, 20 May 2026 06:40:09 +0200

Decals to build the following vehicles are included:
1) No.1 ACC, No.4 Sect, RAF, Western Desert, Egypt, 1942.
2) "Vulture", No.1 ACC, No.1, 2 or 3 Sect, RAF, Iraq, 1936.
3) "Tigris", No.1 ACC, No.4 Sect, RAF, Iraq, 1941.

Britischer Panzerwagen Pattern 1920 Mk.I 12,50 €

Wed, 20 May 2026 06:40:09 +0200

A history of this armored car would require a great many pages, devoted to its lengthy and varied service in the British armed services; and it is connected, oddly enough, with aviation. At the beginning of WWI the British military directed their thoughts to the need to protect newly built airfields against their being suddenly overwhelmed by enemy troops. The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) suggested to the Admiralty that a special armored car be developed, which could not only execute defensive functions but also as necessary support army units in combat, and fulfill communication and transport duties. Soon, the Air Department of the Admiralty made overtures to a firm in the motor industry, Rolls-Royce, which had been producing cars for about ten years.
In 1906 this firm introduced the highly successful Silver Ghost, which continued to be built by the factory while the War was already under way. Admiralty engineers developed an original simple armored superstructure for the Silver Ghost chassis, which appeared to be successful in all respects. In December 1914 the first three cars were issued to the army. A rotating turret fitted with a Vickers machine gun was installed on top of the armored body. On the whole the design appeared to be just what was wanted, and soon the motor company received a new order for additional cars.
With the onset of physical fighting at the Western Front soldiers became interested in the armored car. However, the idea of sending the car into the battle area, which featured impassable mud for kilometer after kilometer, was intimidating from the very beginning. The fragile suspension of this passenger car with an armored shell would never be able to survive in these conditions. The active military service of this car in the trench war was over before it had even begun. However the War quickly spread from Europe to other regions of the world. The Middle East, and Africa, where the war also began for the possession of the German colonies, were the most promising for the application of the fast and reasonably well protected armored car.
Instead of guarding airfields in the territory of Misty Albion, six newly formed squadrons of the Royal Naval Air Service were sent to the hot and dusty deserts of North Africa and to the Turkish province of Gallipoli, where the fighting had already been going on for some time. These cars were found to be highly useful weapons, and even the end of the Great War did not put a full stop to their career. In 1920 they underwent their first modernization. And four years later, another one. Elegant on a passenger car, but worse than useless for a military armored car, the spoke wheels were exchanged for ones with full metal disks. The form of the turret was changed for an open topped one, and instead of a Vickers gun, a Boys anti-tank rifle and a Bren light machine gun were fitted. It was also equipped with a smoke grenade launcher.
In the 1920s these cars continued to take part in armed service: in the colonies of Great Britain they co-operated with aviation, repressing local revolts by unarmed colonial tribes; and even in Europe employment was found for them, during the period of civil war in Ireland, when the British government delivered several armored cars to the Irish government to counter the attacks of the Irish Republican Army. These vehicles conducted their active service until 1944 and were retired only due to the complete wearing out of their working parts.
One of the cars passed into the hands of one of the best-known eccentric historical figures of the 20th Century, Lawrence of Arabia: his armored car was used by him during his guerrilla actions and other adventures in the Middle East. In due course the Thirties came to their end and there was again a smell of war in the air. There was extensive modernization in Europe, and also in the armor of the British Army. At the time about one hundred Armoured Cars remained in service in the colonies. The majority (about 70) of them were in North Africa, where they soon faced Italian troops. Some more were in India, carrying out raids in the territory of neighboring Burma.
Today, some original armored cars of this type have been preserved in different countries of the world. They have been quite valuable private property for a long time now, and remind us of those distant times, when the first blundering motorized constructions, weakly protected against an opponent's firearms, enabled rapid development of a military technical idea and led to the appearance of more modern mobile weapons in the future.

Decals:
1) Armoured Car Pattern 1920 Mk.I, SV-4996, Royal Tank Corps, Derbyshire, used for anti-invasion patrols on 1939. This AC preserved at our days in the Bovington Museum.
2) Armoured Car Pattern 1920 Mk.I, "Ajax", No.1 (AAC) Sqn, Egypt-Iraq, 1940-1943. This AC preserved at Hominstone Museum, UK.
3) Armoured Car Pattern 1920 Mk.I, Irish Cavalry Corps, Ireland, Blarney, 1941.

FWD Model B 3 ton Lorry 12,50 €

Tue, 12 May 2026 06:40:06 +0200

In 1912, the US military ordered a new truck for the needs of the army. According to their requirements, it had to have a loading capacity of three tons and also be able to haul artillery guns.
The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company were already developing the Model B truck which could be quickly adapted to accord with military requirements.
Of course, the machine's design was generally quite primitive from today's point of view, however at that time the great majority of vehicles had similar or even more primitive designs. The Model B moved the engine and the driver's seat directly over the frame, a distinct difference from other models of truck which had the classic 'bonnet' design. Later such a configuration of truck would be classic in turn, however at the time of its creation the Model B was truly innovative. With an identical length of frame, the Model B had a larger body size than bonnet trucks and could also take more freight. The body had arches for raising a tarpaulin awning, wheels with spokes and rubber rims.
In 1916 the Four Wheel Drive Auto Company received an advance order, but only for 38 machines. From the beginning of World War I the demand for trucks was very considerable. Even before the entry of the USA into the war, the British military ordered 500 vehicles of this type, and already by the middle of 1917 production of completed vehicles was being measured in the thousands. In total 17,555 Model B's were built, of which 14,473 were delivered to the American army, 3,000 into the service of the British army, and 82 trucks to Imperial Russia.
The use of the trucks wasn't limited to transportation of goods. In the British army the Model B was used primarily as a tractor of heavy guns. In Russia all 82 cars were taken on by the First Separate tractor heavy division 'M', transporting British Vickers guns.
Despite its archaic design, some machines were still working up until the beginning of World War II. The primitive car was durable and reliable, and with the advent of more modern vehicles was nevertheless equal to the various military tasks.

1) FWD Model B 3-ton Lorry, (1917 type production), British Army, Western Front, late 1917.
2) FWD Model B 3-ton Lorry, (1917 type production), U.S. Expeditionary Corps, Europe, mid-1918.

Fairchild NC/AC-123K Provider 48,95 €

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:05:22 +0200

Vomag Omnibus 7 OR 660 20,50 €

Wed, 20 May 2026 06:40:09 +0200

Decals for the construction of the following vehicles are included:
1) Vomag Omnibus 7 OR 660, Deutsche Feldpost, early 1940s.
2) Vomag Omnibus 7 OR 660, Deutsche Reichspost, late 1930s.

Set without windows/screen.

Fairchild HC-123B Provider 48,95 €

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 07:40:20 +0200

Decals for building the following aircraft are included:
1) Fairchild HC-123B Provider (4348), United States Coast Guard (USCG), Honolulu, Hawaii, 1960.
2) Fairchild HC-123B Provider (55-4505), United States Coast Guard (USCG), Naples, Italy, 1967.

During the Second World War, transport aircraft played an important role in transporting cargo and personnel directly to the theatre of operations. Most of them had a certain volume of cargo space, but could not carry cargo efficiently due to the limited number of side hatches through which equipment had to be loaded and unloaded quickly. Only one aircraft offered a solution that could even transport light armour: the German Messerschmitt Me323 Gigant. This Gigant had folding doors in the nose, which made loading and unloading at the airfield considerably easier, but only a small number were built. The Allies had nothing comparable, but in the ranks of the British and American air forces there were large gliders with folding noses or rear fuselages. During the disembarkation of the armies in Normandy, they proved to be quite effective weapons despite their practical limitations. One of the contractors that supplied the US Army with gliders was Chase Aircraft, run by former Russian émigré Michael Stroukoff.
In 1947, Chase offered the military a new development - an offensive glider, the CG-20. It was all metal, and its landing gear retracted during flight and moved forward on landing, something that had never been done before with gliders. The design was very successful and Michael Stroukoff decided to redevelop the CG-20 as a motorised glider. After the installation of R-2800-CB-15 engines, the design was renamed XC-123. The most notable aspect of the design was the hatch and ramp at the rear of the fuselage, which allowed the fuselage to be loaded quickly and easily with large cargoes. The tests were very successful and Chase soon received a preliminary order for a series of aircraft. However, the company was soon bought out by its owners, and continuing to operate in the aircraft industry was not profitable for the new owners, so the contract with Chase was cancelled. The aircraft's history could have ended, but the Air Force recognised the potential of the aircraft and transferred the project documents to Fairchild, which had supplied the military with light transport aircraft during the war.
In general, the design of the XC-123 was so well executed that no major changes were required; however, Fairchild engineers did notice a small degree of instability during testing. This problem was solved by increasing the area of the vertical stabiliser and slightly changing its shape. Fairchild soon received an order from the German Air Force for 302 aircraft with the designation C-123B. The first production aircraft flew in September 1954.
In mid-1955, the first aircraft entered service with the Luftwaffe and was officially named "Provider". Outside the Air Force, the Coast Guard took an interest in the aircraft and soon received its own version, the HC-123B. The Federal Aviation Administration, which controlled air traffic in remote regions of the country such as Alaska, also received the C-123, as the aircraft performed very well under extreme conditions.
In early 1958, the U.S. Coast Guard also took an interest in the C-123 and purchased six aircraft for patrol flights in coastal areas. An AN/APN-158 search radar was installed in the nose of the aircraft. This was slightly larger than the available space, so the shape of the nose fairing was changed for this purpose. The aircraft, now designated HC-123B, was immediately given a characteristic "pug nose", which quickly earned it the nickname "Thunder Pig". HC-123Bs were not only used for coastal patrol, but often also for delivering cargo to remote areas of Alaska or Hawaii. Some aircraft were stationed for a time at the U.S. Air Force base in Naples, Italy.
From the beginning, Coast Guard leadership viewed the HC-123B as a transitional type, so there was no question of a large-scale procurement of this aircraft. With the advent of the more modern HC-130, they were gradually withdrawn from service. At least one of these aircraft was handed over to the Thai government. It remained in service until the mid-1980s.

Selbstfahrlafette auf Fahrgestell VOMAG 20,50 €

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 07:40:20 +0200

Decals for the construction of the following vehicles are enclosed:
1) WL19492, 1st Abteilung, 42nd Flak Regiment, Poland, summer 1940.
2) WL19574, 42nd Flak Regiment, Dresden Air Defence, autumn 1941.
3) Unknown vehicle, 42nd Flak Regiment, Budapest, Hungary, spring 1945.