Victim for Neptune

[Wiking]

May, 1943












Build : 2012
Boat: Zvezda
Figures: Waterloo, Preiser, Cäsar, Dragon

[Carlos]

Execellent vignette, very, very good in the "technical" points that make it so realistic, and of course in the "Wiking way", related ot originality and fun, very original, until now I had never seen anyone modeling the retreat of africa corps and Italians troops to sicily and Italy (some books compare it to Dunkirk) by sea. And the soldier vomiting is funny. The helmsman with is my favourite.
Tha flag in the water is all a symbol and the little map in the corner of the diorama to let us see were they are.
A common quesition...Wat did you use for the water?

[Hellboy]

Fantastic! The representation of the water is incredible! Very realistic. The boat looks as if it is completely made of wood. Great!!!! The map is an eye-catching. And everything is complemented by a great wooden base. A little masterpiece !!!
Is there a historical background to the diorama?

[Carlos]

Fantastic! The representation of the water is incredible! Very realistic. The boat looks as if it is completely made of wood. Great!!!! The map is an eye-catching. And everything is complemented by a great wooden base. A little masterpiece !!!
Is there a historical background to the diorama?

I don't know if Wiking have good information abouth the scape of the germans-Italians from africa, I was noticed that some groups coyuld scape cause I had a great uncle who was there and tell me that, it's supoused that Von Arnim rendered the wole africa Korps, and there was not a "evcuation" operation, but lot of thems went to the beaches and ports and treat to scape to sicily or Italy on any boat they encountered, (my great uncle scape in a arabian fishing boat that they exchanged to a fisherman by a truck, wich aparently was captured british truck, the fishing boat was a disaster and truck was OK, so they made a very bad deal ) must of them scape in rubber boats. British navy captured a lot of thems in water , but some entire groups or regiment culd sacpe, the german regiment commandos "brandenburguers" scape almost all , and some of the remains of the parachute brigade folgore also escaped too.

[Peter]

Another well made vignette!

But I have a remark here. I don't think they made it, even with all those supplies on board. The first two rowers are sitting the wrong way. Or is that the meaning of this vignette? Two rowing the right way and the others not. They stay on place and so they are a "Victime for Neptune"?

[Wiking]

@ Carlos
Thank you very much for your nice detailed commend.

Carlos wrote:
A common quesition...Wat did you use for the water?
http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9mSs3TM ... tOiwkXva8-
The base in this kit is clear plastic. I cut out the water section and drill out the space for the boat.

@Hellboy ,@Carlos
Carlos described in his second post what happen at this time very well.
I read about that in the book "Die gestohlene Jugend" ISBN 3-925243-00-3. A German airborne soldier described more or less the same story as Carlos wrote. With the difference he change an Italian SPA truck with a fisher boat.

@Hellboy:
Thank you very much. And succeed with your wet (landing on the beach) Dio.

@Peter, wrote:
I don't think they made it, even with all those supplies on board.

Me too. Look what name the crew give the -borrowed- Arab fishing boat!


Peter wrote:
The first two rowers are sitting the wrong way.


Oh!
A real mistake from my side.
Well observed Peter. grrr ...
I thought:" Place four man so each get his section and all together observe the air in 360° ". Do to the fact that the allied air force hunt all what try to escape from Africa.
I hope there is someone to bail me out with this fault. And write that this oarsman position is possible too.

Peter wrote:
Or is that the meaning of this vignette?

The meaning is that one of the crew -is willing to- give Neptune a gift.

Thank`s Peter.

[Kostis Ornerakis]

Oh!
A real mistake from my side.
Well observed Peter. grrr ...
I thought:" Place four man so each get his section and all together observe the air in 360° ". Do to the fact that the allied air force hunt all what try to escape from Africa.
I hope there is someone to bail me out with this fault. And write that this oarsman position is possible too.

I really thought that the 2 of them sitting this way by their ignorance.
Anyway a beautiful vignette.

[Carlos]

Another well made vignette!

But I have a remark here. I don't think they made it, even with all those supplies on board. The first two rowers are sitting the wrong way. Or is that the meaning of this vignette? Two rowing the right way and the others not. They stay on place and so they are a "Victime for Neptune"?

Well, this happens when you send the infantry to the sea ...

Wiking,
It seems that the African fishermen did good business with the trucks in those days.
In the case of my uncle he told me "a Canadian chevrolet that left the Germans abandoned".
My uncle would rather surrender than escape (he was not even Italian, he was born in Argentina, when the war came, his father, that if he was Italian, he sent him to Italy, to the Friul, to help an aunt sell her land and then escort her to Argentina. But there, being a very young "gaucho" (country boy, he spend his life in a cows ranch) He went crazy with the possibility of being a pilot of planes and he volunteered the Italian army , of course the Italians put him in a plane ... not like a pilot but a parachutist), he was with a group of friends survived the Alamein and when the Africa Corps gave up, they wanted surrender to the British, but two of the friends in the party had girlfriends in Italy and they said that if they did not return the girls would leave thems for another guy (they did not escape because they were brave, they did it for the girls !!), they did not get to Sicily, they went to Italy, to the continent and there they wanted to deserter (they were with the balls to the ground of the war), but the Italian authorities found them hidden in a barn and they had to return to the war ...some years later, I was with my uncle and a old "CMP" (civilain Crane) was in the street, he told how he changed a truck like these by a boat and all the rest of the history. Some yaers ago I was readding abouth the Brandenburgures and I find that they scape from Africa in a similar way too. And hapens that probably a lot of thems did it, there where any nformation that teh british navy had to work very hard to avoid that they called "Rommel's dunkirk".

[Wiking]

Thank you for this very personal information.
There are German as Italian soldier together in these nutshell I build.
In the above mentioned book the communication was that one Italian came from north Italian and do speak good German. And the German speak a little bit Italian. Because the German with his unit was earlier for a time in Rome.

Carlos wrote:
And hapens that probably a lot of thems did it, there where any nformation that teh british navy had to work very hard to avoid that they called "Rommel's dunkirk".

This is new to me.
I read that several specialists are taken out by German air force.
There are several boats who start and hunted by air force. But in this amount I never heard or read anywhere as you write.

[Carlos]

I just make little search, there are some info abouth that, when British navy captured some rubber boats.
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205149681.
Probably must of the evcauation was done at nigth. I will try to find these book abouth brandeburgers regiment wich scape wit all their men.

[Carlos]

Just a nother question, if the name of the boat is "c. concordia"...the helmsman is famous captain I imagine? .
Wiking, I can understende why they are rowing in different directions...

[Wiking]

Carlos wrote:
... the name of the boat is "c. concordia"... ?

Yes.

[Carlos]

Carlos wrote:
... the name of the boat is "c. concordia"... ?

Yes.

cant stop laughing!!!

[Wiking]

Thank you all for your nice commend.

[Santi Pérez]

Wiking, a fantastic work. Two things I admire above the rest: its realistic look and the incredible attention to detail.

Congratulations.

Santi.

[Cryns]

This is a great piece of work again from your hand, Wiking. Very nice.