[weiwencheng]

It is always interesting to me that on the German market planes they put an iron cross, instead of swazis on the tail. I know swazis are illegal in Germany, but why not just leave them blank and allow whom ever to detail as they wish?

[Shawn 507]

Because they are German, That and they realize that leaving it blank opens the door to detailing thus breaking the law. Maybe in another 50 yrs they'll live down the Swazi, or they'll kick it off all over again.

[Armour Addict]

Originally Posted by Shawn 507

Because they are German, That and they realize that leaving it blank opens the door to detailing thus breaking the law. Maybe in another 50 yrs they'll live down the Swazi, or they'll kick it off all over again.

Mmmmh, I'll have to correct you on this matter.

1) It is legal over here to own models or whatever that sports a swazi.
2) You can detail your models the way you want. But since swazi-decals are not available in Germany you'll have to buy them somwhere else.
3) It is illegal to display the swazi in public in any way. (Most of my WWII models are historically correct and I only display them in my home therefore I am not breaking any law)

I'd better not comment the rest of your statement.

[weiwencheng]

I think it kind of adds an interesting side note to the model. I remember when I was a kid building models in Germany, they used to put black circles on the decal swazis. I kind of like the iron cross a bit better than a big black circle.

[Armour Addict]

Originally Posted by weiwencheng

I think it kind of adds an interesting side note to the model. I remember when I was a kid building models in Germany, they used to put black circles on the decal swazis. I kind of like the iron cross a bit better than a big black circle.

True, say I want to sell a model with swazi on ebay. I would cover the swazi on auction-pictures. Strangely some FM/As have horrific iron crosses and some have none at all. That's why I always go for the B11 part-number instead of the G11.

[Shawn 507]

Originally Posted by Armour Addict

Mmmmh, I'll have to correct you on this matter.

1) It is legal over here to own models or whatever that sports a swazi.
2) You can detail your models the way you want. But since swazi-decals are not available in Germany you'll have to buy them somwhere else.
3) It is illegal to display the swazi in public in any way. (Most of my WWII models are historically correct and I only display them in my home therefore I am not breaking any law)

I'd better not comment the rest of your statement.

OK so maybe I got it wrong. However why do stores in Germany open the box to black out swazi-decals? Its not on display, and hidden under the plastic wrap. Many of the kits I bought while there had this issue. And if you can't import and sell them in a box, how do you get away with mail order replacements? Marching in town with a flag I understand, but getting worked up over a period model with correct markings I don't.

[Armour Addict]

Originally Posted by Shawn 507

OK so maybe I got it wrong. However why do stores in Germany open the box to black out swazi-decals? Its not on display, and hidden under the plastic wrap. Many of the kits I bought while there had this issue. And if you can't import and sell them in a box, how do you get away with mail order replacements? Marching in town with a flag I understand, but getting worked up over a period model with correct markings I don't.

Stores do that because having them this way is considered "public display". Well, it's not obviously displayed but it is a very sensitive matter in Germany. Regarding import: I bought quite some models with a swazi in the US or Europe. I never had any trouble with customes. In addition to that you can send them via mail without a problem.

Maybe my previous post wasn't clear enough. Some people over here (mostly non German nationals) are still mightily offended by even a small hint of the Swazi. Imagine a diecast store with historically correct models which are still in box and not visible to the outside. If someone would come in and open the box to look at the model he or a bystander might be offended by the swazi. I think this is BS anyway. On the other hand you have to draw a line somewhere. Having a swazi on your sleve is most definitely a big no no but having historically correct models in a store and keeping them in the basement in order not to offend somebody is BS...

To summarize it: you can own models with a swazi (and even import, sell and buy them) but you are not allowed to do that publicly.