Illustrations of WWII European town buildings needed

Has anyone come across online (link?) illustrations, drawings or pictures of European town buildings WWII era? I need a selection of one or two storey plain vanilla row shophouses that usually line a High Street for making dioramas. I thought a simple shophouse would be easy to sketch out. But after buying suitable 1/35 windows and doors, and using a 1/35 figure for eyeball proportions my drawings just don't look right. Thanks.

Reply to
PaPa Peng
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There's a ton of WWII German footage on the web, do a search on what bit of armor you want to do a diorama on. Not only will you find backgrounds but some interesting shots of how the troops rode some of the armor at different parts of the war. Some of the shots of the troops sitting on the sides of the 251 hanomags are really interesting, especially all the just stuff they tied on the sides. There is some color, but lots more B&W. Some of the armor specific books have backgrounds you're interested in.

I recall a museum exhibit of 'lost Europe' or what all the towns looked like in late 30s, might be a book on it. before more than a few armies went over them not to mention lots of aircraft. different countries have different backgrounds. I remember one article in a magazine where some of the letters to the editor went apoplectic after the diorama publication not only saying different German units would not be together (SS and some armor I seem to recall) but the signpost wasn't a place they were assigned to. That some people are incredibly anal about all this is an understatement. Heck, getting scenics, armor, soft skinned armor, and figures all done well in a diorama are more than enough of a challenge....

Reply to
frank

Yep. I know the feeling. Its surprising that I can tell an American building (in railway magazines and catalogs) from those that are UK, French or German. I am not up to speed on military units and their operational zones. But I am decently good at recognizing early war equipment in uniforms and vehicles from mid war and late war ones not to mix them in the same display. I am anal, insofar as it bugs me, about posing armor and equipment in impossible situations. A common one is to have a heavy tank crossing on a wood trestle bridge or a light duty stone bridge. Then there is this artillery piece behind a garden wall and with a semi-destroyed building just behind it. First how did the crew get to emplace the gun in that little yard in the first place. There's little room to traverse the gun, a fatal restriction. Third an enemy shell on the building will cause it to tumble serious masonry onto the gun crew position. And so on.

Reply to
PaPa Peng

Though armor going through bridges brings up some great dioramas. More than one book has some photos of German armor going over the side of a bridge or collapsing a bridge due to weight. Best I saw was a Tiger that was vertical against the bank with another tank thinking of trying to pull it out. Good luck on that since there was a war on.

If you look up the super tanks that existed only in the minds of the engineers at the end of the war, some pretty much were way over weight limits of all the bridges in the Reich. Not to mention being able to ford streams. Pretty much a pillbox, great model but a pillbox in place. A few were scratchbuilt and on the web. Now I've got something to kitbash big time...though where I'll get a 16 inch naval gun in

1/35......

Going on to a V-2 site,

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in some of the other pages Germans would whack bridges trying to get equipment through to a location. Lots of opportunities for scrapes, tight fits and turns.

I seem to recall in one of the History channel videos, one of the tanks that was recovered for a museum was the one unlucky enough to break through the ice fording a stream that others in the column made it across. With all the water colors and gels, good ideas there too.

Reply to
frank

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