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Thursday, March 13, 2025

SWS Restoration

Right side view of the Roco SWS halftrack.
These old Roco vehicles are great for wargaming.  Their simple construction makes them quick to assemble.  They have been around for 50 years and so they are not hard to find and are often very inexpensive.
Several times in the past I purchased collections and usually got a few of these in the collection.  Often they were damaged, or parts were in a spares box.
The fold down sides are the most prone to break, but a little piece of plastic rod glued on can restore them to full function.
Here is one with my Roco ground mounted Grille 88mm gun.
And here it is with the Kubelwagen.
 

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2 comments:

Wayne W said...

Your Roco halftrack is bringing back memories.

When my family was stationed with my dad at Ft Carson, Colorado, in 1972-73, on Saturdays my closest friend and I would hike or grab a bus into downtown Colorado Springs where there was an awesome store that was a bookstore on the street level and went downstairs to a great hobby shop/toy store.

We worked at the commissary bagging groceries for tips and we'd take some of our money and I'd grab a book or two from upstairs (I was reading Ballantines "Illustrated History of a Violent Century" at that time; they were a dollar apiece, and we'd go downstairs to buy a box of the latest Airfix 1/72 release (they were .50 apiece, about the same price as the first boxes I bought in Belgium in 1970 - 50 Bf) and usually a Roco Minitank or two.

Then we'd hop the bus back to Post and head to either his or my bedroom floor and war game. Great memories.

When I enlisted a few years later I gave my collection to my younger brothers and found shops in the town I was stationed in in Germany that sold RoCo, Airfix, and Atlantic (ESCI didn't come until much later). I'd buy some stuff and mail it home to my brothers.

Years later they gave me my collection back as they lost interest. I guess that's a part of me that has never "grown up." I still have them, but haven't gotten the tanks out in years, as my collecting interests shifted to 18th & 19th Century warfare.

Your recent postings took me back to those afternoons on the floor refighting World War 1 & 2 with my buddy.

Thanks for the memories.

March 13, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Mike Bunkermeister Creek said...

Great story WW. Play helps us re-live some of our childhood and it's good for you. Thanks for reading and sharing.

March 13, 2025 at 7:26 PM

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