Mark DeBacker Författare
My grandfather was a foreman at a POW camp for German/Axis prisoners in northern Ohio. Prisoners could earn extra privileges if they worked in the shop. My grandfather had made commercial awnings prior to the war and supervised the prisoners making odd, rubberized canvas items. After D-Day, they were shown a film of what they had been making. They were the floatation screens for DD Shermans, used in the invasion of Normandy. Reportedly, most of the prisoners were happy, as it meant that the war would be ending soon.

Tony May
That's a real neat story! Although I'm sure they were happy that the war might come to an end sooner than later, the feelings must have been somewhat complicated nonetheless. My late grandfather was US Army O.S.S., operational in parts of Europe where Western allies weren't exactly supposed to be carrying out operations.

After the war he was a "babysitter" for the scientists that the Army brought over from Germany. He was a polyglot fluent in Russian, German, Polish & English; Only he wasn't to reveal to any of the scientists that he could understand what they said & was to be debriefed after each day of service. Another of his responsibilities was to go pick up working girls to "entertain" these men as guests, which was paid for out of taxpayer money & so he also viewed many of them as unapologetic womanizers.

While the rest of America was cheering on the Apollo missions, my grandfather was livid with how front & center they placed von Braun. He bitterly hated that man, insisted that he was a dyed in the wool Nazi who considered Americans to be so foolishly desperate for his help (his & his compatriots) in developing their rocket technology that they all had & could still literally get away with murder.

On the topic of his O.S.S. service, in his final months he was still quite lucid. Although I can only guess at the meaning, he stated that his greatest regret was Warsaw? He would never elaborate beyond that point & it is impossible to get access to any of his military records as they were said to be destroyed. I'm unsure if he went on to work for the successor organization of the O.S.S. in '47 or if he was just an Army attache by that point. Supposedly, after the war, he went on to be a simple assistant plumber. The odd part was that he spent a lot of that time working on the plumbing at Pt. Mugu & Port Hueneme clear up until he retired in the 80s. (My grandparents lived in Oxnard.) I can speculate all day on what all of that meant...

Everyone had their own unique experiences during that war, on all sides. My father's mother worked at Letterkenny Ordnance Depot in Chambersburg PA. I heard some stories from there that were pretty scary & some that were so funny that they were difficult to imagine! I still have a scan of her Letterkenny ID though I'm unsure of what became of the original.

I wish you luck in getting what you need for the above project. My son would really like to build one of these DD Shermans but with his vision the way it is he wouldn't be able to handle the more difficult aspects of dealing with resin.

Jakko ‌
This will be interesting to follow, I've got Resicast's Sherman V DD kit that I want to build as one of those that crossed 11 km of the Western Scheldt on 26 October 1944. Seeing how yours goes together will probably help in avoiding pitfalls with mine 🙂

Tony May
Oof ... that price though, you two, that's like my entire household's modeling budget for a month; Which is normally spread between 3 model builders!

Jakko ‌
I normally wouldn't have bought it either, except that 1) Resicast was going out of business at the time, and 2) I found it second-hand at about three-quarters of the retail price.

Tony May
Jakko, that makes sense to me - never pass up a good deal like that. Interestingly Super-Hobby/Moje-Hobby lists that kit as being "New" from Resicast & have it available currently for $263.11 USD right now. I wonder if someone resurrected the company?

Jakko ‌
Somebody did, yes. I don't know the details, but according to the About page on resicast.com: "Resicast was founded in 1992 by Graham SELLAR. Acquired in December 2023, Lionel Delhalle has been the director since January 1, 2024."

Tony May
I'm surprised I haven't heard about this sooner, isn't Resicast's rise from the ashes a pretty big deal in the AFV builder's community? I hope that the new director is able to take the company forward both with the legacy molding technology & with adapting to 3D printing technology moving onward. I wouldn't be surprised if my son asks me to assist with the construction of the DD Sherman & saves up for a few months to acquire one. He joked the other day about how, if asked how many different versions of the Sherman he would like to build, that his response would simply be, "Yes." I think he'd gain further inspiration towards the project once I tell him about Mark's grandfather's story.

Jakko ‌
I don't keep up to date with these kinds of things, but I agree it would be good if Resicast kept up the quality as well as new releases, yes. As for building Shermans … well yes, you can build them all your life and never do the same version twice 🙂

Mark DeBacker Författare
Tony, Yes, the price DEFINITELY STINGS, but this is a special buy for direct family history. My brother, who requested the build, is willing to cover (or share) the price of the kit. The CD with instructions and extensive photos of surviving DDs was not in the box. Was able to download the two large instruction sheets, but none of the supporting museum photos. Looks like a build that will certainly challenge my skills as the instructions are for different kits (but related) kits and are not clear on either assembly or sequencing between the two instruction's assemblies.

Mark DeBacker Författare
Oh, and Tony; interesting story about your grandfather!