Scale modelling, war and peace
The existence of the confict in Ukraine, that has been lasting for months, led me to think about how I see my hobby of military scal modelling, and how depicting tools of war makes me appreciate even more the peace.
Ten months ago the outbreak of war in Ukraine shook all the world. This is not the only conflict in the world at the moment, neither the bloodiest, but it changed a geopolitical equilibrium that lasted for decades. For the first time after almost forty years, the ghost of the Cold War reappeared, foreseeing scenarios that could potentially become catastrophic.
Since I pursue the hobby of military scale modelling, I received some criticisms that depicting vehicles of war in this period might be felt as inappropriate. I admit that I felt the same dilemma for several weeks. Nonetheless I came at the own personal conclusion that having such a passion does not imply that I like war, if anything the opposite.
Practising military modelling means above all knowing what you depict, understnding its potential, and often studying the conflicts in which they were employed. You can understand that these creations of human ingenuity, made for being efficient and lethal, can be capable of great destruction. Hence, you can figure out what a war could bring to those involved, and that peace is the only thing that a reasonable and sane person could ever hope.
More than 80 years ago the world spiraled inside a war that left dreadful destructions and lasting scars. I can only hope that this time common sense will prevail, and that this generation and the next ones will not experience another one again.
