1:35 Protitankové bariéry - čeští ježci

The obstacle that took its name from the country of its origin

The construction of three crossed steel beams came about in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s as an addition to the border fortifications. The principle was simple and effective: a tracked vehicle that drove onto one was lifted into the air, lost its grip and presented its unprotected belly. During the war the obstacle spread across the whole of Europe, from the beaches of the Atlantic Wall through the defensive belts around Moscow to the street barricades of the last weeks of fighting. That is also where the name comes from, and it has stuck to this day.

The workmanship

This is a photo-etched metal fret. Etched metal suits this shape better than a casting, because the beams are meant to stay thin and sharp; in plastic at the same thickness they would be flexible and unconvincing in one thirty-fifth. The parts are nipped out of the fret and the edges cleaned up, and the bends are made in a photo-etch bender or between two blades along a scored line.

How to settle them in a scene

The most common mistake is to stand a row of hedgehogs too regularly. In reality they were dragged about, tipped over, sunk into mud or pulled aside so that one's own column could pass. Rust is in order, but not all over: corrosion starts on the edges and at the welds, whereas the face of a beam tends to be rubbed clean.

Classification and the scope of the package

An accessory for dioramas and for display cases with ground vehicles. Neither a base nor a vehicle is included. Assembled pieces can be used outside a classic diorama too, for instance as company for a model on a simple board, where they stand in for the whole terrain: two obstacles and a piece of broken paving are enough to stop a vehicle hanging in a vacuum.