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VirtualColossus

@virtualcolossus.bsky.social
67 followers 18 following 144 posts

Colossus was a computer built during WW2 to crack the German Lorenz. Website simulation of it you can use in full 3D, plus 3D Enigma, 3D Lorenz , Typex, Turing-Welchman Bombe & Hagelin M-209 virtualcolossus.co.uk

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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I've been looking at the Fialka M-125's movement mechanism. A complex interlocked set of fingers are pulled apart. Each finger tracks the pins on the rotor 2 up from itself which allows a tooth to engage (or not) to turn a step. Even & odd rotors turn in opposing directions!
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
After a well earned rest, I'm starting to (probably foolishly) feel the urge to begin modelling another cipher machine. Any guesses which machine this rotor might be from? @tnmoc.bsky.social @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Recently, I've been chatting with the previous owner of Flossie (the ICT 1301 2nd gen transistor computer that's in storage at The National Museum of Computing). We've been working to get a demo program running that was used on the real machine.
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Update for Virtual SG-41: the numeric-only SG-41z now available at sg41.virtualcolossus.co.uk Used for sending weather reports where the details were encoded as a set of numbers. It's very similar to the SG-41 but with a few interesting omissions which I'll be documenting soon.
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Work is progressing on the numeric only SG-41Z model of Virtual Schlüsselgerät 41 used for sending weather information. The print wheels were tricky but are done. Another difference is the SG-41Z only has 5 of the sensing arms (6 on SG-41) and 15 bars on the cage (25 on SG-41) so that needs work.
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
I'm working on an update to Virtual SG-41. I want to also simulate the SG-41Z which was a numeric only version of the full one used for sending encoded weather reports. It uses a lot of the same mechanics, it'll be interesting to find out the differences. sg41.virtualcolossus.co.uk
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
10 Years of Virtual Colossus: 2026 And we're up to date and therefore, today is the release of my latest project: Virtual Schlüsselgerät 41 After a year of work try it out for yourself using just your web browser. Hope you like my new website design too! sg41.virtualcolossus.co.uk
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Released today: Virtual Schlüsselgerät 41 This cipher machine, based on Hagelin C-38 but WAY more complex was set to replace Enigma. Over a year of work & research & it's ready for you to try for yourself. sg41.virtualcolossus.co.uk @tnmoc.bsky.social @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
If that's around the same time, I suspect that might be a different machine .. either the Manchester Baby or the Manchester/Ferranti Mark 1! Turing moved to Manchester from the Pilot ACE program to work on the Ferranti Mark 1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manches... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manches...
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
10 Years of Virtual Colossus: 2025 Did you know that Turing designed a valve computer using mercury delay lines as memory after the war? The pilot machine ran 75 years ago and was recreated as Virtual Pilot ACE this year. And we're up to date .. excited for release of Virtual SG-41 tomorrow!
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
10 Years of Virtual Colossus: 2024 The next sim I worked on was the M-209, an American version of the Hagelin C-38. A new resource, the CT scans of the machines at @DeutschesMuseum, meant I could very accurately model each part giving amazing detail! m209.virtualcolossus.co.uk
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
10 Years of Virtual Colossus: 2023 We have already completed Colossus and Lorenz SZ-42 but we only had Enigma working. It was time to learn about the Turing-Welchman Bombe and to begin building it into a fully working simulation. Find it at bombe.virtualcolossus.co.uk
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
10 Years of Virtual Colossus: 2022 The next machine to get 3D treatment was one I really enjoyed learning about, the Lorenz SZ-42. I completed a 2D version in 2017, but wondered if I could do this technological marvel justice. It ended up as one of my favourite sims I've ever done.
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
10 Years of Virtual Colossus: 2021 Now, with new 3D skills, it was time to attempt a machine that I'd always felt already had many great sims. And so, I created my most visited sim yet: Virtual Enigma both model I and M4, complete with radio & Morse key. enigma.virtualcolossus.co.uk
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Two new sims were completed this yr and little did I realise that Virtual Typex would be the last in 2D. I started playing with a library called three.js and ended up recreating Virtual Colossus in full 3D! This was how it continue to today ...
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
10 Years of Virtual Colossus: 2019 In this year, I created a sim of E.R.N.I.E to celebrate the new 5th version. A hardware random number generator built in 1956 to find winners for the UK Premium Bonds. Designed by Harry Fensom who worked at the GPO Research Station, Dollis Hill
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
10 Years of Virtual Colossus: 2018 In 2018, I started looking at a BP cipher breaking machine from the American Signal Security Agency. This was Dragon, a relay machine built to drag a crib through a partially decrypted message from Colossus. A fascinating machine to learn about!
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
10 Years of Virtual Colossus: 2017 Having completed my Colossus sim, I became interested in how the machine that it was built to crack worked: the Lorenz SZ-42. There wasn't a working machine I knew of to see working and no videos online, so I began researching to build my own.
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Can you believe that the Virtual Colossus project is now 10 years old! Today, I'm starting the countdown to the release of my latest simulation the incredible Schlüsselgerät 41. Each day, I'll show what I was working on from 2016 until we catch up to today!
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Nearing the go-live date for Virtual Schlüsselgerät 41 .. or at least until I find there's yet another part that I didn't quite understand on this complex 1940s cipher machine. Here's the result & now back to final testing. Check out my new transparent case mode too!
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Are you fed up with your old, slow labour-intensive Enigma machine? There is a better way .. and it's coming very soon to a browser near you! "jetzt muß die Enigma sterben" .. Now the Enigma must die. Schlüsselgerät 41 : sg41.virtualcolossus.co.uk @tnmoc.bsky.social @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Keep watching my socials and on the site as very soon, my latest work, the awesome (and insanely complex) German Schlüsselgerät 41 cipher machine, will be finally completed after over a year of work.
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Good work @shayden1337.bsky.social for spotting a bug in my Lorenz SZ42c code! If you're not keeping up with your WW2 German cipher tech (tut), the SZ42c was to replace the SZ42a/b & wasn't ever completed. The info for how it ran comes from sparse TICOM reports. lorenz.virtualcolossus.co.uk
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Previously unknown instructions & settings sheets for the SG-41 have been discovered in Czech archives! Thanks to Eugen Antal, Carola Dahlke & Robert Jahn who published them in Cryptologia. I've been working to bring these into Virtual SG-41 @tnmoc.bsky.social @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
The long slog to getting everything ready to release Virtual Schlüsselgerät 41 is well underway. Lots now completed on setup, tutorials and a few more bugs ticked off. No definite release date just yet as I keep adding to my to-do list, but it's very soon!
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
I've completed the last model for Virtual SG-41! It's ALL there & working, a 1940s technical marvel lives again! It's taken nearly a year; 378 models drawn by hand on CT scans from Deutsches Museum then animated with @threejs.org The end is in sight! @tnmoc.bsky.social @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
This week, I've started working on the paper tape reels which are held in the base of the SG-41. Two tapes can be fitted; one for the cipher text and one for the plain text to be printed. @tnmoc.bsky.social @threejs.org
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
Postbox in Newton Longville. We will remember them. #Rememberance #LestWeForget
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
We are getting so close now! This week sees the completion of the final part of the actual SG-41 mechanism; the ink cartridge & upper paper feed rollers. So is that it ... all done? Not quite, there's one important part missing. @tnmoc.bsky.social @cryptomuseum.bsky.social @threejs.org
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
New Rememberance Day postbox topper has been installed outside Bletchley Park / @tnmoc.bsky.social if you're visiting either. You can even press the drum to hear the noise!! I love this, remembering all the WRNS who served running the Bombe machines. Superb work Clare Reeves & Amanda Vines
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
The end is in sight for Virtual SG41! I've started into the paper feed block which I've been saving until last. This is the final big section to do and includes the mounting for the upper rollers, the ink cartridge, release button, paper tape reels and of course the paper itself.
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
Virtual Schlüsselgerät 41 (SG-41). Another week and yet another mess of levers in the CT scans that do something .. but what? One of those cases where I'm just going to have to model & animate them in @blender.org & @threejs.org to find out. @tnmoc.bsky.social @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
Gracias por compartir mi Enigma Virtual. ¡Me alegra que te haya parecido interesante! Durante el último año, he estado trabajando en una simulación del aún más complejo SG-41, que iba a reemplazar al Enigma en Alemania. Habría sido una máquina difícil de descifrar, incluso para Bletchley Park.
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
It's time to fill out some of the metalwork that holds everything together. It's no wonder the SG-41 weighed in at around 13kg especially as Germany were running out of lighter metals by the end of the war. @cryptomuseum.bsky.social @threejs.org @tnmoc.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
One of the final external controls completed, the F/L knob. This switches the SG-41 between Funktion (Operate) and Löschen (Clear). Clear mode releases the mechanism from the cipher wheels so they can be moved to a new position or reset. @tnmoc.bsky.social @threejs.org @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Last month, I was thrilled to be invited to GCHQ in Cheltenham to see their rare SG-41 cipher machine for real! It has answered many questions about this amazing WW2 machine. I can now move on & complete my latest sim which will be released (hopefully later this yr) on my site virtualcolossus.co.uk
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
I've been continuing work on the paper feed mechanism after a very exciting visit which has helped a huge amount (more on that soon). The paper feed lever allows you to extract your printed cipher/plain text from the SG-41. @tnmoc.bsky.social @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
As well as working on modelling & animating the complex paper feed mechanism, I've been having a play adding a few extra visuals. Some useful (hiding specific parts of the mechanism to see how it works) and some just eye candy! @tnmoc.bsky.social @threejs.org @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Just when I thought I'd got past the most complex bits for Virtual SG-41, I find the paper feed mechanism. It's buried in deep on the left-hand side and includes a cam, 3 levers & 2 ratchet/pawls all which need to be modelled & animated! @tnmoc.bsky.social @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
I've added the letter counter to the SG-41 this week so take a look at how that works. Also, I've animated the folding handle so the machine can be packed away for travelling. @tnmoc.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
I broke more than fixed this week! I'd placed a few items in the machine out of line so last few bits didn't fit. I re-checked the scan so all fixed now! The question to answer today - "What happens if you run out of paper?" @bletchleypark.bsky.social @tnmoc.bsky.social @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
Lots to show you today for Virtual Schlüsselgerät 41. Working out the print mechanism meant going back to uncover the cage drive works in detail! New drive mechanism, the print wheels working and switching between encipher/decipher. Phew! @tnmoc.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
OTD: 23rd June 1912, Alan Turing was born. Best known for his work on Enigma & the Bombe, he also wrote a paper in 1936 "On Computable Numbers" outlining a computing machine. After WW2, he designed one of the first computers, the ACE - run it for yourself; pilotace.virtualcolossus.co.uk
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Time to start on the next part of Virtual Schlüsselgerät 41. Now we have the actual PRNG (pseudo-random number generator) working, the next part is to print! Unlike the M-209, the SG-41 has 2 tapes; one plaintext & one encrypted. Wish me luck! @tnmoc.bsky.social @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Can I maybe ask a favour? This Friday, I'm walking in the Milton Keynes "Midnight Moo" to help raise for Willen Hospice who provide free care & support for local people with a life-limiting illness. Even a small amount (if you can) would be amazing! donate.willen-hospice.org.uk/pf/martin-gi...
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
Adding in a few shadows make all the difference to a simulation. This is made very easy with Three.js which is the JavaScript library I'm using for 3D. The encrypted output is not from a coded sim, it's from the mechanics alone! @tnmoc.bsky.social @threejs.org
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Now we finally get to see how all the messing about in Virtual SG-41 with cogs & cams starts to encipher our letter. A lot of work done in past couple of weeks to get here, this is a fiendishly clever device! @tnmoc.bsky.social @threejs.org @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
Our Virtual Schlüsselgerät 41 was looking a little naked, so this week, I've been modelling it something to cover it up. This really adds so much to the look of the machine, looking awesome. Still lots to do, so keep following along. @tnmoc.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
Now we've got the Pilot ACE completed, it's time to get back to our build of the SG-41 (Schlüsselgerät 41). Here's a very brief recap of where we'd got to and a quick additional set of levers hidden away behind the rotors to work out. @tnmoc.bsky.social @cryptomuseum.bsky.social
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Thanks to ITV Anglia News for this awesome interview which was on TV this evening! Taken on site at The National Museum of Computing @tnmoc.bsky.social, it was exciting to talk about the Pilot ACE, Alan Turing & his work & to show off some of mine! pilotace.virtualcolossus.co.uk 3D c/o @threejs.org
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