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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
Yes, you're correct Craig! I've started looking into the Fialka M-125. Another complex machine, but am taking a look at how much work it would be to create a sim
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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
I discovered that the tape punch functions from the ICT1301 manual are very different from the ones used in the demo code. It appears that Flossie was physically amended by it's owners (Galdor) at some point using spare 1301 logic boards to read and punch in ASCII rather than the generic format.
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
One mode is to print ICT1301 on paper tape, that now works fully in the sim! ict1301.virtualcolossus.co.uk
ict1301.virtualcolossus.co.uk
Virtual Flossie (ICT 1301)
Virtual Flossie - A simulation of the ICT1301 computer named Flossie
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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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Reposted by VirtualColossus
Craig Heath @heathcr.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
On 4 May 1944, Bletchley Park codebreakers saw the German Abwehr testing a cipher machine they had not seen before. This turned out to be the SG-41, and today is a great day to try out the interactive 3D simulation of that machine: sg41.virtualcolossus.co.uk. Thanks @virtualcolossus.bsky.social !
sg41.virtualcolossus.co.uk
Virtual Schlüsselgerät 41
Virtual Schlüsselgerät 41 (SG-41) - A simulation of the cipher machine which was built to replace Enigma
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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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Reposted by VirtualColossus
The National Museum of Computing @tnmoc.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Ditch the dull boardroom for a venue that inspires innovation. TNMoC, explore the world’s largest collection of functional historic computers. Perfect for corporate away days and team building with a historic twist. 🎟️ Book: ow.ly/NzNV50YGjPJ #TNMOC #BletchleyPark #CorporateEvents #TechHistory
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
The Nazis’ Most Notoriously Complex Cryptographic Machine Is Now Available Online gizmodo.com/the-nazis-mo...
gizmodo.com
The Nazis' Most Notoriously Complex Cryptographic Machine Is Now Available Online
Explore the byzantine inner workings of... the Hitler Mill.
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Virtual SG-41 project brings Nazi cipher machine to life in the browser www.theregister.com/2026/04/08/v...
theregister.com
SG-41 cipher machine recreated online with 3D model
: Martin Gillow's 3D recreation lets users explore would-be Enigma successor's mechanics and enciphering logic online
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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
That's interesting to hear of the American threads on the screws, but haven't read Donald Davies paper (I do not have a subscription!)
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
The SZ42 at Bletchley Park was restored to working condition and taken to Heinz Nixdorf Computer Museum in Paderborn, Germany for the Cipher Event 2007. I managed to get DVD of some footage from Paderborn during build of my sim some of which I've put on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBXW...
youtube.com
Lorenz SZ42 : Rare footage of cipher attachment running
YouTube video by Virtual Colossus
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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
Hopefully we match up now, if not, let me know and I'll take another look. You're probably one of a very small number of people to ever check as far down the options to find the sz42c!
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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 · 03/02/2026
You win a big gold star! 🌟 Well done for paying attention & knowing your SZ42c facts - you are, of course, absolutely right! I've mis-typed in one of the wheel 6's limitation values. That should now be resolved (clear your cache & reload).
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Glad you enjoy my simulations, it's really good to hear from someone who's using them. Wow, ok, let me take a look ... I'll get back to you
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Reposted by VirtualColossus
peteronion.bsky.social @peteronion.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Make one of your New Year's Resolutions to visit The National Museum of Computing in 2026 :-)
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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 · 18/12/2025
Sad news today, another veteran has been taken from us. Ruth Bourne, WWII Bletchley Park Bombe operator has died aged 98. She started working at BP aged just 18. Thank you for your service Ruth, we will remember you. news.sky.com/story/wwii-b...
news.sky.com
WWII Bletchley Park Enigma codebreaker Ruth Bourne dies aged 98
Ms Bourne's contribution to the monumental task of breaking the Nazis' Enigma cypher was "truly historic", a veterans' charity has said.
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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 · 30/10/2025
JePu Machines have released a video in English & German on cracking an Enigma message using my Virtual Bombe and Enigma! It goes into huge amount of detail from encrypted message to solution. Nice work! Enigma Codebreaking with the Turing-Welchman Bombe! youtu.be/eHzsAoKXmZM?...
youtu.be
Enigma Codebreaking with the Turing-Welchman Bombe - do it yourself!
YouTube video by Jens Puhle
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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 · 25/10/2025
hackaday.com/2025/10/24/t...
hackaday.com
Tommy Flowers: How An Engineer Won The War
Back in 2016, we took you to a collection of slightly dilapidated prefabricated huts in the English Home Counties, and showed you a computer. The place was the National Museum of Computing, next to…
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VirtualColossus @virtualcolossus.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
@microsiervos.bsky.social have posted a brief review of my Virtual Enigma. So glad they found it interesting. They did say "using the mouse and pressing buttons and switches isn't very intuitive". Any thoughts on how to make it easier or clearer what you need to do?
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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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