VirtualColossus

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!

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

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!

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.

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

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).

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

Make one of your New Year's Resolutions to visit The National Museum of Computing in 2026 :-)

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

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.

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...

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!

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

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

Postbox in Newton Longville. We will remember them. #Rememberance #LestWeForget

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

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

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.

YouTube video by Jens Puhle Enigma Codebreaking with the Turing-Welchman Bombe - do it yourself!

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?...

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

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…

hackaday.com/2025/10/24/t...

@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?

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.

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

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

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

That is SO cute! Look, it's a little knitted Colossus
I WANT ONE!

A new and very informative posting by the Sigint Historian, which sets Sigint history in perspective and generally offers reflections for historians.

siginthistorian.blogspot.com/2025/08/reco...

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

Yesterday we unveiled a new mural honouring Tommy Flowers, He was the brilliant engineer behind the Colossus computer. A truly fitting tribute to his genius and legacy.Thanks
@HeritageFundUK
& @TommyFlowersFdn
#TommyFlowers #Colossus #VJDay #DigitalLegacy Photo credit: Andy Taylor & Dave Wild

The Kryptos Key Is Going Up for Sale Jim Sanborn is auctioning off the elusive solution to K4, the outdoor sculpture that sits at CIA headquarters.

Jim Sanborn is to auction off the solution to K4 of the Kryptos Key, the outdoor sculpture that sits at CIA headquarters.
Would you keep this to yourself and guard the secret to allow the game to continue or release for the world to know the answer?
www.wired.com/story/jim-sa...