It’s hard to believe that after more than fifty years of modeling, I’ve never built a car before now. But somewhere between “you’re never too old to learn” and “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, I found myself with my first car model. I’ve always liked the aesthetics of the 1930s, particularly where technology was applied. Vehicle designers were just starting to appreciate the value of aerodynamics, and automobiles of the mid-to-late 30s were showing that influence, with teardrop shapes replacing flat surfaces and hard angles. Compared to cars of just half a generation earlier, especially two-seater coupes, cars of the late 30s looked fast just sitting still. The ‘37 Chevy was a prime example.

The book is divided into 8 chapters with an introduction, index, a Bibliography and Glossary & Abbreviations:

• Chronology
• Design and Development
• The Principles of Defense
• Tour of the Sites
• The Living Site
• Operational History
• Aftermath
• The Sites Today

This illustrated volume analyses the different defensive elements of the East Wall, the phases of their construction, the shifting strategic focus, and what life was like for those manning the defenses in the final days of the war.

Conclusion

The book is a quick read and is well researched and documented. From the modelers perspective this will not give you many ideas for dioramas, but as a quick review of the East Wall German fortifications it does the job.

Thanks to Osprey Publishing for the review copy and to IPMS/USA for the review space.

I had decided in the beginning to finish the model I was building in the markings of Fritz Oppenhorst’s Fokker D.VII 4301/18 (Option D in the kit’s painting guide), so I carefully followed the steps in the instructions to confirm which parts should be used in this build. WNW provides comprehensive information to guide the builder, but there are subtle differences between some of the parts, so it is important to double-check most steps to make certain the correct ones are clipped off the sprues. I found it helpful to remove only those parts I would need from the trees, clean up the attachment points (tagging parts if necessary with a piece of numbered masking tape) and bag everything in a zip-lock bag to avoid using any wrong parts down the road.