Andrew Birkbeck
Reviews By Author
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Panzerkampfwagen II Ausf. A/B/C (Sd.Kfz.121) "French Campaign"Published:
The Panzerkampfwagen II, or Pzkfw. II for short, was a light tank produced as a stop gap measure by the German armaments industry for the German Armed Forces prior to and during the early stages of WW2. What the German High Command really wanted was the more powerfully armed Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks, but German industry found producing the more complex heavier tanks in any meaningful numbers beyond their capacity, at least initially. That said the Pzkfw. II series of light tanks went on to serve with distinction during the initial phases of the War, especially in the Polish and French Campaigns of 1939 and 1940, with nearly 1,900 vehicles of all marks eventually seeing production. Tamiya launched their 1/48thscale Military Miniature Series of military vehicles… more |
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LVT-(A) 1Published:
The LVT-(A) 1 was part of a series of US Marine Corps. and Navy amphibious assault vehicles developed during WW2. The idea for the military vehicles came from an original, civilian design by Donald Roebling, who designed his Alligator as a rescue vehicle for use in areas inaccessible to standard cars or trucks, such as swampland. LVT stood for Landing Vehicle, Tracked, and the main contractor during WW2 was FMC: Farm Machinery Corp. As well as the standard open topped tracked landing craft designed to bring troops and cargo ashore, there were also vehicles such as the LVT-(A) 1 which came completely enclosed, and armed with turrets. The LVT-(A) 1 (“A” for Armor) had the turret and gun of the M3 Stuart light tank, and the vehicle was also powered by an M3 Stuart engine… more |
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M4 (105mm) Sherman Howitzer Tank and Workable Track SetPublished:
Editor's note: This review contains an embedded review of: Bronco Models 1/35th scale Sherman T51 Workable Track Set Kit: AB3542 MSRP: $19.95. Dragon Models Ltd. has blessed the Allied WW2 armor modeler with yet another version of the Sherman tank. This time around the modeler is presented with the 105mm howitzer version of the M4. This vehicle consisted of a 105mm gun, mounted in the so called “high bustle” turret, atop a “large hatch” (47 degree) M4 hull. The kit consists of 11 sprues of injection molded parts, slightly more than 450 parts, together with a fret of photo etched brass parts, a pair of DS 100 rubber tracks, and a short length of metal cable, and decals for three vehicles. Perhaps 100 parts are “surplus to needs”, and care needs to be… more |
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Panzer IV vs. Char B1 Bis France 1940Published:
Despite the use of “tanks” in the First World War, and their use in the opening stages of the Second World War in Poland, September 1939, it was in the Battle of France in May 1940 that these weapons were used for the first time on any large scale. The battles around the French towns of Stonne, Hannant, and Gembloux for the first time in history saw massive clashes, involving hundreds of tanks on both the French and German sides. And it was during these battles that actual “armored divisions” from both sides were involved. This book covers the two major armored vehicles of the Battle of France, the Wehrmacht’s Panzer IV, and the French Army’s massive Char B1 Bis. The author, Steven Zaloga, is a well known military historian of the Second World War, and also a keen modeler. He is also a… more |
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JagdtigerPublished:
Back in the mid 1970’s, the 1/48th armor scene was dominated by Bandai Corp., who released a series of WW2 Allied and German military vehicle kits, together with a number of figure and accessory sets. Included among these kits was a late war German Jagdtiger, a true monster of a “tank”. Despite their “state of the art” nature at the time of release, the Bandai range is now showing its age. Also, Bandai stopped manufacturing these military vehicle kits in the mid-1970’s! To remedy the “need” for a Bandai replacement, Tamiya has come to the modeler’s rescue with a lovely rendition of the Jagdtiger in their own 1/48 Military Vehicle range. As per usual with Tamiya’s German military vehicle kits, the model is produced in a tan plastic, which has been the norm over the… more |
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AFV Modeller, #54 September/October 2010Published:
To me, AFV Modeller is one of THE finest armor model magazines on the planet. Issue 54 continues their great tradition of providing the reader with well written articles of superbly built models and dioramas, beautifully photographed and printed on high quality paper, along with a nice sprinkling of informative reviews covering the latest books, kits and model accessories. This month’s cover article is by Bruno Carsuzaa, detailing the construction and weathering of a Trumpeter 1/16th scale T-34/76 Soviet tank. The kit is built as a knocked out example, one side having burned so that the rubber is missing from the road wheels. The back of the turret has been blown out, and the entire vehicle is beautifully weathered in rust, as part of a diorama depicting a German… more |
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Sturmgeschutz III: Variants, Modifications, Technical Drawings, Volume 2Published:
As the title states, this is Volume 2 of History Facts’ two part history of the Sturmgestchutz III. Volume One, according to the publisher’s web site, covers the history of the vehicle in both written text and photographs/drawings, the bulk of the pages devoted though to written text. This volume has already been reviewed here on the IPMS/USA web site. Volume Two, the subject of this review, “provides the means with which to precisely identify specific vehicles”, and is almost exclusively photographs and line drawings. The concept behind this volume is very sound. It takes the Sturmgesschutz III, and covers each variant (Ausf. A through Ausf. G) with detailed line drawings in 1/35th scale: front, rear, side, aerial. Included with the line drawings are written details… more |