IPMS Number
27087
Andrew Birkbeck
Reviews By Author
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BT Fast Tank: The Red Army’s Cavalry Tank 1931 - 45Published: November 7, 2016 As the First World War progressed, it became clear that one important arm of many nation’s military, the horse mounted cavalry, were doomed to extinction. The era of trench warfare, with its use of barbed wire entanglements and the mass use of machineguns spelled disaster for unprotected men on live animals and who required unobstructed solid ground to be effective. Cavalry required speed and… more |
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M-48A1Published: July 25, 2016 BackgroundThe M48 tank was the third in a series named for the famous WW2 US general, George Patton. The first two were the M46 and M47 Patton tanks, and the M48, though looking similar to its immediate predecessor, the M47, was in fact a completely new design. It incorporated a 90mm main gun, and had a cast steel hull and turret, which was much more rounded than its predecessors,… more |
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Pz. Kpfw. III Ausf. A (Sd Kfz 141)Published: July 24, 2016 BackgroundThe Panzer III (Pz Kpfw III) was Germany’s first main battle tank, all previous designs being smaller so called “scout” tanks. In early 1934 the German Army, now rearming after the National Socialist (Nazi) takeover of the German national government in 1933, put in motion via the Army Weapons Department plans for a new medium tank weighing 24 tonnes and with a speed of 34… more |
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French Light Tank AMX-13Published: June 16, 2016 BackgroundThe French military has a proud history of tank design, starting with the grandfather of all modern tanks, the FT-17 during the First World War. This was the first tank to incorporate a gun mounted in a rotating turret. Immediately prior to the start of the Second World War, the French Army fielded a good number of world class tanks such as the Somua S-35 (Tamiya kit 35344… more |
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Russian Su-76 Self Propelled GunPublished: June 9, 2016 BackgroundPrior to the start of World War Two, the armed forces of the Soviet Union were lacking in any sort of self propelled artillery. Following the invasion of the Soviet Union by German forces in 1941, Soviet forces suffered massive loses of military material. Hand in hand with these losses came the forced uprooting of many of their key military production plants eastwards,… more |
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British 7ton Armored Car Mk.IVPublished: April 9, 2016 The latest in Tamiya’s range of 1/48th scale military vehicles is what the firm lists as a “British 7ton Armored Car Mk.IV”, while the correct designation is in fact “Armoured Car, Humber Mk.IV”, so I presume the lawyers found that “Humber” was a protected trademark and Tamiya didn’t want to pay for the privilege of using it! These vehicles were to be found all over Italy and NW Europe in… more |
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Panther Ausf. D V2Published: April 8, 2016 This kit from Dragon Models of the World War Two German Panther tank prototype is somewhat of a curate’s egg. Some parts good, some parts less so. However, it IS the first mainstream injection molded plastic kit of the prototype of this seminal German medium tank, and so for this Dragon are to be commended for issuing it. But it is, as I say, not without its faults. Read on….. The V2… more |
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M4A3E8 ShermanPublished: February 14, 2016 The M4 series of tanks, popularly known as the Sherman tank, was the most important U.S. medium tank of the Second World War. It fought on every front, from the steamy jungles of the Pacific campaigns, to the dusty baking hot desert environs of North Africa, to the freezing snowy conditions of the Russian front winters. The culmination of the design, at least during WW2, was the M4A3E8 variant… more |
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Images of War Special: T-34 The Red Army’s Legendary Medium TankPublished: January 3, 2016 Was the Soviet T-34 the most important tank of the Second World War? It certainly was produced in the largest numbers, 57,000 between 1941 and 1945, more even than the ubiquitous M4 Sherman series. And it was undoubtedly superior to the Sherman in many areas, including armor protection and main armament. And without doubt the most massive and arguably most important armored battles of WW2 took… more |
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Panzer III Ausf. CPublished: November 22, 2015 The Panzer III was one of the two work horses of the German Wehrmacht , together with the Panzer IV, serving on all fronts during the Second World War. And while the modeler has been well provided for when it comes to the later models (Ausf. E onwards) of the Panzer III, the earlier versions have been sorely neglected. Until now: Miniart of Kiev, Ukraine has announced that they will be doing… more |