Reviews of products for scale military vehicle models.

Book Author(s)
Dr. Robert Manasherob
Review Author
Randy Ray
Published on
September 4, 2011
Company
SabIngaMartin Publications
MSRP
$35.00

If you have any of Dr. Manasherob's previous volumes on Israeli armor, then you will find this book a comfortable, familiar format. It comes in at 80 pages, with heavy-stock and full-color covers. The paper is the same high-quality stock as is used in the previous books, which lends itself to crisp, clear reproduction of the photos presented. Speaking of the photos, the book offers over 300 in both color and black and white. Thirty-eight of the 80 pages are in full color, and include both photo walk-arounds and color profiles.

Review Author
Dave Koukol
Published on
September 4, 2011
Company
Zvezda
Scale
1/100
MSRP
$5.00

How cool is this? A teeny-tiny 9-piece German half-track in 1/100 scale – sweet! Now, I’m not an armor guy, but I do enjoy a good armor kit every now and then, and I sure do appreciate those life-like pieces of work that show up every month at club meetings and at contests. Frankly, they intimidate this aircraft modeler to some degree.

This little guy, however, is quite a different story. When I saw this was a snap kit and might be good for kids, I jumped at the chance to do this review with my 5-year old modeling “Mini Me,” Camden. As fate would have it, the night we planned to build it at a clubmate’s house, Camden and his junior clubmate buddy opted to assemble integrated air strike packages of plastic and diecast model planes, wreaking havoc on Lego ground forces, leaving my buddy Anthony and I to putz in the shop.

Review Author
Greg Wise
Published on
September 2, 2011
Company
Cyber-Hobby
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$29.95

The Jagdpanzer IV was a tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants. As one of the casemate-style turretlessJagdpanzer (hunting tank) designs, it was developed against the wishes of Heinz Guderian, the inspector general of the Panzertruppen, as a replacement for the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III). Guderian objected to the needless, in his eyes, diversion of resources from Panzer IV tank production, as the Stug III and Sturmgeschütz IV were still more than adequate for their role. After the Battle of Stalingrad in September 1942, the Wehrmacht arms bureau, the Waffenamt, called for a new standard for assault weapons: 100mm of armor to the front, 40–50mm on the sides, wider tracks, ground clearance of 50cm, top speed of 26 km/h, and the lowest possible firing positions. The new Panzerjager (tank hunter) design would be armed with the same 7.5cm gun as fitted to the Panther: the Pak 42 L/70.

Book Author(s)
Stephen Zalgoa, editor
Review Author
Marc K. Blackburn
Published on
September 1, 2011
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$25.95

One of the newer series of Osprey Publishing is the “Duel” series. As the name suggests, it provides an in-depth look at two pieces of equipment and compares and contrasts their capabilities in the context of a particular battle. To date, there are forty separate titles. Many of these concentrate on armor. Osprey has packaged five of these titles into one book:

Book Author(s)
David R. Higgins
Review Author
Marc K. Blackburn
Published on
September 1, 2011
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$17.95

Osprey’s series “Duel” is adding another title - King Tiger vs. IS-2. As with previous publications, the book focuses on the design, development, and capabilities of these two well-known vehicles that debuted in the last eighteen months of the war in Europe. While the book does not offer much in terms of reference material for building the penultimate King Tiger or IS-2, it provides the necessary context for understanding the origins and development of these vehicles and how they performed on the field of battle.

Review Author
Michael Novosad
Published on
November 8, 2021
Company
Master Box Ltd
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$33.99

History and Performance

The Type 170V made its first appearance as a military vehicle in 1937. The frame was made from a tubular X-shape, with independent front and rear suspension. The car was powered by a 38 hp, four-cylinder engine. A total of 86,615 170V cars were built by 1942, and it was the most popular “civilian“ vehicle used by the Wehrmacht.

The vehicle was also built after the war by Daimler-Benz in a diesel-powered version. It proved to be very popular based on its proven wartime experience. With some research, the modeler may be able to depict a post-war vehicle with this base kit.

Master Box Ltd originates in the Ukraine. This is my first build by this manufacturer.

Kit Review

Instructions

The instruction sheet is an oversized fold-out map style, with instructions on both sides.

Review Author
Andy Renshaw
Published on
August 31, 2011
Company
Great Wall Hobby
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$90.95

I’ve always been interested in self propelled flak guns, whether on a truck or tracked vehicle. Maybe it’s the interesting combination of equipment that makes some very unique looking vehicles. For several years I had the old Italeri sWS kit hanging out in the closet, along with some various details with the idea of building it someday. Lo and behold a new company, Great Wall Hobby, comes on the scene with all-new tool sWS. I hedged my bets and figured they would eventfully release some of the self-propelled flak halftracks based on the sWS. Sure enough, I didn’t have to wait long!

Review Author
Robert Folden
Published on
August 31, 2011
Company
Pegasus Hobbies
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$12.95

Pegasus Hobbies is a small model company that, while geared mostly towards war gaming, has produced some very nice models over the past few years. I’ve built a few of their models, so when their new Panzer 38T came up for review, I jumped at the opportunity.

The Pegasus Hobbies Panzer 38T kit actually contains two full kits. Each tank comes in 27 pieces on 4 sprues. Since the model is aimed at gaming, construction is very simple, with the entire suspension, road wheels and sprockets, and tracks molded as a single piece. Detail throughout the model is crisp, and while it may be a bit over sized, this helps later with weathering. The only real downfall to the molding is that the main and machine guns are solid and need to have the ends drilled. [Not the hardest task, yet the machine guns do take a steady hand to drill]. Additionally, there are no decals included in the kit.

Book Author(s)
Youri Obraztsov
Review Author
Mark Aldrich
Published on
August 28, 2011
Company
Histoire and Collections
MSRP
$27.95

With a title like this and John writing that the text was in French, I assumed this book was going to be all about French Infantry Fighting Vehicles. Yep, I was wrong! As I started thumbing through the book and scanning over the included vehicles, I realized that this was a nice collection book about Infantry Fighting Vehicles all over the world. This is very neat “recognition handbook”. A slight word of warning….This is not a definitive collection of infantry Fighting vehicles by any means. Though a great book, it needs to be more defined by the title.

Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
August 27, 2011
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$49.95

OK, what does an airplane guy know about tanks? Well, let’s see – they make great targets and make a mess of a training area. Truth be told, I did win a trophy at the Nats for a tank. Surprised? So was I. As an airplane guy I always wanted to build some tanks, in particular German tanks, but for the longest time it was the zimmerit that prevented me from buying them. Then it was all the aftermarket stuff to make the kit “correct.” Thankfully, Dragon has started retooling their kits to make them more accurate, and they contain aftermarket stuff right in the box. On top of that, they priced their new kits, with all the aftermarket, at the same price as their previous releases. Then they added zimmerit on the appropriate kits. I couldn’t think of any more reasons to not buy these kits. Of the last 20 kits I’ve bought, no less than 12 have been Dragon tanks. I feel so dirty.