History Brief:

The GermanWehrmacht and Luftwaffe grew into a powerful military machine during the last half of the1930s under Nazi control. They were very well equipped with all the latest and greatest weapons the world had ever seen. When the early weapons and training were tested in Spain confidence grew and then they seemed unstoppable blitzing through Europe at will.

As the war progressed so did the inventory of halftracksthe Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe operated, listing several types and sizes of halftracks each with a specific purpose. Our subject the Sd.Kfz.10 was one of the lighter types. Initially conceived as a utility tow for small towed guns, several different specialist vehicles were based on this halftrack design including Sd.Kfz.10/5, its rear hull was refitted with a purpose-built anti-aircraft platform carrying a 2cm FlaK38 platform. Around 14,000 Sd.Kfz.10 halftracks were built from 1938-45.

I am a Rolls Royce Armored Car mega-fan, so I pleaded for this book when it showed on the review list. Also, my real name is Sean O'Ratzenberger ….

The book covers wheeled and tracked armored fighting vehicles used by the armed forces of the Republic of Ireland from independence to the present day. It, of necessity, starts before then, in 1916, and works forward through the civil war as much of the armor was first used by the British and then acquired by the Free State (National Army) or captured by the Republican Army. This story is told in some detail. From there, the book covers the Irish forces during The Emergency (WW2, in which Ireland was neutral) through various UN peace-keeping operations.

Following the general and organizational history, there is a lengthy section which goes one-by-one through all vehicles used, having history, data, pictures, etc., for each. Some of this information duplicates that already told in the historical sections.

Sprues

• A – This sprue contains the barrel, shield, and gun cradle
• B – This sprue contains the ammo and ammo crates
• C x 2 – Tires
• E – This spure contains the tubular ammo cases
• G – This sprue contains parts for the gun, shield, gun cradle and a lot of unused parts from Kit 35045
• H x 2 – This has the wheel and hand wheels
• N – This has the trails and associated bits
• P – Photo Etched parts

This kit is a representation of the rebuild of a captured Soviet Divisional Gun. The anti-tank performance of the F-22 divisional gun was inferior to the 7.5cm PaK40. However, the Germans had captured over 500 of these guns and made use of them.

Short History

The YW-531a was the first APC manufactured by Norinco for the PLA. It was designed in the early 1960’s and first appeared in 1964. It can carry a crew of 4 to 10 troops. The YW-531 was first used in the Vietnam War by the North Vietnamese Army (PAVN) and was in action again in the Iran-Iraq War.

APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), or mortars. They are not usually designed to take part in a direct-fire battle, but to carry troops to the battlefield safe from shrapnel and ambush. Amor on APCs is usually composed of simple steel or aluminum, sufficient for protection against small fire arms and most shell fragments. Just about any type of anti-tank weapon can defeat the armor of an APC. Some APCs also come with NBC protection, which would protect its crew from radioactive fallout or the like.

Editor's note: This review contains an embedded review of: Bronco Models 1/35^th 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 taken when figuring out which parts go with which variant.