Dennis Oliver, in conjunction with Pen and Sword Books, has released another one of his very popular TankCraft series; this one covering the German Jagdpanther Tank Destroyer. Written specifically with the modeler in mind, Mr. Oliver has packed these handy books with enough combat history and technical data to be of interest to the non-modeler as well. Several of these populate my modeling library, although I’ve started to buy the electronic Kindle versions as well, so I can zoom in on various images while the e-Book lays flat on my workbench.

The attractive, slightly oversized softcover book contains a short introduction of this popular German AFV, followed by in interesting 4-page chronological history of the late European War, starting with D-Day and ending with the German surrender on May 7th. The line items include most major events of the war, but also most newsworthy items involving the Jagdpanther. The author then moves through the various military units that employed the tank destroyer, showing unit designations and organization. This section continues at the back of the book.

From there, the modeling portion of the book takes over, starting with eight pages of side-view color plates, 16 in all, with each one thoroughly annotated as to what unit the vehicle came from, and modifications the specific vehicle had. One nice touch about the color plates – they appear to be in 1/35th scale, which might assist modelers with camouflage layouts.

From there, we move into the model showcase section, which highlight five different builds:

• 1/35^th scale Jagdpanther by Gary Kwan: Oldenburg, Germany, 1945 in late-war tricolor scheme.
• 1/35^th scale Jagdpanther by Lim Kian Guan: Eastern France, 1944, in late-war tricolor scheme.
• 1/48^th scale Jagdpanther by Seiji Iwadate: Western Front, 1945, in late-war tri-color scheme.
• 1/72^nd scale Jagdpanther by Jaroslaw Witkowski: Winter 1944-1945, in white winter scheme.
• 1/35^th scale Jagdpanther by Du Wei Jie: Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 560, Ardennes, 1944, in late-war tricolor scheme.

Following the Model Showcase is my favorite part of the book: the author takes us through a variety of different kits and after-market sets available on the market, including those from Tamiya, Eduard, Italeri, Revell, GPM Modele Kartonowe, Voyager, Model Artisan Mori, Alliance Model Works, Royal Model, E.T Model, Griffon Model, Hauler, Black Dog. As an American, I haven’t even heard of some of these companies. No worries though - the author provides company contact and address information for everything. Also included is a treatise on after-market tracks and decals. I can’t think of anything else a modeler needs that can’t be found here.

The final section of the book discusses the major differences between the G1 and G2 versions of the Jagdpanther, replete with images and wartime photographs.

Dennis Oliver has provided an excellent go-to resource at a very competitive price for this popular German tank destroyer, as well as for several other AFV’s in the German, British, Soviet and American wartime inventory. My hope is that he continues to add to the set – I know I will be among the first to snap up a copy for my library.

I would like to heartedly thank Pen and Sword Books and Dennis Oliver for providing this book for review, and to IPMS USA for giving me the opportunity to review it.