My oh My!!! By definition that men are visual creatures……I am men!!! I LOVE getting reference books that are FULL of pictures of vehicles. Save the reading and writing for another form of model builder. Give me a picture, obscure or basic, and I am a very happy camper. Squadron’s new series of walk arounds have not been a disappointment. They contain numerous pictures of preserved and restored vehicles. Some contain a few line drawings and color plates while come have a minimum of in actions shots as well. How can you go wrong with that? You can’t.

The latest is the M5. Jim Mesko, with the help of several other picture donors does an excellent job in this tome. It is typical Squadron walk around soft cover fare. It contains 80 pages and each page has an average of four pictures per page. Three pages have color side profile line drawings of M5s and two pages are dedicated to four view line drawings of both the M5 and M5A1. The different vehicles photographed are both M5s and M5A1s. Some are preserved and some are restored examples or going through a restoration or repair process. The interior shots are top notch. All the photographs are clear with a minimum of writing to describe what you are looking at in each picture. This is how a picture book is done.

The only issue I had with the book was a contradiction of sorts. It references the direct vision port plugs. On page 39 he states that “The plugs that cover the small direct vision ports for BOTH drivers are chained to the inside of the tank”. However, on page 40, there are three pictures that show the plug for the co-drivers station that is definitely activated with a spring handle hinge. This is very obvious in all three pictures. Which is why the old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words. This is in no way a hit on the Author or the value of the book. It is however, very pertinent for someone who is possibly super detailing out the interior of one of the new AFV Club Stuarts.

I would like to thank Jim Mesko for writing this great book, Squadron Signal for both publishing it and providing the review sample and IPMS for posting this review for others to see and read. Have fun: Build a M5 or M5A1 Stuart using this book to SUPER detail it.