Adam Jońca is an illustrator and author. He has contributed to several Stratus / MMP series, including Polish Tracks & Wheels [3 Volumes]; Polish Armoured Trains [3 Volumes; and Single Vehicle [4 Volumes].

This 28-page booklet is the ninth in this series, Single Vehicle. It is A4 [8.25” x 11.75” and is a square bound soft cover. This series format consists of color profiles, scale plans, and photo details of a single variant; in this case, the P.Z.Inż. M 111 "Sokól 1000" motorcycle. This volume does have a text summary on the inside front cover before launching into the drawings, illustrations, and photographs. The front cover by Adam Jońca features a color side view illustration of a P.Z.Inż. M 111 "Sokól 1000" motorcycle. Adam Jońca supplies four 1/35-line drawings and four 1/17.5-line drawings. Two of each scale can be seen on Page 2. The top drawings feature the heavy motorcycle armed with a ckm 7.9 mm wz.30 [a Browning heavy machine gun]. The lower drawings show the communication version of the Sokól 1000 with its ROD radio receiver and RKD radio station. The bamboo antenna is shown stowed in the 1/17.5-scale drawing and extended in the 1/35-scale drawing.

I counted 64 black and white photographs that include a mix of period pics and manual or parts catalogue pages. Adam Jońcafinishes the book with two color side profiles of the M 111 "Sokól 1000" motorcycle along with ten color scrap illustrations. This can be seen on Page 28 with the upper color profile of ‘4050’ in black paint and the lower color profile of ‘2034’ in green.

The Sokól [Falcon] brand of motorcycles was originally manufactured by Centralne Warsztaty Samochodowe [CWS] company before the Polish Minister of Industry, Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, reorganized and combined Polish companies on March 19, 1928. The result was the Państwowe Zakłady Inżynierii (PZInż) [National Engineering Works] that among many other vehicles, became responsible for the Sokol line of motorcycles. That lasted until the German 1939 occupation of Poland where the P.Z. Inż factories were dismantled, and the factory engineers were either killed outright or survived as slave workers to the German state.

The Sokól 1000 heavy motorcycle was designed based upon the Harley-Davidson frame with a copy of the Indian engine. This engine is depicted on Page 6 with a service manual drawing along with left and right black and white photographs. While not identical to an Indian engine, one can see the similarities. The Sokól 1000 featured a 995.4cc four stroke V-Twin engine commanding 22 hp. The 1922-1928 Indian Chief engine was 1,000cc four stroke V-Twin was later bored out to 1,210 [for 1923-1948], but I would guess that the Sokól 1000 was still based on the earlier 1,000cc engine.

Sokól 1000 production began in 1933 with about 3,400 motorcycles manufactured before 1939. One of the variants was designed to carry anti-tank mines. The bottom of Page 21 shows this to good effect with Sokól 1000 ‘2309’. The anti-tank mines and detonators were stored in the sidecar on the floor between the feet of the passenger. The Sokól 1000 was not a state of the art [in 1933] motorcycle as it was too heavy, but it was reliable, which is exactly what the Polish Army wanted. A Polish innovation was a soft sidecar mount that gave the Sokól 1000 easy handling and a higher off-road speed.

The sections include:

• Origins
• Basic Version
• In the Service of
• Motorcycles Armed with 7.9mm Heavy mg wz.30 Browning
• Motorcycles Armed with 7.9mm Heavy mg wz.28 Browning
• Armed Motorcycles, Anti-Tank Mines
• Motorcycles with Radios
• Trolley Motorcycles
• Production and Development Programme
• 1/35 Drawings [Page 02[
• 1/17.5 Drawings
• Captioned Photographs [Page 06, 21]
• Motorcyclist’s Uniform
• Color Side View Illustrations [Page 28]

This Stratus / MMPBooks’ volume provides a quick reference for modelers. The drawings in 1/35 and 1/17.5 support the existing 1/35 model kits available and the captioned detailed photos provide a detailed reference. This booklet is essential if you're considering building any of the M 111 "Sokól 1000" kits. Armo released two variants in resin of the M111, but Choroszy Modelbud really went to town with nine variations released in 1/35 scale in resin with photoetch details. If you have any interest in M 111 "Sokól 1000", this is your book and it’s at a very reasonable price point.

About MMP

MMP was founded in 1996 by Roger Wallsgrove, to publish "Mushroom Model Magazine". This quarterly modeling magazine was developed from "Mushroom Monthly”, a club newsletter which ran from 1985 to 1995, achieving a world-wide reputation for quality articles, fearless and honest reviews, and a great sense of humor. From 1997 the magazine was produced in collaboration with Robert Peczkowski and Artur Juszczak (Stratus), which meant a big leap in print quality and design. MMP expanded into book publication in 1999 with Stratus, and since then they have built up a list of hardcover and soft cover titles on aircraft and aviation, naval, military vehicles, and military history. Stratus / MMPBooks are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications. One can find additional information available on the MMP Facebook page. This English language book, Polish Heavy Military Motorcycle P.Z.Inż. M 111 "Sokól 1000", is authored and illustrated by Adam Jońca and was published on March 8, 2024.

My thanks to Casemate Publications, Stratus / Mushroom Model Publications and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great book.

Highly recommended!