Background

A variant of the iconic M3 series of half-track vehicles originally fielded in World War II, the M16 was fitted with 4 each .50 caliber machine guns in an electrically-drive rotating turret adapted from aircraft use. Used primarily as an anti-aircraft platform, the M16 also held great utility in suppressing enemy infantry. First seeing service in 1944, replacing the twin-gunned M13, the M16 proved a valuable asset for the remainder of the war and following, namely in service with US and South Korean forces during the Korean War.

The Publication

This softbound volume sports 24 pages consisting of a brief 1-page introduction, with the remainder of the book devoted to black-and-white line drawings with descriptive captions in English and Polish and 3 loose, large, folded sheets with vehicle and detail drawings in 1/72, 1/48, 1/35, 1/16 scales.

From a modeler’s perspective, the book provides a significant reference value beyond the traditional photo-based resources to which we’ve grown accustomed. The thoroughness and detail of the drawings is superb, featuring perspective drawings of the overall vehicle and smaller components, driver’s compartment, weapons compartment, turret and gun, chassis, powerplant, drivetrain, suspension, 1/48 and 1/72 orthogonal projections of the same, completed by large loose-leaf inserts of 1/35 and 1/16 scale orthogonal and perspective drawings.

Conclusion/Recommendation

This publication certainly finds a unique place in the market, a welcome complement to “in action” and “walk-around” type books. Although not a “rivet counter” in my modeling, I do appreciate fine detail reference and have always been fascinated by technical drawings – especially of military hardware – and I know many fellow modelers share the same appreciation. Top Drawings M16 Half-Track fills this niche nicely. I highly recommend this publication for any modeler wanting to count rivets on their M16 project and any other fellow armor modelers who just really appreciate great technical drawings of military vehicles.

Thanks to Casemate Publishing for the review sample and to IPMS-USA for the opportunity to share this review.