Armies cannot conduct military operations without supplies; the German Army had no problems with their supply trucks in the European areas, but found their trucks useless during the Russian spring and autumn “mud” period on the Eastern Front. A quick solution was to equip the rear wheel drive trucks with a tracked running gear. The 3 ton truck was the most widely used in the German Army, so these would be the basis for the fabrication. Four different tracked trucks were built: Opel, Ford, Klockner-Humboldt, and a heavy 4.5 ton truck by Mercedes-Benz. The official designation was Gleisketten-Lastkraftwagen or more often seen as Gleisketten-LKW offen (tracked lorry open) Sd.Kfz 3. The troops referred to all of them as “Maultier,” or mule in German, as it excelled in moving through mud – slow but steady.

This volume of Nuts & Bolts begins with a short but detailed history on the “Maultier” and general technical construction on each of the different companies’ “Maultiers”. Next up was the service use and several charts that show that usage. Three pages are devoted to a written description on four “Maultier” models made by Tony Greenland. The next few sections are of special interest to modelers. Firstly, 68 pages of B&W photos on the four types during World War II. This is followed by 25 pages of CAD drawings (5 or 4 views, isometric views and side profiles) on the four types of “Maultiers”. Eight pages of color side profiles are useful for painting and decaling. Next are 25 pages of color photos on “Maultier” walk-arounds (inside and out, as well as underneath) of the different types in various museums. Finally, seven pages filled with color photos that document the model construction of Tony Greenland. It should be noted that the photo captions and the text are in English and German.

Nuts & Bolts volumes are known their extensive use of photos, drawings, and text to provide the modeler with everything that he or she could want on a particular subject – in this case, the various types of tracked trucks used by the German Army in World War II. It is an excellent, condensed source of information and I can most highly recommend this book. I want to thank IPMS/USA, Nuts & Bolts Verlag GbR, and Dragon Models USA for the chance to review this book.