Panzerwaffe 1945 Vol. I (198) & II (206)

Wydawnictwo Militaria

Author Kolomyjec, Maksym & Ilja Moszczanskij 
Artwork not separately credited
Format softcover
Pub. year 2004
ISBN 83-7219-184-0 & 83-7219-199-9
Price 17.00 USD
Availability New
Reviewed by Christopher Tew
Review date Oct 11, 2004

I've seen these books offered for as much as $25. I bought mine from Roll Models for $16.75 and $17.25.

These books owe much to the older Frontline Illustration Wehrmacht 1945 set and a couple of other late-war titles, at least in their photo selections. Nevertheless, because Wydawnictwo has used excellent quality paper, scanning and half-toning technology, and printing to reproduce the photographs about as clearly as most of us will ever see them, these two books are essential references for anyone interested in the last year of WW II on the Eastern Front.

Each Panzerwaffe volume has 70-plus pages, including over 70 b&w photos and 11 pages of color profiles. Captions and text are in both Polish and English, and the English is well translated. I found the text not to be very interesting except in the sense that "Unit x was attacking/in retreat and had y# of tanks of whatever variety available at time z." Each volume has good maps. There are no personal recollections to humanize things. The strength of these books lies in their photos, so the best review is a listing of what you can see that is clear enough to model from:

Volume I:
* Panther G of PGD "Kurmark" - no turret #, but a beautiful camouflage scheme.
* RSO - late armored version, front only, possibly had the PAK mounted but blown off. License plate number WH-11xx324 (the first 1 could possiblby be a worn 2, and a railcar strake hides the xx).
* StuG III G of Panzer Sturm Reserve - #20.
* RSO & 120mm sGrWr 42 mortar - standard, hard cab. License plate WH-1655344 (looks like 41 to me).
* SdKfz 7 & Flak 36/37 - armored nose with "Immer die Selben" motto, license plate WL-423261 and FsPD "Hermann Göring" circle sign.
* Hummel - blown to crap, but #311 visible.
* Flak 36/37 with improved shield - interesting camouflage scheme.
* PzKpfw IV H - #602 cloud camouflage and no Zimmerit.
* StuH 42 - late version w/o muzzle brake of 310. StuG Br. No #, but both front and back view with metal rack over engine deck.
* Panther G - #242 of 8. PD or FBD with chin mantlet and raised fan housing.
* Panther G - #432 (inverted colors) of 21. PD looks like standard issue.
* Marder III 76.2 - #312/22x and insignia of 58 ID. Finally a reproduction of this well-known photo that is clear enough to see more than a series of blurs! The x is burned off, as is much of the first 2.
* Sturmpanzer IV Brummbar - #222 late version has hood on driver's visor and storage box on engine deck - very clear photo.
* Jagdpanzer !V (L48) - #300 of Division "v. Schill" with Zimmerit and threaded barrel but no muzzel brake.
* SdKfz 251/9 - late version license plate WH-1810?3? of Division "v. Hutten."
* 8.8 Pak auf Waffenträger 38t - two good photos of two different vehicles, one left side, one front.
* SdKfz 251/1 m. KwK 38 - #1306 license plate WH-1213811 of Division "Scharhorst."
* Panther G - #312 of KGr. "Käther." No mantlet chin but it does have a raised fan housing. This Panther might have a large Hakenkreuz on the side of the turret in front of the number. Unfortunately, the Hakenkreuz has been so heavily Photoshopped that I can't tell what if anything was originally there. See my comments on the color profiles below.
* Tiger I - #323 (2 looks Russian-style like it has been made from a 9) of PD "Müncheberg" with early version cupola and wheels.
* SdKfz 7 with 3.7cm Flak 37 - License plate W?-152661 with armored cab.
* Borgward B IV with Panzerschreck - clear view of heart over stretched-out asterisk insignia.

Volume II:
* StuG III G - two photos of #304 (3 is painted over the cross, so it could be an 8) with zimmerit and saukopf mantlet of 185. StuG Br.
* StuG III G - #133 with block mantlet, Zimmerit, and added concrete armor.
* Panther G - #R01 of FsPD "Hermann Göring" with distinctive cloud camouflage on top and circle template ambush scheme on Schürtzen.
* StuG III G - #712 with saukopf mantlet, remote MG, and no Zimmerit.
* PzKpfw III (Fl) - #022 of 23 PD.
* Marder III H - #39 (lower part of 9 just visible) with hard-edged cloud camouflageuflage The photo of the Marder with the "Glatz" sign on the fender, but clearer than I've seen it before.
* Panther G - #435 chin mantlet and probably raised fan cover of 24. PR with a great hand-painted, dabs and streaks, camouflage scheme.
* Munitionsschlepper auf Fgst PzKpfw II (Wespe) - of 13. PD with an interesting set of rails on front, unit insignia and two tactical markings on side, and soft-edged cloud camouflageuflage. KO'd Soviet M4A2(76) #228 with unit marking in background.
* Marder II - #13 or 18 with an interesting, hand-painted cloud camouflage scheme.
* Jagdpanzer IV L/70 - #333 a clearer view of an old friend.
* PzKpfw II Luchs - #215 of 4 PD in winter camouflage shows that Tasca didn't exhaust the numbering possibilities. Has the front armor, spare idler sections rack, and smoke candles and other peculiarities.
* PzKpfw IV H (artillery observation) - two photos of #201, the second makes the number clear.
* Jagdpanzer IV (L/48) - #232 (bad angle on Zimmerit, so this is a guess) - barrel seems to lack threading for muzzle brake.
* Panther A - #112 of FsPD "Hermann Göring" really blown to crap, but interesting for this late in war.
* Tiger I - #A22 of PD "Großdeutschland" late version cupola and wheels. Another old favorite in clear view.
* PzKpfw IV J - two photos of #515 of 5. PD with tube frame for "Thoma" Schürtzen and unit insignia. Winter camouflage and no Zimmerit, so this is a great build!
* Wespe - "F" of PD "Großdeutschland" with a lightly mottled scheme.
* Panzerwerfer 42 auf Maultier - license plate WH-1409224 of 11. Nebelwerfer Br. that is clear enough to make out more of the enigmatic unit insignia - but see comments below.
* SdKfz 234/1 - license plate WH-1868316 of 4. PD with hard-edged cloud camouflage.
* Panzerweffer 42 auf Mauliter - #5 with a hand-dappled camouflage.
* SdKfz 7/2 3.7cm Flak - license plate WH-252661 (first 2 is a guess) with armored hood and cab.
* Sturmpanzer IV Brummbär - #5 late model of 219. Sturmpanzer Ab. with sprayed streaks and mottles and Zimmerit.
* Wespe - #508 of 1. PD with very diffuse sprayed mottle camouflage.
* Sturmpanzer IV Brummbär - #110 late model of 219. Sturmpanzer Ab. with circle template camouflage and no Zimmerit.

That's a pretty good list of modeling project to come out of two books! Each volume has other photos that a speculative modeler could gamble on, including a PzKpfw 38t in streaked winter/dark yellow camouflage, an Elefant, and a Jagdpanther. Only Tiger IIs and Hetzers lack good photos for modeling - they're there, there's just nothing particularly interesting that I could see.

There is a downside, however. When there are two photos of the same vehicle, they are always separated by several - up to twenty or so - pages, so it is hard to get continuity and you do have to look closely and pay attention.

The color illustrations have all the problems associated with books of this nature. Several schemes are not based on photos in the books or misrepresent the photo. For example, the Panther G #312 with the Photoshopped Hakenkreuz appears on the cover of Vol. I, and the color profiles give another Panther G #112 with the same Hakenkreuz and all-steel wheels not visible in the photo of #312. Both Hakenkreuze are shown as baby blue. The number 312 itself seems to me to be dark yellow over or outlined by the other camo colors rather than the brighter yellow used by the illustrator. The PzKpfw IV H #201 is illustrated with a regular IV H cupola instead of its proper StuG cupola.

Vol. I illustrates several otherwise wonderful ambush camouflage schemes that are not shown in the photographs. Vol. II also has several profiles not obviously based on photos. Some profiles in both volumes seem to present a more definite camouflage scheme than the photos justify, and a few Panzers sport numbers that are not visible in the photos that are printed. A couple of illustrations seem to be based on Frontline Illustrated illustrations rather than photos.

Artistic license is not the same thing as authenticity, as I once made the mistake of mentioning to a British magazine editor.
These are small quibbles to make. Again, the value here is the excellent reproduction of the photographs. Buy these books!

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Review by Christopher Tew, © Oct 11, 2004. [Track-Link Home] [Reviews Home] [Back]