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Panzer Wrecks has quickly become one of my favorite reference books thanks to several reasons. For one, Bill Auerbach and Lee Archer have done a superb job of adding text to interesting photos illustrating German panzers in a natural late war state. This is their fourth and a fifth is announced on the back cover.
The style begun with Panzer Wrecks has been maintained. It is in a landscape format with section sewn binding and high quality gloss soft covers. The book measures 8.125 inches tall by 11 inches wide and has 96 pages within. A great thing about the binding is the added creases to allow the covers to open further without stressing the binding.
The front inner cover has a table of contents, acknowledgments, and a brief introduction by Mr. Auerbach. The contents are called features and the outside edges of the pages repeat the feature title in a vertical format. This is a quick and easy to use design for realizing the photo’s location. The 96 pages are on a very good quality semi-matte paper which can reproduce details in a photo quite well. Photos are large, with many one to a page, and some consist of a series (whether by photographers or from a film) and help illustrate vehicles from different views and/or different lighting conditions.
There are 126 photos including the front cover photo and several inset images showing close-up details. I learned long ago to ignore the conservative photo count shown on the rear page blurb! On the rear page is another photo but it appears within the covers.
The features mentioned in the table of contents include:
01. Jagdpanther of s.H.Pz-Jg.Abt.559 page 1
02. Pz. A.A.20 Surrenders at Pilsen page 18
03. 4.7cm PaK(t) auf R35 walkaround page 34
04. Stabskp./Korps Pz.A.A.FHH surrenders page 48
05. A trip to the Tiger Factory page 88
The first feature is spread over seven pages and contains 8 photos of a Jagdpanther of s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt.559. It appears near a damaged fence and corner of a building. The amount of debris and rubble are noteworthy to the diorama builder.
The next ten pages have fourteen photos which show several vehicles, mostly Panthers and Jagdpanzer IVs, which are destroyed. These photos cover the vehicle from different angles and aren’t always very sharp. They do illustrate the effects of damage and weather to the vehicles as some are liberally strewn with snow. Noteworthy are the rounded off Panther skirt armor plates.
The next feature follows with nine photos of the surrender. From the quality, the images seem to be taken from a film. They illustrate several variants of the Sd.Kfz. 234 series, including the /2, /3, and one with the 2cm Schwebelafette as soon to be offered by CyberHobby. Could this be the vehicle which was photographed and appears in the Tech Intel book series? Of interest are the different tread patterns seen on the vehicles yet none of the discernable patterns match the one provided in the Dragon kits.
The following nine pages have 11 photos of various vehicles including a named Panzer IV Ausf J, a Bergepanzer III (same as on the rear cover), Hummel, H 39 Pz 38 (t) C or D, Pz II, Panther, and four of a Pz IV Ausf D with mounts for Triebgas. Will CyberHobby release this subject as a kit by mixing the Dragon kit with their Triebgas sprues?
The next feature is a five page walk around of the 4.7cm Pak(t) auf R35 with one large photo per page.
Nine pages with ten photos follow which include 3 photos of a Panther disguised as an M-10 which are new to me. Other interesting photos are two of a totally destroyed Panzer IV in an urban setting, an FT-17, and several photos of a pair of StuG III Ausf. G (one of which appears with captors on the front cover),
Another feature follows. 25 photos and still images from film illustrate the surrender of Stabskp./Korps Pz.A.A.FHH to the American forces. Of great interest are photos of a Sd.Kfz. 234/4 missing its front right wheel, a German Navy armored car, a pre-war armored car still providing duty, Sd.Kfz. 250 & 251/3 with kubelmast, and various softskins.
Before the next feature, we will find 23 photos and five close ups (of vehicle names) on the 22 pages that follow. These include Pz. IVs, RSOs, a Pz.Kpfw M42 738(i) (3 photos), several AA vehicles in a motor pool, a Marder IIIM and some StuGs with names, Panther Gs and a Panzer I Ausf A. But the ones that make this book a winner is the oddball. There are two blurry photos of a Sd.Kfz.234 with a Luchs turret placed on the hull. Whether it is attached in a working fashion or if the base vehicle is the /1 variant is still open to conjecture. Martin Block does have some interesting information as to how this conversion occurred.
The final section is "A trip to the Tiger factory" with thirteen photos taken by a USAF cameraman. The Tiger factories featured are the Henschel & Sohn plant in Kassel-Mittelfield and Wegman, also in Kassel. The photos show several turrets and hulls of the Tiger II with one turret of the Tiger I. Of interest are the details such as turrets which appear to be re-manufactured and the engines.
In the end, this continues the excellent work provided by the Panzerwrecks team. Only one photo, for those of you counting along, is unaccounted for and it is of a wooden AFV on a truck chassis on the title page. A touch of humor is always appreciated!
My sincerest thanks go to William Auerbach for providing his personal advanced copy for this review.
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