IPMS/USA Reviews

Introduction

The Stryker has been in service with the US military nigh on fifteen years and up until now, it was at best simply able to provide defense against enemy infantry with its .50 caliber machine gun. In its newest iteration, the M1296 Stryker Dragoon IFV, it has been upgunned to a 30mm version of the 25mm Bushmaster gun used in the Bradley vehicles. While no match for heavy armor, it is capable of keeping enemy APCs occupied so the main battle tanks can duel unhindered.

Panda Hobby's recent release of this newly revised version of the Stryker proves to be a decent mix of beautiful fit with some over-engineered assemblies to make one feel challenged during the build. Match that with an occasional error in the instructions and you'll feel the need for care and patience, but you will be rewarded with a very nice build in the end with your perseverance.

The German Panzer V Panther, next to the Tiger, is probably one of the most popular and recognizable tanks of World War II. Academy has released the G version of this iconic tank in an all new tooled kit. This version is from very late in the war, about January to April 1945 timeframe. Inside the large box is five bags of sprues, two instruction sheets and a small bag of decals and photo etched sheet. The F sprue is attached to the C sprue. There are four sprues of link and length tracks and four of the D sprues which is mainly road wheels. I like that the sprue letters are molded as cut outs, not the raised letters as usually. This makes it much easier to find and read these letters. Eight clear poly caps are included, but only two used. The decals sheet is three turret number options and four German crosses. The photo etched is engine screens and bolt heads. The instruction sheets are quad folding, with 16 assembly steps and eight painting/decal options.

Here is another great addition to Pen & Sword's Images of War series. In the past, the series had focused on specific battles and campaigns. The shift to specific vehicles is a welcome shift and this book does not let down one's expectations.

The book starts out by pointing out the evolution from the M113, the original evolution from the M113, the original armored personnel carrier to the Bradley, named after the famous and well-loved general from WWII, Omar Bradley. The manufacturer of the M113, FMC, developed two vehicles- the XM765 and the XM763 which would eventually morph into the M2/M3 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle. The new vehicle began its service in 1981 and variants continue to serve to this day. A total of 2,300 M2s and M3s were eventually produced. Text is in English and there are over 300 color photos in the book, many of which are previously unpublished, as well as tables with, as well as tables with general data and engine data.

This is the 5^th book in the Tank Craft series which details tanks and also covers model kits and accessories to build the tanks covered in the book. This book covers the British tanks - Cromwell and Centaur which were Cruiser type tanks. The Cromwell being one of the most successful Cruiser tanks used by the Allies during World War II.

I found this book to be a fountain of information and rare pictures of both tanks. The profile pictures are a particular favorite and awesome source for modelling.

The chapters on the different model builds and kits are of great interest and will provide a good resource when modelling these two tanks.

I was impressed at the amount of information and history found in the pages of this extremely enjoyable book. The pictures alone are worth the cost of the book. I will find this book indispensible in my library of armor books.

I recommend this book to everyone with an interest in armor and modelling armor. I very much look forward to other releases in this book series and any by Dennis Oliver.

Background

Of late there has been a plethora of new WW2 German Panther tank kits in 1/35th scale from multiple manufacturers, and where there are Panther kits, there almost certainly will soon be subvariants of the Panther. Sure enough, having recently released kits of the Panther Ausf A and Ausf D, together with a Bergepanther Ausf A, Meng has added to their Panther pride with a Jagdpanther Ausf G1.

The Jagdpanther was a devastatingly effective attempt to mount a more powerful 88mm anti-tank gun to the Panther tank chassis, as such a gun was too large to put into the turret of a Panther. Also, producing tracked mobile anti-tank vehicles without the complexity for the need of rotating turrets made such vehicles cheaper to produce both in terms of financial cost, and time/manpower resources.