Model Art Co., Ltd.

AFV Super Detail Photo Book Vol.8
Sd.Kfz.182 Pz.Kpfw.VI - King Tiger

Reviewed By  John Hoffman, IPMS# 45381

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MSRP: About $25.95
96 pages - 500+ photos
Publisher website: www.modelart.jp
Distributor website: www.dragonmodelsusa.com

You have a King Tiger in your stash, right? More than one you say? Who are you kidding? You probably have several…and in more than one scale! We don’t really need to get into that here but the point is, before you can start on your own personal Kampfgruppe, you are going to need some references.

Model Art has what you need, Kommandeur.

Volume 8 covers both the Porsche and Henschel turret variants. King Tigers from the Tank Museum UK, the Kubinka Tank Museum, the Swiss Military Museum, the Saumur Tank Museum and the U.S. Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen are explored.

This book follows the now familiar format of detail photos grouped together according to the section of the AFV being described. Put simply, all the turret photos are in the same "chapter". This makes it easy to find and compare details of all five King Tigers photographed for this volume.

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Over 500 photos are featured and make up the bulk of the book. The entire tank is documented with these photos with the exception of the engine -- though there are a few photos of the engine compartment. For the most part, these are detail shots to help the modeler understand how these tanks were put together. There are overall shots of the tanks as well, but as the purpose of this book is detail there are relatively few of them.

There are also a few very nice period photos of King Tigers in the field. The photos of the Aberdeen King Tiger are in black-and-white. These may (and I emphasize may) have been taken shortly after it was put on display, but I have no way to verify this. If it is true, they provide the only detail photos in this book of a King Tiger in its original paint. I believe that all the other King Tigers in this book have been restored to some degree or, in the case of the Kubinka example, simply repainted.

The text provided is in English and Japanese. Each section of the tank is described in detail, with references given to the photos. There is a lot of info here including production changes, command variants, and interesting comments. A brief history is also included.

Both versions of the tank are shown in 1/35 scale drawings and color profiles. These are nicely done and, in the case of the profiles, show a good variety of paint schemes.

I highly recommend this volume. You really cannot go wrong with these books. They are a big help in the inspiration department as well. What more could you want?

I would like to thank Model Art, Dragon USA, and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this book

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