Panzerjäger I4.7cm Pak(t) auf Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf.B
ohne Turm (Sd.Kfz.101) "Ente"
Nuts & Bolts Volume 23
Heiner F. Duske, Tony Greenland, Detlev Terlisten
Published by Nuts & Bolts Books
Neumünster, Germany
120 pages soft cover
Review by Terry Ashley
This volume from Nuts & Bolts deals with the Panzerjäger I 4.7cm Pak(t) auf Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf.B ohne Turm (Sd.Kfz.101) "Ente" is another timely publication with the recent release of the DML kits of the Panzerjäger I 4.7cm Pak(t) (kit #6230) and the older Italeri Panzerjäger I (kit #358).
Nuts & Bolts first published Volume 7 on the Panzerjäger I over 10 years ago but this new Volume is far more than just a reprint as the Volume 7 only had 50 pages with this new volume 120 pages and while some of the action shots are repeated there are many new shots included as well as additional walk around details shots included.
The book is in the usual Nuts & Bolts soft cover A4 format with 120 pages that include both English and German text and includes many B&W wartime photos and colour walk around shots of preserved museum vehicles as well as numerous 1:35 plans and colour profile drawings of different Panzerjäger I versions. The book covers the Panzerjäger I as well as a small section on the Skoda 47mm Kanon KPU.vz 38 Model A5/4.7cm Pak (t) artillery piece which was the main armament of the Panzerjäger I.
The first 21 pages are mostly text with a few photos and cover the development history and technical description along with production data including charts showing the production numbers of the different types.
There is also detailed charts and text on the organization and delivery to units equipped with the Panzerjäger I as well as sections on the tactical use and camouflage and markings and a section listing the available kits and accessories for the Panzerjäger I.
These notes give a fairly comprehensive coverage of the Panzerjäger I that should provide enough background information for the average modeller as well as those wanting to delve a little deeper.
The next 38 pages include many wartime B&W photos (mostly two or three per page) with the captions in English and German describing the vehicle shown to give a good overall coverage of the types with the photos including training but mostly action shots that give good coverage of the camouflage/markings and storage as well as some of the vehicle details.
The action photos cover the major campaigns the Panzerjäger I took part in including shots from France, Africa nd Russia for a good variety of vehicle markings. Many photos also show some excellent details of the uniforms of both the crews and accompanying infantry to add further usefulness to the book.
Following this are 9 pages with sets of 5 view 1:35 plans of the first and second series Panzerjäger I as well as perspective illustrations showing the overall layout of the vehicles as well as 5 view 1:35 plans for the Skoda 47mm Kanon KPU.vz 38 Model A5/4.7cm Pak (t).
This is followed by 12 pages with colour profile drawings of various vehicles to give good examples of the many camouflage schemes carried on the Panzerjäger I. Most also have a small B&W photo of the actual vehicle and while these are very small and don’t offer much in the way of extra info but show at least that the illustration is of a real vehicle and not just made up.
The next 30 pages are all in colour with overall photos and descriptions of museum vehicles with captions giving a brief description as well as numerous detailed close up walk-around shots of the hull exterior covering virtually every detail such as the road wheels, drive sprockets and idlers as well as the tracks, the front plate and glacis, tool storage and the rear engine deck layout.
The upper superstructure and gun barrel/cradle are also shown in close-up before the photos move to the inside of the fighting compartment with equally good close up shots of the gun breech, gun controls and gun mounting as well as interior shots of the superstructure visors, lower fighting compartment with ammo racks and some excellent shots of the driver's compartment and central transmission/gearbox.
There are 5 pages of detailed close ups of a museum Skoda 47mm Kanon KPU.vz 38 Model A5/4.7cm Pak (t) that show more excellent details of the gun as well as the normal gun shield, lower carriage and trails that will be very useful for modelling the artillery piece.
The final 6 pages have models built by Tony Greenland using the older Italeri/Azimut conversion as well as the newer DML kit and the photos can be used as a good guide to detailing up the kits.
The book has a good mix of technical and development info as well as wartime photos, museum walk-around photos and extensive 1:35 plan coverage and is just the reference for those building either of the DML kit or the older Italeri kit.
Highly recommended
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