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book Sd.Kfz.182 Pz.Kpfw.VI KingTiger
AFV Super Detail Photo Book Vol.8
Published by Model Art Co.Ltd.
3-11,3Chome, Iidabashi Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo, 102-0072, Japan

96 pages colour, black & white, colour, soft cover

Review by Terry Ashley


This latest volume in the AFV Super Detail Photo book series from Model Art follows the same formula as before and covers the King Tiger of which there are numerous plastic kits available is scales from 1:72 to 1:16 and even larger RC types.

The soft cover book has 96 pages with 50/50 Japanese and English text covering the history and development along with extreme close-up walkarounds of preserved KTs with the book broken up into chapters dealing with different parts of the vehicles.

The first 9 pages is almost entirely text with a few smaller photos and covers the development history along with 4 view 1:35 plans of the Porsche turret KT as well a few colour profiles showing examples of the cam schemes carried with a few more inside the back pages.

The remainder of the book is devoted entirely to the close-up colour walkarounds of the featured vehicles with each chapter having a small text description plus the photo captions again in both Japanese and English.

Pages 10 to 17 deals with the front hull with each part having more than one photo taken from different angles for good perspective and while the photos are 5 or 6 per page, each shows just a small detail part to good effect to give more than enough detail. Details shown include the glacis plate details with 2 pages on the MG ball mount alone, 2 on the headlights and 4 on the hull towing brackets and front fenders for excellent details.

Pages 18 to 22 has many detailed shots of the fighting compartment top plate above the driver’s position in detail showing the crew hatches, periscopes and protective covers as well as the central ventilator cover with the hull weld seams also shown in most photos. Again there are numerous shots from different angles of each detail to offer a full all around perspective of the details shown.

Pages 23 to 43 covers the turret with both the Porsche and Henschel type shown and again has extreme close-ups of every part of the turrets. There are 3 pages just on the gun muzzle brakes and gun mountings showing the differences in the large cast mantlets of the Porsche and Henschel turrets as well as the different sight apertures on the two turret types.

There are 8 pages on the turret roofs showing in multiple photos the cupola, gunner's hatch both inside and out, the roof ventilator and covers, close defence weapons mounting both open and closed as well as the spent shell port followed by 2 pages showing the rear turret escape hatches. There is more text in this chapter than most to further explain the differences between the Porsche and Henschel turrets as well as shots of the turrets with and without zimmerit applied.

Pages 44 to 50 covers the Turret interior with excellent shots showing the gun mounting and breech, the insides of the cupola and hatches and the various roof and wall fittings as well as the traverse gear and toothed turret ring. Also included are single pages with a few shots of the engine compartment and central fighting compartment.

Pages 51 to 62 covers the hull side plates with close-up details of the various tool attachment clips, plate join welds as well as the fenders with shots of hulls again with and without zimmerit to give a good coverage of the hull side details.

Pages 63 to 74 deals with the engine deck and again there are multiple photos from different angles of the various cooling air intake grills, circular fan outlet grills, mesh intake cover screens as well as the central engine deck with the carburetor, fuel and water filler covers. The many shots from the different museum vehicles gives a good overall coverage of the subtle differences in some of these fittings.

Pages 75 to 84 covers the rear hull details with more superb close-up shots from multiple angles of the exhausts with shots of the armoured covers both with and without the exhaust pipes fitted, close-up shots of the towing hooks and various inlet covers and tool brackets on the rear hull.

Pages 85 to 93 deals with the running gear with many superb shots of the drive sprockets and road wheels with again multiple shots from different angles including some taken from under the hull to give a different perspective to the views shown. There are also shots of the tracks to give a good detail coverage of the KT running gear.

Finally there is a set of 1:35 4 view plans of the Henschel turret KT to compliment the Porsche type at the front of the book.

Conclusion:
This is another superb detail photo book again aimed directly at the modeller with the many excellent close-up detail shots with just enough text to give important and useful information. The small size of the photos doesn’t seem to matter as many have a shot of an individual detail part allowing many more photos to be included than if they were larger yet still showing all the details you would ever want.

This book has many useful shots of the King Tiger for anyone building any of the available kits with good coverage of the different Porsche and Henschel turret types and continues this excellent reference series from Model Art.

Highly recommended
Sample pages
book

See the Model Art Website for additional details
Thanks to Model Art for the review book.



Page created July 8, 2008