PMMS

book SA-6 Gainful in detail
Present Vehicle Line No.15
František Korán, Tomáš Bouchal, Jan Horák
Wings & Wheels Publications.
Published by RAK, Czech Republic.
ISBN 80-86416-56-9

72 pages all in colour.

Review by Terry Ashley


When Trumpeter released their kit of the SA-6 Gainful (kit #00361) there was not a lot of reference material available but now WWP has released this volume to help rectify that situation.

The book has 72 pages entirely in colour with just a brief introduction and the remainder of the English text being the photo captions leaving the majority of the book to the excellent photographs. The photos include shots of the launcher vehicle 2P25M1/M2 and M3 of the Army of the Czech Republic.

The first section is a series of in-action shots of the M1/M3 launcher during the Czech exercise “Clean Hope 2004” with semi-close-up shots of various vehicles on manoeuvre. Included is a series of photos showing the live firing sequence which includes some details of the live missiles and also shows the firing order which is left, middle, right missile during this firing.

This is followed by eight pages of general walk around shots of the 2P25M1 and M3 vehicles that consist of semi-close-up shots from all sides of the vehicle to show the overall details and layout.

The next thirty pages have extreme close-up photos of the M1/M3 vehicle and missile launcher base which covers every detail on the exterior of the vehicle. Areas such as the suspension, lower hull, hatches, periscopes and light assemblies are shown in great detail. Other shots include the tool storage and other equipment mountings as well as the launcher base showing the side panels, elevation arms as well as the missile launch rails including the connection plugs between the arm and missile.

Following this is seven pages showing the 3M9M1/M3 missiles in close-up giving good details of the missile as well as the extensive stencilling and the electrical cables attached to the launch rails. Some of the missiles shown are live while others are concrete dummies which are the live missile shells filled with concrete to the same weight of the live round for training and handling exercises but still show the external details of the live round.

Next is seven pages on interior photos showing the insides of the front hatches and close-up shots of the front office showing the driver’s station with the instrumentation, driver’s controls and periscopes which will come in handy for anyone wanting to leave the front hatches open on their model.

The next five pages show the loading of the 3M9M3 training missiles from the Missile transport loader 2T7M on the Zil-131 truck chassis which is equipped with its own crane jib to load the missiles and would make an interesting and different diorama.

The last three pages have some good semi-close-up shots of the self propelled missile guidance radar 1S91M1 used in conjunction with the launcher to acquire and track targets. This is built on the same chassis and the launcher and would be a great scratch build to get your teeth into with photos from all sides to provide the details.

Sample Pages
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Conclusion:
Another superb reference from WWP the a good mix of semi and extreme close-up shots showing every detail of the vehicle exterior as well as the various live and dummy missiles carried. The only interior shots are of the front office but this should be enough for all except the super detailist and the bonus coverage of the loading and guidance radar add further value to the book that should be essential for the modern vehicle modeller’s library.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to František of Wings & Wheels Publications for the review book.



Page Created January 15, 2006

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