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book Staghound T17E1 in detail
Special No.9
František Kořán, Jan-Willem de Boer, Luc Snyders & Martin Velek
Wings & Wheels Publications.
Published by RAK, Czech Republic.
ISBN 978-80-86416-76-2

96 pages all in colour.

Review by Terry Ashley


This is the ninth volume in the larger format Special Series from Wings & Wheels Publications and covers in great details the Staghound T17E1 Armoured Car used by the British and Commonwealth forces during WWII and beyond by various other users.

Before proceeding I must advise I have four photos credited to me in the book dealing with the external fuel tank details and you should take this into account when reading the review below.

The soft cover 24cm x 29cm book has 96 glossy pages entirely in colour (apart from 4 period photos in the History section) with the all English text kept to a minimum allowing the maximum space for the high quality photos to show the many details modeller’s just love to have.

The Staghounds covered in the book are from the Belgian Royal Army Museum and Private Collections and there is a section at the back with a photo comparison of the three Staghound kits currently available from Accurate Armour, Bronco Models and Italeri.

The book is divided into sections starting with a brief 5 page history of the Staghound development and production followed by a six pages of general overall shots of four different restored Staghounds which show some interesting variations. But there are also some added extras during the restorations which like many museum examples you have to be careful not to assume what you see are genuine in all cases. Using the detailed images in the book along with other references is the best way to determine what is actually WWII vintage and what are add-ons.

The remainder of the walk around section is packed full of extreme clear close up shots of virtually every detail of the Staghound with the photos being mostly 4, 5 and 6 per page but as each shows just one part are still large enough to show the detail very well.

There are 2 pages of the turret roof machine gun mounting which in this case has a .30cal MG fitted but the mounting itself is for the M2 cal.50 HBMG, another case of museum expediency. The mounting is shown without the gun fitted as well as a couple of shots with the cal.30 mounted.

This is followed by six shots from various angles of the roof spot light and two pages showing the various tool brackets, clips and straps for good details of the tools and mountings.

Next comes 3 pages of detailed close-ups of the external fuel tanks, the mountings with and without the tanks plus the strap tie downs and the intricate fuel couplings as well as the mechanism for jettisoning the tanks when needed.

Over the next 12 pages are close-ups of various hull details such as the glacis MG ball mounting from 5 different angles, the front visors and periscopes, headlights (with non standard guards added), various smaller fittings and 4 pages showing the engine deck with the doors both open and closed and finally 2 pages showing the rear exhausts from various angles for good details.

The next 8 pages cover the turret exterior with more super close up shots showing the casting seams on the turret shell, gun mantlet and 37mm barrel as well as the gunner’s visor. The roof details are fully covered with close-ups of the hatches, periscopes, antenna base, lifting eyes and close-ups of the casting numbers on the turret roof.

Next comes 6 pages on the suspension with shots of both the front and rear axles without the wheels to show excellent details of the suspension springs, wheel hubs and front steering. This is detail usually hidden by the large wheels and the views shown here are invaluable for those wanting to add the extra detail to their models.

The underside of the hull is shown along with the differentials and drive shafts and again this area is not often exposed and provides more useful details.

6 pages showing various stages of Staghounds restoration is next and provides some interesting shots of the progress over a few years to provide a bit of interest.

We then move on to the interiors with over 30 pages of detailed close-ups of every nook and cranny of the interior showing the front compartment with driver’s station, central gearbox and shots of the front MG mounting with and without the cal.30 in place. There are shots of the walls showing the various equipment fittings as well as the interiors of the visors and hatches.

The turret is covered in equal detail with excellent shots of the 37mm gun mounting and breech along with all the gun controls, and wall fittings as well as the turret basket with associated fittings and 37mm ammo storage racks. There is 3 good shots of the No.19 radio set and the roof mounted grenade launcher and roof periscopes.

Moving to the engine compartment there are shots of the engine bay without the engine in place as well as 3 pages with shots of the engine and radiator after removal from the hull that gives some excellent details and a further 3 pages with the shots of the engine back in the hull with the associated plumbing if you really want to add some detail to your model.

The final 7 pages have a photo comparison of the three 1:35 Staghound kits available from Accurate Armour, Bronco Models and Italeri with various shots of the hulls side by side from different angles to show the differences, the only issue is the camera perspective distorts the images a little from some angles making a direct comparison difficult. The turrets are compared in similar fashion as are the wheels to give a nice overview of what you get in each kit.

Conclusion:
This is another superb photo reference from Wings & Wheels Publications on the Staghound T17E1 with detailed close-ups of just about every feature of the vehicle for anyone wanting to really detail up their model.

The only thing to watch is the occasional museum add-ons but overall this book should be indispensable to modellers with the emphasis on the vehicle details and not so much the technical side.

Highly recommended.

Sample Pages
6 pages shown

book

Thanks to František of Wings & Wheels Publicationsfor the review book.




Page created February 25, 2009