Published by Crooked Creek Publishing
exclusively for Stevens International

ISBN 0-9786084-0-2
40 pages soft cover

The book has forty pages with 20 pages black and white wartime photos and 16 pages of colour close-up detail shots of preserved Stuarts with the text kept to a brief introduction and the photo captions leaving the rest to the photos and a series of U.S Army Ordnance Department measured drawings of the M5A1.

The wartime photos have a few production line and training shots as well as a good selection of semi-close-up shots of the M5 and M5A1 that offer a good coverage of the wartime markings, stowage and crew although some have been seen in other publications they give some good diorama potential.

In the centre 16 pages are extreme close-up all colour shots of a preserved M5A1 with 5 pages on the exterior with hull, turret and suspension details with the remaining 11 pages having interior shots of the hull, turret and engine.

Each of the photos deals with one particular component to give excellent detail with various shots of the cramped driver’s and co-driver’s compartments, the lower turret and fighting compartment as well as inside the turret.

While the photos give excellent detail it is a little difficult to visualise one part in relation to another but the descriptive captions leave you in no doubt what you are looking at.

There are shots of the engine outside the vehicle as well as installed in the hull which gives additional wiring details.

The U.S Army Ordnance Department measured drawings are not to any particular scale ranging from 1:39 to 1:20 with the top and side plan views taking up a whole page with the measurements allowing you to scale them correctly for the model being built.

Finally there are a couple of pages with external shots of the M5A1 in British service but only on training exercise and in depots and one shot of a turretless Egypian Stuart APC shortly after WWII.

Conclusion:
The 40 pages are packed with useful shots aimed at the modeller with the close-up shots providing plenty of detail and the wartime photos giving guidance for the markings and stowage as well as diorama possibilities and should prove a useful addition to the library

Hopefully this series will continue to offer an affordable ready source of reference for modellers and pick up where the ‘in action’ series left off.

Highly recommended.

Sample pages

Thanks to David Doyle for the review book.
See the Stevens International site for ordering details.

Page created August 31, 2006