The Nuts & Bolts series has sent their latest book to read
– it is concerned with the Panzer II based heavy gunned Marder II tank hunter.
Packed with period pictures, drawings, and even models of this T/D we are
impressed by the prose of the book – but would it be a good read as well as
just stats? Let’s have a look at it and see.
Nuts & Bolts Volume
31
By Joachim Baschin, Martin Block
Soft cover A4 Portrait format
German & English texts
176 pages
365 photos + scale drawings + profiles & tables
28.90€ directly from Nuts & Bolts
Let’s get straight into it. Nuts and bolts - as their name probably implies - do not make brief pictorial glances at AFV’s and tanks – they make detailed studies of the types
of vehicle they portray in their books. This Vehicle portrayed in issue 31 is
the Marder II and it has been well received by modellers in discussions online
because it’s a popular subject. All of those interiors and that big gun on such
a small tank make it a favorite with modellers. Would the book meet expectations
from modellers and the standard of previous books from Nuts & Bolts series?
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This first part of the book is a rivet counter’s dream, as
it really goes into the aspects of the Marder II in not just construction but
in allocation, uses of and by whom, but how. We spend a few pages at the start
talking about the conception and introduction of the Marder into combat units and
how each “companie” was put together
for example there is a table in here showing which parts of the unit was
equipped with how many Marder and the support vehicles – right down to the
Baggage train. This section of introduction is accompanied with tables of
organization and drawings of the armour thickness and a few photos up until
page 16.
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Then we go into an exhaustive unit by unit description of
who got the Marder II and where and when – often they were replaced by other
vehicles and often they were wiped out. This is a well-researched passage of the
book but a little dry for most but the researchers amongst us. IT does offer
the information no other books offers though so they must be commended for
this. This section also discusses SS use of the Marder as well as Infra-red
devices and the use of natural gas powered training Marders. Two not-often
discussed subjects.
The author talks a little about the Merits of the Marder II
before discussing the surviving Marders
in museums and the merits of the model kits in 1/35th scale that
have been made – now this is more my cup of tea. After some well-deserved
credits for the contributors for the info in this section and a bibliography its
on to the pictures…
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Fifty seven pages of pictures and text – usually two or
three decent sized pictures to a page with text separated in language in grey
and black so you doing get your language mixed up – this is the centre and main
body of the book and I think one of the more impressive parts of the title.
There are (in total) 190 historical photos in this book (mostly previously unpublished)
which show you the Marder II from every detail, in all seasons and condition
and fronts. I am glad these pictures are mainly of operational vehicles and not
just deserted vehicles with GI’s standing on them.
The accessories and oddities of the Marder II design are
captured to, with textbook shots of the engine and interiors, track and extra
armour stowage; ammunition trailers, their crews and a really interesting
section of pictures of the Marder being loaded into a huge “Gigant” powered
glider transport plane make some interesting reading/viewing. There are some
really very good reference pictures in here.
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The next part of the book features some thirty-two well researched
blueprints of the Marder II from early (very clean looking) versions to the
later variants drawn up by John L Rue. Every Marder II that I can think of is here –
and the isometric drawings help you visualize the interiors a lot easier. There
is also a detailed drawing of the suspension arm on the running gear as well.
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The next part of the book features 14 camouflage schemes of
the Marder II in profiles – these are illustrated by Carlos De Diego Vaquerizo.
These are very handy for modellers looking for inspiration. These include quite
handily the original pictures of the vehicles the profiles were drawn from. There is a notice in some of the pictures telling you where this picture is in larger print and on what page inside the book . this section is a boon
for modellers.
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It gets better for modellers with the penultimate section of
the book. Four different Marders from museums in 155 coloured photos from all
around the world are captured in every little detail in complete walk-arounds
from several sources. A general walk
around, the running gear, the gun and mantlet and then the internal spaces are captured
here. Where we don’t have a good bit of detail on one Marder another museum’s
vehicle has this detail – or indeed if we are missing the detail all together a
number shows what should be there in text accompanying it. We get a wide spread
of varied colours and marking and conditions to help you make your own degree of
weathering on your own tank. This is as good as any set of walk-arounds in one
book on the Marder II I have seen – not its better actually.
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The last part seals the deal for a lot of model makers – Tony
Greenland and Vinnie Brannigan – both very respected and talented modellers
make their own 1/35th scale of the Marder II for you to aspire to
with your own builds.
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Really
there is a lot of detail in this book which caters for every type of modeller.
If German tank hunters are your thing then I cannot recommend this book highly
enough.
Adam Norenberg
Thanks to the people
from Nuts & Bolts – this book is
available from their website and their distributors worldwide..
