Read n’ reviewed: Panzer Profiles II: Guide to Camouflage of the German Tanks 1943-1945
From Accion Press
Available in both English and Castellano languages
ISBN: 978-84-95464-98-9
104 Pages
Price: 25 Euros
Product Link on the Accion Press Website
The title of this book is a little odd since volume I was about German Tanks between 1935 and 1945, so why this little section covering 1943 to 1945? Well, that is because the first volume covered the Panzers from Mk I to Mk IV so German big cat fans rejoice because this volume is for you!
The book comes in A4 in a landscape format and is as the title suggests, composed of profiles of the three German Big Cats, the Panther, Tiger and King Tiger.
The book starts off with an introduction on the painting process of a tank, and the various regulations that came into effect during the years between 1943 and 1945 and how the affected the appearance of German vehicles.
There is a very informative section starting with the initial anti-rust parquerization process resulting in a grey appearance, followed by the familiar red oxide primer, and zimmerit before the paint is applied to the vehicle.
The title of this book is a little odd since volume I was about German Tanks between 1935 and 1945, so why this little section covering 1943 to 1945? Well, that is because the first volume covered the Panzers from Mk I to Mk IV so German big cat fans rejoice because this volume is for you!
The book starts off with an introduction on the painting process of a tank, and the various regulations that came into effect during the years between 1943 and 1945 and how the affected the appearance of German vehicles.
There is also a brief section on the weathering stages starting with a factory fresh vehicle and its progression to a heavily worn vehicle which is very handy for us modellers in trying to replicate weathering on a vehicle. Colour chips are also provided for the various RAL colours which were used on the panzers.
Then the meat of the book with the profiles of the Panther, Tiger and King Tiger. Generally, only the left side of the vehicle is presented, although some vehicles have five views presented with the left side, front, rear, top, and a weathered left profile.
Then we go on to the Tiger II
The last section covers the interpretation of colours and the difficulty of translating black and white pictures into colour.
This last section really sums up the main area of contention of books like this. A lot of the profiles feature the grey parquerized surface under chipped away zimmerit rather than the usual red oxide that we see. Whether you agree with this or not, profile books always come down to a combination of research, and artist interpretation photos.
Some of the Tiger I drawings
Then we go on to the Tiger II
Personally, I’m on the fence about the parquerized surfaces, but it isn’t difficult to change the colour to red oxide if that is what I want to use on my model. However, as a source of inspiration, the book certainly provides you with plenty.
