I am getting ready for my next build which will be old Tamiya Panzer IV Ausf J. I don’t know why I have been enjoying old kits… [:P]
I understand Squadron hasn’t published ‘Walk Around’ book on Panzer IV yet but ‘In Action’. I find those ‘Walk Around’ reference books very helpful. I found few and I am undecided between…
‘Spielberger Panzer IV and its variant’
OR
‘Squadron Panzer IV’
I’d like to know if one of those books are good and which would you recommend. And of course let me know if there is a better book out there. I want alot of walk around pictures and some color diagrams.
That’s where I plan to order the book from. But I am not sure which book I should order? I wish I can see the pictures/pages inside those two books before I can place the order. Maybe one of you guys have those books so you can tell me more… thanks.
For building details, you can’t beat the Achtung Panzer series. The one you want is issue #3. Tons of drawings on all the external bits – plus explanations of which belong to which ausf. The Spielberger book talks about development – good for background, not great for modeling per se. The Sq Signal book has lots of pics. Good for ideas, not great for detailing and kit correction.
Roy, thanks for the tip. It looks like it won’t be easy and cheap to buy this book ‘Achtung Panzer #3’. Currently it is not available at Amazon site and the only eBay seller wants $60 for it. I will keep looking… thanks again!
Greg, I used to like Ospreys but not anymore because there is not sufficient ‘walk around’ pictures. I do like Concord books very much especially the StuGs series you recommended a year ago because it covers both history, pictures and lots of walk around pictures. I still owe you [B] for that… wait a minute… I sent you something speical a month ago so we are even now, right? LOL
There is no single ref that will do—you need to own probably at least a dozen good books on the Mk IV to begin to grasp the German “workhorse” medium tank…
Manny, I am afraid you are correct. Figured it would be too much for just one book to cover everything from Ausf A to Ausf J and its variants. So I will probably go ahead and buy two books listed below and keep eyes for a better deal on Achtung Panzer #3. My wife would kill me if I spend $229 on just books about Panzer IV… [:|]
I did a quick search. It’s 3000Yen (~ US$37) at Hobby Link Japan and Rainbow Ten. Search around – they are well worth it IMHO. I have almost every one of them.
Thanks Roy! [B] I went ahead and ordered Achtung Panzer #3 (Panzer IV) and #5 (StuG series) from HLJ… others were out of stock. It is a good thing my wife remembers you so she will find you at the show in case she isn’t thrilled about this purchase. [;)]
Although I stand by my earlier assertion on multi-refs, I have to agree with doog on this series. If I could only have one ref for technical info this would be it…not a bad price either…I have it.
Manny- You got them? Better watch out for those cat agents… they have been dispatched to get me all seven books.
Doog- Thanks for the great website! [Y] It has been bookmarked so I can order rest of the Achtung Panzer series. I see there are a total of seven books so five more to go.
I am so glad I asked first here in the forum. Like Manny said… it is always best to have multi-references. Now I am on mission to collect them all… ordered two books #3 and #5 from HobbyLink Japan earlier. Believe it or not, the order has been shipped out already for arrival on 25th. Great service so far…
best choice for a modeler to use “Achtung Panzer” books … even Japanese language.
However, Spielberger had reissued some years ago his “Panzer IV and variants” book in a new manner so this doesn’t show all variants again. This reissue only reflects the Panzer IV itself. Nevertheless no discussion, if you need to know the backgrounds of Panzer IV .
Unfortunately all new issues written by Walter J. Spielberger mostly will be first published in Germany, I suppose, and therefore written in my mother tongue …
So if you will get “Achtung Panzer” do so even if they are very expensive ! Best for any question (mostly) when assembling “Panzer” kits.
Squadron published Panzer IV in Action a long time ago. I picked up a copy in a used book store. Lots of good photos. Also the “Bundesarchive” has a huge collection of photos. Google/Bing it and check it out. You may have to subscribe to obtain full access, but could be cheaper than an obscure publication.
While I have many reference books on German WWII armor, I am always on the lookout for “new and improved” reference material to spend money on…
So…Does anyone have any “hands-on” experience with the recent series of Panzer IV books written by Craig Ellis?
I have been looking at them on his website, but am somewhat reluctant to spend the mortgage money on them without some positive feedback, since I can’t seem to find anybody who actually owns one or a retailer that stocks them.
My blog linked me back here. Hopefully you got any info you needed from there. I hope this won’t seem like a self publicising advert, apologies if it does.
So far I have been overwhelmed with the positive feedback I have had. This is a side line project for me that has grown legs. The books are based around tables I made for myself to bring together all the information spread over the excellent books already listed in this thread. So in terms of the currency of the information it is as up to date as possible plus it has some new info gleaned from my own photo collection that is used to populate the books.
In the future Peter Muller will publish an equivalent to his excellent StugIII series on the PzIV, which promises to reveal new info from first hand documents about specific factory and production details. But until then the “PzKpfwIV at the front” series is probably the most current available.
I hope you will be interested in joining the project as the small profit from each book is ploughed back into the photo archive and the sharing of future research.
