Introduction

In the last couple of weeks Tankograd Publishing have released two new title in the Technical Manual Series, these two books cover the US WW2 Dodge 1.5ton 6x6 WC-62 & WC-63 Personnel & Cargo Trucks and US WW2 & Korea M4A3 Sherman Medium Tank (76mm). The Technical Manual Series are in my opinion aimed at modellers who are interested in the mostly hidden areas of their models and want to know how these things look and so can replicate this detail.

Review

The US WW2 Dodge 1.5ton 6x6 WC-62 & WC-63 Personnel & Cargo Trucks has been edited by Michael Franz. This book is written in English only and has 48 pages covering the 1.5ton Dodge truck. There are only a couple of full text pages, but these 2 pages do provide a fair amount of background information on the Dodge truck. Part of that text provides a list of production changes that took place up until 1945. It should also be mentioned that photographs and technical images in the book are accompanied by a well written informative caption.

The photographs cover vehicles from the early version vehicles up to a vehicle from the late 1950’s/early 1960’s. The photographs are for the most part black and white with a few colour photographs of vehicles that are in the hands of collectors and re-enactors and even at least one period colour photograph. The quality of the photographs is good for the most part, but some are showing their age, the period colour photograph I mentioned is a tad fuzzy/out of focus. Being period photographs for the most part has resulted in a fair reference when it comes to weathering and wear and tear from use. The images of course also provide great reference for our members who like to display their models as part of a diorama and these offer many options that you may wish to mimic.

The technical drawings and images in the book are first rate and provide very clear and precise detail/data. These technical drawings cover:
Driver’s Compartment, Controls and Instruments
Engine, Power Train and Suspension
Driver’s Compartment, Body and Equipment
50cal Ring Mount
Radio Equipment

Conclusion

The first title I looked at in this range prior to reviewing them left me unsure about titles in this range from Tankograd Publishing, but that opinion changed when I was seeking an obscure piece of information that was right there in the book and provided more information than I needed. The average modeller may not be interested in all of the included data when building a model straight from the box, but as soon as you move on to adding details that are not supplied with the model these books really come into their own. I very strongly advise that if you see a title covering a vehicle that you intend or want to model in the future, pick that book up. The cost of the book is reasonable considering what it provides between the covers and if you don’t you may well end up kicking yourself later.