Brief History

After ten years of publishing, Tankograd have really defined this particular publication and made it a firm favourite with modellers and military enthusiasts alike.

Review

Tankograd Publishing have a distinct way and structure in their layout of this particular magazine with the reader's questions to the editorial team at the very beginning of the magazine. One of the nice bits of doing a review on the second magazine in the Militar Fahrzeug year is seeing some of the articles that I found very interesting being spoken of in the reader's section showing that it is not just me that enjoyed the article on the SSB Amphibian M3 which carried some fantastic photographs.

The first article Weapons systems of the German Army finds us looking at a tracked vehicles of the German Mountain Troops, the Bandvagn 206 (Bv 206) which is a tracked articulated, all-terrain carrier. Capable of carrying up to 17 soldiers and even more capable of traversing most types of terrain. The article goes into some depth as to the units that use these vehicles and is like most of the articles in the Militar Fahrzeug quite heavy on the pictures which make the magazine so popular. Some nice close-up shots of the vehicle make for good reference.

The second article in this magazine sees a piece on the British Army AT 105 Saxon Patrol Internal Security Vehicle. A small article covering just two pages but does have seven pictures of the vehicle in different parts of Germany.

Events of the German Army this one being a show of power and strength by the German Army shows various vehicles of the German Army from tanks to logistical vehicles in the field. Some great photos show some great action footage like a Panzerhaubitze 2000 A2 traversing some very muddy ground at speed with the mud and dirt being thrown from the tracks into the air being stopped making a superb picture and for a modeller that likes to weather their models this is a great reference. Several other pictures in the article show a variety of different vehicles including an engineers converted tracked vehicle, that looks like a Wespe ambulance, Fuchs and tank transporter.

Manoeuvres from the good old times are is large article called Tight Reins 75 (Straffe Zugel 75), the 1st Panzergrenadiers in cooperation with the US Marine Corps on training operations in the field. Once again Tankograd fills the pages with not just information but plenty of pictures some just vehicles and some great action shots. Various vehicles are involved from Leopard 1 A1 to “Jolly Green Giants” CH-53D Sea Stallion.

The first news from the industry is a small article on the Tulpar-S an armoured personnel carrier four small pictures do make this look like a rather nice looking machine.

Deutsche Wehrtechnik International, roughly translated to German Defence technology international and is about the US used Unimog this is quite a large article on the Unimog and one of my favourite military soft skins. The article shows some of the different uses the Unimog had in the hands of the US Army several pictures show some great detail, some of these vehicles are being used by engineers with shovel on the front of the vehicle, some with a bucket on the back of the Unimog, a snow plough version and fire service version.

Second news from the industry sees the modernising of the Beregpanzer 3 A1 Buffel two pictures give you an idea of what is happening.

Vehicle technology sections see an update on the Archer, an artillery system used by the Swedish and Norwegian Armies. It is based on a 6x6 chassis of a Volvo A30D all terrain articulated haulier. It is a very nice looking vehicle and it is my hope that this will be another vehicle that may see life in a plastic moulded kit. The pictures of it out in the snow covered terrain of a Scandinavian country really set it off. Reading through the article I found it very interesting the secondary armament (RWS) Remote weapon system show just how far the industry is coming on.

Museum and events are about the dynamic performance of the tank museum in Strangnas in Sweden hosting a show, three pictures are shown of different military vehicles.

Panzer 87 Leopard WE, is a large article on the Swiss Leopard tank plenty of high-quality photographs show off the tank in some stunning backgrounds and really will give any diorama modellers plenty to think about. Some close up photos show plenty of detail of the leopard tank.

The large history article in this magazine is on the German Army driving school a well-written article and with plenty of fantastic black and white photos full of information. I am surprised at the amount of work had been done on these tank chassis to get them ready for teaching the recruits on how to drive them through all kinds of different terrain, hills, woods and manmade water pits. One of the pictures that I found fascinating was that of a Ferdinand chassis being driven at speed up a steep gradient with several soldiers hanging on for dear life?

News from the industry follows, focusing on the Superav a very large looking APC similar to a Rosomak using Iveco Defence Vehicles and BAE systems.

Special Reports is the last article and is about the Enhanced Forward Presence in Lithuania as part of NATO some superb action shots follow this interesting article which includes various vehicles. Some interesting use of spruce for camouflage but with the wooded areas in the background this really makes them fade into the background. Another interesting piece is the commanders showing a huge map of the grounds in which the exercise was taking place made up of rocks, grass, and tree branches. Various pictures of different military hardware are on show on the final pictures shows some armoured vehicles on top of railway carriages.

Conclusion

Tankograd continue to publish a magazine of high-quality pictures and information that can be of use to modellers and military enthusiasts alike I would say that the magazine has grown on me over the time I have been reviewing it. Some are more to my liking than others but I love making dioramas and for that purpose alone there is much to be gleaned from it. I would recommend this magazine to anyone that has an interest in military history or modern armour.