At first glance this book seems more for the history buff and less for the modeller. While it offers a nice compact format with more detailed discussion on the SCUD Missile system than Zaloga's earlier works, most of the illustrations and photograph's are for identification purposes and not for detail fanatics. That said, Mr. Zaloga has also offered more detail of how the system works, and why it works, and all of this can, in some ways, be applied to the building of a scale representation. While many of the illustrations are small, they offer valuable details of the system as a whole.
Organization
The book is built on a sectional heading system rather than on chapters. This format has a nice flowing feel and offers quick reference when looking for specific information. The color illustrations are in the center of the book and offer not only camouflage variants for the wheeled 9P117 TEL, but a 3D illustration of the 9P117 that would be very helpful building a model, and also illustrations of the naval version of the missile on the Zulu V submarine and the Heli-borne light weight launch system. Photographs, charts, and illustrations are liberally scattered through the book with 1-2 per page.
Content
The book starts with the development of the Soviet Ballistic Missile program from the German V2 system and takes the reader on the journey to the R-11 Scud-A, the development of the Scud-B and the tracked TEL based on the ISU-152 and JS-III chassis, and finally to the most common variant, the Scud-B on the 9P117 TEL. There is much discussion over the technical virtues and shortcomings of the system, wartime operational history, foreign use and development, and finally, short discussion of the follow on systems: the short lived SS-23 Spider and its shorter ranged successor, the SS-26 Stone. While there is brief mention of other ballistic systems, like the FROG and LUNA, they are not intended to be covered in any great detail in this tome.
The writing in the book is a logical follow up to Zaloga's earlier work, giving more detail as it becomes available particularly on the SCUD system. The illustrations are top notch and will be a valuable reference for the model builder.
in Conclusion
The 48 pages in this book will not give the kind of detail a dedicated model builder of the SCUD-A or B will want. It does however, offer a unique and very informed look into Soviet/Russian missile development which the model builder can use not only for the technical descriptions on how the systems were cared for and prepared for launch, but also on the almost exclusive look at the Submarine and Heli-borne versions, as well as the last developmental version of the SCUD missile itself, the Aerofon. If you want ideas for non-typical builds, then you want this book to start from.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in Soviet or Russian military equipment or in particular, artillery and ballistic missiles
Format: NEW VANGUARD, #120 Written by Steven J. Zaloga Illustrated by Jim Laurier and Lee Ray 48 Pages 41 Black and white photo’s/illustrations 7color plates, 3 non-scale line drawings
Part 1-Introduction Part 2-R 11: The SCUD A Part 3-The SCUD Name Part 4-The SCUD at Sea Part 5-R 17-The SCUD B Part 6-SCUD Improvement Part 7-SCUD Warheads Part 8-SCUD B: The Secret Variants Part 9-SCUD Warheads Part 10-Launching the SCUD Part 11-Warsaw Pact SCUDS Part 12-SCUD Proliferation Part 13-The SCUD at War: Egypt Part 14-The SCUD at War: Iraq Part 15-The SCUD at War: Other Conflicts Part 16-The Scud at War: Afghanistan Part 17-SCUD Proliferation: North Korea Part 18-SCUD Replacements - Further Reading - Color Plate Commentary - Index
My Thanks to Osprey Publishers for the review sample
SUMMARY
Steve Zaloga's third (and newest) reference for the SCUD missile system, this book adds information on the history of the main systems and material on previously undisclosed variants. Using this book as a starting point, the model builder has a new set of options for the DML SCUD-B kit sitting on the workbench. In addition, this book is also a good starting point for the armchair military enthusiest, giving vital information on the various systems in a easy to read format.
About Jacques Duquette (Jacques) FROM: MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES
The first model I remember building was a glow-in-the-dark P-38, running around my bedroom in the dark flying it, and stubbing my toes. I do a lot less running around with glowing models now. I mainly focus on 1/35 armor and figures, with Modern Russian military vehicles being my favorite. I a...
