Introduction

I have always been leery of purchasing a complete book dedicated to just one subject. This book is one of those. Its title says it all “Modelling the Panther Tank”. I picked this book up with a great deal of skepticism. I put it down with a new found respect and openness. Read on and see why.

review with a twist

I am not going to focus on a typical ‘book review’. Henk has does a masterful job reviewing this book already. You can read that by clicking here.
The book is basically the story of four projects yielding five subjects. Mechanically this book is excellent. Osprey books are well organized, well written, nicely laid out, and are backed with top notch research. This book is no exception. At the highest level if you’re an Osprey fan this book won’t disappoint you.
At the subject level you can read on and see how I have become willing to purchase books dedicated to one subject.

Oneness

I have been reluctant to embrace books that focus on one subject out of fear of such a narrow focus. I was afraid that there wouldn’t be enough useful information outside the given subject that the book would be read once, then shelved, never to be picked up again. The information gleaned from a quick read would be useless after a project was built and the next one started. With just one author to a book I was leery of any potential bias. I was worried that one author would focus on one set of tools, one set of supplies, one set of techniques, and one set of approaches.
I was afraid of “Oneness.”

Wrong

This book proved me wrong. As I read and turned the pages, I was ever more impressed with the wide variety of manufactures names that I saw. With every project in the book came new names and products. The detail kit manufacturers were different, the paint manufacturers varied. The tools and techniques were also changed.
In the book you are given a wonderful view of how to apply products and see the results. You see styrene work, putty work, PE detail, scratch building, pigment application, and more.

What this means to you is that you can read this book and come away with a new set of skills that can apply to other subjects. After reading this book you will be armed with techniques on how to apply zimmerit to any other German AFV. The knowledge shared soldering PE parts will cross all genres of modeling not just armor. Your product awareness will be raised simply by reading the lengthy list found in the back of the book. You will have a good understanding on how to adjust tank suspension to accommodate the extra weight of a load or odd ground shapes.
Lastly, this book will provide you with a wealth of resources for research.

Openness

I look forward to reading other “Subject” books such as this. If you build German armor this book will be a solid resource for you. If you do any type of after market building this book can shed light on a number of techniques and products. There are no “out of the box” builds in this book and it starts out at a moderate skill level and goes up from there. I think that even a beginning modeler can gain some solid knowledge and inspiration from this book.

Thanks to Osprey for the review sample.