introduction

In the continuously expanding Technical Manual series from Tankograd Publishing, comes item #6011 covering the 4-Ton 6x6 Diamond T’s. Edited by Michael Franz, and written in both English and German, the book starts off with the usual brief history and development of the vehicle, along with charts and descriptions of the various types, enough to satisfy most modelers who will buy this publication.

the book

After the opening description comes the first photo section, with clear images of glamour/factory style photos representing the various vehicle types. Following those comes the nitty-gritty of the subjects, the detail drawings of the cab, interior, instruments, and chassis, with the details all clearly labeled. Ever wonder what a particular lever or switch is? What’s that instrument dial on the instrument panel? Well now we can find the answers, and dazzle our friends with such knowledge of doohickeys and wickets in 1/35th scale. Both the open and closed cabs are provided for and well covered here. Feel like doing the complete brake system on your Accurate Armour wrecker, don’t fret, you’ll find the diagram here. Mixed in is a nice assortment of detail photos to help you along.

After the cab interior is the section on cab exterior, body and equipment; again everything is labeled for easy identifying, with a good mix of excellently reproduced photos and drawings. The centerfold has some nice 1/35th scale side view drawings of the cargo, dump and wrecker versions. Following the centerfold, we come to a section devoted to the wrecker version of the Diamond T. Detailed drawings of the equipment, stowage etc, plus diagrams for the proper rigging for usage and recovery along with some nice clear detail photos to help anyone wanting to do a diorama.

Next up is the Dump Truck Version, again covered in drawings and photos. The book finishes up with a few of the more specialized tanker bodies, for spreading asphalt or water, for construction projects.

conclusion

In my opinion, and it is only my opinion, this is an excellent offering for modelers with an interest in the Diamond T series of vehicles, and an excellent addition to a modelers reference collection on soft skin vehicles. Enough to convince me to probably pick up one of those Accurate Armour Diamond T kits in the future.
I’d like to thank Tankograd and Armorama for the review sample.