Introduction

Once again, Tankograd Publishing have produced a book which covers an area which is relatively unknown beyond those who are heavily into the subject area. Also, it raises an interesting question as to whether or not we should look more outside our own 'pet' subject areas. Simply going by the 'look' and the variants which were built of the Mercedes-Benz LG 315, it would seem to be a very interesting subject for scratch-builders and hopefully for some of the manufacturers to consider?

The Basic data

5019 - Mercedes-Benz LG 315: Early 5-Tonne Truck of the Modern German Army is published by Tankograd Publishing within their MILITÄRFAHRZEUG Spezial Series. The book follows the established format, consisting of 64 pages which contain 111 black & white photographs, 3 colour photographs, 25 graphics and 6 four-side 1/87th scale drawings. The book is written by Heinz Peters. The book is COMPLETELY bi-lingual (English/German).

In Detail

The book begins with an interesting introduction (along with production figures) of the LG 315 which talks about the formation of the Post-War Bundeswehr. Some interesting information is also given about the LG 315's 'roots' - the Mercedes L 4500A, L 4500S (and the later 5-Ton version) which were out back into production in the Post-War period.

The first chapter, 'The Truck', starts with two photos of the vehicle's predecessor - the Mercedes L 4500A which was an important 'workhorse' in the Third Reich's transport requirements.
In 34 pages, a series of excellent photos (along with 4 pages of scale drawings) the variants of the LG 315 are presented. Shelter trucks, communication vehicles, personnel carriers and tanker trucks are only some of the variants which are covered in this section. Helpfully, it also includes several photos of typical trailers. The quality of the images also shows clearly vehicle markings and covers both the hard-top and canvas cabs which were seen on the LG 315. If a manufacturer were to provide only a basic cab and chassis there are a LOT of projects which suggest themselves within these 34 pages!

The next part of the book, 'Technology' has six pages of text looking at the technical details of the vehicle. This is followed by some excellently-chosen (and reproduced) images images from the vehicle's workshop manuals. Sub-frame, engine, gear-box, transmission and structure of the cargo-bed are amongst the areas covered.

The final section of the book, 'Mecedes-Benz LG315 Fire-Engines', once again, suggests some really interesting projects with a series of well-captioned photos which show this variant in very complete detail. The quality of the images is, as it is throughout the book, first-class.

Conclusions

The LG 315 is not perhaps, the most widely-known or even well-documented subject. However, once again, Tankograd have shown themselves capable of producing material which SHOULD inspire modelers to go in different directions. It's ceratinly a vehicle which IS available in 1/87th scale. Unfortunately it's not going to be terribly high-priority for manufacturers in 1/48th or 1/35th scale, but it's exactly the kind of subject that some of the Resin will undoubtedly cover in the future. It's also to be hoped, with the annoncement from Zvezdaof a Mercedes L 4500A, that Tankograd will do a FUTURE book on this truck. That will certainly be very welcome!

VERY Highly Recommended