Introduction

The release of the excellent new MiniArt Infantry Tank Mk II Valentine kit was welcomed by many. At the moment we have the MK II and the Mk IV versions, with more variants to come.
As modelers, good reference pictures are of great value to us and the latest Squadron Signal publication on the Valentine Tank brings us some very useful and detailed photographs and information.

the book

The publication is in A4 landscape style, common to Squadron books. It consists of 88 pages of photographic evidence covering the following Mks of Valentine, namely the Mk III, Mk VI and Mk IX. The quality of the pictures is excellent, and each picture is accompanied by a caption highlighting or pointing out a certain feature.

The cover art is by Don Greer, profile art by Mathue Spraggins and line illustrations by Melinda Turnage. Photographs are provided by Marc Sehring, Scott Taylor, Simon Thomas, Andrew Willis, Dennis Trowbridge and John Blackman.

The Mk III:
This is extensively covered in detail between the opening page and page 45. Every aspect of the tank seems to have been photographed, both external and internal fittings and fixtures are covered in detail, including 4 pictures of engine detail on page 45.

The Mk VI:
The external detail of the Tank is covered between pages 46 and 68, but no internal or engine pictures accompany this presentation.

The Mk IX:
The external detail of the Mk IX is covered between pages 69 and 84, but as per the Mk VI above, no internal or engine detail is provided for this variant.

To finish the presentation, line drawings of the Mk II and Mk III are provided on pages 85 and 86, but no scale is given. Pages 87 and 88 show some recent pictures of the Valentine Duplex Drive.

Plates:
Page 21 contains some plates/artwork of a Mk II and Mk V. Page 60 has one of the Mk III and the front cover displays a Mk III, with a Mk II shown on the rear cover.

Additional Walkarounds

A walk-around of the Duplex Drive is available here on site courtesy of Alan McNeilly and Ian Sadler:

Valentine Duplex Drive

And a walk around of the Mk I is also available on site courtesy of Alan McNeilly

Valentine Mk I

Conclusion

This is a well presented walkabout, with excellent detailed photographs that are clearly explained to the viewer. The Mk III is photographed in the open in natural light so the pictures are extremely good.

The Mk VI is photographed inside a building, but the quality of the pictures is still good, given the setting.

The Mk IX is photographed both outside and inside, and again good quality has been achieved.

There should be plenty of good reference pictures here for those interested in the Valentine. It would have been nice to have internal photographs of the Mk VI and IX, but gaining access to a vehicle isn’t always possible.

This walk-around will add to the growing reference material becoming available for the vehicle and should proved very useful for modellers with the forthcoming MinArt releases of the Mk III and Mk V, and the AFV Club Mk I, so whether you are building a kit or just want to enjoy the walk-around, this is a reasonable priced item of fairly good quality.