MMP Books has done a series of photo essays in the 'Camera On' series. These are basically photo books, though they do provide a few pages of historical background and information on how to tell the differences in the different variants.

These photos have all come from either German archives or personal German collections and for me, they were all images I have not seen before. Perhaps that is not unusual as I am not as well steeped in things with tracks as I am with things with wings. One thing I can say is that the several hundred images in this book are superbly chosen to be either the most crisply done or the most interesting that the author could find.

This is the first book of the series which now encompasses nearly a dozen subjects. The SdKfz 6 is a 5 ton half-track which means it could drag 5 tons of weight. Put wheels under that weight and the amount increases significantly. These were mostly used to haul medium size field guns. They were also widely used as engineering vehicles, towing standard 3 ton trainers. There was a goodly amount of towing capacity and there was room for the crew and equipment as well. Halftracks worked especially well in Russia where the roads could turn into a quagmire and were often used to tow standard trucks.

Unlike the later Sdkfz7 and 9, these were not built in large numbers. Apparently 5 tons just wasn't as useful as the seven or nine tons of the larger vehicles and it took about the same amount of time to build them so photos of the 6 just are not as prevalent as the larger ones. Still, it was used until the end of the war and provided excellent service.

So who would find a book like this useful? Well, from my point of view it would be fans of the subject, those who are generally interested in the German army and modelers. The photos cover all the different fronts on which these vehicles served so there are a wide variety of conditions portrayed, including the usual 'here is me and my buddies' images! As with other books in this series, I most highly recommend this one.

July 2018

Copyright ModelingMadness.com

Many thanks to www.casematepublishing.com for providing the review copy. You can get this book today at this link.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.