|
|
This book is very firmly aimed at someone wanting to build a detailed model of the Vickers E in Polish service. The Vickers E was a privately funded tank design that never saw service in Britain, but that did sell on the export market, with around 150 built in total, in two versions, one with a single turret carrying two guns and one with two smaller turrets side by side.
To an English speaking audience this may feel like a rather obscure choice of topic the Vickers E having failed to gain any British orders, but the book was created by a Polish company, and the Vickers E fought against the Germans in 1939. It was also the basis for the Polish 7TP, which was present in larger numbers in 1939.
The authors have clearly made the assumption that anyone planning to model this tank already knows all about its history. This may well be a valid assumption, but I would have preferred there to be an extra page giving a brief history of the tank - what it was, numbers ordered by Poland, the different models, and perhaps what units they served with (at least in 1939). Although Poland ordered the most of this tank, that still only amounted to 38 vehicles, so a brief history wouldn’t have taken up much space, and would have given more context to the pictures and guidance to the modeller.
What we do get is going to be very useful for the modellers. We start with three pages of modern plans of the two main versions of the tank, in their early and later configurations. For the final configuration of each type we get the full set of five plans – left, top, right, front and back, detailed down to the individual rivet.
We then move onto the photographs. These are organised in chronologic order, starting with some official Vickers sales pictures and an official Vickers layout plan. We then move onto pictures of the tanks in Polish service, each with a short caption. There is a wide range of pictures, showing individual tanks in some detail, as well as larger formations of tanks. There is also a rather handy Polish training poster showing the tanks in their final Polish configuration. Towards the end we get a handful of wartime pictures, mainly of captured tanks. We finish with a single colour plate showing the colours of the camouflage scheme.
This is an inexpensive book, selling at under £10. At that price what we get is going to be of great value to the modeller, providing good detailed pictures of the tank from all angles, as well as dated pictures showing how the tanks were modified during their time in Polish service.
Author: Adam Jonca
Edition:
Pages: 28
Publisher: MMP books
Year: 2023