Pz III Library Addition - Panzer III from Tank Craft

I have acquired another book to add to the Pz III library. This particular volume is a new one from Tank Craft. I discovered the Tank Craft books about six months ago (or there abouts) and I thoroughly enjoy this series. This one is titled Panzer III, German Army Light Tank Operation Barbarossa, 1941 by Dennis Oliver. I must admit to being a bit confused about the title as I have never heard the Pz III referred to as a light tank before. Mr Oliver does a very nice job on the subject in 64 pages.

As stated the book covers, primarily, the Barbarossa period with a little background to go with it. For the most part it shows ausf Fs through ausf Js (with the short 50). Detail on the campaign and the units involved are included. There is a section of color plates which are nicely done, although mostly in grey! Following that are some model builds followed by manufacturers of both kits and aftermarket parts. He concentrates on 1/48th and 1/35th scale kits with a brief mention of a company out of Scotland called Milicast that I need to check out. Unfortunately Rubicon Models is not mentioned although it is mentioned in one of the other books from Tank Craft (either the Sherman or STuG III book, not sure which one).

There is a very short section on the different models from A to the early J as well as the different uparmoring programs. Its very short and is much better covered some of my other books (especially the ones from Panzer Tracts). However, it is loaded with pictures and color plates and is really written for the modeler rather than the researcher. This is probably the first book I would pull out for reference for eastern front Pz IIIs for this campaign for paintwork and decaling and I would supplement it with the Panzer Tracts books for building models.

Its a high quality paperback that does a very good job introducing the 1940-1941 Pz IIIs. I would certainly recommend it for those with casual interest as a good starting place.

Organizing the PzKfw III Library

 


Organizing is probably not the right word since my ability to organize conflicts with my creativity, at least that’s the story I’m going with. What I really need is an index system. Not that the Pz III library is huge by any means but sometimes finding what I want quickly is a challenge. The ultimate goal is to collect as many books on this particular vehicle as I can but also be able to notate how useful any given book is for my current purpose.

For instance, if I’m building a model I need a reference that has information and photographs that are higher quality or are good closeups of the actual vehicle. For painting or building up units for an “army” I will be looking for historical information; vehicle markings, vehicle types, when available, or unique characteristics that make units stand out on the table. For dioramas I’m looking for photos that inspire, or set a specific mood, or bring out the human drama. In each case I’m looking for books that fulfill those specific needs. For dioramas I might be need two different references I as I move back in forth between “scenic” photos and model references.

I decided on four categories; General/Historical, Technical, Model Building and Pictures. For each category a book is given a numerical ranking; 1 is poor, 2 is fair, 3 is good, 4 is excellent. For an overall rating I total all four categories together which gives me a maximum score of 16. If I need to find a better technical book, then I would sort the data based on just the technical score. In theory with this ranking system I should be able to grab the right book every time based on what I’m doing.

Applying the system to the books in the library I find, that based on a total score, the Panzer Tract books are my best resource for just about everything. Unfortunately, if you don’t own these yet or are missing one or more of the five books you are going to be out of luck as they appear to be rapidly going out of print (hopefully they will be reprinted in the near future). I scored all five books in the series the same; General/Historical 2, Technical 4, Model Ref 4, Picture 3 for a total ranking of 13. For General, from a general perspective, these aren’t bad, but they are very dry reading. For technical information they are hard to beat though, filled with a lot more information than I even care about most of the time. For modeling reference, they are also great, nice close ups and excellent line drawings. I only give them a 3 for pictures though because they tend towards more closeups (which help the technical and model ratings) rather than the bigger “show” pictures which is what I’m really thinking about for this category. The Tank Power series by Wydawnicowo Militaria are not a bad replacement but nearly as good mostly due to the translations (these books have a total ranking of 10 as compared to 13 for Panzer Tracts).

If I’m looking for books that rate high in a specific category then I’ll just sort the worksheet, first by category, then by total ranking and then maybe by title (Not that the titles tend to be radically different). For instance if I want to look at the best model reference books I’ll sort by the model reference column with a secondary sort by total rank and I find one of the Kagero books on the Pz III J/L/M with a 4 for model ref and a 13 total, then the Panzer Tract books (same score actually), then Achtung Panzer #2 with a 4 and a 10, then the book from Shinkigensha with a 4 and a 9 and the Osprey book also with a 4 and a 9. Based on that I have several good choices for model building references and I can grab what I need probably further refined on which ausf version I’m working on. I have easy access to this data most of the time so if someone asks a question about which book to pick up I can make a decent recommendation based on how good I think the book for desired purpose.

Acquisitions - Expanding the PzKfw III Library, Military Modelling Book

I have acquired another book for the PzKfw III Library titled "Military Modelling Book Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf. J-N. Its published (I think) by Shinkigensha Co Ltd. Printed in 2011 it apparently is long since out of print as I found numerous copies being sold for $85 plus. I found this one for $35 plus shipping. I think that is close to the original publication price but in any event it was a price I was willing to pay. There is a second book (well actually the first book) for the Ausf. A-H. This is a pure modelling book and features builds of various kits that were available in 2011. It has great pictures of the models from a wide variety of angles and close ups but all of the captions are in Japanese. While I can glean quite a bit from the pictures of what is being done it would be nice to be able to read the captions. In the back is a short section with a lot of close ups of actually Pz IIIs although I probably have most of that in other books already. There are some nice line drawings in the back as well, those are quite nice but again I have access to a lot of line drawings at this point! From a modelling standpoint is a pretty good book and one I'm likely to actually use. Being written completely in Japanese certainly limits its usefulness to me. I would like to acquire the first book at some point but only at a reasonable price, something significantly less than $85.

It is a large format book with a fairly stiff cover and it actually has a dust jacket as well. The little purple/pink band at the bottom is an advertising slip that can be removed. Again marvelous pictures but not particularly useful beyond a modelling reference and limited due to language.

Acquisitions - Expanding the PzKfw III Library, Haynes

I couldn't resist this addition to the Pz III Library. The Owner's Workshop Manual from Haynes. Now I have used these for years on my MGBs and I even have one for a Jeep CJ in anticipation of one joining the fleet. Its a very different look at my favorite German tank. Its an interesting mix of background, history and wonderful photos and diagrams. Mike Hayton managed the actual rebuild of the Pz III at the Tank Museum and Dick Taylor wrote the book. I would recommend this as a must have for those that love the Pz III.

Acquisitions - Expanding the PzKfw III Library, Tank Power Volumes

I managed to get in another trip to Aberdeen bookstore because we were out getting bottling supplies for the cider brewing up in the kitchen. I found another series of books on the PzKfw III while I was there and just like that the library had increased by another four books. These are published by Wydawnicwo Militaria out of Poland as part of their Tank Power series.
These are quite nice books, with a large number of color plates, scale drawings, and tons of pictures. However, don't let that English Text banner of the front fool you. All of the major text is in Polish, the only English text is in the picture captions. That works fine with me, I have enough other books that I doubt I'm actually missing any vital information.

There are four books in this bunch; Volume CV (#353) covering the A-D models, Volume CXXI (#375) covering the E-H Models, Volume XCCCVIII (#396) covering just the J model (this is by far my favorite model) and Volume CLXVII (#426) covering the L-N models. I think these are a great addition to the library, while most of the information is redundant, the pictures and plates are very worthwhile. My biggest beef is that Aberdeen used damn near un-removable price stickers right on the covers which I'm reluctant to try and remove.