Read N Reviewed: Nuts & Bolts Volume 35: Büssing’s schwere Pz.Spähwagen Part 1

Paul gets his hands on his Nuts & Bolts – this one has Eight wheels and is of a varied hull, yes the Vol 35 focusses on the Büssing’s schwere Pz.Spähwagen. Let’s see what Paul thought of the book in our review…

Read N' Reviewed:
Nuts & Bolts Volume 35: Büssing’s schwere Pz.Spähwagen Part 1:

schw. Pz.Spahwagen (Sd.Kfz.231) (8-Rad)

schw. Pz.Spahwagen (Fu)(Sd.Kfz.232)(8-Rad)

Author: Holger Erdmann

Softcover, A4 Portrait format

English and German text

200 pages, 300 b&w photos, 24 scale drawings, 14 colour profiles, table of organisation
Price: 29.90€
Product Link

The Nuts & Bolts series is now up to Volume 35, and have chosen to cover the early war family of German eight wheeled armoured cars designated Sd.Kfz 231, and the command variant Sd.Kfz 232. This volume is Part 1, which makes me guess that Sd.Kfz 234 family will be covered in Pt 2, although I was kind of surprised that the turretless Sd.Kfz 263 didn't make an appearance in this volume.

Volume 35 follows the same basic layout of the series with columns of English and German text. The first section of the book is more text heavy and covers topics such as the technical development and production, organisation and structure of reconnaissance units, history of reconnaissance units, camouflage and markings, and a conclusion and discussion of available model kits of this particular vehicle. 

While this may be a bit of information overload for most modellers, for those of us interested in the quest for ultimate accuracy, or just Sd.Kfz 231 enthusiasts, there is definitely a lot of useful information here and well worth the read.

The next section is definitely of more interest to us modellers with much more focus on photographs of the Sd.Kfz 231 and 232, with sections covering pre-war vehicles, through wartime pictures of vehicles in all theatres that it served in. While the pictures are in black and white, they are of good quality and a good source of inspiration for your next build.

The next section of the book is devoted to line drawings of the various versions ranging from the prototype, drawings of the chassis, trial vehicles, and several production batches of both the Sd.Kfz 231 and SdKfz232 so some spot the difference fun for those so inclined.

Fourteen colour profiles follow in the next section of the book and each profile is accompanied by an inset photo to show what each profile is based on. Unfortunately, there is only one profile illustrated of each vehicle, but you do get illustrations of details that are discernible from the photo when the photo shows them.

The next section is an excellent photo reference of the preserved SdKfz 231 on display in Koblenz, Germany and is basically a walkaround of the vehicle with good quality colour shots of exterior and interior details of the vehicle.

Interiors and exteriors of several noted vehicles are in these walkarounds to you see not just one, but many versions of the 8-Rad

The final section of the book features two builds of the of the AFV Club kits with Tony Greenland building a nicely worn whitewashed version of the SdKfz 231, and Vince Brannigan doing an early war grey SdKfz232. Tony Greenland's article doesn't mention it being the AFV Club kit, but pictures of the build will show you that he is definitely not building the Tamiya version.

Overall an excellent publication for modellers, or for SdKfz 231 and 232 enthusiasts. Highly recommended.

Paul Lee

You can get your own copy of this latest issue and all previous issues of the Nuts & Bolts series from their own website, or from distributorsaround the world.