Panzer Tracts 5.3 features one of the most popular vehicles of WWII - the Panther Ausführung G. We hoped this new, expanded edition would give modellers a reason to upgrade from the previous version over twenty years ago! See what we found out about the book (& the tank) in our review...
Read n' Reviewed:
Panzer Tracts No. 5-3: Panther Ausführung G
From Panzerwrecks Publishing
By: Hilary Doyle & Thomas Jentz
136 pages
English text
116 Photographs
54 pages of CAD images in 1/35th, 1/20th & 1/20th scales
A pull-out 1/16th scale printed drawing.
Perfect bound, softcover, portrait format: (280 mm x 215 mm)
Price: £32.99
Panzer Tracts - for those that came in later...
With us for review is the latest copy of the re-invigorated series of Panzer Tracts. This issue is No. 5-3, and it features the Pz.Kpfw. Panther Ausführung G & its many variants.
This is an updated, improved & revised book by Thomas Jentz, Hilary Doyle & the Panzerwrecks team that enables the reader to accurately identify the variants of these Panthers - particularly variations in the vehicle's timeline, identified in this book using alternative or overlapping methods. The history of the vehicles is expanded on by great period and research photographs and some painstakingly accurate CADs in scale to help restorers and modellers create a facsimile with absolute confidence.
First of all, if you have the original, what has been changed in this revision/reprint?
For those holding the original 2004 edition, the scope of this update is immediately apparent in its physical footprint. The revised edition expands to 136 pages, which is exactly double the size of the original publication. The photographic content has seen a massive increase as well, jumping from the original layout to include 116 large-format, high-resolution images. These additions introduce newly uncovered historical details and technical variations that have come to light over two decades of continued tracking by the surviving authors and the publisher.
From the publisher directly, this is what has changed in this updated version of the book over the 2004 version:
68(!) more pages, (so a lot more to absorb!)
87(!) more photographs (ohh my goodness, people!)
Eleven more pages of CAD drawings, updated with the latest information
Rewritten text, updated with the latest information
Reworked images for clarity and tonal quality
Clearer layout and navigation
Handy modifications table on the back cover for quick reference
Table of Contents
Title on the spine (a little change but this makes it easier to find in the bookcase)
Perfect bound for durability
The book's physical form and make up:
The perfect bound, softcover book in portrait format sports a glossy white cover, with pages inside of a semi-matte appearance and thick enough to feel as if they were not opaque. On the pages the text are in English (although there is plenty of German terminology inside). The book's photos are all black and white, of which there are one hundred and sixteen of them presented in the one hundred and thirty-six pages. In terms of build and tactile feel, the volume maintains the standardised aesthetic established across the refreshed Panzerwrecks catalogue.
A functional addition to the exterior layout is the quick-reference modifications table printed directly on the back cover, allowing readers to pin down specific dates and component changes without thumbing through chapters.
Lastly, there is a large-format 1/16th scale set of plans, which was a website-exclusive bonus. Panzerwrecks offered a separate, free set of fold-out large-scale 1:16 drawings of the Panther Ausf. G strictly to the first 300 customers who ordered the book directly from the Panzerwrecks Official Store or the Panzer Tracts Website. these are bigger than one would expect and a gift for large-scale modellers out there in this expanding scale (or even to mount on your wall).
Contents: The structure of the book breaks down into eight distinct chapters, beginning with a historical introduction that establishes the research methodologies used.
Panzer Tracts No. 5-3: Panther Ausführung G chapter contents
- Introduction
- Panzerkampfwagen Panther Ausführung G
- Panzerbefehlswagen Panther (Sd.Kfz.267 & 268)
- Production
- CAD Drawings
- Modifications Introduced During Production
- Interior
- Operational Experience with the Panther Ausf. G
OK, so that is it in the book's upgrades and makeup. I will go through each of the chapter's contents to give you the real feel of what's inside.
The book, page by page
Following the introduction, the book moves directly into the baseline development of the Panzerkampfwagen Panther Ausführung G. The authors spend significant text explaining all of the elements of the tank, the underlying chassis construction, structural integrity, and the physical evolution of the vehicle as it entered mid-to-late 1944 production pipelines.
The book includes large and clear photos of the internal detail (in black and white) that are so hard to source anywhere else.
From there, the text transitions in two pages to look at the specialized command variants of the Panther G: the Panzerbefehlswagen Panther (Sd.Kfz. 267 & 268). This section clarifies the unique radio configurations, antenna placements, and internal space trade-offs required to convert a standard Ausf. G into a command vehicle. By dedicating this close look to these variants, the authors ensure that modellers looking to tackle these specific conversions have a firm data set to work from, which I know they will love.
The core industrial history is handled in the chapter featuring the production of the Ausf.G.; here the authors track the physical output across the various assembly plants. Rather than presenting general monthly totals, the text delves into factory records to show how different sub-contractors implemented changes at different times.
For me, this data is critical for identifying whether a specific hull feature or tool layout belongs to a M.A.N., Daimler-Benz, or MNH-produced vehicle at a given point in the war. I count myself as a novice in this field, but reading and understanding this chapter really helped me connect the dots as to what variations came from where.
Modifications that were introduced during the Ausf. G's production is next, with the authors producing a chapter of seventeen pages that explains in text (with some supporting photos) the exhaustive list of alterations that were made for a variety of reasons during the tank's production. This includes an in-depth analysis of the F.G.1250 infrared searchlight and scope system, supported by clear diagrams and high-contrast imagery amongst many other changes.
CAD Drawings:
Amongst the photos there are also fifty-four pages of CAD images of the many versions of Panther Ausf. G, its variants & equipment and modifications featured in the chapters of this book. This will be no doubt one of the highlights of this kit from many modellers, with lots of specific details to choose from.
Amongst the photos there are also fifty-four pages of CAD images of the many versions of Panther Ausf. G, its variants & equipment and modifications featured in the chapters of this book. This will be no doubt one of the highlights of this kit from many modellers, with lots of specific details to choose from.
This drawing section is the result of hundreds of hours of physical surveys and over a thousand hours of full-scale CAD drafting. These drawings are rendered to the exact tolerances demanded of the original assembly firms, ensuring total structural fidelity. The CAD work features over 200 distinct scale illustrations in 1/35th, 1/20th, and 1/10th scales. The complete vehicles are rendered in comprehensive six-view plans—including rare right-side and belly views—designed to verify plate weld lines and interlocking hull joints.
The introduction of 'flat-plane' drawings
To aid the modeller with parts that are notoriously difficult to replicate from angled references, the authors utilised a unique approach by incorporating sonething called 'flat-plane' drawings. These illustrations flatten out complex geometric components, providing an undistorted layout of fittings, brackets, and hatches. Over twelve pages within the CAD chapter are dedicated specifically to these smaller components, rendering them in large 1/10th and 1/20th scales alongside both their official German and English nomenclature.
The seventh chapter focuses on the vehicle's interior, with crystal-clear photos of the interior of the vehicle. The only section that I wish was in colour! Especially helpful are the comparisons to the Panther Ausf. A and the clarity of the images from NARA.
A chapter detailing the operational experience with the Ausf.Gs is a favourite part of mine, as it details firsthand in a lot of cases how the tankers that used these vehicles actually felt about them. From the Eastern front, East Prussia, Italy, the western front, Normandy, the Ardennes and into germany are discussed.
And that is all they (re-)wrote.
This book is much more of a rewriting in my opinion. Those who will have the 2004 version would see this as two or three times the book that they have previously had. The extended page count, the massively improved layout image and CAD count and the discoveries that have surfaced and been included in this book since 2004 make this an almost completely new volume.
Nothing in the style, the education and the interest factor of the books has changed, but there is so much more of it; this is a no-brainer for panther and Panzer Tracts fans (& there are many out there).
Nothing in the style, the education and the interest factor of the books has changed, but there is so much more of it; this is a no-brainer for panther and Panzer Tracts fans (& there are many out there).
Recommended.
Adam Norenberg
Thanks to the team at Panzerwrecks for sending me this book to read and to review. You can purchase this book (along with others in this series getting the same updated & reprinted treatment) from the Panzerwrecks Website directly...
