There's a separate thread for The Wheatcroft Collection, but an amazing book has just been published : 'Panther Project Vol. 1 - Drivetrain and Hull'. This is a step-by-step photo-guide to the restoration of the Wheatcroft Collection's Panther Ausf. A. If you are really into German AFVs, the book is utterly absorbing. The Research Squad are committed to 'lifting the lid' from some of the secrecy and rumour which has hitherto surrounded the collection - future books are hoped to complete the Panther story and continue with their Tiger restoration.... All great stuff - for more info, go to : - The Research Squad
Been checking the site for months waiting for them to finally publish it. Have you actually handled it yet Martin? Cheers, Adam.
I've got it right here before me - bought in Motor Books last week.( ISBN 978-0-9556422-0-3 ) A beautifully-produced, full-colour A4 paperback and good value, I thought, at £15.99. It is highly technical, but if you're interested in this sort thing - quite unique !
Cheers, been dithering as you never quite know what to expect with certain types of books if nobody's actually seen 'em other than on the web. I'll definitely take your word for it. Forums can get expensive...
Having had to wait until my sister got me it for Christmas I can now cordially echo Martin's recommendation. Remarkable book, almost unreadable in a way but combine it with one of Jentz or Spielberger's solid Panther books and it's excellent photographs answer many questions a lot more clearly. I spent a long while looking for decent close up illustrations of the twin torsion bars earlier this year , I now have an absolute surfeit of them . Can't wait for the next 2 volumes, got a feeling these are books that will be very hard to find if not bought on release. Essential stuff. I see the Tiger will be dealt with next, presumably based on the Aberdeen example the Wheatcroft collection just restored. Wonder if the third Panther book can only be completed once the vehicle's finished? which I believe is projected as c.June 2008. (They have 2 Panthers currently being restored to full running order at the moment.) The Research Squad - Books The Wheatcroft Collection Cheers, Adam.
Glad you like it, Adam....I was browsing through my own copy just last week. I think you're right - these are a small print-run and will disappear very quickly . Roll on the next instalments !
Good stuff FalkeEins, best pics of the Littlefield collection as a whole I've yet seen. Thanks. (We could do with a thread on him, or maybe 'mil/billionaire collectors'... only defines an item in his collection as 'rare' if he's got the sole survivor.) There seems to have been quite a bit of co-operation between him and Wheatcroft over the Panthers. Shame the foundation's 'official' website's not been updated for ages: Military Vehicle Technology Foundation: Inventory And his personal webpage seems to have been hacked. Cheers, Adam.
The 'Tiger Project' book is now imminent: The Tiger Project - Military Modelling News & available for preorder on Amazon. Amazon.co.uk: Tiger: A Modern Study of Fgst. NR. 250031: Lee Lloyd, Brian Balkwill, Alisdair Johnston: Books The Research Squad - Books Slightly more expensive, but twice as thick, looking like the same standard as the Panther one, & hard cover... I can't wait, and will presumably have to buy the 'Interactive CD' too. I imagine this book on the Aberdeen example will stand as one of the best surveys of a surviving Tiger for a fair while. Cheers, Adam.
Excellent news ! Many thanks for the heads-up, Adam.... The Panther title seemed to disappear from the shops quite quickly - I confidently predict that the Tiger book will vanish even quicker. I look forward with relish to getting my copy .......... ( Later : Tiger book duly pre-ordered via Amazon. Definitely not one I'd wish to miss ! )
On the original Panther book, at this weekend's Bovington 'Tankfest' I bought the associated 'The Research Squad' DVD-Rom for the Panther Project. It'll be familiar to anyone who ever bought Tamiya's CD Roms (T34/Tiger/Sherman) from a while back, both in style and slightly frustrating method of navigation. I can't deny that there's some very interesting stuff on there, particularly the interior panoramas, visual lists of divisional/unit insignias, and scans of original paperwork, but the whole package is a little too flawed to justify the pretty substantial (£20) asking price. The presentation is buggy, with whole sections on 'restoration' being little more than a few uncaptioned pictures (when I was hoping for extra 'icing' to the fine book). Once you've worked out how to find them there are many excellent pictures but not much new. The text sections are good & solid, though I'll print them out as I can't ever read properly off a screen. I'm also not sure why it wasn't made installable to the hard drive as having to find a disk when you need it seems to defeat the point of PC-based reference material. I'd say if any-one's tempted; stick with the remarkable book from the research squad, or at least make sure you can have a proper look at the DVD-Rom before buying. there's a DVD due for the Tiger project too, and while I hope it will be more polished than this one, sadly I certainly wouldn't buy it now before inspecting it 'in the flesh'. I console myself over the high price that at least it's going to the exceptionally good cause that these chaps are involved in... One nugget on there is that the wheatcroft collection isn't 'just' restoring 2 panthers, it's also working on a third. Bovington's example was nowhere to be seen either... Who knows, maybe it's off for restoration too? That'd be a fully operational zug. of Panthers in the UK, with a Jagdpanther for support! Cheers, Adam.
Splendid stuff Adam! The panther looks menacing even without her turret, and this one has still got her zimmermit!
There's also a detailed view of the restored gun on there: YouTube - Panther Tank 75mm gun tour! Shows just how high the standards of restoration are. Edit: Actually I was wondering about her Zimmerit, there's no way that's not been redone (or I'd be extremely surprised if it survived in such perfect condition...) bet that was an 'interesting' job for someone.
