Nuts & Bolts Vol. 38
Jagdpanzer IV Part 2 – L/70 (Sd.kfz.162/1) Vomag & Alkett

Reviewed by Luke Pitt

Summary

FirstRead
 
Two kilometres is quite a long way. The German L/70 Jagdpanzer could and often did destroy oncoming tanks from that distance. In my opinion, this vehicle encapsulates everything I like about World War Two German armour - low, sleek and deadly.

Even so, this tank destroyer was not without its flaws. The extreme length of the barrel made driving difficult together with “barrel wobble” which caused alignment problems and decreased aim accuracy over time.

The lack a muzzle brake caused a large dust cloud when fired thus giving any concealed position away, not good, when you’re trying to hide. 

This is the second volume on the Jagdpanzer IV from Nuts & Bolts and covers the long gun 7. Pak 42 L/70 Vomag and Alkett machines. These were commonly referred to as the Panzer IV/70 (V) and the Panzer IV/70 (A). The most noticeable difference between the two was the shape of the superstructure. The Panzer IV/70 (A) had a 400mm tall box installed above the unchanged lower hull with the superstructure of the Panzer IV/70 (V) on top of it.

Anyone who has read the Nuts and Bolts series of reference titles will no doubt be aware of the line drawings produced by Mr. John L. Rue. This is the last title that Mr. Rue. worked on as sadly, he passed away on 1 March 2017 after a long illness.  His work always impressed me and his contributions to these books have shaped and formed what I would consider master works on the subject they cover. He will be missed.

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The book is broken down into the usual Nut & Bolts format beginning with the types and its technical development & production. This covers both the Panzer IV/70 (V) and Panzer IV/70 (A). The was to have an armoured vehicle capable of mounting the long barre led 7.5 cm Pak 42 L/70 gun. The second and third chapters deals with the organization & structure of anti-tank units that operated the vehicle. This chapter also covers the history of the units who were allocated this tank destroyer.  This includes 140 large and well captioned photos over 53 pages. Most of these have been published before but it is nice to see them all together in one reference work.

Chapter five contains the 1:35 scale drawings prepared by John Rue over 18 pages. These are of the Panzer IV/70 (V) and Panzer IV/70 (A) and, as usual, they are excellent. The drawings are followed by 9 pages of color profiles by Laurent Lecco. The colour plates are based on black and white photographs of actual vehicles covering 16 different vehicles.  The last plate is of the ammunition carried by these vehicles. The next 55 pages offer a detailed walkaround in the form of colour photos from the various  preserved vehicles and components in museums around the world. The entire vehicle is covered from the interior to the exterior.

The closing section is devoted to model builds by Tony Greenland.

These books are very difficult to criticise from a modelling point of view. For me, they have everything I want in a reference work and as a result I can heartily recommend it to anyone who wants a one stop reference source for this vehicle .

Highly Recommended

Thanks to Nuts & Bolts for the sample

Nuts and Bolts publications are available online from their website.