Mittlerer Zugkraftwagen 8t, an early production Sd. Kfz. 7 HL m11

 

General Information

Toadman’s Tank Pictures is a company that specializes in providing reference Compact Discs containing large amounts of photographs of the disc titled vehicles. For Microsoft Windows computers, the CD automatically starts when the CD is inserted placed into your computer opening to an internet browser format. If you have a MAC computer there is a special instruction sheet included in with the disc to get you up and running.

CD Contents

The photos in this Photo Detail CD #22 are of a Mittlerer Zugkraftwagen 8t, an early production Sd. Kfz. 7 HL m11. The vehicle photos on this CD were taken at the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation, Portola Valley, California. This vehicle is presumably restored and/or rebuilt and should kept in mind that this vehicle probably does not contain all of their original components as manufactured.

The CD is indexed per the following:

·          Introduction and Acknowledgements (Information Only)

·        Exterior - with a table of contents for 108 Photos

·        Engine Compartment - with a table of contents for 28 Photos

·        Chassis - with a table of contents for 86 Photos

·        Crew and Troop Compartment - with table of contents for 86 Photos

Photographic Quality

The 308 color photos that are contained on the reference CD are of excellent quality, especially considering attention to detail of the engine compartment, all of the electrical wiring and mechanical connections located both inside and outside of the vehicle.   The color, sharpness of the images, and lighting makes these excellent reference photos. All photos include a caption of the item being photographed.

The photos cover a majority of the never seen photos (at least to me) of this vehicle. I never realized how many storage compartments were contained in this vehicle. The plumbing details with the valves, connectors, air tanks, filters, and reservoirs is really great. There is a great amount of small details that most other mediums have not covered on this specific vehicle.  

Use as Reference

Since this is a photo reference CD this is a great reference to super detail either the DML or Trumpeter series of kits that have been released.   The photos will also prove valuable with the aftermarket kits that been added to help improve the DML or Trumpeter kits. According to the introduction a disclaimer was added that this CD does not cover every aspect of this vehicle but aside from re-building the engine and transmissions I do not think that there is a better reference.

The Mittlerer Zugkraftwagen 8t an early production Sd. Kfz. 7 HL m11, Photo Detail CD (#22) is definite must for detailing either of the new DML or Trumpeter kits, or if you are ambitious enough to make a masterpiece out of the old faithful Tamiya kit. The amout of detail captured in this CD is just amazing.

I found the price to be a bargain considering the price of some of the printed reference material out there with half of the detail. An especially good deal to AMPS members who get an additional 20% off on this and all Toadman’s Tank Pictures. 

Highly Recommended

Thanks to Toadman's Tank Pictures for the review sample

Reviewed by Tom Kondziolka, AMPS Chicagoland