Ugh.  Not that movie again….  What fired the imaginations of millions of adolescent boys in the ‘60s and ‘70s is now belittled by the same kids, ‘all grown up’.  Of course, I speak of “Battle of the Bulge”.  Take a bit of overacting, compression of time and events, a little make-believe and tons of Spanish M47’s in Nazi clothing made for mindless fun for a kid.  Needless to say, bona fide German Tiger tanks were as rare then as they are now, so something had to be done.  As was the norm, out came the grey paint and German Crosses; the M47 Patton becomes a Tiger.  A similar treatment met the M47 in the movie “Patton”.  Great stuff as a kid, derided as adult…  Oh well.

The M47 was a ‘limited standard’, combining the upgraded hull of the M46 Patton with a brand new turret.  Sleek and narrow with a large bustle, the new turret possessed innovations.  The tank took a distinctive pose and was built in large numbers – over 8,500.  While in US inventory none fired a shot in anger.  However, many were sent to form the armored backbone of countries such as West Germany, Austria, Iran, Spain and many others.

The M47 returns as the star of Chris Hughes’ photo CD #18.  Packaged in a slim jewel case, the CD is full of sharp images that you can view in your favorite web browser.  The table of contents is organized more-or-less like the other CDs in the series, starting with ‘Profiles’, ‘Turret exterior’, ‘Hull exterior’, ‘Suspension’, ‘Turret interior’ and finishing up with ‘Driver’s compartment’.  All the images are sharp and very clear, typical of what we’re used to seeing in this series of photo CDs.  (Mac buyers will need to access the ‘Title.htm’ file to get to the files).

http://www.toadmanstankpictures.com/ is Chris’ website and there’s a lot of imagery and info on all his CDs there – and lots, lots, more.  It’s well worth the trip.  There’s a note in the acknowledgements page of the CD that it’s geared directly to the modeler and the pictures tell thousands of words:  detail shots of parts of the tank you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere; and well-lit overall shots of these vehicles that offer a wealth of detail.  Composition is first-rate and the images provide the details modelers crave.  Each photo is captioned and linked to the previous and next image so you can navigate freely among all the images.

For fans of the M47 Patton, owners of the Italeri kit or simply because you are an armor aficionado, this CD is a great way to bolster your references or give you insight on a better build of your kit.  It is well worth the money and even better as Chris offers a 20% discount to AMPS members.  Imagine, a guy taking pictures of things modelers want to see and giving a break on the already reasonable price!  Outstanding!

Many thanks to Chris Hughes for the review sample; it is highly recommended.