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Book Review
Waffen-SS in Action
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by: Randy L Harvey [ HARV ]

INTRODUCTION

Waffen-SS in action #6528 is a 52 page book from Gordon Rottman and Ramiro Bujeiro and is published by Concord Publications. The ISBN is 962-361-157-9. The book is a soft cover book and contains 124 black and white photographs, 4 black and white illustrations of different SS unit patches and 4 color art work prints.

The book

The book begins with a 2 page brief history of the Waffen SS from its beginnings to the end of the war. The remainder of the book is dedicated to a wide array of photographs and the color prints.

Some of the SS units covered throughout the book are:
•Leibstandarte-SS “Adolph Hitler” (LSSAH)
•3. SS-Panzer-Division “Totenkopf”
•2. SS-Panzer-Division “Das Reich”
•SS-Gebirgs-Division “Nord”
•5. SS-Panzer-Division “Wiking”
•Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division “Langemarck”

There is a wide variety of troops covered throughout the book. These include:
•Infantry
•Tank crew members
•Engineers
•Motorcycle troops
•Artillery crew members
•Anti-aircraft crew members
•Military police
•Ski troops

Also covered is a wide variety of weaponry. This includes:
•Armor
•Anti-aircraft guns
•Artillery pieces
•Machine guns
•Mortars
•Rifles
•Pistols
•Sub-machine guns
•Hand grenades
•Flame throwers

Another subject that is covered is captured/commandeered equipment and weapons. This has been a long time favorite subject of mine so I was very pleased to see that is was covered in this book. Some of the captured/commandeered items include:
•Small arms
•Vehicles
•Wagons and carts
•Horses
•Bicycles
•Miscellaneous equipment such as tools.
•And one that I found very interesting, a horse drawn sleigh.

The Photographs:
The photographs range from the early war time frame to the end of the war. There is a wide array of subjects in the photographs focusing on areas such as uniforms, equipment, small arms, vehicles, artillery and armor such as the StuG III. The majority of the photographs are identified as being in Russia. However the photographs are not in any particular order nor do they detail any particular battle or specific area. They do cover different seasons and various locations such as forests and the steppes.

The photographs range from action scenes to troops in casual poses. As I looked through the book I was pleased to discover that I hadn’t seen a majority of the photographs before. So I found this to be very appealing. Most of the photographs are nice and clear, however there are some that have a kind of blurry/fuzzy look to them. I don’t know if this is due to the original photographer or if it is from them being enlarged for the book.

Note: The pictures that I have provided look blurry and the captions are hard to read. This is due to my scanner. That is not how they appear in the book. So please don’t be misled by my examples.

The Color Prints:
Artist Ramiro Bujeiro has provided four color prints. The color art work prints are done very well. They show nice representations of different uniforms and include detailed captions describing the represented uniforms, weapons and individual SS unit portrayed.

The Captions:
The captions that accompany the photographs are well written and are very detailed. As with the color prints they include information about uniforms, weapons, equipment and individual SS units. One thing I did discover with some of the captions is that there are some misspellings. I also found one caption that ended in midsentence and the remainder of the caption is absent. What I thought was funny is that it is the caption for one of my favorite captured/commandeered equipment photos, the horse drawn sleigh. The misspellings could be due to the fact that the books are printed in Hong Kong and could be just simple translation mistakes.

Conclusion

All in all I am very impressed with the book. The variety of subjects covered will appeal to the figure and diorama modelers. It will be a welcome addition to anyone’s personal library. I would have no hesitation to add other Concord titles to my personal library nor would I hesitate to recommend this book to others.
SUMMARY
Highs: Several unique photographs that cover a wide array of subjects with good detailed information in the captions. The four color artwork prints by artist Ramiro Bujeiro.
Lows: Some of the photographs appear to be blurry/fuzzy. Misspellings in the captions through out the book and an incomplete caption.
Verdict: This is a very nice reference book that contains many interesting photographs. This will make a nice addition to anyone’s personal library and will also be a benefit to figure and diorama modelers.
Percentage Rating
85%
  Scale: Other
  Mfg. ID: 6528
  Suggested Retail: $15.00
  PUBLISHED: May 23, 2009
  NATIONALITY: Germany
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 91.62%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 87.02%

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This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.

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About Randy L Harvey (HARV)
FROM: WYOMING, UNITED STATES

I have been in the modeling hobby off and on since my youth. I build mostly 1/35 scale. However I work in other scales for aircraft, ships and the occasional civilian car kit. I also kit bash and scratch-build when the mood strikes. I mainly model WWI and WWII figures, armor, vehic...

Copyright ©2021 text by Randy L Harvey [ HARV ]. All rights reserved.



Comments

Randy, nice review, thanks for doing it. I had problems with my last review the pictures had lines on them. I finally cleared it up by saving the picture in a smaller size then resizing it to 800 x 600. They came out alright after the second resizing for some reason. Joe
MAY 23, 2009 - 08:20 AM
Joe, Thank you and you're welcome. Thank you also for the advice. I will have to give that a try next time. I enjoy doing the reviews but I always have a hard time trying to decide what to say that I think will help people make a decision about the product. It really is a nice book and I appreciated getting it. Thanks again. HARV
MAY 23, 2009 - 03:05 PM
Great Review. I found it very helpful it that you described the photo captions as being quite detailed. A big plus for modelers. Thanks milvehfan
MAY 23, 2009 - 03:21 PM
Milvehfan, Thank you, I am glad that you like the review. I appreciate your kind words. I did enjoy the book and I hope to be able to do more reviews on future Concord titles. Thanks again, HARV
MAY 24, 2009 - 05:03 AM
Good one, Randy! How does this one compare to the Osprey "Men-at-Arms" series which I already have?
MAY 24, 2009 - 06:26 AM
Thanks Bill, I appreciate it. I'm afraid I can't answer your question. I haven't seen any of the Osprey "Men-at-Arms" series so I can't compare it. Sorry. HARV
MAY 25, 2009 - 12:24 PM
@ Randy, excellent Review - thanks! @ Bill, it's a different approach to the subject area. Osprey are useful, IMO, as more-detailed background reading and (usually) have a first-class text and some nicely executed color plates. However, Concord, in their series' do tend to give more in the sense of contemporary images and also some impressive color plates. Concord are more an illustrated series and apart from 2-3 pages of background, do tend to let the captions tell the story. Unfortunately, in some of their books, it's the Editing which lets them down a bit. They also tend to go for more (and smaller) images which sometimes can be quite frustrating. although the quality of their images HAS improved in the last few years, there a still a percentage of 'muddy' images. Another tendency they have (and this is NOT the fault of their Authors) but rather the commissioning Editors, is to cover a 4-5 year period in 1 (sometimes 2) volumes. There IS a growing tendency for publishers such as Firefly Books (formerly the Factory Publishing) to do books which cover aspects of a specific campaign. This makes for having to buy more books, but, in the end, it's worth it...
MAY 25, 2009 - 08:20 PM
Thanks Jim, I appreciate it. Thank you also for comparing the differences between the Concord and Osprey series. Thanks again, HARV
MAY 26, 2009 - 11:06 AM
   
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