Nuts and Bolts vol. 12 - Schwere Zugkraftwagen 18ton and Variant  FAMO "Bulle" (Sd. Kfz. 9)

John Prigent

Nuts & Bolts Vol 12, Schwere Zugkraftwagen 18 to and Variants, Famo "Bulle" (Sd Kfz 9), by Dr Nicholaus Hettler, publiished by Nyts & Bolts, no ISBN.

Released to go with the Tamiya kit, this is a splendid 96-page reference for detailers with loads of detailed closeup photos of Kevin Wheatcroft's restored Famo which Tamiya measured and photographed to prepare the kit - you can't do much better than that! Don't be fooled into thinking that all this has been covered in various magazine articles, the N&B team took many more photos and there's a great deal more to the book. Six colour pages give four complete camouflage schemes and a grreat selecton of markings for various variants, the text is comprehensive and authoritative, and there are loads of wartime photos as well as 1/35 plans of all known variants - not just the towing (early, late and with spade), artillery and both crane bodies but also the special type with an 8.8 cm FlaK cannon on the back.

Did I say authoritative? From the text and plans I learnt that Tamiya has copied Kevin Wheatcroft's Famo to the extent of giving it the exteneded and widened chassis used by the SdKfz 9/2 with 10 tonne crane, and that there's no evidence to show whether this chassis was or was not used for towing vehicles. Very highly recommended!