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IS ARVs - Tankograd Special #1

Andrew Dextras

This is the first special booklet developed by Tankograd Gazette publisher Jochen Vollert. The book’s 36 pages begin by covering the evolution of Stalin tank based recovery vehicles. From the earlier IS-2 based WWII ARVs which were simply turretless tanks to the more sophisticated post war ISU based vehciles, the coverage is excellent. There are numerous 1/76 scale drawings as well as an excellent asortment of very rare action photos. Mixed in with these are some excellent technical manual excerpts and images of existing IS ARVs.

The text throughout is very clear and concise and really gives the reader some excellent insight into the developmental history of the ARVs. The centerpiece of the book are the 20 pages devoted to images of a museum example of the BTT-1 recovery vehicle based on the ISU. This section is also loaded with a large amount of technical manual excerpts and some 1/25 scale sketches which will allow any modeller interested in modelling a BTT-1 plenty of information with which to scratchbuild the external and internal details of the BTT-1. This section would also help any modeller building a resin conversion of this vehicle.

In summary, if you have any interest in late war and post war Russian tanks or recovery vehicles from any era, I highly recommend this book.

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