Cromwell and Centaur Tanks: British Army and Royal Marines, North-west Europe 1944–1945 (TankCraft)

What prompted me to buy this was seeing the British Centaur in a paint scheme other than Tamiya's box art depicting the Royal Marines version. It didn't hurt that I also had a Cromwell lurking in my model stash. The 'magazine' (I'll call it that rather than a book) is laid out first with an introduction, then showing the break-down of various regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps with brief narratives, varying in content and length, of each regiment's combat operations. In the middle of the magazine are ten color plates showing various camouflage/paint schemes and markings of both tanks. Included on each of those pages are explanations to both paint and markings. The ONLY complaint I have with the color plates is the lack of the showing the tanks from the top. It's always nice to know how the camouflage transitions from the side up to and over the top vehicle rather than guess. Then a surprise, for me anyway - color photo spread of completed models of both tanks all done in 1/35 scale with the exception of one, and it's 1/48 scale. Next up is a listing of the model manufacturers who make the Cromwell and Centaur such as Tamiya, Airfix, Italeri just to name a few - along with descriptions of the kit's content. The magazine goes even further by not only listing, but showing photos of after-market products available if you want to "pimp your Cromwell/Centaur" - to give you an idea, you have SKP Models, Armourfast, Aber, Accurate Armour, and others. Finally the magazine ends with the last section being technical details and modifications. It goes without saying that throughout the magazine there are photos of both tanks in action, some that are slightly blurry, and as such, the details are a little hard to discern. But over all, more than enough photos that can be used as references if you're building a kit and want to show it "banged up a bit." Again, a total surprise seeing the completed models along with kit break-downs and after market products. I mean that's like sitting down to a plate of mouth-watering sausage and homemade biscuits and Mom comes over and says, "Oh son, I'm not done yet," and pours a big ol' ladle of gravy over top. In conclusion if you're looking for a publication that isn't going to make you wallet say "ouch," I'd recommend the Tank Craft series.

Like the other books in the Tankcraft range this one is of great value to the military historian and and the avid model maker alike.The history of the Cromwell and Centaur tanks and the main differences between them is covered in enough detail to supplement the good selection of photographs that are included in this book.

Very informative piece of work, a must have for any World War 2 tank enthusiast or model maker. I found this very helpful for painting guides and decals.

These Pen & Sword publications are, for the modeller, a godsend concentrating on one or two types within the framework of each book. IMHO this is the best one in the series so far. Reasonably priced too.

Outstanding detail....nothing else to add but to say that I wish that this book was around years ago

great book for models