Military Model Scene

Title: Operation Market Garden
Author: Ben Skipper
Publisher: Pen & Sword
ISBN: 978-1-39900-766-5

'A Bridge Too Far', another in the BattleCraft series of books from Pen & Sword and author Ben Skipper. A 64-page soft-cover book in the now set style of the series. A nicely balanced mix of history and models covering this very popular subject.
The opening Introduction sets the scene of the book, which has the first 37 pages devoted to telling the story of Market Garden. It covers the airborne element (Market) and the advance of the ground forces of 30 Corps (Garden). There is a guide to the various senior commanders on all sides, along with a useful Order of Battle as well. It goes on to set out the preparations and then the different stages of what happened. Along with some helpful maps there are plenty of archive images throughout, sourced from both the IWM and Bundesarchiv in particular. The remainder of the book is devoted to the modellers section, each with some background on the 4 specific vehicles that are chosen with a Quartermasters Stores, with details of available models and then a Modell Showcase illustrating a specific model build. There are 4 subjects, the Tamiya 1/35 Cromwell, the Tamiya 1/35 Panther G, the 1/35 Kettenkrad from Das Werk and finished off with the Italeri kit (old ESCI) of the 1/9 Triumph 3HW motorcycle.
Working within the limitations of the BattleCraft series, this is aimed at the new or returning modeller, with the basic historical story of this famous operation from September 1944, coupled with a guide to some basic builds along with painting and weathering techniques for some models of subjects that would have taken part in the battle. The BattleCraft series is a relatively new series from Pen & Sword and fitting all the historical and modelling content together within the format of the book is a challenge, and I think Ben has managed to find the balance rather well.
Thanks to Pen & Sword for our review copy.

Robin