U-Boot VII Volume I Book Review

By Michael Benolkin

Review

So you went out and bought one of those magnificent 1/72 scale Revell/Germany Type VIIC U-Boats, didn't you? I sure did, then I nabbed a number of the detail sets, many of which I've reviewed here so you could see for yourself just how much of an AMS modeler you really are. So here I have these great detail sets for a beautiful kit, but I haven't dared to embark on that adventure yet. Why? My reference library is rather bleak on U-Boats, especially to the level of detail I'd want to have before installing some of those resin and photo-etched parts. I remember how well Murphy's Law works in this hobby. AJ-Press to the rescue.

This title is part 1 covering the development, variants and some of the details of the Germany Navy's Type VII submarines. The first 75% of the title has an impressive collection of period black and white photos of the submarines under construction or in service. The narrative, written both in Polish and English, provides some really good insight about the differences and layouts of each of the Type VIIs.

The last 25% of the book is even more impressive. Someone has rendered a full color three-dimensional solid models of the Types VIIA, VIIB, and VIIC boats with close-up looks at the differences in the designs. It is amazing how computer technology has made such capabilities available for studies like this.

In addition, two pull-outs are included in the title. One has more views of the solid models of the submarine from different angles in much larger scale. The other has 1/100 scale line drawings of selected Type VIIs to illustrate some of the developmental differences applied through the type's production.

This title is a must-have for the German WW2 U-Boot modeler as well as the historian. I can hardly wait to see where they go with the future volumes!

Definitely recommended!