Reference, Wings & Wheels R 047, sFH-18 Family in Detail

WINGS & WHEELS PUBLICATIONS


R 047, sFH-18 Family in Detail. By Frantisek Koran, Jan Mostek and Petr Dolezal. Soft covers, 8.75 x 9.5-inches, 72 pages. Contains 16 B&W photographs and 315 color photographs.


As a divisional asset, the German 15cm s.FH18 (heavy field howitzer) formed the backbone of the vast majority of Wehrmacht field divisions’ Artillerie-Regementer. This piece was designed to be towed on roads behind motor vehicles (typically the mittlerer Zugkraftwagen 8-ton, Sd.Kfz.7) in a single load, or broken down into separate loads (gun tube and carriage) to be dragged forward by two teams of six horses each.


Recently, both DML and Trumpeter released kits of this piece in 1/35th-scale, depicting the version that was usually towed by a motor vehicle. Typically, there is not very much available as references for towed artillery, especially where modeler’s needs are concerned. As part of their growing stable of photo-centric reference books, Wings and Wheels Publications from the Czech Republic has just released a title devoted to the 15cm s.FH18 and several of its more unusual derivatives. Curiously missing from this book is coverage of its close relative, the 10cm K18 field gun.


The text is rather brief and gives a sketch of the howitzer’s development, followed by basic technical specifications. Unusual for this series, the book also includes 16 war-time archival images, some of which show the 15cm piece in various stages of destruction; the remainder depicts it being towed or emplaced. Although the 10cm gun is (supposedly) not covered here, at least one archival photo shows just such a piece being towed on page six, bottom. It is clearly identified as a 10cm gun by the longer and thinner gun tube. But I digress.


The main coverage is provided by over 300 high-quality full-color photographs taken of preserved examples at various European and North American museums. The types covered include:

• 15cm sFH36 (the re-designed and lightened version of this howitzer).
• 15cm sFH18.
• M18/47 (post-war Czech conglomeration featuring a Soviet 152mm gun tube mounted on the German carriage).

Aside from photographically covering these specific variations of the gun, there are also 17 images devoted to some accessories such as cartridge cases and their various containers. Both wood and metal containers are pictured, but no projectiles, powder increments or complete rounds are shown.


The photographs are uniformly excellent, being crisp, properly lit and well-composed, all with the modeler’s needs in mind. Minor differences in such things as the detachable earth spades and wheel types are detailed in the brief bits of text seen within the relatively sparse captions. Other items of interest are the small hand-winch used to pull in and run out the gun tube for firing or travel and the auxiliary elevation hand-wheel and its linkages. The sights, their mounts, the breech blocks and the limber also get detailed coverage. The Czech M18/47 also gets complete coverage, using two examples, only one of which has all of the mods present. Finally, the s.FH36 with its slotted muzzle brake is detailed; it is clearly shown how different this type was from the standard piece, particularly the carriage and gun-mount. Essentially, converting an sFH18 to an sFH36 will require an almost complete re-build; modeling an M18/47 will be far simpler. As usual, this reviewer would have preferred more and extensive captions, to accompany the excellent images.


Overall though, this book will be an excellent visual aid to the modeler who wishes to enhance the detail on the latest styrene kits. And therein lays its true value.


Highly recommended.


Frank V. Curly Stooge De Sisto


Wings and Wheels books are available from mail order and retail outlets. They can also be acquired direct through their web site at: www.wwpbooks.com.


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