Kagero 0016 AMX-30 Family EN - Photosniper No. 16

Kagero 0016 AMX-30 Family EN is a richly illustrated modeling publication from the prestigious Photosniper series, dedicated to the French AMX-30 armored vehicle family. This 96-page English-language book by M.P. Robinson offers an exceptional source of knowledge for both advanced modelers and military enthusiasts, focusing on the numerous variants based on the AMX-30 tank chassis. The publication contains as many as 263 high-quality archival and contemporary photos, as well as 14 color painting schemes that are extremely helpful when reproducing details and the specifics of selected vehicles.

The AMX-30 was the main battle tank of the French Army produced since the 1960s. Many specialized vehicles were derived from its design, including:

• AMX-30D – armored recovery vehicle
• GCT and Au-F1 – 155 mm self-propelled howitzers
• AMX-30R Roland and AMX-30SA Shahine – anti-aircraft missile launchers
• AMX-30 Bitube DCA – anti-aircraft tank with twin cannons
• AMX-30H Bridgelayer – assault bridge layer
• EBG – engineering and sapper vehicle

AMX-30 tanks and their variants were widely used by France and allied countries, both during the Cold War period (from the 1960s to the 1990s) and in post-1990 conflicts, for example during operations in Iraq. The publication also provides detailed descriptions of the AMX-30B2 generation upgrades, as well as specialist engineering and mine-clearing variants still used in modern times.

Kagero 0016 AMX-30 Family EN is printed on high-quality paper and in full color. This material belongs to the "modeling literature" category and is an excellent guide and source of inspiration for modelers building models in popular scales (1/35, 1/72), especially for recreating the painting and detail of historical French vehicles.

I especially recommend this publication to all intermediate and advanced armor modelers, diorama creators, and collectors. The book helps faithfully reproduce both the combat, engineering, and anti-aircraft versions of the AMX-30, and the wealth of photographic and descriptive material allows modelers to raise the realism of their work to a higher level. I rate the modeling utility of this publication as 2/5 in terms of difficulty – the content is clear and appropriate even for beginners interested in armored vehicles.

This Kagero product is an indispensable compendium of knowledge about the AMX-30 – a must-have title on the shelf of every modeler passionate about French and NATO armored vehicles!