The Tank Primer is delightful art book by illustrator Morinaga Yo documenting the inner workings of the WWI British tank Mark 1 ( commemorating its 100 year creation since 1916 ) as well as other early armored vehicles that led up to its inception. I have no special interest in tanks or warfare but the artist’s lively drawings caught my eye, the style and presentation somewhat similar to Miyazaki Hayao’s Daydream Notes.

Books as such are particularly popular in Japan because of a thriving fanbase for miniature model toolkits, and are often commissioned by model makers like Tamiya or Modelkasten.

The lively and beautifully detailed drawings and illustrations by Morinaga Yo make for an interesting read, even if you aren’t particularly into tanks or understand the Japanese captions. Recommended.

The artist also has a couple of other art books which I am planning to review in the near future.

“The Tank Primer Vol 1 私家版戦車入門1: 無限軌道の発明と英国タンク” art book details :

Dimensions – 25.7 x 21 x 0.8 cm
Soft cover, 72 pages
Full color, In Japanese ( book contains mostly art work )

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