IPMS/USA Reviews

Whether I am reviewing his armor books as now, or his aircraft books, like my previous review on the SBD, I am always finding David Doyle's books to be tremendous additions to the reference bookshelf. I find myself referring to them numerous times, whether for my own projects or to check on something for friends asking advice. The best advice, of course, is to buy themselves their own copy of the book...and this Legends of Warfare volume on the Tigers is no exception.

The book is not the end all or be all purchase that you'll never need anything else to buy for the library. It is, however, a good place to start for someone transitioning to armor modeling for the first time, or just looking to build one of the various offerings of Tiger kits available. WWII buffs in general will thoroughly enjoy looking through the texts and various photos. Enough babbling...what's inside Mike?

Brengun, based in the Czech Republic, is known for producing a range of photo-etched and resin accessories for airplane models. They also produce a small number of 1/72nd and 1/144th model sets in both plastic and resin. One of their resin kits is the T-62 Main Battle Tank in 1/144 scale.

The T-62 entered service with Soviet Union in 1961, and remained in service with the former Soviet Union until the early 2000s. Originally, designed as an upgrade to the T-55 series of tanks, the T-62 was the first tank armed with a smoothbore gun and replaced the T-55 as the standard tank of the Soviet army. While the T-62 is no longer in service with the Russian army, it is still commonly seen on today's modern battlefields in Syria and Yemen.

At 1/144 scale, most kits are small, but the Brengun kit is really tiny. It comes packed in a small, side opening box, that's not much bigger than a matchbox. However, what the kit lacks in size, it more than makes up in detail. The kit contains 9 resin parts, a small photo-etch sheet with 14 parts, a small decal sheet, and a simple set of instructions.

Guideline License Publications has unveiled a new series, Warpaint Armour. Instead of a monograph on a single aircraft, this series will contain a series of articles that focus on tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles that shaped pivotal moments in the history of modern warfare. Warpaint Armour will showcase articles by a team of experts utilizing the latest research. Each article features historical photographs along with color pics of museum displays or renovated AFVs from World War I to the current day. Each volume will feature eight focused articles and a modelling gallery, showcasing some of the finest models that have been seen in Miltary Modelcraft International over the last decade. Each article will also include specially commissioned color profiles in conjunction with Acrylicos Vallejo model paints.

The author of this tome, Mario Eens, is well known to those on the international modeling scene as an award winner at European model shows, together with being a regular contributor to the excellent French modeling magazine, Steelmasters. The book itself consists of a master class in building, painting and finishing scale models, divided into five chapters, and spanning 128 pages measuring 8" x 10".

Despite the title stating the contests are about tank models, one of the five subjects is a figure. I also find the subject choices rather scattered in nature. The German subjects didn't see action in Russia, which I thought might have been the theme of the book just looking at the title, and the subjects are a mixed bag when it comes to scales. Three of the five chapters cover 1/35^th subjects, while the other two are 1/72^nd and 1/48^th. My experience with most modelers is that they stick to one scale? Be this as it may, what do we get for our money with this book?

Kagero Publishing is one of the world's preeminent publishers of military vehicle and aircraft books aimed at the modeling community. The book under review is from their Photosniper series, and the author, Dick Taylor, is a leading author on British military vehicles. The book is 88 pages in length, with a card cover. The pages measure 8.3" by 11.7", on glossy paper. All the photos within its covers are color, with good production values. There are also three pages of color profiles, covering 6 different vehicles.