Carlos Martin reviews the latest title from Joaquin Garcia Gazquez, a detailed guide to build small scenes.

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Hmmm, seems like this book tries to cover everything in small space. I understand that building, painting and weathering figures and vehicles is important but there are so many instructions and SBS manuals that there is really no need for new one.

If book is about building vignettes it should focus on that, how to create dynamic setting in small area. And not rehash same advice on shading and highligting figures and where and how to build dust and dirt deposits on vehicles.

Maybe book like this would be handy 20 or 30 years ago when you couldn't find advice on painting online and one, jack-of-all-trades book was good addition to your reference library. But now you have so many bigger books that manage to be both wider and more detailed (though also more expensive) and focus on actual build and not on building figures.

Yes, tell me how to make a tree, shrubs, bushes, wooden fences and unpaved roads, don't tell me how to paint a figure. When I need advice on that I'll grab one that has "Figure Painting" in title.

Looks like a complete guide to me!

The strength of this book is the task of condensing a great idea in a small vignette. Joaquín García Gázquez experience is showcased in this book which is a compendium of all concepts composition and creative work required for creating a vignette observing just the greatest simplicity and proportionality. The book teaches us how to use Golden Mean or Golden Ratio in modelling, how to undertand the workings oh the visual perception and some Gestal theory.
This is what really makes this book different.
What amazes me after reading this book is the explanations about how to create the composition, not only for a vignette but also for any kind of diorama.
Joaquín makes the composition easy to undertand to modellers.

The book will be distributed by Stevens International soon!

Possibly useful as a good oversight and general primer on the subject. Can't hurt.

Frank, this is not an overview or introductory book, what surprised me was the depth of the coverage, yet for different areas.

The sections for vehicle weathering or figure painting could fit perfectly on a dedicated volume, and used independently of building a scene or not.

There is no wasted space on this book, I found all pages to be worth reading or looked at. And the information is perfectly condensed.

Honestly, I feel that this guide is full of useful resources and I have no doubt there is room for it nowadays.