After the 5th theme book dedicated to German Army; now MrBlack Publications released the 6th book of series for World War II Allied Forces.
Including articles of well known modelers, it provides many different approachs and techniques for sculpting, converting and painting scale figures, busts and dioramas. Color codes and mixtures for acrylics, enamels and oils to paint different unifoms and camouflage patterns are explained. Authors share their methods by useful hints.
Review
As in all theme books,book is in A4 format with a laminated cover and 84 pages. It includes 18 articles.
US M3 Stuart “Honey” - A Desert Armor Diorama - 50mm (1/35) ; Noel Petroni shares his M3 Stuart Honey with British tankers at briefing scene. This is a very nice step-by-step article including all elements on making a diorama. He shares how to assembly the tank, using PE parts, painting, applying decals, weathering, how to paint the figures and creating the terrain. 12 pages with more than 50 photos and explanatory texts in numeric sequence.
Young Desert Warrior - Painting a Bust of a New Zealand Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) Trooper 1940-43 - 180mm (1/10) ; Mike Butler paints Young Miniatures 180 mm bust YM1832 British LRDG 1942 North Africa. He shares his color recipes for face and cloth painting with 3 photos of the finished bust.
General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery - Sculpting a 120mm Figure for Commercial Casting (Step by Step & Sculpting) - 120mm (1/16) ; Another well detailed article. Igor Kordyukov describes how to sculpt a figure starting from a framework or armature, finishing as a masterpiece. He shares the materials he used and explains all steps with many detailed photos. In this article, Igor sculpts Tartar Miniatures TR-120-38 General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery in England,1943. The article has 70 step by step photos in 6 pages.
BAR Gunner US, 29th Infantry Division - Painting an American WWII Soldier for Box Art (Box Art) - 120mm (1/16) ; Ernesto Reyes Stalhuth explains his painting for head, helmet, jacket, trousers, boots and M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle with color recipes. He also tells about how to do the groundwork. 15 photos including painting steps of jacket, suspenders and ammo pouches.
28th Maori Battalion c.1941-1943 - How to Paint Realistic Textures on Large Scale Figures - 300mm (1/6) ; Absolutely a top-quality step-by-step by Mike Butler. He explains how he painted in 28 photos and 6 photos for finished figure in 10 pages.
“The Cannon” - Recreating a Scene from a Historical Picture, 50mm (1/35); Javier Gonzales-Arsies shares his award winning diorama inspired from a black white photo with a howitzer and kids. He explains how he built,painted and weathered the cannon, figure convertions for the kids and terrain work for this small scene. 14 photos in 6 pages.
Soviet Naval Infantry WWII, “The Black Devil” - How to Paint a Large Scale Bust of WWII Era in Acrylics & Oils - 180mm (1/10) ; Christos Panagiotopoulos paints Young Miniatures bust and shares his color recipes with 3 photos of finished bust.
British 8th Army in North Africa 1941-1943 - Building & Painting a WWII Vignette Using Commercial Figures - 50mm (1/35) ; Günther Sternberg takes us to World War II with his award winning vignette of Evolution Miniatures British 8th Army in Africa figures. A short but useful article with Vallejo color codes and 6 photos of the vignette.
“Snow” and “Kiwi”, A New Zealand Battle of Britain Duo - “Painting Two Coats” - Painting the RAF Blue-Grey Uniform & a Dog’s Coat with Acrylics & Oils -180mm (1/10) ; Mike Butler paints Life Miniatures 1/10 scale RAF Fighter Pilot bust as one of 127 New Zealender pilots who fought in Battle of Britain. Supported with 20 photos, he shares how he painted the figure, RAF blue uniform and cocker spaniel dog giving codes for Vallejo and Jo Sonja’s Acrylics.
WWII Soviet Female Tanker - Painting a Fair Complexion on a Large Scale Bust - 180mm (1/10) ; Another nice article for painting a female bust. Christos Katselos explains how he painted Life Miniatures WW II Soviet Female Tanker. 5 photos from different angles and I have to admit that excellent painting on flesh tones, uniform, headgear, shoulder boards and medals.
WWII US Infantry Officer, Ardennes 1944 - Painting a US Army Uniform for a Winter Scenario - 50mm (1/35) ; Toshihiro Sano paints Alpine Miniatures figure in Tamiya Enamels giving color codes and shares 4 photos of painted figure.
“Hell on Wheels”, 2nd US Armored Division WWII - Painting a Large Scale Bust of an American Tanker Portrayed by Brad Pitt - 180mm (1/10) ; Qianwei Shi paints Young Miniatures bust depicting Wardaddy character of the movie Fury and presents his painting in Citadels with a short article. 5 photos of the finished bust.
US Paratrooper 101st Airborne, Normandy 1944 - Painting a 120mm Figure with Acrylic and Oils - 120mm (1/16) ; Juanma Vergara paints Mitches Military Models large scale figure in Vallejo Model colors. 5 photos and color codes for all painted parts.
War Daddy - WWII US Tank Commander - Painting a US Tank Commander Based on a Movie Character with Acrylics - 120mm (1/16) ; Another paintwork for Wardaddy. This time Christos Katselos paints Life Miniatures full figure and gives color codes and 5 photos.
WWII British S.A.S. Trooper - Painting Uniforms and Camouflage Clothing - 120mm (1/16) ; As all of his articles; Ernesto Reyes Stalhuth first tells about his preparation and assembly of the figure. Then he explains his paintwork for head, two alternative headgear – beret and officers hat, leather jacket, Denison Smock camo uniform, field gear and terrain. 26 photos in 6 pages.
Australian “Digger”, Kokoda Trail c.1942 - How to Paint Realistic Textures & Body Hair - 180mm (1/10) ; Mike Butler paints AC Models 180 mm bust. Besides sharing his technique and recipes, he explains how to paint body hair on large scale in 3 photos.
US Paratrooper 82nd Airborne, Normandy 1944 - Painting a Large Scale Bust with Acrylics & Oils - 180mm (1/10) ; A short article by Christos Stamatopoulos with color codes and 3 photos of finished bust.
Russian Cossack WWII - Painting a Large-Scale Bust of a Colourful World War Two Russian Cossack in Acrylics - 180mm (1/10) ; Christos Katselos starts with a historical note and short review of World War II Russian Cossack. Besides sharing Vallejo color codes for face, uniform, fur cap, he also gives recipes for painting leather, canvas, wooden and metal parts of PPSh41 machine gun.
Conclusion
High printing quality, high resolution photos with close-up details, explanatory texts with acrylic and oil color codes for base colors, shadows and highlights, personal paint recipes , ease on understanding with numeric sequence on photos. This is really a very worthy reference for all modelers that wants to paint World War II Allied figures or dioramas and improve their painting quality.
SUMMARY
Great reference book to paint WW II Allied figures and scenes. Printing and photos are top quality. Huge number of articles and hundreds of photos in numeric sequence,detailed text with acrylic color codes and artist's recipes for some different techniques on different scale figures, busts and dioramas.
Our Thanks to Mr BLACK Publications! This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.
About Engin Kayral (Graywolf) FROM: IZMIR, TURKEY / TüRKçE
Born in 1962,married and having 2 sons. I started modelling about 8 years old building USS Fletcher with mom. It was a model dad brought from USA., I think in those days only a few people in Turkey had info on scale model kits. Grown as an AF officer son , I built many aircraft models in years. Som...
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