by: Jim Rae [ ]
After much expectation, Issue 3 of Xtreme modelling has been released. As this is not a 'conventional', magazine, a review of each issue has almost become inevitable.... Third Issue, Something different
I did a full review of XM #2 a month or so ago. This issue seems different in some rather interesting aspects.... I got the third expecting to see a continuation of articles which began in issue #2.... The articles within Issue # 3 are the following:The Maus. This article deals with two aspects of the Maus, firstly a historical overview and secondly some build/painting notes with numerous high-quality photographs of Rubén González's Dragon Model.Tiger II in 1/72nd scale. A well-presented and impressive article by Alex Clark on the construction and super-detailing of Revell's Tiger II.Dragon's JSU122 by Ulf Andersson. This is mainly photos of a superbly-well executed Dragon JSU122. However, for those of us who are unsure of chipping and weathering, this article is a real gem.Befelhstiger I by Antonio Martin Tello. This is obviously the 'Flagship' article of this quarter's edition. No less than 17 pages of construction notes, in-progress photos. 67 photos accompany this article. Yes, 67!Every possible aspect of the reconstruction of Tamiya's late Tiger I is covered in mind-boggling detail.An article on the death of Michael Wittman is presented by Fernando Sanz. Certainly old-ground but not without interest....The Sherman FL 10. A photo-essay by Fernando Perales with some construction/ historical notes of the conversion of the mythical hybrid to end all hybrids, an M4a1 hull mated with a French AMX-13 turret.The FL 10 in the desert. Two pages of photos taken in the Sinai of a wrecked Egyptian FL 10"On-Target". This simple but striking, vignette by Sudhesh Nair, has a German 'tank-hunter' posing in front of the turret of a knocked-out T34-85. The final section contains 3 pages of small (and therefore rather useless) photos of the ModellBrno show in the Czech Republic. Hmm, lots of Tigers about...
No less than three articles are about the Tiger its variants or its most famous 'Ace'. I'm not going down the well-trodden path that "not everyone builds Tigers", I'm not a great fan of German Armor however, I can see some logic in the editor's choice.... The Befelhstiger article is in a word, superb. The techniques shown in this article go into the 'generic' field. If you build Tigers or if you build Rumanian Armor of the 1930s, this article has something for all of us to learn from. The Tiger II is a rare-thing nowadays. A braille-scale build, showing what can be acheived in 1/72nd is something really unusual.I would go so far that the Tiger I article is one of the best step-by-step articles ever done.... The Wittman article? Interesting from a historical point of view, but adds little to the subject. Presentation of the magazine/monograph follows the established format, superb quality pictures and a text which suffers from the (occasional) typo or translation gremlin... Conclusions...
At the outset, let me say that I am a bit dissapointed not to see the conclusion of the articles which were started last month. It almost looks like a new editor has taken-over... The emphasis on German subjects will put many people off, however I would urge people to get it if only to treat those articles as the lead-in to other projects. On the whole I liked this edition. The Wittman article does strike me as a good way to fill-up space, but in fairness, I have never been very interested in him anyway so my judgement is inevitably clouded by prejudice... I would like to have seen more on the FL 10, but again my personal feelings are coming to the fore..... My last feeling is to highly recommend XM and looking forward to XM #4 where we are promised an article on the Bishop SPG and a diorama featuring a Morris AC. Oh yes there is an Elefant article as well.....
About Jim Rae (jimbrae) Self-employed English teacher living in NW Spain. Been modelling off and on since the sixties. Came back into the hobby around ten years ago. First love is Soviet Armor with German subjects running a close second. Currently exploring ways of getting cloned to allow time for modelling, working and wr... Copyright ©2021 text by Jim Rae [ ]. All rights reserved.
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