Osprey Publishing has long been known for it's useful and reasonably priced reference material in all the fields of interest to modelers and miltary history enthusiasts. In a slight (though related) deviation from their usual reference material, the publishing house launched a series of specialized monographs covering the modeling of a specific vehicle, aircraft or (in a few cases) figures.
Speaking personally, I have reviewed many of the books in the series and my opinion has always been very favorable. It's also worth mentioning that not all of the subjects have been those which specifically interested me, but the value in the books comes in the techniques for building and painting which have wide applications across the board.
The format in all the books is identical - a brief introduction to the subject area, a series of build projects by a number of well-known and experienced modelers, a chapter on available kits and a bibliography of both written and on-line reference sources.
The Book
Modelling the Tiger I (Osprey Modelling 37) contains 80 pages and is written by Gary Edmundson, Dinesh Ned, David Parker and Steve van Beveren. The book is edited by Robert Oehler. The book consists of nine chapters - Introduction, six detailed build projects (5 in 1/35th scale, and 1 in 1/16th). The eighth chapter consists of a bibliography of the vehicle listing both published and internet resources (naturally enough, including Armorama!). The book finishes with an index,
Chapter Headings
Introduction
121’, s.Pz.Abt.501, Tunisia 1943 (1/35 scale)
‘321’, s.SS.Pz.Abt.101, Normandy 1944 (1/35 scale)`
'322’, s.Pz.Abt.507, East Prussia, November 1944 (1/35 scale)
‘1331’, 13./SS-Panzer Regiment 1, Kursk 1943 (1/35 scale)
‘F05’, Gruppe Fehrmann, Germany 1945 (1/35 scale)
‘323’, Pz.Abt.502, Russia 1943 (1/16 scale)
Kits available
Further reading, media and websites
Index
In Detail - A typical project chapter
To give the flavor of the book, i've chosen the fifth project - ‘F05’, Gruppe Fehrmann, Germany 1945 in 1/35th scale. As with the rest of the projects, the chapter begins with a box listing the subject modelled, the modeler, a rough indication of the complexity of the project, a list of the base kit(s) and a list of the Aftermarket (AM) sets used in the build.
The chapter begins with a brief 'biography' of the tank and then briefly explains the general changes/improvements which the author will be making to the vehicle and then goes into specifics of the lower hull, upper hull and turret.
The next section looks at applying Zimmerit to this vehicle (unusual for a vehicle of this period) followed by numerous photos of various stages in the construction process and another sidebar detailing a useful technique for portraying a damaged turret bin.
The second part of the chapter is dedicated to painting and weathering using a variety of well-explained processes including oil-paint washes, painting the tracks, and the application of weathering powders. As the challenge with this particular vehicle was to blend in a camouflaged turret/hull with Panzer Grey stowage bin and barrel without the colors 'jarring' this is particularly interesting demonstration as to what can be acheived with some careful pre-planning and execution.
Conclusions
Due to the popularity of the subject this book should be a huge success for Osprey. However, no matter how popular the subject area, if the book is not well-written and edited, it's going to fail to capture the interest of its target audience. This is certainly NOT the case here. The book is superbly compiled from the work of five different authors and tied together in a logical and easily-understandable manner by the Editor.
Once again, one of the strong areas in the book is the quality (and size of the images). Too often, Osprey (particularly in their older titles) have used 'muddy' unclear and all too small images in their books, as we have come to expect from the Osprey Modelling series the images are superb and assist enormously in understanding the processes presented.
However, as the authors reiterate throughout the book, some of the projects rely a little on 'artistic interpretation' as the vehicles modeled were not always documented and once again, using modelers of this calibre allows them to present a vehicle as 'typical' rather than 100% 'accurate' - an interesting area for debate!
Finally, although I am an 'unconditional' fan of this series of books, I'm still left with a few doubts.,, Firstly, the overall level of complexity is pretty high in this series. They begin at 'Intermediate' level and go to 'Master' which for me is a little short-sighted as many less-experienced modelers may be put off by the generally high 'pitch' of the series. This is company policy, one which I feel should be modified to include an 'entry-level' project.
Specifically, regarding this book, although it is beautifully executed, I did scratch my head at the inclusion of a 1/16th scale subject rather than one in 1/48th scale? Perhaps personal taste or again perhaps the Tiger will be the subject of a future book dedicated to this scale?
In conclusion, although 'Tiger-Specific' modelers of other subjects will find much which is useful in this book - whether it be ideas for construction or finishing and weathering Very Highly Recommended
SUMMARY
The first AFV Modeling title in several months from Osprey Publishing. Like the other books in the series, this promises to be an invaluable source of both inspiration and some highly applicable techniques.
Our Thanks to Osprey Publishing! 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 Jim Rae (jimbrae) FROM: PROVINCIA DE LUGO, SPAIN / ESPAñA
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...
Is it just me? I don't really find these books useful. These books are not really detailed -they just scratch the surface, but leave you digg for more. I have the one about the 1/72 PnzIV, and Hetzer, and they weren't really helpful.
I've learned much-much more from the Building and Weathering Military Vehicles I-II modeling wise.
It's a good book overall, but the 1/16 article is simply outstanding, mandatory buying if you plan to superdetail Tamiya's 1/16 Tiger I !!!
Cheers,
Christophe
Jim,
there's not much to discuss. Simply put: the information content is low. The book I referred to, on the other hand, is outstanding in this respect. It actually details every single process (with photos, always with photos), step by step, so you can try it yourself. It's only useful if you are building that particular kit, and need some advice -but you can read reviews, and online forums as well, and get more, much more info than it's in the book.
I'm in a learning phase -and need every bit of an information I can get my hands on. The Osprey series are simply a bunch of "building" articles, like the ones you can find here, in armorama, nothing more, nothing less. It tells you what AM the builder used, but doesn't really tell you useful tricks and tips how to use these, and which information, by the way, you can gather here. When the author scratchbuilds something, he just says, the "muffler was scratchbuilt", and honestly, this by itself doesn't really help you to actually scrathbuild a muffler. You just read about some nice builds without actually learning anything new. I, personally, call these "plastic porn". Nice read to drool over, but not very useful.
Having bought all the WW2 armor related titles (except the 1/72 scale books) and also the 3 on figures, its quite clear Im a fan of this series. I had stopped buying magazines a few years ago (except for AFV modeller), and I believe this filled that gap for me. They may not be the "end all" of reference books, but I dont think thats the aim either.
I like the layout and descriptions, and I find there to be adequate information for those builds included. I like the fact they take several builds from start to finish, more complete than done by most magazines, and worth the money for inspiration alone. See SvB´s panther book and the interior for the G model!!
Andras .. I cant agree with you here, basically because its aimed for intermediate level and up, and with the short explanation plus images shown, should be enough to scratchbuild that muffler. Selfishly ( ) I like the fact that it starts at intermediate, and Id also prefer they stay in the same scale .. but can live with one subject from another scale. Also its hard to compare this with a web blog, where theres no limit to images, posts and personal input. As Jim has already nailed this with his point on good editing. But Im well aware we all have our own preferences, and this is not a "you´re wrong, Im right" situation ... just a difference of opinions/preferences.
I´ll be buying this book, eventhough I have the "guide to the tiger tank", the older Osprey series tiger modelling book and another Euromodelismo equivelent. The price is fairly good as well (in Sweden). This is cheaper than 2 normal magazines .. MM, MIS, MMI, TM, etc. "or similar" to AFV-M, euromodelismo, panzer aces or MMIR.
So you're saying I'm a beginner?
The book I keep referring to is not written for beginners. It's not about the intermediate levels. You like them, it's fine; what I tried to say is that two or three modeling books I just came around recently turned my world around. And made me see how a modeling book should look like. Besides the already mentioned ones, another -not beginner- book would be Bill Horan's Military Modelling Masterclass. Somehow the wast majority of modeling books seem empty since then. (I stopped buying them the same reason I stopped subscribing FSM.)
It's just an opinion, but I wanted to clarify it. Over and out
Andras,
I consider myself a beginner too, but I bought this book, it is excellent but as you say, not for beginners (and not for modeler's on a budget, multiple kits used in a build plus AM accesories that cost more than the kits themselves - this is my only gripe with this book). I think for us beginners there are two books that are essential: John Prigent's Armour Modeling and Mig's FAQ book. I have learned a ton from those, even though I build mostly 1/72 (limited selection of titles for that scale).
No ... in no way ... with so many opinions and preferences in this hobby,it would be impossible to label anybody
I believe each book, each kit, each AM set will leave a different impression for every modeller, and only they can judge what each individual piece does for them.
I have 3 masterclass books, Horan, Greenland and Windrow (groundwork), and would not compare this Osprey series to those books .... afterall they are half the size and half the price (at least). I have used modelling magazines as my comparisson. And thats basically because of the similar costs for both. For that cost, I feel I get a lot of "bang for my buck"!
Excellent review Jim.
The key to using this new range by Osprey is to acknowledge the fact that it shouldn't simply be taken at face value. In other words the techniques that you see here are not only applicable to Tiger I's, but various AFV's.
An example is the Modelling Fallschirmjager Figures book. I'll bet most people think it's only about Fallschirmjager's. I wonder how many realise that Jaume and Dani list several 'recipes', gives an indepth face painting SBS and even discuss figure conversions and constructing vignettes.
Jim, thanks again for an objetive review.
Rudi
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