Nordic edge 2

Introduction

As Toni Canfora states in his introduction The Nordic Edge Model Gallery vol. 2 is not a step by step book but rather a gallery presentation of the work of Scandinavian Modelers and an insight into the inspiration and historical context behind their models.

The featured modellers are: Per Olav Lund, Mirko Bayerl, Andreas Bennwik, Ulf Blomgren, Lars Brändström, Toni Canfora, Magnus Fagerberg, Johan Fohlin, Anders Isaksson, Öyvind Leonsen, Pekka Nieminen and Marcus Eriksson.

Book Contents

The book is 148 pages with 200 photos, mostly taken by Pär Lundberg. .
(NB Any lack of quality in the photos accompanying the review is due solely to my new scanner.)
The book is divided into four chapters with sub chapters for each model.

Dioramas & Vignettes, This features 5 Dioramas; one from Ulf Blomgren and two each from Per Olav Lund and Magnus Eriksson.

Per Olav Lund’s “Norway 1940” features a Panzer 1 and crew interacting with some Norwegian civilians while his second dio “Courtesy of the USAAF" shows a USAAF pilot surveying the wreckage of a German Train. As is usual with Per Olav both dios are chock full of tiny details and the photos are excellent. He also includes a lot of written detail about how he composed and made the models and groundwork including a useful illustrated step by step on painting faded and chipped wood.

Magnus Eriksson’s “Vodka for Lenin” shows T-34 and crew at Kursk having a glass of vodka before entering the battle while his “A Taste of Home” shows a GMC Clubmobile and its GI customers in France 1944. Again the detail in both dios is stunning with the plants and grass in “Vodka for Lenin” really standing out for me.

“Getting High In The Low Countries” by Ulf Blomgren shows some German troops cutting free an “M” balloon from a windmill.
The windmill itself is spectacular as is the groundwork. The attention to detail in every corner of the dio is evident in the photos. I particularly like the Tamiya bicycle converted to a delivery trike.


Figures Gallery,
This chapter has eight sub chapters; three by Magnus Fagerberg ”LRDG”, “US Navy Diver,” which includes a Step by step painting guide for faces, and ”SS Sturmbannfuhrer” Johan Fohlin has a good article on painting the Hornet ”SS Tanker” in camo overalls which includes a Step by step on painting the SS plane tree pattern. He also shows his excellent vignette ”Kurland Kessel” which shows how Dragon Gen 2 figures can be used almost straight out of the box to very good effect.
Andreas Bennwik’s article is on painting Platoon’s ”Russian Tanker” while Lars Brändström paints a slightly converted Hornet German figure in “Pak Gunner.”
The most ambitious piece in the Figures chapter has to be “Talvisodan Kapteeni,” Pekka Nieminen’s 1/16 sculpt of Finnish Winter War hero Aarne Juutilainen with Magic Sculp putty. This includes some excellent notes on sculpting as well as in progress shots of the figure

Historical Article This time round there are no models from Mirko Bayerl but instead he treats us to an in depth historical article: “Husarenstreich,” The attack on Stuhlweissenburg. This shows the in depth research Mirko does for the background of his models and can be seen as a companion piece to Mirko’s model of a Sdkfz 250/8 from that battle featured in Nordic Edge 1

Vehicle Gallery The last chapter shows six vehicles. Two are by Lars Brändström: “DODGE WC-51 Beep” and “Operation 25” - a 1/35 scale SdKfz 222 in Yugoslavia 1941. Johan Fohlin’s “On the Baltic Front” shows an SdKfz 250/9 of the Nordland SS Pz. Gren Division in Latvia 1944. Øyvind Leonsen’s “Renault UE” is a build of the recent Tamiya kit depicted abandoned after the Allied retreat from Norway in 1940. Anders Isakson’s “Awaiting Orders” depicts an M36B1 using the Tamiya M4A3 hull and Academy turret. Toni Canfora’s “What’s for Dinner” is a British Sherman III on the Catania Plain in 1943, its way being blocked by a sheep.

As with the rest of the chapters the photographs here are excellent. Most articles also include a historical reference photograph and the modellers go into some detail on the background of the vehicle depicted as well as giving their sources of inspiration and reasons for choosing a particular kit.

Conclusion

I like this book and will refer to it again and again. I highly recommend it to modellers of any level. True it is intended as a showcase for Scandinavian modelers and it does this very well but there is also a lot of good information to be gained by modellers.