introduction

I love learning new techniques and seeing master modelers present their methods so I can ape what my poor clumsy fingers will allow. The problem is that many magazines only have 1 or 2 articles like that and, to be blunt, often have builds that are fairly basic or pedestrian. With magazines creeping to the $10 mark and with a plethora of build-logs and detailed technique postings on sites such as this it is often tough for me to cough up the cash these days.

Military Illustrated Modeler, both the AFV and warplane versions, have consistently provided value for the money. The modelers are top notch, the descriptions are thorough and very well photographed, the paper and photo quality are high, and I have a tough time reading an issue without finding at least one technique that I want to try. With that said, what will you find in this issue?

the magazine

66 Pages, all in color with 6 pages being ads/contents/teaser for the next issue.

Contents:
Page 4: News
A one page section that contains news of upcoming kits and paint sets. Useful, I suppose, if you don't have internet access.

Page 6-11 Lukasz Orczyc Musialek builds Hobbyboss's 1/35 ZBD-05 IFV.
This article breezes through the build to focus on the paintjob and weathering. These are well done and the spattered beach sand effect is quite well done and the weathering is light with the exception of scratches to display a vehicle recently in the water. One thing that all the articles have that I very much appreciate is a list of all the materials (kit, aftermarket, paints, and pigments) used in the build.

Page 12-13: Ordnance Depot
Here we have two pages covering various detail sets. They have chosen good examples and the photos are very nice but again, as I have access to the internet and routinely read the various upcoming releases site sections, it's a wash for me.

Page 14-21: Angus Creighton builds 2 Tristar Panzer 38(T) kits
This guy isn't half bad and he's probably a guy to watch. . . Kidding aside, obviously he is one of the masters and he spends the bulk of the text on the actual build and allows some photos to detail the painting. The builds are lovely and the photos are top-notch, in fact 5 of the pages are a photo essay with captions.

Page 22-27:
Marcus Nicholls does a photo essay of some of the Normandy bunkers as they look today with a few photos of how they looked back following the Normandy invasion. The photos show some interesting details and also show the toll the weather has taken on them.

Page 28-37 Jose Luis Lopez Ruiz builds Tamiya's 1/48 Tiger I
Annnnd...here is why I bought the magazine. The build is very nice and the weathering is highly effective but this photo essay covers a very interesting approach to painting. In essence, the model is painted as a black and white color modulated kit, chipped, color washed, and then weathered all in shades of gray. Only when all of this is done is the actual Panzer grey lightly spayed on, almost as a glaze to add color to the kit. It looks fantastic on its own but also got my brain grinding in regards to how to use this approach to allow different paint schemes to unify themselves prior to the camouflage paint. I also have a 1/1000 Star Trek Enterprise build that I've been struggling with color modulating that may be resolved with this. When I paint my Trumpeter E-50, I'm going to try this technique out.

Page 38 AFV Club M42A1 Duster kit preview
Marcus Nicholls spends a page discussing what you'll find in the box.

Page 40-47 Photo Essay of Allied bulldozers in WW2
An interesting essay that combines detail photos of a restored D7 with period photos of various bulldozers in action. Some interesting diorama and weathering ideas.

Page 48-55 Andrea Maselli builds Italeri's AB-41 armored car
Remember when we detailed these kits with scraps of plastic, lead foil, wire, and tubing and not much else? So does the author! 3 pages of the photo essay demonstrate exactly that and, while perhaps not "new" they are very useful walk-throughs of how to add detail to kits when aftermarket is not available or too expensive. The painting of this challenging scheme is well described and the weathering is subtle but effective.

Page 56-63 Marcus Nicholls begins building Masterpiece Models PACV kit
The build is somewhat briefly sketched and again the format is primarily as a photo essay with captions. Mostly this article shows you what the kit is like as it builds more than a description of how to build it. There are some helpful tips for building this particular resin kit but it is not a primer on how to build generic resin kits.

Conclusion

One of the best AFV magazines for modelers has a new issue. Several fine builds and one innovative approach to painting and weathering tanks is included, making it $10.95 well spent.

There's not a weak lemon in the bunch. All of the builds are very well done to a high standard and the coverage is through and well illustrated. We're only on issue 18 but so far if this magazine isn't consistently at the top of the list it's because another magazine tied it. Very well done publication and the usefulness is very high. My only suggestion is to continue adding some of