introduction

We’ve heard that you can’t judge a book by its cover, although in the case of this new publication by Ángel Iñigo, Tiger II Porsche, the cover does play a bit of a part in its usefulness. This spiral bound hardcover book is contained within another outer hardcover that folds out into its own stand, like an easel, to sit on your workbench. No more craning your neck to view the pages, no more breaking the binding or weighting down the corners to keep the pages open. Ángel has my interest already.

This first book in the Scale Model Notebook series (and most likely future volumes as well) concentrates on the build process, adding and enhancing all those little details that the base kit missed or were incorrect. Ángel uses the Tamiya 35169 as the base (readily available for a decent price), and also leftover pieces from DML’s 6302…finally a good use for all those leftover Dragon parts! Also used are pieces from the Eduard PE set, Lion Roar screens and an Aber barrel.

inside the book

The book itself contains 107 spiral bound pages in a landscape format, printed on quality paper that should stand up well over time. The text has been translated into English, not a perfect translation but understandable enough and easy to follow for the most part, and in English only…no dual text. Each photo is numbered which relates to its caption, a true step-by-step process.

It does have a Contents page, broken down into 15 chapters. These are further broken down into sub-chapters with corresponding pages, which make it very easy to find the area that you want to work on.

Chapters:
• Publisher’s Note, Ángel starts the book off with a one page introduction with his intentions and goals.

• History, two pages on design, production, reliability, combat and the story of Anneliese.

• Modeling Tools and Supplies are covered on two pages with pictures and descriptions.

• Tracks are on three pages and guides you through the assembly of indy links.

• Zimmerit follows on two pages using putty, Ángel includes this as an inexpensive option to aftermarket sets.

•Chapter Six takes three pages in preparing the Tamiya turret for further detailing.

• The next 29 pages deal with the turret and gun assembly, detailing the hatches, cupola, periscopes, etc. Painting of the turret interior is quickly touched on here also.

• Chassis: Front spans eighteen pages and goes into super detailing the hull which includes hatches, mudguards, pioneer tools, lights, tow hooks, etc.

• Thirteen pages take up the Engine Deck adding screws and further detailing both styrene and PE parts.

• Chapter 10, the rear hull, is covered by eleven pages, with five of those dedicated to the exhaust system. Sprucing up the jack and jack block, along with much more is also covered in this chapter.

• The Chassis Sides follow on nine pages, enhancing the tow cable and more pioneer tools. The side track guards are gone into detail here as well.

• Chapter 12 is basic paintwork. Even though this manual is more focused on the detailing steps of construction, 3 pages show paint and weathering steps. The approach taken here is excellent, showing what each step accomplishes.

• Chapter 13 showcases the finished painted model, here it would have been nice to also see the finished unpainted model.

• A single page has images of the painted figures by Lorenzo A. Martinez.

• The final chapter is the bibliography.

conclusion

It’s evident that this is a well thought out book. The detailed photos and drawings, coupled with the descriptive text, make this an in-depth step-by-step manual. Many of the procedures can be adapted to other kits, and subjects other than the Tiger II.

MIG Productions is the international distributor for this book.