Introduction

Accion Press from Spain has recently issued Panzer Aces No. 42 in their popular Armour Modelling Magazine series. The issue follows their standard format, perfect binding, A-4 size, with full color photography throughout all of the 64 pages. The articles inside all focus on soft skin vehicles, a bit of a departure from the ‘big boys’ we normally see.

Review

The first article is a very nice twenty page treatment of a small diorama/vignette that features a Kettenkrad, a soldier, a small boy, and a French service station in 1944. The scene is more than busy and eye-catching enough but what really makes the article shine is how builder and photographer Volke Bembennek methodically walks us through the entire process of building the Kettenkrad, the building and the base of the diorama. No off the shelf building for Bembennek he builds everything up himself, brick by brick and wood plank by wood plank, truly first rate work.

Four of the articles have the Willy’s jeep as the focus; the first is a S.A.S jeep from the Libyan campaign built and described by Javier Lopez de Anca. Lopez de Anca begins with the jeep built but unpainted and walks us step by step through the painting and weathering process that he used. Of course, he provides an extensive kit and painting bibliography so you are aware of every paint and product that was employed.

The next is related, an L.R.D.G. “G” patrol jeep from December 1942 by Carlos Guerrero. This article is a bit shorter as it features the finished kit only however you are provided with a complete Colors Chart. The follow up article is a 101st Airborne jeep in Bastogne, December 1944. This article also only provides photographs of the finished vignette; however, it also contains a full narrative of the build including the groundwork and figure(s).

Next we have a ten page walk around feature of two surviving examples that have been kitted out as S.A.S. and L.R.D.G. vehicles. The photography is first rate with the modeler in mind and includes lots of really nice detail shots as well as overall views of the two vehicles.

The subject of the final article is the Italeri SWS halftrack towing vehicle with an 88mm PaK 43 from Alan Hobby built, photographed, and described by Michel Perez. Perez gives a bit more of the build-up of the kits; a good thing as neither is what I would call state of the art. Despite this you can see what happens with a poorly detailed kit in the hands of a master modeler. Of course the focus of the article is not the build itself but the painting and finish that he achieves. While this article does not provide a full list of paints and materials used, most can be determined through the captions of each of the photos.

There you have it, another great issue from Accion Press. If you are interested in soft-skins, or in jeeps (and who isn’t!) then you will want to pick up a copy for your own.

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