Customer Reviews

Modeling US Armor of World War 2 (Modelling Masterclass)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow!! This is the best I've seen of Steven Zaloga's incredible authorship. In this extraordinarily comprehensive volume, in characteristic style, Zaloga covers the gamut of US World War II armor modeling. From the very basics to the advanced,this book covers in depth construction tips, painting techniques with a wonderful history of Olive Drab, detailed descriptions of stowage and tools, figures, dioramas and photography. This book will serve as an invaluable resource for all AFV modellers, regardless of their interest. As a big collector of 'how-to' model books, from Shep Paine onward, this book is one of the best. I put all my AFV modeling on hold till I got this book, and as a predominantly US and Russian WW II modeler, I'm happy that I did.

In my view, being an Armour modeller for the last 25 years, this is one of the most comprehensive how to books on the subject ever produced.
It comes in a hardbacked ring binder format with each of the sections colour coded on the edge of the page for easy reference of each section.
There are 7 chapters in total dealing with construction, painting, stowage, figures, bases, photography and a couple of pages listing Mr Zaloga's many articles in popular modelling magazines and books. The book is packed with excellent colour photos of nearly all of Mr Zaloga's previous modeling projects most of which i had seen before and a small portion which i hadn't. I don't think the lack of completly new material detracts in the least as the purpose of the book is to catalogue all his tricks and tip into one volume rather than have them spread over so many other publications as in the past.
If you love US tanks, guns and halftracks of WWII in model form then this is the book for you.

As said in the previous reveiws this very instructional and in depth guide book is aimed at 1/35 scale but does cover a little in 1/48 and 1/72.
The introduction does a fairly good job of letting you know Mr. Zaloga and his take on accurate scale modeling and it's evolution. His personality shows through giving the attentive reader more than just a how-to book on models but just a bit of his life and work.

Most guides I have from Osprey are made for the construction of one given item or piece of equipment. They have also helped produce many great historical textbooks on just about every war or nation worth modeling. Mr. Zaloga points out specifically that is not his goal in doing this book. It's all about the mass amount of skill he wishes to share, Master Artist to the apprentice.
With seven chapters (construction tips/tricks, painting techniques, stowage and tools, the human factor, setting the scene, photography, and a short two page further reading section) and lots of pictures and examples this is really a great guide for the novice to expert. There are many good suggestions by Zaloga on were to go on the Web to find help and information.

A great "FIRST BOOK" and go to introduction into a world of model building. I hope you enjoy Mr. Zaloga as much as I did.

Although the title says "Modeling US Armor..." there is more in the book. I just got it to learn master Steven Zaloga's techniques that I was wondering for many years and I am totally satisfied. The book gives valuable information about the US Armor in WWII, especially about some myths that were spreaded for so many years. Mr. Zaloga gives evidences and corrects some of the basic mistakes that many modelers used to know. The techniques can be applied to any AFV model so I strongly advice this book not only to modelers interested in US armor but AFV modeling in general as well.

Modeling US Armor of World War 2 offers a survey of tanks and fighting vehicles in the war and comes from a renowned modeler and AFV expert who provides a definitive guide to modeling these vehicles. Four building projects offer in-depth techniques applied to modeling efforts in a step-by-step guide packed with photos from the author's personal collection of WWII armor.

I'm always looking for a good quality modeling book to add to my collection. I've found that they can be hard to come by. Is this one of them? Well, it's not at the top of my list but yeah, I would recommend this book for any armor modeler. The book is nice with the spiral binding. Wish more were like that. The information is presented well with great pictures to make it clear. You should definitely learn something with the information presented here. My only complaints would be that it spends too much time with smaller scale modeling. Most of the techniques also include examples of 1/72 and 1/48. I only model in 1/35 so that's wasted for me but may be great for you. I think some of the techniques presented are a little old school which reminded me of things I would do when I was young and didn't have the money to buy dedicated tools. Not saying that's bad, and I suppose gets the job done. Also nothing wrong with saving money and using stuff you can find around the house. In my opinion, some of the painting techniques are also dated and don't seem to be real strong. Don't get me wrong, they are superior, but not really current. Just think Sheppard Paine - outstanding stuff but a little plain compared to some of today's modellers. Of course that is just my opinion. Some really hate all the chipping and pigments used today. Nonetheless, I recommend this book and I will be using it for reference in my future builds.

Well I am a modeler and really enjoyed this book. It is written clearly with photos that explain the techniques of the author's painting, builds, scratch builds and many other things. It is broken down into clear chapters in a very good sequence for anyone who is building an armor model. It starts with building techniques, painting then weathering, Battle bits, stowage and tools, The Human Factor-figure painting, Scenery, and also photography. It is an extremely through book on modelling and Steve shares a lot of his secrets about painting techniques, how to build your own storage gear and make simple but beautiful scenery. I will be reading the book again there is so much good information in it and have already started using some of the technique such as building my own storage gear from that chapter. I highly recommend it to all armor modelers. This is one book I will never be selling from my collection.

Terrific book by a talented modeler. This book goes beyond the more common "how to" modeling books that take you step by step through a specific project. This book is much more broad in it's approach and with well written text and profuse illustrations spells out modeling techniques in a clear and easy to understand manner. Highly reccomended.

This book is one of the better modeling manuals available it has many useful techniques and information that even experienced modelers could use. I personally don't find the 1/72 scale modeling interesting and there are several pages taken up with that aspect in the book but I must say Steve does a very good job on models of that scale too.