Customer Reviews

Modeling Realistic Tanks and Artillery: An Illustrated Guide

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This book is more of a curiosity coming from a long line of worthy Kalmbach / Fine Scale Modler publications. The book covers basic skills using plenty of color photographs, but Kalmbach's "Modeling TANKS and MILITARY VEHICLES" by Sheperd Paine written twenty years ago (and which is still available) is more useful and remains more informative. If the title included "Introduction to ... " or "For beginners" I wouldn't have bothered to write this review. If you want to see "realistic" looking armor models, you won't give the cover of this book more than glance. The cover's tank looks like a plastic model in basecoat primer with some chalk dust sprinkled on it, which frankly isn't very inspiring. I would recommend this book to beginning modelers; but for those who have built a few kits, this book will soon gather dust of its own.

Frankly among the basic modelling guides, I always recommend this book to people needing some basic skills. If you're already building models, reading modelling magazines or frequenting modelling websites, you'll probably want to pass. I'd say that this book isn't directed at you. But if you're wanting to mature in your skills from the beginning stages, the book's discussion of model types, tools, techniques and other areas is well written.

As a modeler I consider this book less than basic, and of course useless if you want to improve or just learn any kind of technique. There is a lack of unity and coherence among the descriptions.
I would describe this book as an introduction for a beginner.