Hi to everyone in this modelling family of ours ,

Books and references play a massively important part of our hobby and one which I have no hesitation in presenting to you is the latest in the series from Mr Black Publications .

This time its Volume No 4 , the other 3 are proving to be a great addition to my reference library
The links to the other 3 I have reviewed are below:


Vol 1 : http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/scale-model-handbook-1-figure-modelling-1.46172/

Vol 2 : http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/scale-model-handbook-figure-modelling-2.48080/
Vol 3 : http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/scale-model-handbook-volume-3-from-mr-black-publications.51044/

..the question is will No 4 be a welcome addition...lets see ....
What are we looking at then:

Title: Scale Model Handbook 4

Published by: Mr Black Publications

Editor : Stelios Demiras

Proof Reading by : Ken Jones/Charles Davis

Artwork by: Maria Dimou

ISBN: 2241-1054

Price: 14.95 euro's plus shipping

As usual I ordered my copy direct from Mr Black though the website , this was easily done , with no problems , being updated on the order constantly.

As with the others in the series shipping was quick , I received mine in under a week , it was carefully packed firstly being being carefully wrapped and sealed inside and then put into a cardboard cover .

As before the book itself is A4 size, with a matt laminated soft covered consisting of a total of 50 pages (52 with covers) , printed on top quality paper with as with the others being recommended on the cover by Pegaso.
The book is dedicated to the memory of Charles Davis who sadly has passed away , we are all aware I am sure that Charles was one of the cornerstones of Euro Militaire and the modelling community ..a true doyen of our world , respected and a true gentleman ....

Charles at the modelling table in heavan


Moving on now to the book this consists of a total of 7 sections these being :


CONTRIBUTORS

GRIGORIS MARMATAKIS
ALEKSANDER MICHELOTTI
ERNESTO REYES STALHUTH
CHRISTOS STAMATOPOULOS
KAZUFUMI TOMORI

Page 4 Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni - Pegaso Models 75mm (75-033)
Page 12. The Barbarians - Vignette of two Pegaso Models Figures 75mm (75-024, 75-083)
Page 16 Ashigaru Warrior - Pegaso Models 75mm (75-079)
Page 19 Mongolian Archer - Pegaso Models 75mm (75-087)
Page 22 Wehrmachtschütze im Feldanzug, 1939 - Pegaso Models 90mm (90-044)
Page 32 Waffen SS MG42 Gunner - PMC Miniatures 200mm (PMC -9001)
Page 42 Uruk-Hai - Riga Miniatures 200mm (discontinued)


Continued in next post:

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As before we will look at each article in turn , but before I do I would like to state the following which applies to all of the publication:

The way the text is presented , the font used makes it very easy to read , this together with the excellent colour reproduction gives the books in this series an edge over others I have used .

Looking at Article I first written by Ernesto Reyes and using

Pegaso Models Boudicca

In the article Ernesto tackles the Female complextion and Tartan , 2 of the most difficult area's of painting to master , and master he does . Full details of the mixes he uses is included in the text together with how he preps a figure , the subject of tartan is then covered in full detail , all of the text ids fully complimente dby the excellent pictures throughout . Also in the article is how he paints Blonde hair ..again a most interesting area to learn about .Armour and leather mixes are also included .

A great start by Ernesto

Article 2 :

The Barbarians

Using 2 very well known Pegaso Germanic warriors (these are great stand alone figures in their own right) the author Christos produces a striking vignette . Again flesh mixes together with fur mixes are included . in addition to the use of accesories for the base , namely a resin tree and grass tufts , the end result being a particularly striking piece .

Article 3 now:

Ashigaru Warrior

Written by Aleksander , this is a smaller article covering the painting of a very complex subject ..the painting of Japanese clothing designs , I would have like to have more details but even so I learnt that these were done over a acrylic base using diluted oils ..something I will try think . The article is more than helped by the excellent colour pictures particularly the close ups .

Article 4

Mongolian Warrior

The modeller this time is Grigoris , who has chosen a subject which is unusual as IMO it also has a fantasy look about it , saying that its another article which demostrates the different ways female flesh is approached , also in the article are mixes for leather and gold parts ..again very useful with my notebook filling up rapidly . Of particular interest was the way the base was dealt with , a simple yet very effective result .....something that is often overlooked or not given as much thought as the actual model.

Lets now have a look at Article 5

We are moving up in scale now to 90mm this time using a Pegaso figure of a German Infantryman 1939 , the article is called :

Wehrmachtschutze im Feldanzug

Written by Ernesto again , this time dealing with a subject of the German uniform ...of which looking at the reference books scattered about there are many variations and no one definitive colour ....the painting of the jacket is a magical thing to watch and read about , its almost as if Ernesto's paintbrush is working in front of you ..fabulous ...the details of the mixes for this and the different hue of the trousers are all included , together with boots and his excellent flesh mixes .
The end result more than justifys a total of 19 SBS pictures together with 3 FULL page images...a great subject and for me one I enjoyed the most .

Article 6 :

Up a scale again for this article this time we are using a 120mm scale figure from PMC namely:

Waffen SS MG42 Gunner

Written by Kazufumi the article concentrates mainly on the painting of a camo smock (Italian pattern) , providing every bit of information needed to get a great result , together with this with full details and mixes on painting this larger scale flesh area's the article gives some really good information (like the way the 5 o'clock shadow was produced ) As before the article has a mass of pictures this time a total of 22 SBS ones together with4 FULL pages of the finished model . Also as a bonus he explains how to straighten warped resin ..really good stuff .

on now to the final article No 7 ...a bust this time

Up again in scale to 200mm

The article is produced by Aleksander again , choosing a fantasy subject from Riga Miniatures now unfortunately OOP called :

Uruk-Hai

This is the perfect canvas that allowed the modeller to use many different techniques to result in a very unusual completed model .A strange subject to choose but the article shows some great details , the painting is amazing and very fantasy of course , included is how he acheived the different textures on the skin and the armour(this part was particularly useful ..out came the notebook!!) . For the article he uses 2 types of Acrylics Maimeri and Vallejo MC the difference being that the 1st has more opacity and usually made with puer pigment .

A fitting end to the book and a great epilogue .

Continued in next post:

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Hi Guys
,
My Final thoughts :

Like the others in the series this is a book that is well produced , , full of superb colour and a very readable text

The articles are excellent written by the top modellers in our hobby .



Price the same as before , the presentation and paper quality of everything is 1st class , resulting in it being amongst the books that I will refer back to time and time again .


The book is another GREAT addition to the shelf , so why not treat yourself to this and the others if you have not got them (there are some great deals on Mr Blacks website)

I have a Christmas wish Stelios ..can we get No 5 intime for Santa this year

A PLEASURE TO RECOMMEND TO ONE AND ALL

Available from :

Historex Agents

Bookworld Wholesale
(www.bookworldws.co.uk)

In Germany via
Berliner Zinnfiguren
(www.zinnfigur.com)

In Australia via
Firestorm Models
(www.firestormmodels.com)


or contact Stelios direct via his website:


www.mrblackpublications.com



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