The fine folks at Mr. Black Publications, out of Athens, Greece, seem to have upped their production schedule a bit, which is good news for those who like superbly done figures. I have to assume that they are getting in a lot of fine articles and this edition is very much up to the standards of the earlier ones. This particular edition contains Three major articles, one minor article and seven gallery items.  All of the articles are superbly done and provide material from award winning modelers. Though it is from Greece, the book is written in English. Though my own figure skills are amateurish by comparison, I like to read articles on how the masters are able to do their work. They make it all seem so easy!

I particularly enjoyed that each one of the writing styles of the various authors was different. It is quite refreshing to read a book done in this manner as often times, the 'how I did it' books get to be rote and dull. Not at all in this particular case.

Each of the articles is loaded with full color photos and each one goes through the steps taken by the builder to reach the results shown. It is pretty obvious why these folks won awards for their work as it is truly superlative. Each of the articles highlights a different aspect of the hobby and as you can imagine, many of them are on the painting of the subject more than any actual construction, but that is not entirely the case.

I have included a photo from the back of the book showing all of the included subjects. You may notice that there is a considerable variety of subjects with this one, which always adds to the interest. 

This edition starts with the cover figure, a 54 mm metal figure, 'Knight of the Holy Sepulcher Order'. The figure is built by Ernesto Stahlhuth and is a 'box to completed project' article. It covers the preparation of the metal parts as well as the painting of the figure. This is a very good one if one has trouble doing horses, which are very difficult subjects to paint. It includes sequence painting images as well as mixing information.

Next is Igor Kordyukov's 75mm scratch built project 'A grey beard but lusty heart'. This project is based on a painting from about 1888 and provides step by step information on sculpting the two figures plus the various items of furniture and other objects in the little diorama. It is a very informative article for those who wish to give scratch building a go.

The third main article is a futuristic bust by Sergei Popovinchenko in 200mm using a Taurus Miniatures figure. 'The Last Resistance Fighter' is as much about casting and weathering the surrounding materials as it is about the painting of the figure. Again, a great choice of articles as it provides information on how to do one's own castings.

Finally, we have a host of gallery items by Christos Katselos. He offers some background information on what is needed for the relative newcomer to get involved in the hobby and then we get to see some of his work, which is, as you'd expect, superb and a great inspiration for those of us who aren't as talented.

Overall, another great issue for the figure modeler and those of us who want to learn some techniques. The end result is an excellent reference book on these various techniques as well inspiration to see what can be accomplished with practice. Highly recommended if you enjoy figures.

Thanks to Mr Black Publications for the review book. Visit them at www.mrblackpublications.com.

March 2014

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