Here is another Osprey book in their Masterclass books and referred to as "The essential guide for the serious modeler'. Well as you know, to me a serious modeler is an oxymoron as modeling is supposed to be a fun and pleasurable pastime, but we all know people who are quite involved in the hobby and will take all those extra steps to produce a stellar piece of work.

This book will help you to become one of those people.

First off, this one is hardbound and done so with a sort of ring binding that allows the pages to lay flat once the book is opened. This is important for if you are trying to duplicate a procedure, you don't want to have to continually keep the pages from closing on you. Another interesting feature is that the left side pages are color coded to match color guides to the various chapters. Makes it easy to find what you are seeking in this manner.

You would expect a book like this to be full of large, clear, color images with easy to read captions to help out while you duplicate some skill and that is exactly what you get with no more than three large images per page. You would also expect the book to cover as many different aspects of the genre as it could and that it does quite admirably with everything from working with resin and photo-etch to painting and detailing bases. It is all here under one cover.

Just to give you an idea of what's here, I'll run through the various sections:

Construction tips and tricks
Painting techniques
Battle bits: stowage and tools
The human factor (figures)
Setting up the scene (bases)
Photography

So basically, you are shown everything you need to produce a superlative replica and with several examples to help you along. Now I fully realize that many of us will never really get to the point of some modelers in terms of skills, but books like this are a great inspiration and will frequently provide tips and techniques that are useful at all building levels. It is one that I know you will find useful and be returning to time and time again.

December 2009

 For more on the complete line of Osprey books, visit www.ospreypublishing.com or contact them at Osprey Direct, PO Box 140, Wellingborough, Northants, NN8 2FA, UK. In the US, it is Osprey Direct at 44-02 23rd St, Suite 219, Long Island City, NY 11101., where you can get a catalogue of available books.

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