The fine folks at Mr. Black Publications, out of Athens, Greece, are on a three month publishing schedule and so it is time for the next edition. This particular edition contains eight articles on various aspects of the wide world of figure modeling, ranging from quick looks to very detailed articles. 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.

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 the eight subjects and some of the images from the gallery article.

In no particular order, these articles are on an SS officer and his dog in 90mm, which is also the cover item, a U-boat crewman bust in 120mm, another 120mm bust of a Soviet Naval infantryman, a Gallic Chieftain from the 1st century BC in 75mm, a 180mm figure of General Marcus Antonius, a 90mm Pausanias at Plataea, a 75mm figure of General Emmanuel De Grouchy, and finally a German Falschirmjaeger bust in 180mm.  1

A variety of techniques and painting are done on each one and any modifications to the base kit are detailed. Some articles provide a full tool and color listing while others simply mention these items in the article. 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.

July 2012

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