AFV Modeller

Special Issue 2008 Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Tamiya's Military Miniatures Series

Reviewed By  Mark Aldrich, IPMS# 39295

MSRP: $10.51 Website: www.afvmodeller.com AFV Modeler Dedicated a 96 page special addition to the 40th Anniversary of Tamiya's Military miniature series. This special edition is filled with eight Tamiya kit builds, an introduction from the editor on his fond memories of Tamiya armor kits, and numerous short remarks from world renowned model builders on their Tamiya memories. There are no real vehicle photographs, no new releases, just the models and opinions. What a great idea for a MODEL magazine. Wow, not even an advertisement for a Tamiya kit. Just the models. Even though there are only eight, they are all superbly done. My personal favorite has to be the Char B1 Bis and I don't even like French tanks. David Parker did an incredible job on the weathering to this vehicle. The other kits featured in this special are listed below.

To Berlin - Antonio Tello Builds the JS-2. Taurus Pursuant - Antonio Tello and Luciano Rodriguez join forces to build a Firefly and Citroen diorama. Char B1 Bis - Editor David Parker does a stellar job. 8 Rad - Sd.Kfz 232 8 Rad gets a modernization boost from Kunihito Kawamura. Tiger 1 - The massive 1/16 Tiger gets heavily tweaked by the editor. Panzer II Ausf.F - Juan Pons shows how to upgrade one of Tamiya's earliest releases. Devastated - Patrick Dorn blows up the 1997 Panzer IV. Su-122 - Mark Neville gives new life to an old favorite.

The work inside this tome is a tribute to both Tamiya and the model builders who finished these fine examples. Those of us that are die hard tread heads will ALWAYS have a special place in our hearts for a certain Tamiya kit. For me personally it has to be the Marder II. There was just something neat about that little caricature on the side armor of that kit that I loved. Plus, it was a fun build to make as well. This is another great issue of models dedicated to Tamiya. I would like to thank AFV Modeller for the review sample and IPMSUSA for a place to post this review for others to see and read. If you are a tread head, like me, then this is a magazine for you. You can subscribe at www.afvmodeller.com.