Osprey

Modeling US Armor of World War 2 Master Class Series

by  Steven J. Zaloga

Reviewed By  Bart Cusumano, IPMS #31882

MSRP: $39.95 US / $45.00 CAN ISBN: 978-1-84603-398-8 192 pages - hard cover format with hidden spiral binding; 8 1/4" x 9 3/4"; Full color photography accompanies text throughout. Publisher: Osprey Publishing, Midland House, West Bay Botley, Oxford OX2 0PH, UK Website: www.ospreypublishing.com Lately, I have grown skeptical of many of the modeling "how-to" books that are hitting the market place these days. They are either a rehash of old, timeworn ideas with no new information to offer, or they describe techniques that are so complicated as to render the information within the pages useless to the average modeler. With that in mind, I took a look at Steve Zaloga’s new offering: Modeling US Armor of World War 2; Osprey Publishing’s latest offer in their Masterclass Series. I have several of the Masterclass books on my shelf and have been quite pleased with all of them, and this volume by Zaloga ranks as one of my favorites to date. It is a complete guide in building armor models (in this case US armor of WW2) from construction, to finishing, to tips on displays and photography. There is even a chapter dealing with painting figures, something many armor modelers seem to shy away from. The one thing that pleased me about this book right up front (beside the fact that it’s content is almost 100% US armor) was the book’s format: it is hard covered and is bound by spiral binding. The beauty of this is that you can actually lay the book flat and easily read it or refer to it as you work, without pages flipping around on you and without cracking and damaging the book’s spine - brilliant! And the paper stock used is nice and heavy and so will fare well against heavy use. The book itself is arranged in a concise and logical order in seven chapters and an index as follows: Chapter 1: Construction tips and tricks. Chapter 2: Painting techniques. Chapter 3: Battle bits: stowage and tools. Chapter 4: The human factor. Chapter 5: Setting the scene. Chapter 6: Photography. Chapter 7: Further reading. Index. Printing is top notch with full-color, high quality photography on just about every page. Content and subject matter is thoughtful and above all else, useful. Techniques are presented in a clear, easy to follow manner, accompanied by adequate photographic illustration. One interesting feature of this book is the way Zaloga repeatedly interjects useful historical background which is not only of interest, but serves as an aid to finishing a model. For instance, page 80 features a written description of the life cycle of a Sherman tank from the moment it arrives in Europe until it makes its way to battle. In this ‘history’ he describes how the tank is painted and repainted and how it’s repainted again along the way in various ways under various circumstances: all factors that affect the look of the tank and therefore how to properly paint and weather your model lending it historical accuracy. I found especially interesting and useful his treatise on olive drab paint and his FAQ’s on machine-gun and tool colors, just to name a few. The book is well suited for beginners and even has plenty to offer old dogs like me: like his technique for attaching photo-etched parts on page 40 and the use of Artgel in helping to extend the life of your paintbrushes on page 46. There is not alot of wasted space on these pages. The book is content rich and enjoyable throughout. Zaloga’s work is also quite good and interesting to look at and captured well in the book’s many photos. What you are not going to get in this book is a catalog for products and vendors or a product review source. Sure, Zaloga does mention many products along the way in the book, but he does not go into much detail as far as product item numbers and sources - the Internet should suffice for most modelers there. In a way, I kind of like this because Zaloga’s comments on products are motivated more from his use experience than by paid endorsement of vendors. The book is also useful to modelers who don’t build US armor since many of Zaloga’s techniques are applicable even to other armor subjects. The only real downside that I see to this book is the price. At $39.95 (US) suggested list, it may put it out of reach of some modelers, especially in this current economic climate. But to be honest, the book is so chock full of ideas and useful information that even an old cheapie like me would shell out for a copy. So would I recommend buying this book? Absolutely. I would like to thank the folks at Osprey Publishing for providing the book and also to IPMS for allowing me the opportunity to review it.