AIRBRUSHING AND FINISHING SCALE MODELS
Osprey Masterclass
This Osprey Masterclass book discusses the fundamentals, getting started, basic techniques and over 100 pages of specific examples of aviation, armor and other vehicles. There are nearly 400 color photos throughout the book. 192 pages, spiral bound so the book can be easily left open to the desired page, 9 chapters with a bibliography of written and online information and index.
The chapters of airbrushing basics and fundamentals are very clearly written and provide a good fund of information about airbrushes in general and, specifically, getting started using an airbrush. The two largest chapters offer LOTS of photos to show exactly what the author is discussing. There are start to finish examples of airbrushing a Blackburn Firebrand, Lancaster, LaGG-3, Skua, B-25J, Me110E (love those night fighter paint schemes!), Me109G2, Meteor F (an example of painting silver), P51B (painting natural metal finishes), KV-85, Hetzer and Renault Alpine! There are examples of just about every possible technique. I particularly liked how the author showed his own “painting disasters” and how he dealt with them – painting the colors in reverse order on the Lanc’s wings and damage caused by paint coming off when removing the masking tape. It is nice to know that even experts have hiccups.
Why airbrush miniatures at all? It is just not possible to get the proper look to many vehicles using a brush and paint – the camouflage schemes of many tanks and planes had “soft edges” that only a airbrushing can reproduce. The results can be stunning and very realistic looking. Airbrush beginners and experts can learn lots from this book.
Price: $39.95
http://www.ospreypublishing.com