Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

Setting the scene Volume 2 (Mediterranean Wargaming)

Posted: November 20, 2019 in 1/56, 28mm, Bolt Action, Books, Painting, Reviews, Terrain, WW2
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If your an avid wargamer and you like building terrain, then this

is the book for you. I bought Volume 1(Winter Wargaming) about two years ago and loved the

book so this latest book(Volume 2 Mediterranean Wargaming) was a must buy and Im not disappointed.

The book is a detailed guide to the work of Pat Smith and all the work he has completed over

the years. To cut a long story short a number of years ago Pat decided to collate all his

fantastic work on the wargamingwithsilverwhistle.blogspot.com and put it into a book. Volume 1

was so successful he decided to do another and thus my blog post.

Ok, so what exactly do get for your £20 of money ? You get a 148 page book of glossy pictures

to drool over and in depth step by step guides to building and painting terrain. There is also

information on painting figures and vehicles.

The exact contents includes the chapters:

  •  Introduction.
  •  Materials.
  •  Terrain mat and flexible roads.
  •  Mountain terrain.
  •  Bridges.
  •  Buildings.
  •  Damaged and destroyed buildings.
  •  Olive groves.
  •  Terraced hills,pillbox and blockhouse.
  •  Vineyards.
  •  Orchards and cypress trees.
  •  Terrain clutter.
  •  Figure painting.
  •  Vehicles.
  •  Guest painter- Moiterei talks Italian.
  •  The scene is set.
  •  Links.

What really sells this book is the straight forward descriptions and methods

of how the terrain is created and with such everyday tools. Nothing in this book

is unachievable to the average model maker/wargamer and is a true inspiration to

just start building and gluing.

I cannot wait for the next volume, well done.

If your interested in buying the book, just click on the .link..
 

TANKART 1 by Michael Rinaldi, a book review.

Posted: July 13, 2016 in 1/16, 1/56, 15mm, 28mm, Books, Reviews, Wargaming
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I have been after this book for a while and
finally managed to win an ebay auction at a
reasonable price(£30). Its sounds expensive but
its out of print and highly sort after by the modelling
community.

For your money you get 288 pages of mouth watering, glossy
pages. The first 34 pages are broken up into describing in
simple detail the techniques used in the book and it is all
supported with easy guide pictures and steps.

The remainder of the book is divided into eight sections, each
section covering a build of a different vehicle, showing the
painting and weathering.

I have read a lot of guides and books covering afv painting and
weathering techniques but this is simply the best so far. This book
describes everything in steps and pictures where other books skip stages
or keep back vital information like it is one great secret. Plus you
don’t need to be an expert as its written and explained so well anybody
can learn from it.

My only complaint is that there is so much stuff in this book I
don’t know where to start lol.

This is a must buy for any afv modeller and there are 3 other books
available as well but sadly also out of print. The remaining books
cover allied armour as well.
Hopefully these books will be re-printed in the near future and
everybody can get their hands on a copy.

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“Stout Hearts” the British and Canadians in Normandy 1944,a book review

Posted: November 13, 2015 in Books, British, Reviews
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Another Normandy book I hear you say, well this time

its something different. Yes the subject has been heavily written

about but this book carves out a niche of its own in that takes

a different angle and ignores the general fighting and describes in detail

the way the army actually works.

Ben Kite the author has gone into incredible detail to describe the

ins and outs of army life and how each section of the

armed forces organised itself on a daily basis and interacted with other

branches to achieve and overall impressive fighting force.

The chapters of the book include:

The Infantry
Naval Support
Engineers
Artillery
Air Power & air support
Intelligence & Reconnaissance
Command & Control
Medical Services
Life In Normandy
Armour
Our Greatest Generation

To round it off and give you an idea of this books appeal, I

would rate this as the most important book on my shelves on

the subject of Normandy. The detail describing each chapter

is very impressive with narratives from soldiers explaining

how it effected them in their daily life in Normandy.

I think this quote from Major Joe Lawler Brown sums this book

up ,” A very fine book, ably thought out and extremely well researched.

It reads well and holds attention and interest…It will certainly

rank amongst the best books on the conduct of the WW2 and I wish I

could have had a copy in 1943 when I was first commissioned”.

…………………………………………………….

Lets hope Ben Kite writes a similar book from the German

perspective because I will be the first to buy it.

What I have been reading and browsing over ,as of late.

Posted: January 22, 2015 in 15mm, American, Books, Flames Of War, German, Painting, Reviews, WW2
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Been reading a lot recently and I thought I would

share my views on some of the content.

1st The Americans at Normandy by John C.Mcmanus

The-Americans-at-Normandy-by-John-McManus

One of the best books around and a very detailed account

of what the Americans did after they got off the beaches at

the Normandy landings. This book goes into great detail about

the lives of everyday soldiers and the problems they had to

overcome at great cost. Its still unbelievable after all the

planning that went into D-Day that not a thought was given

to the bocage countryside awaiting them, which would

prove a far greater obstacle than any beach defence and cost

a huge amount of lives. Compelling reading beginning to end.

2nd WWII Diorama Art by Roy Wells

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This is the first book I have bought off Blurb and I was

extremely pleased with it. Its basically 1/35 scale models

set up in beautiful dioramas but we are talking serious,

serious high quality work. The book covers 20 detailed projects

with high quality glossy images of the superb work. You also get

an inside look towards the end on how the dioramas are built.

For me its something I just pick up now and again when I need

a bit of inspiration or want something to drool over.

3rd Painting Wargame tanks by Ruben Torregrosa & Mig Jimenez

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For those of you that recognise the name, “Jimenez” you

probably know what your going to get and your right. Lots

of painting guides using Mig paints(Vallejo) and pigments.

Lots of glossy step by step guides on painting tanks ,including

an early Sherman, Stuart M5 and a Panther Ausf G, Panzer IV,

Panzer III, SDKFZ 251, T34 and Tiger. The book is also split

up into a beginners section and advanced painter.

All in all a good buy with lots of mouth watering pictures.

4th Painting war WWII German Army by Heresybrush

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I found this book on http://www.breakingwar.com and also on

http://www.heresybrush.com and its a lovely painting guide on

WWII German soldiers. What makes it really specially is that

includes step by step guides on different size models so

even 15mm is catered for. Once again the guide is Vallejo

paint only but this seems to be the norm in most military

painting these days. This is a very detailed guide and on

looking at the contents covers just about every German uniform

going and more. A must for any miniature German soldier painter.

……………………………………………………….

I hope you liked my reading material and the very quick reviews. All

four were good value for money and are very well presented books.

More soon….

The World War II Tommy

Posted: June 29, 2014 in 15mm, Books, British, Painting
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Nearly finished my 15mm British Platoon and to help me

with the painting I bought ,” The World War II Tommy”

by Martin Brayley and Richard Ingram and what an excellent

book it is. I have read and owned a couple of uniform guide

books before but this just leaves everything else behind.

Rich, colour photographs and loads of them covering all

uniforms between 1939-45 plus detailed descriptions of all

the kit and weapons. It even covers hospital clothing.

I found this book especially helpful for identifying what

exactly the bit of equipment you are painting as 15mm figures

have tiny bits on them(when sprayed with a black base coat

it makes things even harder to make out). What also stands

out is the photographs themselves. They have been modelled

perfectly with WWII back drops and if turned to black and

white would be hard to distinguish from the real thing.

This book is the one stop resource for everything British

for the painter, modeller and wargamer.

Hope he plans to do a German and American book next 🙂

British tanks in Normandy…book review

Posted: December 3, 2013 in Books, Reviews, WW2
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I recently bought this book to fill in my lack of information of British tanks

during the D Day landings and was greatly impressed with the in depth

information and quality of detail. The book is published by “Historie

and Collections” who are also responsible for most of Jean Restayn`s

fabulous books so I new is was going to be good.

The book covers all the British divisions ,brigades,organization ,markings,

tanks, tank destroyers and artillery. This is backed up by

black and white photographs of the vehicles in action and

high quality colour plates of all the vehicles and their various

markings.

Added to this are various gems of information like most

people are under the impression that the Americans provided

most of the men and armour on the D-Day landings. In fact

between the 6th and 16th of June 1944 the British put ashore

as many men as the Americans(270,000) and more vehicles(46,000).

Also I wasn’t aware that Sherman Firefly`s always had a spotter

tank with them because the violent flash at the muzzle brake

raised a cloud of dust blinding the crew. Its little tiny details

that keep a reader interested.

Overall a fantastic book, full of information for any WW2

historian or military modeller alike. In fact its an interesting

read full stop and comes highly recommended by me.