AFV Modeller Publications Scrapyard Armour Book

[Mike]

Scrapyard Armour

AFV Modeller Publications via Casemate UK

 

 

 

At the end of any military vehicle's life, there's one place where most of them end up, whether they're worn out, destroyed, or somewhere in between.  The scrapyard.  This is a scene of rust, damage and decay that is seldom topped for extremity, and an ideal example to demonstrate severe weathering, which is the intent of this book.  Using a set of photos as a guide, which are reproduced in the middle of the book, three modellers take the challenge and build an example of a tank in its final phase.

 

The book is from AFV Modeller Publications, from the magazine people of the same name, and consists of 116 pages in a portrait format bound in a thick card jacket.  The projects are arranged around the central photo shoot of the Russian armour scrapyard, which is a bit of an eye-opener in itself, showing rows of dilapidated and broken T-62s amongst other types, some of which have been torch-cut in places, some haven't.  Many of them still sport their ERA blocks around the turret and hull, which can only mean that these are the inactive blocks used for training, unless health & safety in Russia has slipped a little bit!

 

 

David Parker builds a T-62 that has been cut into three equal sections across the hull, and had its turret removed and laid upside down next to it.  He takes you through the process of creating the detailed interior using scratch built parts and some parts from a Verlinden set, as well as using some ET Model fenders to get scale thickness on those areas, which had been cut off in prelude to the main hull cuts.  This intricate build takes up a substantial part of the book, and finished on page 47.  The photos then take up to page 89, and after that another build from Mark Neville shows a relatively complete T-62BDD model 1984, which is minus its tracks and little else.  His article concentrates on the exterior weathering, and the addition of dust and grime in all the right places that lend a realistic feel to the whole thing, finishing off with some minor diorama details at page 101.

 

 

The final article is by Andy Taylor, who models a Georgian T-55, which has been converted with the addition of cheek armour on the turret.  Although the AM is now available from Takom, he used an update set from CMK as the bones of his conversion, and goes further with the weathering due to the old age of the machine, showing panels that have been ripped from place and the interior raided, as well as the ravages of the elements.  The level of grime around the hull really is a sight to behold.

 

 

Conclusion

The book has a high quality feel to it, and the content is interesting, with lots of techniques and tips on display for you to refer back to, or aspire to if you have never tried them before.  The photographic section is entertaining in its own right, but a few captions to enlighten us to what exactly we're looking at would have been useful to those of us that don't know these beasts intimately.  Overall a good read, and a reference work that you can keep coming back to for inspiration.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Review sample courtesy of