Mike Posted December 3, 2021 Posted December 3, 2021 British at War Volume #2(AK130003) AK Interactive World War II saw the British forces engaging in a huge variety of combat in most theatres of war, sometimes using British designed and manufactured equipment, other times with imported Lend/Lease hardware to battle the evils of the Axis powers. This book is edition #2 of tomes that are becoming a series as additional volumes become available. Sadly, we missed volume #1 but here’s number two, and it’s packed with articles on a pretty large handful of builds from many talented modellers. It arrives in a thick card cover that has glossy exterior and folded-in dust-jacket style flaps, and inside are 184 pages on glossy paper, fully printed in colour with English and Spanish text on the left and right sides of the pages respectively. After a short introduction, the book is broken down into the following sections: Captured British by Rubén González Hernández 06 A 1:35 Mirror Models CMP Ford F15A in Caunter camouflage on a desert base. Road to Mandalay by Lester Plaskitt 24 A 1:35 Takom M3 Lee in dark green finish passing a temple statue of Buddha’s face in Burma. Popski’s Jeep by Kristof Pulinckx 46 A modified 1:35 Tamiya Willy’s Jeep in the service of Popski’s Private Army, conducting guerrilla warfare behind German lines on a muddy base. Perfect Recon by Rudi Meir 60 A 1:35 Bronco Staghound covered in stowage and depicted on a sloped woody base. Bright Side of Life by Roy Schurgers 72 A 1:35 Tamiya Quad Gun Tractor that is broken-down and baking in the desert sun while a soldier sits in the shade lamenting his lack of water. He’s being watched by a group of hungry-looking vultures. Crossing the Rhine by Rick Lawler 80 A 1:35 AFV Club Churchill Mk.VI with tape camouflage and some US soldiers hitching a ride into Germany. Desert Patrol by Michal Tafil 96 An A10 Light Tank in 1:35 by Gecko Models, wearing a rather worn Caunter scheme and passing a Vulcan 2-Pounder field gun in a tumbledown desert location. Road to Hell by Jia Sheng Wu 114 A Scammell Pioneer tractor towing a 7.2inch howitzer through a bog in 1:35 on an ammunition box-based diorama base. The Longest Day by Chao Xu 134 A 1:35 Tamiya Cromwell Mk.IV with some substantial PE upgrades, including deep-water wading gear in a similar bog to the Scammell, being examined by a pair of soldiers. Dragoon Guards by Jorge López Ferrer 152 A detailed diorama with buildings as background and a 1:35 Dragon M3 75mm Gun Motor Carriage Half-Track that has a large British roundel on the bonnet. Tracked Archer by Kreangkrai Paojinda 166 A 1:35 Tamiya Valentine Mk.I Archer Self-Propelled 17pdr gun on a small cobbled street that has seen better and less war-torn days. Each section is a walk-through of the builds, including any groundwork that accompanies the model, with results that are competition-worthy without exception. There are plenty of tips for building better models and dioramas, and in between the sections are a page or two of crisp, detailed photos of other British themed dioramas that would be worthy of articles in their own right. There are a lot of AK Interactive products visible in the pages as you’d expect, but it isn’t a total AK love-fest, and where additional kits and accessories are used to augment the builds, they are pointed out so that you can pick them up yourself if you’re so minded. The photos during the builds are numbered and cross-referenced with their captions, and photography is first rate throughout, while the captions are concise and informative, although I can’t speak for the Spanish text due to my poor foreign language skills. Conclusion A few of the greens in the pictures appear to be overly bright and verdant, possibly down to post-processing of the photos, but in general the look of the book is first rate and the technical quality is excellent. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of 1
fatfingers Posted December 3, 2021 Posted December 3, 2021 Just ordered this and Vol 1 fell into my basket too! 😲 Regards, Steve
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