This is a pictorial book that uses photos to illustrate the history of the Fallschirmjäger during the pre-war and early war years. Each chapter includes brief text that chronicles the history of the Fallschirmjäger campaigns, but the story is mostly told in photos and their captions. Black & white photos illustrate the exploits of the paratroopers, and the publisher says many of the photos are rare or not previously published. The photos are low contrast and not too sharp, consistent with wartime photos. Illustrations are provided to illustrate events that don’t have photos.

German Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers) were considered elite troops and regularly engaged in front line combat during the Second World War. Their campaigns such as the fighting in Scandinavia, the taking of the Belgian fortress Eden-Emal in May 1940, and the Battle for Crete just a year later, proved them to be determined, courageous, and loyal soldiers.

Having been building models for quite a while, I have seen things progress a lot. And with my over 400 built kits, photoetch still can baffle me like no other modeling medium. So when the opportunity to review this latest book from AK Interactive came along, I jumped on the opportunity to review it. A quick over view shows this is a fairly comprehensive guide with a section dealing with what photoetch is, how its made and what tools you’ll need to work with it. It then progresses to several simple examples and also using colored photoetch and finished with advanced techniques and soldering. Another nice fact is that the book covers aircraft, armor and ships as well as trains and can be easily transitioned into genres.

A quicker review of the Index looks like this:

The “press release” on the Mig website states, “In this special issue of The Weathering Magazine, we present a collection of the best articles about weathering techniques for model trains available. Through each inspiring page of 14 excellent chapters, you will learn how to use weathering products with the guidance of some of the world’s best railway modelers. Create all kinds of wear and dirt effects on locomotives of all eras, as well as on freight cars, coaches, tank cars, and more.

Upon turning through the pages of this book, you will quickly realize how entertaining and easy transforming your stock train models into hyper-realistic wonders is. You can bring any rail subject to life by applying any type of weathering effect you choose including rust, chipping, streaking, dust, accumulated dirt, soot, fuel stains, and much more, you'll even learn how paint the most intricate graffiti!”

Tru-Color Paint was formed in 2008 by Rick Galazzo and Scott Cohen, both of whom come from extensive backgrounds in formulating paint on the commercial scale. They set out on their own to develop this paint line of solvent-based paint by reformulating the old Accupaint formulation to flow better and give a more glossy appearance after drying. They currently offer over 600 colors offered with more to follow. Sets and single bottles are available and include lines for railroad, automotive, and military aircraft and armament lines.

The specific set I tested was specifically for NATO and modern armor and includes a sample of their masking frisket papers as well as the following colors in 1 oz. bottles:

Courtesy of the AK Interactive website: As the title suggests, Abandoned Little Treasures is a book that offers you detailed descriptions of how to create models of various abandoned objects. Following the concept of the best sellers Extreme Reality, we release this new super-book. The best modelers from around the world share their scratch-building, painting, and extreme weathering techniques in richly illustrated step-by-step articles. Amongst the subjects covered, you will find a tank, an aircraft carrier, a WWI airplane, a sci-fi vehicle, a tractor, a building, and a few others. This book shows us how realism can be achieved in scale modeling and will be a good experience for our next projects, 136 pages of quality modeling!

Included in this publication are detailed articles for modeling abandoned versions of the following: