Basically, this is a catalog of the Tamiya Paint line in a soft bound, in a ninety-six page format. The book is in Japanese; however there are English captions under the paint chips. The book is divided into sections of colors for cars, metallic’s, clear coats, primary colors and AFV’s/aircraft/ships by nationality.

Also included are photo instructions of masking techniques for those modelers who don’t have an airbrush but rely on hand brushing and spray cans. They are broken down into aircraft, armor and ships. As an added plus there are pictures of their fine line of tools, tape, weathering kits.

This book would be very welcome to any modeler who uses Tamiya paint. It’s a handy reference to have on hand before going down to the local hobby shop or ordering mail order because you know what color you will want and its number.

I had the day off from work and had some time to spend with the Grex Tritium TG3 airbrush I recently purchased. The basic kit included the TG3 gravity-feed airbrush, three interchangeable paint cups - 2ml, 7ml, and 15ml, one needle and one crown cap. The caps are magnetized for easy on/off switch outs. The magnetic, spare needle crown cap sticks to the back of the rear handle cap - NICE feature. A tool/wrench is also included for switching out the caps and general disassembly. The total weight of the unit is 6.4oz.

The airbrush comes preset from Grex. To assist with consistent line widths, the Tritium has a Pre-set knob at the back of the airbrush. Turning it clock-wise limits the trigger and how much amount of paint sprayed. Completely turning it clock-wise will stop the trigger entirely and lock it shut. Turning it counter-clockwise, allows for more/unlimited paint and trigger extension. Turning in completely counter-clockwise allows unlimited trigger control.

ALC306 Bottle White Primer & Microfiller

ALC309 Bottle Black Primer & Microfiller

Never resting on his laurels (or whatever else he might call them), Tony Hipp, inventor of Alclad II, does it yet again. As I have stated in several “how to” articles on this product, I couldn’t stress enough the subject of surface preparation prior to applying the metal finishes. If any sanding scratches were present, they would require a base coat of a primer with filling capabilities, then sanding and polishing so that in the case of the “high shine colors”, a gloss black primer could be applied, followed by whatever finish coat was desired. These new offerings cut down on the workload substantially, in that these primers may be applied, sanded and polished to the desired sheen and followed by any of the Alclad II metal finish coats, thus eliminating one or two full steps and drying time.

As a painter of military miniatures I welcome any new book on uniforms. Since my field of interest is the Napoleonic Era, this book by Casemate was most welcome. When John Noack offered it, I jumped at the chance to review it. I was not aware that it was written by the most renowned expert on the uniforms and history of the Napoleonic Era.

When I fist started painting figures of the Napoleonic period, I was taken by the beautiful prints by Lucien Rousselot. At that time they were very expensive and I could only afford a few. Now Casemate has chosen to print all of his works in one book. To someone like me, it was like finding the Holy Grail.

The book in s very large format (11.75” x 8.25”) hardcover book printed on beautiful glossy paper stock. It even has place markers.

This book is broken down into many sections showing the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery Staff, Marines, Imperial Guard, Aux Corps and many more.

First Impressions

This review product arrived in the mail wrapped in cardboard and amply reinforced duct tape. Upon opening the mailing package I found a heavy-duty, injection-molded black plastic, 11 ¾” by 15 5/8” long, enclosed in a clear plastic bag wrapper. A small sprue of clear plastic parts was also enclosed. The aircraft carrier deck is molded as an inverted tray, and is quite sturdy.

The engraving for the deck planks and elevator were clean and crisp, but might be considered too pronounced for an airplane model. For the bean counters, there are 190 tie downs. The welded seams are almost too finely rendered, with only a small portion that appears to have “faded”. There are four rectangular depressions that I assume receive the clear parts. On the underside of the tray was a date: 2001.