The ebook “Building the Zoukei-Mura Ta-152H in 1/32 Scale” is a part of the Scale Modelling Guide Books from KLP Publishing in Australia. This is an impressive publication with 167 pages full of pictures and great modeling ideas. The Ta-152H model from Zoukei-Mura in 1/32 scale is the subject of this publication and was built, painted, and finished by John Kim. He backdated the H1 (Super Wing Series No. SP2) kit to the earlier H0 version. Although Zoukei-Mura released the H0 model later, John did not have access to that model at that time.

The book consists of seven chapters:

• About the Kit – Page 6
• About John Kim – Page 18
• About “White 7” – Page 19
• Building the Model – Page 20
• Painting and Finishing – Page 81
• Gallery – Page 139
• Appendices – Page 150

The author describes the kit’s building steps and necessary modifications in the ‘Building the Model’ section. We learn about various techniques to address some kit building challenges as well as John’s outstanding painting and weathering techniques. The descriptions of the steps are extremely clear and informative, supported by extremely sharp photographs of the model building sections. The author shares some of his great model building tips covering photo-etch application, plastic shape corrections, gap filling, weathering, and scratch building. His model painting is outstanding. The book is fascinating and it takes the reader no time to get immersed in the content. The model building and final painting results are incredible. The included gallery of shots taken to display the model from various angles is excellent.

I found many parts of the building process enlightening, and especially helpful was the last section called Appendices. It included an extensive, if not complete, list of aftermarket parts for the model. The publishers of the book ask for information from the readers if there are other aftermarket item for this kit that may not have been included. Although I already had the Zoukei-Mura book on how to build the Ta-152H1, I appreciate this publication because it shows the details that differentiate the H0 version from the H1 and I happen to have the Zoukei-Mura 1/32 H0 version in my stash and plan on using the book as a guide as well. Although one can wonder why would someone backdate a version when there was a kit already available for purchase. I think we all need to be challenged sometimes and unleash our creativity that way. Despite the above observation, I highly recommend this book to model builders because of the specific and relevant content needed to build the H0 version, the clarity of the material, and the high quality of provided pictures. This digital type of publication format is perfect for many restricted by the space on our bookshelves. This book was written by modelers for modelers and I appreciate the effort from John and the publishers who appreciated his modeling talent.

My sincere thanks go to Kevin Futter from KLP Publishing for providing this book for a review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it.