This is the first of a new series of books for military modellers and enthusiasts. Each book in the series centers on a particular subject and numerous model builds, step-by-step guides, and tips and techniques along the way. Models in a variety of scales are included- some full kit builds, some conversions, and painting guides. This particular volume looks in depth at various vehicles that serve with the Israeli Defense Forces. Some of the topics covered include urban warfare, mine clearance, main battle tanks, and armoured personnel carriers.

What’s Inside

After a brief two page introduction, the book continues with 21 different builds or conversions of kits. The titles pretty much give an indication of what is occurring in each build and what kits were used. The builds break down into the following:

• Isherman - Jerusalem Chariot- Dragon M51
• Desert Whip - Sho’t Kal Gimel with Explosive Reactive Armour- AFV Club
• Battlefield Engineering - Academy M113 with Mr. Modellbau, Fruil, and Eduard Accessories
• Urban Stinger Academy M163A/1 Vulcan SPAAG with Legend Conversion
• Up-Gunned Workhorse - Cyber Hobby M50 Super Sherman
• Urban Monster - Tiger Models Nagmachon with Doghouse
• Blazer Armor - Magach 7B- Academy M60 with Legend Conversion
• Israeli Re-Engineering - Tamiya Tiran 5
• Magach Magic - Academy Magach 7C ‘Gimel’
• Ramming Hit - Magach 6BGal Batash- Italeri M60 with Legend Conversion
• Desert Lightning - Legend Productions Merkava IIIB Baz
• Nagmachon - Clearance Under Fire - AFV Club kit with Legend Productions Conversion
• Merkava 3D - Meng-Model kit with Blast Models, Legend, and Model Miniature Upgrades
• Desert Chariot - Merkava IV- HobbyBoss kit
• Clearing the Way - Academy Merkava III with Mine Rollers
• Battlefield Support - Meng-Model Achzarit
• Ultimate M113 Zelda - Academy M113 with HK Models Conversion
• Yom Kippur Warrior - Tamiya M113 with Eduard and Model Kasten Accessories
• Modular Armour Magach 7C - Academy M60 with Legend Conversion
• Kasman Urban Protection - Blast Models kit with Friul Tracks
• Access All Areas - AFV Club M109A2 Doher with Black Dog, Real Model, and Friul Upgrades

When the build article involves a kit bash of more than one kit, it gives an indication of which parts were used from each kit. Each article is only a handful of pages, and is full of excellent photos and captions to give indications of what is going on in the build. The articles goes through the construction, painting, and finishing stages for each build. Some of the skills and techniques covered in the book include building up the mine rollers, scratch building stowage and extra details using Apoxie Sculpt or Magic Sculpt or Green Stuff or what have you, and recreating the anti-slip surfaces using different products. There are a great many ideas for detailing your builds in the book.

Conclusion

This series is a welcome addition to any modelers bookshelf. In particular to those interested in building Israeli armour, this is a goldmine of ideas and techniques for just about any vehicle one could imagine. So far, subsequent issues feature German Armour Modelling (Wehrmacht vehicles) and Gulf War Armour Modelling featuring Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom vehicles. I certainly look forward to more volumes if the quality is up to par as it is in this issue. My sincere thanks to MA Publications and IPMS-USA for the review sample.