Modelling School – An initiation to the aircraft weathering, by Jamie Haggo (AMMO by Mig Jimenez)
Christmas is the perfect time for publishers to announce the release of many of their best & popular books and 2017 is no exception! “Modelling School – An initiation to the aircraft weathering” by Jamie Haggo is one of them, and you will certainly want to read it again and again for many days and weeks, even after the festivities. AMMO by Mig Jimenez is proud to publish Jamie's first modelling book. Jamie is well known for his highly realistically weathered aircraft models in various modelling magazines. In this book he shows, in step by step detail, how he achieves his results. The book covers basic building methods which will enhance the final model through cockpit painting and weathering to various base coat applications, followed by loads of hints, tips and techniques on turning a clean looking model into a well weathered piece. The final chapter describes in detail a stunning 1/32 scale Post Apocalyptic OV-10 Bronco (What If) utilising all the processes described in the book in order to produce a unique looking aircraft.
The book is aimed at both beginners and experienced modellers looking to improve or just get that kick of inspiration; there's something for everyone in the packed 240 pages!
Contents
Tools and products
Airframe preparation
Cockpits
Distressed paint camouflages and base coats
Faded markings
Metal chipping and distressed top coats
Winter chipping, white wash
Dirty top coats
Battle damage
Final weathering; dirty, oil, smoke, muck and grime
Kittyhawk OV-10 Bronco "Death Punch" (1/32)
We liked the straightforward and progressive method that Jamie takes to guide the reader through the building, painting and various weathering steps, admitting that he does not like assembling/building, prefers not to primer (except when absolutely necessary) and he only uses acrylics! Fortunately for the rest of us he does like to paint, weather and doing all the relevant stuff that finally matters to gain our attention! (In fact Jamie uses mainly acrylics but he does use lacquers for metallics and enamel/oil based weathering products).
Chapters are well organized and go from the basics to the more advanced techniques in an easy to follow way. The text of each chapter have been kept to the absolute and necessary minimum, so as not to exhaust or bore the reader – not an easy task when you have to cover so many themes and fill 240 pages. Each subject or technique is fully covered in one, two or three pages, with many photos/captions to reveal the secrets. All photos show every detail, are nicely printed but would greatly benefit if they were enlarged a bit.
Jamie likes variety, so you will find almost everything included, whatever your preferences: WW2, modern jets, helicopters, what ifs, even a 1/72nd scale Greek F-16 and his latest masterpiece, the Mil Mi-8 Hip abandoned helicopter (Hobby Boss 1/72), Gold winner, Class 22, at SMW2017, Telford.
We particularly liked themes like battle damage, dirt/staining/streaking, extreme paint chipping, faded markings and masking them, german faded winter camo, cockpits, all very explanatory and, as the author himself states, “describing in detail the processes he uses, so that the reader can understand how he achieves a particular effect”.
We also liked the easily read, very explanatory writing style of Jamie, together with the clever miniature figure of him, pinpointing the most important captions, like in comics, repeatedly used in many pages but with different posture each time!
Quality section sewn binding have been used here and that means that you can spread the book flat open on your workbench, as many times as you need, without danger of loose pages - or coming apart.
If we should do a bit of nit-picking, then we did not like so much the inclusion of full page photos of various museum aircraft beside each chapter title. They may contribute somehow artistically but also waste valuable space. The whole lay-out of the book is a bit spread-out: Pictures could be easily enlarged by 15 - 20%, utilising the blank space among them! Font size of main text could also be enlarged for a more comfortable reading - a respectful percentage of modellers are farsighted nowadays - mind you Mr. Jimenez! This is a common mistake even in the best modelling magazines and is too annoying – and unnecessary, considering the low word count in each page.
A table of contents and an index would also be much appreciated if included – for such a large page count.
Initially we thought that the last 52 pages devoted to the “post apocalyptic 1/32nd scale OV-10” are way too much for a “what if” project (almost one quarter of the whole contents!) especially when included in a book aiming to the “initiation” of the average modeller (assuming he is rather conservative regarding theme selection and not so much a “what if” lover). However you can imaginatively rehearse many techniques by reading it (repetition is mother or learning) and adapt the tips to your projects, so we will accept it as a bonus!
In conclusion…
Whether you are new to the hobby or an experienced modeller, you will find the first book of Jamie Haggo extremely interesting to read, full with easy to understand (and finally tempted to test) techniques to the huge benefit of your latest models. Also, despite its weight and size it is very sensibly priced at 24€. Highly recommended!
You can order it online here.
More of Jamie Haggo's models at his personal blog here.
