Review : ''The Weathering Magazine'' Issue 6 - Kursk

I'm terribly sorry. I was meant to write a review for my readers for this since I got this book back in January but as you have all noticed from my bombardment of W.I.P posts and completed posts, I have been busy. I do apologize that it took me quite some time to review.

Right. So this is the issue from THE Mig and the gang ( after all the AK problems ) that we all have been waiting anxiously, fearing it might have been cancelled. Luckily it wasn't and I was so excited, happy and relieved  to see this coming out and I bought it straight away and again, as usual, I was not disappointed.

As far as I have researched, this was meant to be about only Dioramas and vegetation but it coincided with the anniversary of the Battle of Kursk so they decided to incorporate the battle of Kursk theme to the dios and vegetation and vehicles.

The magazine is printed on a very high quality glossy and thick paper as usual with a total of 88 pages. As always, the book is packed with superb photography, great models, good captions, and some interesting eye candy!

Obviously, we are greeted with the cover -

And once you turn the page, you are greeted with a wall of text from the chief editor ( which I forgot to take photo of .. sorry )

and then after that, you will come to the contents

And the first chapter ''KURSK HISTORY OF FAILURES'' comes into view -

Inspired by photographic legend, Miguel Jimenez delivers a magnificent model of popular Ferdinands displayed after being captured by Soviet soldiers after the Battle of Kursk. Here, Mig will show you, in step by step, how to create a life like model that has gone through a harsh battle with many debris from artillery thrown on board.

As always, TWM likes to put in small articles between chapters. Following the first chapter is the first article '' BURIED ALIVE '' -

It will show how to make a small vignette created primarily using newspaper and plaster – old school methods, with 1/48 scale T34 made by Rick Lawler.

The second chapter follows after that -

Sergiusz Peczek performs his artistry using a wide range of painting and weathering techniques to bring to life the hardened steel pride of the Soviet tank brigades – the T34 with the title ''SOVIET STEEL PRIDE''

The third chapter follows-

Aircraft experts; Javier de Anca and Ricardo Medina team-up to demonstrate aircraft weathering on the tank-busting Junkers Ju 87G-1 in this chapter aptly named ''TANK BUSTER  ''.

Following the third chapter is the second article -

TIGERS IN THE DUST; Inspired by the dry and dusty Kursk groung, Pere Valls made a Tiger I from this famous battle.

The fourth chapter follows this -

Joaquin Garcia Gazquez contributes to Kursk theme with the Soviet IS-152, distressed and weathered to reflect the hard fought summer battle with the title '' HEAVY HITTER ''

After that, follows the third article -

John Murphy will show some simple techniques in this chapter '' ML-20 152MM HOWITZER DIORAMA '' to produce realistic grass and how to make a simple generic tree the compliment the main model piece.

The following chapters and articles after this will show you to learn and enjoy making vegetation for our dioramas and vignettes. As always, these techniques will be explained by some of the best modellers in the world.

The fourth article '' GARDENING THE BACKYARD '' is the first thing you will see for the second part of the book -

This article, by Ruben Gonzales, will show you how to detail a backyard wall with vegetation.

Following that is the fifth chapter -

''DEEP ROOTS, SCALE TREES'' by Javier Soler shows the techniques, tools and materials to easily make a variety of realistic scale model trees. He will show you how to make 3 types of tree, each with its own type of material.


The sixth chapter directly follows -

Marc Reusser tackles the scum of the earth-Moss-as he details this picture perfect side-alley garage scene in '' A ROLLING STONE GATHERS NO MOSS ''.

The 7th and final article for the book follows -

In ''NUCLEAR AUTUMN IN PRIPYAT'', Alexandre Duchamp will show you how to make wet, cold, overgrown autumn scene with a touch of post apocalyptic feel.

The 7th and final chapter for the book comes afterward -

In ''TRUCK TRASH'', Chulho Yoo will show step by step on how to make a  An abandoned, decaying truck and lush, grassy field. A really great step by step tutorial to those who wish to but don't have the know how to do so.

After that, follows a short two page of how-to make vegetation on table top mini vehicles and a page of informations about unit insignia at Kursk.

The final pages are a special chapter titled '' CHOOSE THE RIGHT VEGETATION PRODUCTS'' and  TWM will show some of vegetation product that can be useful for dioramas and vignettes. This is immensely useful for people who, like me, are starting to build dios.

Finally, you will come to the last page with the preview for Issue 7 -

The book had certainly helped me improve my knowledge on dioramas. Like Rust, Dust and oil and mud, before this, I only have a small amount of knowledge when it comes to dioramas and vegetations.
If you are somebody who just started to dwell into the greatly complicated world of diorama, OR somebody who is weak in this department, you definitely should get it without a second thought. It may not be the encyclopaedia of dioramas but this will definitely set you on your ways.

VERDICT - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ( A MUST HAVE ) 

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W.I.P - JGSDF Type99 HSP - Part 3

Good day people ... 

I got an update for this beautiful gal. 
Picking up from where I left off from the last update , I put on all the tools and the big box on the roof of the turret -

And then, I build everything that is needed for the hatches. Trumpeter, in all their wisdom, made the hatches workable. Thank you Trumpy.

Followed that up by putting on some more of the tools on the front of the turret. This is the left - 

And this is the right -

I have left the spare tracks off for the time being to make painting everything easier.
Now, I don't know if you guys can see the little hooks but I had to install 11 ( I think it was 11 ) of those little hooks on each side of the turret. 

Followed by more slightly different hooks near the bottom of the turret. 5 of them on each side -

Now that almost everything is finished, I thought this would be a best time to make the head lights and the front mud flaps.

Which goes on the front of the hull like so -

As the tracks are individual links, I figured now would be the time to prepare the hull so I can put on the tracks. I painted the hull Tamiya JGSDF dark green and the wheels, that again and Tamiya JGSDF brown -

While painting, I thought to myself '' well, it's almost ready to paint so let's just prime the whole thing and put on the base '' so I went ahead and did that . -

Tamiya JGSDF dark green kinda off but I already build the type 90 and type 10 with this same colour so I just can't be bothered to mix it. 

Well, that's it for now. I am loving every minute of this kit, as much as I love the DANA. 

Until next update

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W.I.P - JGSDF Type99 HSP - Part 2

Good day everybody... I have an update on this baby.

Picking up from where I left off, I decided to go back on the front glacis plate. I added all the necessary P.E grille like so -

Followed up by the tiny little grab handles and a few bigger ones -

Next, I moved on to the gun travel lock, which is a pretty complicated mechanism. Trumpeter did quite a nice job on it but the build up is way too complicated and comprised of many steps. 
The first step is to build a hydraulic hinge of some sort - 

And on it, the main lock goes on -

Judging by the way it looks, I believe the smaller hydraulic is solely responsible for the raising and lowering of the lock. Unfortunately, the piston rod that goes into the hydraulic housing is too short and showing a gap between the piston attachment on the bigger lock structure and the hydraulic housing when the lock is down. I tried to fixed it so that it can be a workable piston but I failed. I guess I just have to put in a rod in there to close the gap and keep it in the down position. ( you can see that I tried to put on a plastic rod from the photo but it broke off soon after ).
I followed up the front glacis with the installations of the Driver sights. The clear parts are already masked off.

That include everything on the front glacis and this is how it looks now - 

After that , I had to put on 19 little grab handles all along the sides of the hull ( both left and right ). I did not enjoy that. 
Left - 

Right -

After that, I moved on to the turret. I put on the doors on both side of the turret -Left -

And right -

I didn't want to moved to the hatches yet so I chose to do the sights.
I believe these are the gunner's sights; the clear parts already being masked off -

Which goes on the turret like so -

And another sight on the other hatch -

I decided to move on the back of the turret. I built all the necessary sub assemblies -

and I put them on the back of the turret along with some antennae housings -

which brings me to this stage - 

I have yet to touch the wheels or the tracks. The mud flaps are still off to ease the installation of the tracks. I think might paint the lower hull first and the wheels and THEN, put the tracks. The wheels doesn't have poly caps so I have no choice but to keep them untouched. 

Well, that's it for now. Until further update.

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W.I.P - JGSDF Type99 HSP - Part 1

Folks, we have here a some what of a gem from Trumpeter. This is the Type99 155mm Self propelled gun from Trumpeter. 

I have been wanting to get this kit for a long time as I have an interest in JGSDF vehicles but I wasn't sure of this but when I saw a friend building one and after listening to him go and on about this lovely kit, I couldn't resist. Not to mention,  my favourite forum - International Scale Modellers - is doing a artillery kit SiGs build so I had to get this. 

Let's start with the sprue and Box shots shall we ? -

Yes, these are Rubber Tires ... Thank you Trumpeter .. for making my life easier.

Individual tracks and seperate rubber pads. I love this option, as you can depict a vehicle either travelling in urban areas or in the range. 

Everything starts from the lower hull so I put on all the shocker absorbers and bibs and bobs - 

Followed that up with the suspension arms - 

After that, I put on the little tiny grab handles on the front plate. I have decided to left off the two cables until I have painted the vehicle.

It is quite tedious but I love the fact that those little handles are not moulded on like the Tamiya Type 10.

After that, I turned my attention to the back plate. Here we have the back plate by it self, with nothing on it -

the first step in the instructions calls for the inside of the door -

The fully equipped back plate - 
There is an option for the two little racks that you see there; it can be depicted with the jerry cans on or off. The rack is moulded into the jerry cans along with the restraining strap. I couldn't find any references with the jerry cans on so I opted for the empty rack version. 

I made a little boo-boo there and realized it too late. I was given an option of either using clear parts or plastic parts for the tail light.
As you can see her on the real thing - 

The longer white bar is on the bottom but I either mis-read the instructions or the instructions are mis-lablled that I put it on the other away; i.e, the white longer bar is on the top. I realized it too late take it off.

After that , I put on the back plate which went on without any problems and the fit was excellent. I had some problem with the front plate -

As you can see, I had to use some filler between the joint. 

After that, I deviated from the instructions and made the mantlet and base of the gun -
Nicely detailed, a total of 6 parts goes into that - 

Insert that into the turret from the inside and glued the two halves of the turret on and voila - 

The turret with the barrel glued on - 

Being a 52 calibre gun, it is very massive. My kind of weaponry.

Right.. so that's it for now for the first update. I will keep you guys updated. IF anybody is interested in modern armour, this is one of the kit you have to get .... 

Until the next update

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