Airbrushing and Finishing Scale Models (Modelling Masterclass)

If you are seeking an overview of airbushing techniques, or even airbrushing models in general, this is not it. Instead, I would high recommend "The Ultimate Airbrush Handbook" by Pamela Shanteau. If, however, you build WWII-era plastic model airplanes, then this is definitely the book for you.I agree with many of the other reviewers that this book places too much emphasis on WWII-era plastic airplane models. While the first few chapters are excellent, the prose suddenly stops and the majority of the remainder of the book is devoted to photographs of WWII airplanes in various phases of assembly.It is not terribly difficult to transfer many useful ideas from one type of modelling to another, however these tips are often hidden in captions to photographs of step-by-step instructions to painting very specific WWII plastic models.There are many very useful tips and techniques in this book, and therefore it still rates 4 stars. It would be better if the author didn't make it so difficult for the reader to glean these tips from reading photo captions.

This airbrushing book is great if you are into military aircraft and want to learn camouflage techniques. That is what accounts for 75% of the information. The author obviously knows his stuff. It would be nice if he would have covered much more about basic airbrushing techniques. Unfortunately I did not know enough about the subject to understand all the book was missing. I later learned you need to know much more about nozzle sizes and how they are used based on the material you are spraying, how to cover large areas effectively without leaving dry/wet lines, a LOT more about cleaning/maintaining the airbrush, and when/how to use various PSI settings. The author shows a couple of pictures of figures with only a caption underneath/beside them. There is no information about airbrushing figures or small parts.The author does do a great job of explaining the effects of color, hue, and shading on scale subjects. His information about adjusting hue/shade to account for small scale is outstanding.Too much of the information is repeated. There is prose to explain the subject matter. Then there are photos whose captions simply repeat the prose. That, to me, is a waste of space and the reader's time. The book could have used that duplicate space to include the topics mentioned above.

I'm relatively new to airbrushing models, and this book is fantastic. It gives a lot of tips and techniques that are valuable to a beginner (like me) but also gives quite a few more advanced techniques that I'm currently trying or plan to try on future builds. That's the nice thing about this book, if you're a beginner, you can use a lot of the info in it right away, and as your skills improve, you can use it to help build upon these basic skills. If you're already experienced, there's enough more advanced technique included that it is certainly not a waste of time or money to have this book on-hand. Also (as is true of most Osprey Masterclass books) I LOVE the fact that the book is hard-cover but is also spiral-bound - this makes it EXTREMELY CONVENIENT to have on the workbench, laying flat while you're trying a new technique. This is the second Osprey book I've purchased and I'm very impressed with both.

This book is "real word" right down to the binding: it's a wire spiral, glued to a hardcover (rather well, too), so once you read it, you can take it to your model room/shop as reference and not worry about ruining it. The examples are all real models the author and mates have built. I learned a good overall amount, but a few gems, too.I carefully read reviews and product info, and chose this over the Finescale Modeler book on airbrushing, which was recently confirmed by a mate as being overall nothing (too little info).I wouldn't have minded some detailed info on some of the techniques, almost a Dummies version, but I think the real lesson is to build and paint as much as you can to gain experience. AS they say about writing, "Writers write", so I guess airbrushers airbrush!I certainly found the book useful and recommend it.

Great text. The photos, unfortunately, are often the same long view of the same model, with the details of the painting difficult to see given the small size of the printed photo and the long shot... more close-ups needed!! There are a few places where the publisher placed the wrong photo (of the wrong model), and in at least one case it leaves an important point un-illustrated! Overall, the book is a good one, and helpful, but it is frustrating when a point well made in the text is invisible in the photos!

I am giving this book a 5 star rating for the quality of the book. I purchased this book looking for airbrushing skills that would work for my model railroading needs. I found very little useful information. This book is for aircraft and war models so I was very disappointed. I returned the book.NOT FOR RAILROAD EQUIPMENT OR BUILDINGS.

This is a fair book on scale modelling painting and finishing, but doesn't provide as much step by step instructions as I would have liked. The author focused on German models almost exclusively.

A great help for modeling

I can't attest to the contents but it's a hardcover, extremely solidly made, and DH was chuffed at the contents and quality of it, has been using on and off ever since i gave it to him as a prezzie. I would buy it again, and certainly recommend for anyone with a DH whose interests match those of mine!!

I can't believe the reviews I see. Bought the book, read it, liked it.And, yes, as a beginner I am interested in brands for almost everything: airbrush, paints and so on!Some techniques are really new and very interesting to a non-pro like me.It sure helped my work, improved my models so far and I'd recommend it to my friends.A no-nonsense, informative book and I love even the way it's printed and the binding too!

Looks to be a useful read that will be very helpful. Only arrived today. A good format being spiral bound, but this can lead to an assembly error in the case with the one I received... where the insides were put in upside down, so the front cover is over the back of the index pages upside down. Won't detract from content; just annoying.

Well packaged and exactly as described. Excellent service

This Book is A1 as it is telling you about how Brett Green started a modl to how he finished them but he is not saying that how he as done something is the only way but its how he did it and he is also always giving you confidence in to trying things out so to me this was a book for all people using an airbrush from novice to expert