http://www.migjimenez.com/en/new-releases/935-complete-encyclopedia-of-aircraft-modelling-techniques-english.htmlI bought the entire 5-book set of these early last month. There are a few reviews of the individual books online. They represent the "Spanish school" as far as I can tell, though he includes work by several other modellers, including Alex Glass (Uschi van der Rosten).
The books are broken down like so, though there is a fair amount of overlap from one to the next on several various techniques.
Book 1: Cockpits. After a brief 16-page discussion of tools and basic modelling skills, this is divided into simple cockpits, advanced cockpits, and wooden cockpits.
Book 2: Interiors and Assembly. Engines, landing gear, scratchbuilt interior details, and then assembly section about fuselages, wing assembly, decals, and masking.
Book 3: Painting. Exteriors: Prep & priming, preshading, base coat & monotone patterns, multi-tone patterns, chipped camo, NMF, airbrush highlights & fading, wood, insignia & stencils, shading with inks.
Book 4: Weathering. Chipping, filters, dirt & grime, worn paint, colour modulation, panel line & surface detail washes, general washes, streaking effects, spill stains, exhaust stains, graphite (pencil) effects, pigments, colour pencils, extreme weathering and fading
Book 5: Final Steps. Drop tanks, missiles, bombs, rigging, mud & fuel stains, navigation lights, propellers, canopies.
Supplement: F-16 Aggressor. A step-by-step of one subject.
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My mini-review is as follows:
The Very Short Explanation: Essentially the most basic and repeated idea across all books boils down to various weathering, colouring, and shading layers over gloss clear coats (exception: coloured pencils go over matte coats). The more techniques one uses in weathering and tonal variation, the more stark and even exaggerated they need to be, because the next weathering layer will cover up the previous one somewhat. In general, variation is key.
The Good:It's mostly good, actually.
1. Lots of techniques are covered in the 5 books, and I did learn quite a lot. I felt like a better modeller after reading them, despite not having even tried any of the things yet that were new to me.
2. Beautiful photos of mostly beautiful models.
3. Generally well explained, though one has to realise that the author is Spanish and English is his second language and it shows in several spots. I'm sure the Spanish volumes are much better.
The Bad and the Ugly (I won't arbitrarily differentiate between the two)
Although there are more "bad" criticisms here, it's hard to write much more than to say that the techniques in these books cover so much and there is so much general heft to it all that this single factor is much more important than all of these niggling things. It is easier to explain bad stuff in detail though, I think.
1. Poor table of contents. There are no page number indications of where each chapter and subchapter starts. I went through every volume with a Sharpie and wrote them in myself, which basically made this a non-issue. There is also no index, though this is somewhat less important.
2. Preponderance of WWII and modern aircraft. (*See footnote)
3. [English version] Needs a better editor. As #3 above, some bad English here and there, and in one spot a whole untranslated Spanish paragraph.
4. Some of the wood painting techniques were indeed nowhere near as nice as many of those I've seen here by our less famous and non-professionals on this very forum.
5. General preponderance of MIG-Ammo recommended finishing products. (It's a MIG book.)
6. It feels like there are only - I don't know - 15 to 20 aircraft that are shown over and over again. The number must be higher than this, but that's what it feels like anyway.
*I wrote this as a critique on his personal website, and his response to me was maybe a boon for those of us who model WWI birds. He intimated rather clearly that he wants to do a WWI book now. Covered in these books are some of the basics of WWI models: Rigging, propeller striping, rotary engines, wood & leather. Not covered are things like Fokker Dr. I streaking, faux see-through CDL wing effects, working with jigs, carving real wooden propellers, masking somewhat complex things like Eiserneskreuz or lozenge or hexes (he does show how to mask a roundel for airbrushing), etc.
Final Impression: It's all really quite good. Very glad I bought these, and I am already trying to add some of these ideas to my arsenal on my current build.
