what are your essentials

Hmmmm unless you know of a specific issue that has an article about something your working on, I would think a new subscription would suffice. I mean the tools and tips can be found here for the asking and the real benefit of the magazine for me is to keep me current on new products and kits that intrest me.  Not much help probably. Looking forward to seeing your Osprey.

600 posts .. wow..............................

way too much time on your hands

new1 wrote:

i am thinking of buying some back issues of the fsm magazine. what are some of the best ones that would be great for someone new-ish or ones that you rely on the most? there are a lot on painting but i dont want to buy issues that have reptitive information, if you know what i mean.

Truthfully, and this is the probably the wrong forum to say this in, but there isn't all that much to keep refering to in FSM...  Even though I've subscribed and bought newstand issues for years, there's not much to learn from its articles.  They don't go into much step-by-step, you learn more about the builder's dog than you do his techniques...  I buy it mainly for kit reviews and just to see what other folks are building.  The Hints & Tips are useful now and again, but after 20 years or so of buying the magazine, even those are getting re-hashed, with guys writing in about new tricks and such that were first published 15-20 years ago...

You'd be better off hunting down back issues of Military Modeler and Scale Modeler magazines.  Neither are in print anymore, hven't been since the early 90s, but they're still out there in hobby shops and flea markets... I bought 35 issues from the 80s the other day at a yard sale for .25 cents apiece...  The articles are much more in-depth and how-to, in my humble opinion.

Kalmbach Publishing, however, is another story.  You simply MUST have a few of their books in your library.

My Kalmbach essentials as a beginner, and still in use are:

Modeling Tanks and Military Vehicles by Shepard Paine

How to Build Dioramas- by Sheppard Paine

How to Photograph Scale Models by Shepard Piane and Lane Stewart

Building Plastic Models- Kalmbach

How to Build Plastic Aircraft Models-Roscoe Creed

Hints and Tips for Plastic Modeling- Kalmbach  -This one contains 200+  reader tips, techniques, and tricks from FSM

 

Hans von Hammer wrote:

Kalmbach Publishing, however, is another story.  You simply MUST have a few of their books in your library. My Kalmbach essentials as a beginner, and still in use are: Modeling Tanks and Military Vehicles by Shepard Paine How to Build Dioramas- by Sheppard Paine How to Photograph Scale Models by Shepard Piane and Lane Stewart Building Plastic Models- Kalmbach How to Build Plastic Aircraft Models-Roscoe Creed Hints and Tips for Plastic Modeling- Kalmbach  -This one contains 200+  reader tips, techniques, and tricks from FSM

thank you, that would be even better than the magazines, because they would have a higher concentration of information.

 

Forgot to add, Check Amazon.com for some of those titles... Used copies can be had for less than what they cost when the were published....

I like Kalmbach and have most of the titles listed, but do not make the mistake of limiting yourself to Kalmbach.  There is a world of reference and How-To information out there.  Google can be your best friend.

 

 

I was sucking up to the admin in case they read my post about FSM... (Shep Paine's books are still a must-have though, IMHO). I've also found a number modeling books at the local library. Stuff that peaks my interest and I want to keep for future reference? Copyworks is right across the street...