Kit Building for Railway Modellers Vol 1: Rolling Stock

[Daniel W]

George Dent, in-house modelmaker for Model Rail, has already written three excellent books for the Crowood Press and this is his latest. A second volume covering loco kit building is due later in the year.

 

Naturally there is a large focus on the construction of plastic kits, however there are a number of chapters devoted to metal kits and even one for resin products. Subjects such as research, tools, materials, adhesives, painting and transfers  are also discussed. Both wagons and bogie vehicles are covered, although I am inclined to say that it leans a little more towards freight subjects, but for me this is a pro not a con.  Like other Crowood press books the page layout is fairly 'clean', with a good balance between words and pictures. George's writting style is uncluttered and precise without being dry and remains readable throughout.

 

This book is clearly aimed at the the beginner-mid level modeller like myself, indeed George writes that he is not aiming to produce a finescale book and I think in this regard the book is filling something of a hole in the market. There is still plenty here for the more experienced modeller too and no doubt it will make a good referance book whilst working on projects. I certainly enjoyed it, my only complaint is that it did not come out earlier so I could have avoided some of my wagon building misadventures! Definitely looking forwards to vol 2 and furthur writing from Mr Dent.

 

The RRP is £18.99, but I got mine for under £14 from the Amazon marketplace.

 

DW

[kandc_au]

For overseas modellers (that is countries other than the UK) look at the Book Depository site. You may pay the RRP BUT you get free postage.

If you buy via Amazon you pay GBP7 for post on top of the book price.

 

Khris

[trisonic]

You can buy it from Amazon USA for Kindle for $9.99 US  including delivery! Actual release date here is June 30th.

 

Best, Pete.

[kandc_au]

Pete,

My experience of electronic mags and books is one that is very unlikely to be repeated.

I should imagine my copy of the book will be here in a couple of days time...... it left the Uk on the 4th.

 

khris

[trisonic]

Depends on what you read them on, I think. My "Fire" has a better screen resolution than the popular Ipad. The ability to magnify details is also very handy.

Once people start placing HD video into "books" it will get even better...

 

I agree that I prefer books overall, though.

 

Best, Pete.