In anyone’s language 250 issues would warrant a special issue don’t you think?

Euromodelismo Magazine’s birthday tin this issue – they turn 250 and to celebrate they have published a special issue of their landmark magazine in English with a limited no of copies. We are lucky enough to get one so let’s have a look at what kind of party they are having…

Euromodelismo 250 

English Language (also available in spanish)

88 Pages, 

A-4 format

9€

available from Euromodelismo directly or good model shops and bookshops

When most people think of Euromodelismo, they would think of their earlier modelling memories – a lot of nice kit builds but most of them not in English and so I myself just couldn’t get into the mag as I only had a visual grasp on what was going on! For their landmark 250^th edition the editors Accion Press have produced an English language version so I can actually read how they make these models and join in on what I have been missing out on...

This edition follows their other’s closely in format. The A4 portrait magazine is eighty eight pages in all, with less adverts than most magazines but a price of nine euro which falls into the middle of the range for the newer style mags with less adverts (1 page inside and the inner rear cover which is unbeaten by their peers) but a slightly higher cost price. I was expecting something special from this edition due to this being their 250^th.

Let’s look at this magazine from start to finish then:

Firstly the editor gives his comments on the history of the magazine (at the start of the mag which is where I would look not the end) and the well-loved editorials and writers of the past as well as a hint to the future of maybe more English editions.

We take a look in the first main section at a brief history of Euromodelismo with the publications in this series from Accion Publishing. Again a lot of these are lost to me as the language barrier and the basing of this magazine in Spain made it difficult to purchase the mag so I had only seen second hand copies until recently when the internet made getting exotic magazines possible. This section really did fill in the blanks for me a fair bit. There are many very famous names in here mentioned that I know without being able to read all of the old issues of Euromodelismo. Congratulations to them!

We go straight into modelling – no reviews or previews just builds which I appreciate. First of the builds is Meng’s CHAR B FCM, in 1/35^th Scale which is a monster of a thing. Javier Redondo builds this kit rather cleanly and pretty much fresh from the box but his paint job and weathering with ABT 502 oils and pigments break up the stark camouflage. The end of the review sees the build turn into an SBS (step by step) build and gallery. The numbers of these old tanks used in WWII are given as reference as well.

Next we see a model I had no Idea was so small until I read this article. Joaquín García Gázquez is a super talented modeller and I like the thought behind many of his builds – even this, a simple idea is very well executed here. The 48^th scale Tamiya BA 64B is shown in an article called “Minimalistic Modelling” which uses the box art of the kit as a base illustration of how he replicates the kit precisely in the model as a great nod to the artist and the reasons why we love model boxes – they stir the imagination. Not only the base but the figure and tank are replicated to look exactly like the art here.

We go to the east next, with Cristóbal Vergara’s build of the 1/35th Scale MATILDA MK4 CS from bronco with resin side skirts and voyager PE sets. Echelon decals put this drab Russian green Matilda in the Caucasus region around 1942 and the summer dust this has been weathered with Van Gough and Mig pigments. This model is supported by block text which is really well written but the captions do lack a little meat to them unfortunately. Lucky the pictures that accompany the build make up for this. This can be said for all of the other photography in this issue which is all great.

 The cover article was the scene of some stiff competition – but wisely the editor went for this eye catching build of the 1/72^nd scale US CAVALRY Chinook from the jungles of VIETNAM in 1968. The author and modeller Sergio Fenoy has a great hand and imagination and in this article he depicts a twin rotor Chinook salvaging a crashed “little bid” helicopter over the waterlogged paddies of Vietnam.

The water being beaten by the rotors working and the straps which are lifting the cargo are actually holding the 1/72 scale in place. This is a thing of wonder to look at and the details of the watching cavalrymen, the water effects and the details spread throughout the dio are explained in this great section of the mag.

A very weathered (now veteran I suppose) 1/32^nd scale F-16 CJ (Block 50) model by Javier López de Anca brings out the years this bird had served until when it was captured here in this story called “Fire over the Balkans.” The kit Is very dark in the Spanish style you might say, and it is up to you if you like the result but the methods shown here are sound.

This raptor is shown with a full load of missiles, large drop tanks and E.C.M pods make this large 1/32^nd scale Tamiya kit look full to bursting and the scale allows the modeller to super detail each of the panels which he did (they were replaced by resin parts allowing for even more detail than the already pretty nice kit.) Wires to electronics, colour modulation and pin washes along with chipping are just some of the details shown and explained in the SBS part of the build.

The little rocket from MENG is next with its new 1/32^nd scale Messerschmitt Me 163b Komet model made by Tomas de la Fuente. I was surprised at a few things Thomas picked out that weren’t quite right with this highly regarded kit.

 Thomas adds even more detail from scratch and improves on the kit’s scale thickness in his build. A great section sees the paint go on in profile and from above in a series of step by step shots which makes this the best model build of this it and explanation of it I have seen so far.

Lastly Juan Carlos Ávila Ribadas teaches us how to make figures Fimo putty with his piece in 54mm called “Zouave.V. A.”,

Out of place amongst all of the machine models in this edition these pages that show you how he created this man are welcome by myself as I think all modellers need to improve this area of their work. It is always good to see artists at work who make their own figures.

This is a great magazine and a worthy celebration of the many issues before hand. The only thing I might have added was comments or snippets of more of what came before and more on the people who contributed. Two pages is great but I could see more – although some might say that that is just cheating the modeller of new kits and I understand the small scale celebration here

In saying all of that a feature that really was nice throughout the whole magazine was the author of each of these builds giving a separate little essay on their experiences and first impressions of Euromodelismo and what it means to be part of this venture. Excellent editorials in my view for this special edition.

A great birthday present for the rest of us – A truly Happy Birthday!

Adam Norenberg

Thanks to Euro Modelismo fro sending this magazine to us - it is available right now from their website..