4X2 Review

By Michael Benolkin

Review

AK Interactive has released another interesting modeling title, this time for the armor modeler. You may see in some of the cooking shows where the chef will prepare a given protein two ways, well the authors have each taken a subject and prepared an in-depth look at how to build, paint, and weather that subject for two different scenarios. The subjects covered are:

• Sturmpanzer IV (OK - KO)
• M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo (Then - Now)
• Cromwell Mk.IV (Then - Now)
• T-34/76 m1943 (OK - KO)

The approach to this title showcases how to achieve different results depending on the environment or scenarion you're wanting to portray. In the case of the Sturmpanzer and T-34, the authors each present their subjects in operational (dirty) condition (OK) and knocked out (KO). In the case of the Sherman and Cromwell, the tanks are also presented in operational (dirty) condition (then) and as war memorials (now). Each of these variations provide different opportunities to show paint wear, weathering, dirt/dust/grime, chipping, burn effects, and short or long-term abuse.

Each build takes you step-by-step from beginning to end, with emphasis on painting and weathering of your model. If you've seen the variety of paint, weathering, chipping, washes, etc., that are produced for modeling armor, this title shows you up-close how and why you'd use these various products to achieve a given effect.

Titles like these are very inspirational and while they may not cover a subject of interest to you, the techniques presented here are very much usable with any armor, AFV, or soft-skin combat vehicle. You'll want to add 4X2 to your workbench reference library!

Definitely recommended!

My sincere thanks to AK Interactive for this review copy!