I have been a fan boy of Forge World since I ordered my first Baneblade kit back in early 2000’s. Since then I have ordered many a kit from them. Typically their quality is incredible and now a days their prices are pretty reasonable. So back when this book first came up for pre-order I jumped and grabbed a copy (missed out getting a signed copies though, damn it!).

I know some people, especially experienced painters are leary of ordering books on modeling and painting from Games Workshop. Their books are typically oriented towards newer hobbyists and tend to be more ad and showcase oriented instead of a purely helpful guide. This is not the case with the Model Masterclass book written by Phil Stutcinskas and Mark Bedford. On one of the first pages of the book they talk about items that are needed and you see names from all over the modeling industry, which to me shows this is a guide that’s more about actual painting, instead of selling “the next big thing”.

This is a large book, in both height, width, and page count. It’s much larger then a standard codex ForgeWorld’s Model Masterclass is full color and weighs in at 124 pages that are packed full of great tips, tricks and alternate ways of doing things. Below you can see the table of content:

Table of Contents

Introduction
Tools and Equipment
Renegade Medusa
Cadian Stormsword
Krieg Macharius
Krieg Macharius Vanquisher
D-Battery, 45th Artillery Company
Marching to the Front
Krieg Malcador
Imperial Airbase Typha-IV
Marauder Destroyer
Marauder Bomber
Thunderbolt
Valkyrie
Tau Tiger Shark AX-1-0
Tau Barracuda
Siege of Vraks, Sector 577-449

One if the best parts of this book is each entry gives you a multitude of ideas on how to add to your models. Phil and Mark go over how to super detail your kits, adding a ton of extra goodies using items that many people have laying around the house. Phil and Matk also go over some incredible weathering techniques they incorporate everything from dry pigment powders to using oil paints.

Overall I really liked this book, the information contained should be useful for new painters and veterans. It costs £28 (roughly $45) which is less then the cost of the new codexes. The major downside to this book is it focuses heavily on Imperial vehicles. It would have been nice to see more xeno races covered. I would not say this is a must buy item, but I would highly recommend it if you can afford to grab it. This book would be useful in the hands of both gaming enthusiasts as well as finescale modeler or diorama builder.

There is a Volume 2 to this series which I plan on picking up soon (same price) and as an added bonus if you want to pick up both you can buy them together for £50 (roughly $80) that saves you a few bucks.

Links:
Models Masterclass volume 1
Models Masterclass volume 2
Models Masterclass volume 1 and 2