Read n’ Reviewed: The Weathering Magazine Issue #14 “Heavy Metal”

We get a chance to look at a lot of the top modelling from around the world in the form of magazines here at TMN. Recently there has been a spike in new publications full of SBS model builds – Mig’s Weathering Magazine is one of the most popular on the market and today and we look at the new “Heavy Metal” issue #14 in today’s review…

Read n’ Reviewed:
The Weathering Magazine Issue #14 “Heavy Metal”
From: Ammo Publications
70 pages
A4 Portrait format
Available in 7 different languages: Czech, English, Polish, Hungarian, Spanish & French & German.
Price: 8€ or you can subscribe to this magazine as well.
Ammo’s Weathering Magazine Website also available in digital versions for apple & android

The latest weathering magazine is already 14 issues old! We take a look at it after we got a chance to read it in our review… 

Since starting up his new business Mig Jimenez has continued to be a force in the modelling industry. On line, through his modelling and in personal appearances around the globe he certainly is a positive personality in the business of modelling. He certainly has made a name for himself - and that name put to his product line normally sells well.

It seems you cannot have a brand without a magazine to go along with it now-days – and Mig’s new series of mags “The Weathering Magazine” has built quite an audience. The issue we look at today is number fourteen in the series – this one focusses on the weathering process and how it is applied to pretty much everything and anything that is metallic in our world (and that’s a lot to choose from.) 

The “Heavy Metal” issue is regular enough on the outside – it is a glossy covered A4 mag with seventy pages inside packed with builds and step by step (SBS) builds which are all the rage nowadays with us all too time-poor to read anything.

Two things that people will like or not are the use of only AMMO products and the use of some very lovely ladies to garnish the pages. The first I am not so hot on, the use of one main type of product is a little limiting, and it may lead to repetition in the articles. However, I can also understand that AMMO want to bring a product for every modelling solution and seeing it’s their book…but the second doesn’t faze me as much as it does seem to with some people. I prefer to see good looking magazines and no one is naked here is maybe get over ourselves a little. I see more nudity in Vogue magazine or “Checks Smashing Grunters” (- a pig hunting magazine) - for that matter.

This issue has six main building and painting sections. In the model of those are adverts, so in total seven pages of adverts in 70 total. 10% is fine with me so the asking price of Eight Euros to cover the adverts other modelling magazines pump into every third or so page makes fiscal sense to me. These pages do not break up the flow for me.

First build of the bat is Jari Hemila’s  JS-7 in 35^th scale. The SBS build of this monster tank is well put together with Jari’s intro, some building and construction pages and then a few pages on weathering and painting the kit. 

The textures that are created on the hull and turret, the rust and flaking paint effects melded with the new repaired sections on the kit are in stark contrast and draw the eye to the model. A smart concept that is a great example of the reason for this “Metal” themed magazine.

We go to the air next with Jamie Haggo’s 72^nd scale Mig-15 in Czech markings. Normally it makes no sense to see such a weathered and beaten aircraft but Jamie is a good writer and he explains why this tiny Mig is in such a poor state of disrepair.

Although there is no construction in this article the pages are full of step by step stages of how he turned his undercoated kit became the dilapidated wreck that we see in the finished product. The fact it’s 72^nd scale make this an even better tutorial for modellers.

Juanma Vergara is next with his own tutorial. Again no real construction here but the metallic armour of this medieval knight. Again the process is step by step (SBS), the thoughts in text are a little brief but more than enough to grasp what is going on and already I am appreciative of the variety of model types in this magazine.

Jamie Haggo is back in the next tutorial. Something that could help a lot of modellers is the replication of the afterburner “Turkey Feathers” of the F-15 eagle from great Wall Hobby. Jamie gets a great result and again his well-written piece is educational and due to be a “keeper” for a lot of aircraft modellers especially.

Another popular and varied choice is next. C-3PO the slightly femme interpreter ‘droid from the “Star Wars” saga is turned into something a lot more than the Bandai kit that it is derived from. The plastic is added too with some wiring and weathering to make a beaten up and world weary space traveller in simple steps.

“Ol’ George McFly peeping Tom the pervert…”

We see more robotic makeovers now, with Ivan Calomarde’s four-page tutorial of shiny metal paintwork on this Meccha. Alclad is the main star of this kit and the finish that he has gotten here is pretty remarkable. I am glad that the prep work is shown here because it’s a really important part of the overall finish with Alclad.

We see a face-off with two different paint brands next. “Gunze” VS AMMO is the workshop here conducted by Alex Kutovenko. How he makes each of these work in a side by side comparison is interesting reading to me. Importantly I don’t feel like the result is doctored and I would be the first person to kick off if I did think so. The article points out the plusses and negatives of both types of paint.

Again we go left field with some berserk ogres in miniatures from Claudia Zuminich. Using Vallejo and oils as well as AMMO products she takes us thru a step by step workshop on the 28mm figures from Mantic Games. There are five pages on the painting and weathering of these and they look pretty fantastic to me I was really impressed at her work. 

We look at some rusted metal in a more traditional way. Two pages of workshops of Panther metal shurtzen from Sergiusz Peczek that open your eyes to the possibilities of extremely rusted plates of metal on your AFV. Then in “Last Stop – Where Trains go to die” Rick Lawler spends a few pages showing us how he made a railroad graveyard. An impressive story of step by steps to create a disused railway junction that again opened my eyes to the calibre of work in this magazine.

Lastly we look at some of the meetings with AMMO fans around the world.

I a wary of paint company supplied magazines. Although this did have a heap of AMMO stuff in there is room for other brands which does make it a little more interesting for the reader. The models inside are top class and a fair few of these writers are very talented. I like the look and flow of the pages and SBS stories inside. No reading the whole story twice – just an into, SBS and conclusion – excellent.

Adam Norenberg

Thanks to the guys (and gals) at AMMO for sending this to us - you can subscribe to this magazine at Ammo’s Weathering Magazine Website also available in digital versions apple & android