Book Review

[garyjd]

This is mostly a critique of the visual element of the book. The layout of the book and the way the photos of the miniatures are presented is good. The downside is that a lot of the photos are dark and do not compare to their counterparts in Bill's Modelling Masterclass book by Windrow & Greene. What bothered me even more was that some of the pages looked as if someone with ink on their fingers were looking at the book, and some of the pictures on those pages appear as if the printing press was running out of ink when those pages were printed. The work presented is still inspiring, but I doubt I would ever buy such a book sight unseen again. On a scale of 1 to 5 I'd give it a 2 1/2 to 3.~Gary

 

[Pete_H]

After spending the better part of a couple hours at the coffee house with this book, I really feel motivated to get back to the workbench immediately. I've picked up some really good tips just by studying a handful of pictures, which I can't wait to put into practice. As for what Gary mentioned, I agree. Some pictures appear too dark and I seriously doubt it was due to the photographer; however, these are few and far between.

I seem to recall that someone had earlier posted some comments about finding ink streaks on some pages - namely pages 210 and 231. At the time it was suggested that this was a fluke, but I don't think it is. My copy also had these ink streaks - seems like there was some ink on the rollers. Nevertheless, these two problems are somewhat minor and do not detract from the overall quality of Bill's work.

I feel that the best part of this book are all the commentaries, pointing out certain nuances that make the figure stand out. Bill's commentary on focusing on a historic period, sculpting, and painting - pg.19 - 33 - are also priceless. The overall layout is well-done, giving room for larger pictures - a max of 2 per page - so that the reader can appreciate the work and not be overwhelmed by any single page.

It is obvious that this was a true "labor of love" for Bill. To him I say "wonderful job" and "thank you."

 

[Billhoran]

Thanks, Pete. I'm disappointed to hear you guys got copies with marked-up pages. I have just finished going through a few that I received and I cannot find any such marks, so there may have been some printing problems. I will send an e:mail to AP and ask that they carefully check for this problem when others are sent out.

The lightness or darkness of photos is always a matter of taste. They printed some lighter than I preferred and some darker. The only real problem I had with the photos was that about 5 or so did not enlarge very well to full page size, and as a result are a bit blurry.

Bill

 

[Lou Masses]

I got mine today and frankly I was disapointed. Disapointed Only because I wanted more dirt on Bill! :lol:

The book is excellent. My copy had only one page where there was an odd ink issue and there (one page) were a few edited foibles but who cares. Some of the pictures were a little dark but no big deal. Overall, the book was excellent but I thought labeled as "The complete Horan" I would see Bill's lovely wife Heather in there (sorry Bill, that's Joanne saying "what! no pictures of Heather?! If you ever get to that point, there better be some of me in there! [written by my wife the previous statements were]"

Excellent book overall! Somegreat stuff to study and the most astounding thing was that most of those figures were done in less than 4 days!!!
Great work Bill!

Lou

PS-It just seems a printers issue more than a publisher, it seems there are different issues on different pages for us, which means the printer screwed up. Andrea seems to have done a good job.

 

[Pete_H]

Originally posted by Guest@Dec 30 2004, 03:45 AM
"... but in a rush to meet demand they were printed with less machine minding than there should have been."

Isn't that along the lines as what we were saying? It's not Bill's fault nor is it Andrea Press' , but as Lou pointed out a "printer's issue"?

Nevertheless, it's still an amazing book. One that will be worth many lost hours in studying and amazement.

 

[Pete_H]

Sorry Dave, I didn't mean to come across as antagonistic. I see your point. Oh, and there's something I observed about the book's content: "not enough 'WWII Germans'! " :lol: Hey, I've got to be true to my favorite topic