Military Modelcraft International

November 2025

Well, the guys at MMI are back with another awesome issue of their great magazine.  As always, the issue starts off immediately with a two-page "What's inside" layout. Why change something when it's not broke?  So, you get nice photos that are large as well as nice articles that await the reader.  The November issue waits for nothing as you quickly find out that new material is packed in this issue.  Let's breakdown how this issue shapes out.

 Page 8 - "News at the front" round up by David Grummitt.  This month's selection is the announcement of various new model subjects that are coming out.  They are:

• Russian-Ukrainian war SP.z Marder 1A3  in 72nd scale  (ICM)
• Drone Hunters set in 35th scale   (ICM)
• British Stuart MK.I Late Production kit in 35th scale  (Miniart)
• Sd.KFz 234/4 with crew   (Miniart)
• Pz.Kpfw IV Field Repair kit circa 1943 Battle of Kursk in 35th scale   (Miniart)
• German 3t fuel truck 3,6036s PmQ-Type    (Miniart)
• German tractor with Fla-MG151 Drillingslafette Auf Sd.Anh.Ost   (Miniart)
• British Jeep Crew Special Edition    (Miniart)
• Plastic Barrels & Cans Set   (Miniart)
• British Vickers-Clyno Mark IV, 1915 Variant   (Copper State Models)

Page 16 - IPMSUSA Convention wrap-up by Rob Riviezzo with selected photos that covers that event.  IPMS-USA is the largest model show in North America and easily some of the most numerous armor models that you will find under one roof at a given show, besides the AMPS Nationals. 

Page 18 - Quartermaster Stores begins with a lot of interesting products that are available to look at and take note of.

Page 22 - Rob Riviezzo is back with his build of the 16th scale Gecko Models kit, the Pz.Kpfw II (Sd.Kfz.121) Ausf C.  Rob does his usual magic in dressing up this kit with great detail photos that show his work in really putting an upgrade twist into this build.  PE work, brass cannon, it's all there to take in.   

Page 29 - Chris Johnson is back with a Recovery Duty model from Thunder Model in 35th Scale.  Chris does a wonderful job in building out this model with great close-up photos of the detail work which shows of the recovery nature of this build in splendid fashion.  If you like "wreckers" with all sorts of "stuff" on it, you'll love this.  Lots of great ideas for tricking out a wrecker build are in his article. 

Page 35 - Fernando Grannell intrigues us with a 72nd scale mouse.  Not a real mouse but the German Maus that was a behemoth.  Fernando incorporates this Maus in a building scene and it looks very life like to the viewer.  His article covers his Maus painting and chipping as well as show you how the factory scene was done. 

Page 40 - Sante Cadia is back with his latest masterpiece, the Soviet SG-65 Convoy in German Service Tractor.  You get to see the naked decked out tractor before and after painting with awesome weathering.  As equally impressive is a pull behind wagon that is presented in this article as well.   There are plenty of how to's in this article.

Page 45 - Armour in profile Talisman Sabre 2025  Gordon Arthur reports on the Amphibious Landings Exercise at Talismann Sabre 2025.  Who doesn't like pictures of real vehicles?  I know I'm not one!  This section has some great in-use photos abound in this section alone.  Great reference material here.

Page 58 - **Feature Article** Matt Edwards builds Dragon's M1A1 AIM Abrams from Operation Iraqi Freedom. This is seven pages of good old fashioned crunchy modeling where Matt gives good pointers in how to photos.  It's definitely a very nice article on M1A1 modeling.

Page 66 - Kristof Pulinckx provided a very informative article on building Bronco Model's 35th scale Short Barreled StuG III.  Yet another great how to in super detailing a model build, Kristof shows how he work with PE and brass to really enhance a beautiful kit for the reader.  There are great how to's in painting a dark grey subject.

Page 73 - Called "Finnish Improvisation", Stefan Szymanski is in this month's issue with how to build Flyhawk's 72nd scale BT-42 that represents how it would have been in the battle of Vyborg, 1944.  This article goes into great details how he pulls off a tricky camo paint job and then as a bonus, he shows how he does a scenic base to display his model.

Page 80 - At the Bench spotlight this month goes to Italian Modeler Vincenzo Lanna.  Seven pages are dedicated to getting to know Vincenzo a lot better, with photos of his works of art that he has built over the years.  This article really introduces you to one of Europe's premier model builders.

Page 88 - Finds us looking at an excellent article on Meng's Models Magach 6B Gal Batash worked by Ilya Yut.  Yet another great model of a modern era warrior, the Magach 6B in this article is weathered nicely and the builder goes into the steps needed to pull that effect off with precision.  At 8 pages with color photos, it's a great article to look at and mimic in steps.

Page 96 - Words & Pictures rounds out this months great magazine which is 100 pages long!  This section has a write-up on where to find a reference material need for an A34 Comet.  It is A Tank Museum's Guide to the Comet, written by Tank Museum.  At over 300 photographs, if you are a Comet lover, you need to check this out.

Selected images from this month's issue are below......please keep in mind that there are a lot of photos that span the fold of the magazine which make it almost impossible to scan on the scanner to incorporate inside this review.  Sorry!!

THE REVIEW.....

Well, I can't say enough good things about the issue for this month.  Again, since I have been reviewing a lot of these issues for Military Modelcraft International, I have found that Chief Editor David Grummitt has put together a winning formula in publishing this magazine.  It's become the gold standard if you ask my opinion with great articles that are timely published to give the armour enthusiast a plethora of different types of armour to look at and enjoy with each issue.  The magazine continues to be priced right in the fifteen US dollar range which means that it is somewhat affordable at that price for the content that is in the magazine.

From a teaching perspective, this magazine is stacked with brilliant how to's in just about every article where the author of the subject often gives great tidbits of information in how the model was built to arrive at the end result.  Lots and lots of that data is often presented in the body of the article with outstanding results.  I want to give a special shout-out to Kristof Pulinckx who worked up the article "Grey Menace" that is found on page 66.  To model and weather German grey vehicles during WWII, a lot of modelers just will not attempt any weathering at all.  I think the underlying issue is how to "stain" and discolor the grey paint to make it look realistic.  Kristof covers how to do this and shows real applications of techniques that he pulls off very well.  The photos with explanations are very nicely displayed and thoughtfully discussed.  The same also holds true for Matt Edwards awesome build of the M1 Abrams that starts on Page 58 entitled "All about Da Bones".  Same beautiful explanations with techniques applied to a vehicle that shows the end result of a highly weathered in-country M1 Abrams.  He goes to great lengths to talk and demonstrate on paper how he does the weathering.  There are real-life applications of the weathering that achieve great results.

Weathering is often the weak point in a lot of armour modeling.  MMI takes on that challenge in a way that the magazine excels in.  Mr. Grummitt puts an emphasis on weathering techniques and it shows with every issue with great effect.  It's why I'm so big on what MMI gives the average AMPS builder; a way to improve in an area that challenges all of us that builds armour.  Every month, I look forward to reading the latest MMI that comes my way.  David Grummitt has a real winner in MMI going.  If you haven't subscribed, here is a link to the Guideline Publications website www.guidelinepublications.co.uk and US customers can subscribe to MMI and pay in US dollars at www.guidelinepublicationsusa.com.   

This Magazine is Highly Recommended for Beginner to Advanced builders, all age groups and skill levels.

Thanks goes out to David Grummitt at Guideline Publications for this magazine review.  It's a privilege to review this month's issue for AMPS and we thank them for their continued support for our organization.

Reviewed by GLEN MARTIN

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