Ship Dioramas – Bringing your models to life

Author: David Griffith
Published by Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 9781848321687
Price around £20.00 GBP (December 2013)
Pages: 144
Hardback
Review by Les Venus

Our thanks to Seaforth Publishing for supplying our review sample – get this excellent book here now.

I became an enthusiastic ship modeller only a few years ago and still very much in beginner’s mode in this genre. The modellers that have impressed and inspired me in this though have been Lou Carabott, Kostas Katesas, Jim Baumann, Ian Ruscoe, Peter Hall and David Griffith. Lou, Kostas, Ian, Jim and David are all avid builders of sea dioramas and some of their work is truly spectacular and almost indistinguishable from a photo of the real ship.

While I have always been open mouthed in admiration for these icons of our hobby I have never had the courage or time to emulate them. With this book from David now in my hands this may soon change.

David is clearly an accomplished modeller of the highest order but his self-effacing approach, innate modesty coupled with an easy writing style make this book a compelling and inspiring read. The book is littered with practical examples of work in progress, simple dioramas to the most complex but everything in David’s capable hands seems doable by even a tyro like me. He references Jim’s and Kostas’s work and clearly Jim is a great hero and source of primary inspiration for David.

I love how the photography and the words tie seamlessly together and the language and structure is simple to understand and execute. I love David’s style and my only wish is that the book was in A4 format and perhaps even with detachable pages that could be used alongside a build…just a thought.

This is a super book and great value too I highly recommend it to all ship modellers without hesitation.
Les V.