This book review may seem out of place to some folks, on a web site like Internet Modeler. If you think beyond relatively small static models, however, it will make more sense. This book teaches a person how to build things out of fiberglass -- and many radio-controlled airplanes, submarines, ships and boats are made out of that material. You can, of course, also use fiberglass to build large or small “static” display models.

I had previously purchased a book or two on the subject of building things out of glass-reinforced plastic (or “GRP”) and read several web and/or magazine articles. The books were often way over this beginner’s head, and most of the articles didn’t cover the subject well enough for me to run out and try it – though they made me WANT to try it!

This book assumes little or nothing: it starts you right at the beginning (what the material is; and how it is used) and walks you through all kinds of useful information.

The introductory stuff is covered in the first 11 pages. After that, you’re getting a fast-paced and practical education in the basics. By page 20 you’re off and running: onto the stuff that’s too detail-oriented for magazine articles to cover; but that really-advanced books may assume you already know how to do. They spend roughly half the book on a large amount of different projects that auto enthusiasts will have direct uses for. (We may have to pretend they’re talking about model parts instead of car fenders and trunks, but that’s okay -- it’s still great info.) The 100+ middle-pages cover a lot of useful ground.

One of my favorite parts of the book runs from pages 126 through 185. Eleven different companies are each given several pages of space to explain how they make the parts they make. And that’s no small thing, since some of the “parts” they make are full 1:1 scale customized car bodies! I loved finding out how one company did things, compared to how others solved similar problems. That fantastic section was a real confidence-booster, since it showed there’s often more than one way to do things.

The book winds down with a two-page article about how a record-breaking land speed record “Lakester” body was built from scratch, using fiberglass. Cool quote: “…same as building a stick and tissue model airplane fuselage”.

The best recommendation I know how to give this book is that while I had made a few weak attempts at using fiberglass before, I’d never been in love with my results. I spent one day reading this book … and the next day, had much more pleasing results. Now I feel like all it will take is time and practice, before I’m confidently using GRP.

Highly recommended. Thanks to my wallet for the review sample.