Something New

Some fun new modeling acquisitions this weekend.

I've wanted to build an F-111F since 1986, but was never able to get my hands on the much praised Hasegawa kit. Thank you so much David for the kind gift!

The CC-144 Challenger is the impressive new BKP kit.  At first glance, it appears quite excellent and is now clearly the best Challenger in the scale.  This one will be done up as RCAF 144616's commemorative markings done in honor of RCAF Spitfire pilot Charley Fox.

Airfix Model World is a magazine I haven't written about previously on the blog.  It may currently be the best "general" modeling magazine on the market.  Sadly, it still has more typos than should exist in a commercial publication, but the Key Publishing team has done a good job of appealing to both the beginner and enthusiast modeler without the dumbing down of articles that is a staple of Fine Scale Modeler.  While I would wish for more historical features, how can one complain about the issue pictured, which has a Typhoon article by Chris Thomas and an article on Pearl Harbor P-40s by Dana Bell?  Other features in the September issue include build articles about the new Airfix 1/48 Tomahawk, the Takom Chieften, the 1/72 Hasegawa Su-35S Flanker, and another Mike Grant masterclass, this time on the Roden 1/144 C-119 Flying Boxcar.  Some may scoff at my enjoyment of paper magazines in 2016, but I still enjoy the arrival of each new issue of Airfix Model World.

D-Day to VE Day

Title: D-Day to VE Day
Publisher: Valiant Wings Publishing

This magazine is the first in a new series from Valiant Wings Publishing entitled, Airframe Extra. The concept is to combine history, modeling, and profiles into a periodical that will cover a conflict or a campaign.

As can be expected from the title, Airframe Extra #1 covers D-Day to VE Day. It starts off with a listing of important events from June 1, 1944 to May 8, 1945. This section is illustrated with photos of everything from Dakotas, to a crashed Typhoon, to an aerial view of Mulberry harbor. (While it is an aviation publication, I do think it odd that, given the topic, a photo of a Higgins boat wasn't included.)

Next up are six pages of side views of RAF types by Richard Caruana. The modeling content starts with a step by step build of Airfix's new C-47 by Libor Jekl. This and the following article on the Airfix 1/72 Spitfire XIX with aftermarket added are excellent and well worth the cost of the publication. Five pages of USAAF profiles follow, then a Colour Reference chart is included. This strikes me as an odd way to waste a page, but might be useful for modelers who don't have access to the internet?

A Bf-109G, a photo reconnaissance P-38, and a two seat ME 262 are the 1/48 modeling content. Again, all the models are well done and step by step coverage is included.  The Luftwaffe profiles are next and then the 1/32 scale coverage begins. First up is an excellent P-47D done by Daniel Zamarbide and then a short Spitfire XIX conversion. The Spitfire conversion is my only real complaint with this publication, as no step by step coverage is provided, which is even more glaring after Mr. Zamarbide's excellent article on his Thunderbolt. The book ends with a page of side views of Russian types.

This is a really neat idea for a series of publications and I look forward to future issues that will cover the Korean War and the Battle of Britain.

Military Illustrated Modeller Issue 003

So here we have another new modeling magazine from the British Isles. Military Illustrated Modeller is the latest title from the ADH Publishing house and the aircraft issues are edited by Brett Green of Hyperscale fame. Half of the issues are aircraft and the other half are armor. Of course we will look at an aircraft issue.

First off, I'm still not sure what distinguishes this magazine from ADH's Model Aircraft magazine other than the binding. This title has a more book style format then a typical magazine. Within the 66 pages we have articles on building the Eduard 1/48 Bf-110, Hasegawa's 1/32 Ki-61, Pacific Coast Models 1/32 Hurricane, Kinetic's 1/48 Mirage 2000, Blacksheep Corsairs in 1/48, AFV's 1/48 F-5E, and Wingnut Wing's Roland. Also included are short reviews on the Kinetic 1/48 Tracker and Eduard Fw-190D. Notice something? Oh yea, that's right, not a single mention of 1/72. And outside of a quick aside about the Platz Global Hawk, there was no 1/72 modeling in Issue 001. Heck, even the preview of Issue 005 is devoid of 1/72. I guess what that could teach us is that the Hyperscale's discussion boards are right, 1/72 is not for the serious modeler. In actuality, it shows us that ADH and this magazine have bought into the hype that 1/72 is a dead scale, when in reality that is so far from the truth it is almost funny. Anyone could have that opinion, and perhaps the hype is all 1/48 and 1/32, but take a look at tables at shows. What do you see? Often more build 1/72 scale kits than the other scales combined.

That aside, the models are well built, the photography excellent, and there are actual words on the pages. Again, maybe too many pictures and not enough words, but better than some of the magazines. Where this title shines is in the editing...not a typo to be found. Shocking that in the UK modelling magazine press that is a positive and not the norm. The title does feature that rather annoying style of "Part 1 in this issue, Part 2 next time," which seems to be a feature of almost every modeling mag. Come on guys, we know you want to sell magazines, but readers might like to actually finish the article in one sitting. The magazine reminds me of the highly priced, but very nice Air magazine, also from the UK.

Overall a really nice title, but not necessarily one for the small scale modeler.

What's In A Name?

Now that I've seen two issues, I think I can safely comment on the new Model Aircraft Monthly...no Military Aircraft Monthly...no Model Aircraft magazine from SAM Publications. No need to worry about a name or branding in the magazine publishing world, eh.

Now called Model Aircraft...at least for this week...the premier April issue was heavy on the MiG-21 with a nice 1/72 kitbash of the Fujimi and Zvezda kits. Also in the DSS realm was an article on early Spitfire colours with many many Airfix Spitfires included. Devil Scale modeling was focused on a Hobbycraft A-4 Skyhawk, and the real airplane section featured the fixed wing products of Martin Baker, some Pfalz biplanes, an article on the ME-410, and the inevitable Harrier retirement and Centennial of Naval Aviation photo features. Overall not bad, though there are way too many typos and spelling errors and the six page Kit News section listing of new products seems superfluous, much better suited for SAMI.

The May issues features Jaguars, with a nice Devil Scale build of the Airfix kit by Bill Clark. 1/72 scale features include a South African JU-86 and the AZ Breda 27. The Roden 1/32 Sopwith triplane is paired with a short feature on the real Triplane along with some scale planes. The esoteric history feature of the month is on the Battle of Lake Khasan, there is an article on the Avro Athena, and finally there are nice photo features on the Japanese F-1 and F-2, and some RAF Typhoons going off to war. The proof reading is better, but not perfect and again six pages are wasted on the Kit New section. But issue two is an improvement on issue one.

Overall, there is some potential here. Neither magazine rises to the level of the Neil Robinson edited years, and at times the topics just seem thrown together, but things are much better then the pointless Military Aircraft Monthly issues of 2010. Now if only they would hire a proof reader and not change the name every few months...

Another new UK Modeling Magazine

So I see on Hyperscale the other day that another new UK based modeling magazine will soon enter the market. I gotta say that I thought the market was saturated a few years ago and since then there have been at least two or three new entires. How can they all stay afloat? Wasn't the internet supposed to kill the paper magazine, not cause them to breed like bunnies?

Anyway, this new magazine is Military Illustrated Modeller and will alternate between aircraft issues and armor issues. (Neat idea.) It will be edited by Brett Green and Marcus Nicholls and looks to be courting the high end of the market both with production values and content. (It kind of reminds me of the nice, but pricey, Air magazine.) They are certainly catering to a different market then the new Airfix magazine! What I don't get, is outside of it alternating aircraft and armor, how is it much different from the publishing house's current Model Aircraft International magazine? What new does it bring to the table?

The first issue...an aircraft edition...will have a MiG-21 build and I'm a fan of Brett Green's work so I'll probably pick it up and report back.

Model Aircraft Monthly...no Military Aircraft Monthly...no Model Aircraft...

Talk about an identity crisis. See the link here for the press release on Model Aircraft - A New Direction. I guess by a new direction SAM Publications means the way it used to be before they messed it all up. I look forward to seeing what the new format looks like. Well, until they change it...again.

Scale Aircraft Modelling July 2010

About a year ago my long term subscription to Scale Aircraft Modelling ran out and I choose not to renew it. I wasn't enjoying the new make-over and the magazine no longer was in line with my tastes. However, when I saw that the July 2010 issue would be another Canada Day Special, I forked over my $11.99 (ouch) and decided to see if things were any better.

My big complaint with the new SAM was awful proof reading and articles with few words and little meat. Sure most of the builds were nice, but the articles didn't teach me anything. Sadly I have to report little has changed.

Things start off poorly on the cover. There is a focus on the Special Hobby Baltimore which they deem "Impressive!" What would be really impressive was if there was anything on a Special Hobby Baltimore, or indeed if Special Hobby actually made a 1/48 Baltimore. Of course they are talking about the new Maryland...but whatever...details don't matter right? Also what is a CF-5B? You see it used all the time, but there is officially no such thing. The Canadair built F-5s operated by the CAF were designated CF-116 and named CF-5A for the single seat version and designated CF-116D and named CF-5D for the two seater. Again, why would we care about details in a modelling magazine? The Title Page states: "The CF-5 was a licence-built Tiger II by Canadair..." Huh? Tiger II...um, no it was a licensed build F-5A, not F-5E... (It's ok, later in the magazine in the Next Issue section a build of the F-5E is titled Freedom Fighter...) Oh and the editorial mentions that they are grouping a book review on the Bf-109 along with some conversions to make it easier on the modeler. That sounds like a decent idea, other then there is no Bf-109 book review.

After all that, I was actually scared to read the CF-5 article, but guess what? It was decent. No major gaffs and even the designations were correct. The photo captions have some issues, like reference to the natural metal finish of the CF-5D (actually it was aluminum lacquer, which is correctly noted in the profiles), and embarrassingly a caption makes mention to note the bolt on refueling probe on an aircraft that isn't carrying it. Some nice looking drawings and plans are included for the CF-5D.

The Editor's CF-5D's built of the 1/72 Italeri kit is nicely finished, but really isn't that well built...there is a seam where the kit's front and rear section were mated that he didn't fill. Flip back a few pages and look at the pictures...it isn't here in real life. He mentions in the article that he didn't need to use any filler...well yea, he did...

The Kinetic 1/32 Sabre 6 article is ok. However, the builder clearly has little clue about Sabre wings. In the "'6-3' or not '6-3'" section he mentions how it is an important question with Sabres, and then goes on to mention that "a large proportion of them...seem to have been retro fitted with this wing at a later stage in their flying career." While this is true of RAF Sabres, it is not the case with RCAF Sabres. In fact the only RCAF Sabres ever to be retrofitted with different wings may be the few early Sabre 6s built with the '6-3' hard wing. No other RCAF Sabres ever carried more the one wing during their military carrier. Also, just which brand of interior green did the builder use for the wheel wells? Lifecolor or White Ensign? (He mentions both.) Nice model though.

And I don't even want to get into their asinine book review page. Why waste space on the publishers puffery? Just dumb. A review is a review, not rehashed marketing fodder.

Not all is terrible. I enjoyed the article on building the 1/72 MPM A-20 and even picked up a nice tip on making your own decals and the review of the 1/72 Airfix Widegon conveyed just how much fun these old kits can be.

Sadly, nothing in this issues made me regret my decision to stop buying the magazine. The cover price is out of sight, and the content is thin. The editing is terrible and many details are overlooked. But hey, the pictures are nice...maybe some think that is worth $12. Not me.

Military Aircraft Monthly Vol. 9 Iss. 4 April 2010

A few months back rumors started that the former Model Aircraft Monthly...now renamed Military Aircraft Monthly...was going to drop all model content and become just another aircraft magazine. Turns out the rumors are true. Not only that, but because of these changes, Neil Robinson has stepped down as editor to be replaced by SAMI editor Gary Hatcher. Personally I'm sadden by this shift of focus. MAM was by far my favorite modeling magazine because it contained a nice mix of modeling and history, generally with a British focus. Since the name change, I've noticed more and more modern U.S. subjects creep into the magazine. I guess the SAM Publications owners think boring gray jets is what American readers want...

So what about the magazine itself? While the April issue was the first under Gary Hatcher and first with no modeling. Things got off to a rocky start on the cover where it advertises an article on Battle of Britain Days. Oops, no Battle of Britain Days in this issue. Then things really stumble in the Russian P-39 article where a picture of the Commemorative Air Force P-39 is captioned as "P-39 42-19597 before ferrying from Alaska." Well no, that is just a modern airshow ramp, but it does cast doubt on the veracity of the article. In addition, the Testors paint charts include a listing of German colours in the P-39 article. On a Russian P-39? Come on. Also on the minus side we get all kinds short useless articles on modern US military subjects like the Shrike missile, a photo gallery of Desert Storm helos, the Grumman's Greyhound, the EA-6B Prowler, and the Credible Sport Herc.

Not all is terrible though, there is a nice Nimrod update, outside of the photo gaff the P-39 article is quite interesting, though in my opinion it should have had more about the Alaska-Siberia Route delivery of the Cobras, and there is a good Norwegian Starfighter article by Nils Mathisrud. All of these articles have something in common, they aren't on modern U.S. military subjects and they aren't two or three pages long. Hum, imagine that...more in-depth articles are of more interest. To round out the issue, there is a gallery by Tony O'Toole on the Supermarine Scimitar with some colour profiles, a short recap of the Target Falklands Day at the Yorkshire Air Museum, and a personal view of some of the 1950s RAF "At Home Days." Books and Letters wrap up the issue.

What is really odd is that even though they are trying to excise all modeling from the magazine, almost every advertiser is for modeling products. Wonder how long that will last? They even include a few throwbacks... colour listings tied to Testors paints in the P-39 article and a short modeling section in the Nimrod article, which was sponsored by Airfix. I wonder if MAM will notice an end to such sponsorships and advertisements now that they have abandoned modeling in the magazine?

Overall I get the feeling SAM Publications has no idea where they are going with Military Aircraft Monthly and they are trying to pander to modern U.S. aircraft fans. Unfortunately, I think with the prices and distribution of the magazine in the U.S. this will be nothing short of an unmitigated disaster. I guess to look on the bright side, there is now one less magazine I need to buy.

P.S.: While things were uneven in the April issue, May looks terrible. F-16s left right and center...three articles. Great! The most boring of the gray boring jets. Can it get worse?

New Look Scale Aircraft Modelling

Over the weekend, I was planning to post my thoughts on the "new look" Scale Aircraft Modelling magazine. Sadly David Knights beat me to it. Therefore, read his post and my comment.

Once again the procrastinator doesn't get the worm.