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AFV Modeller Ltd. |
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AIR Modeller Magazine, Issue #2 October/November 2005 |
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Reviewed By Bill Weckel, #43974 |
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MSRP: £48.28 GBP (6 issues) Air Modeller is a new bi-monthly magazine from the publisher of the very successful AFV Modeller magazine. The magazine is published and printed in the United Kingdom and has a newsstand price of six pounds ($10.83 USD at the time of this writing). I was immediately struck by the high quality of the magazine. It's printed on smooth finish heavy stock, and it's "perfect bound"; a type of adhesive binding usually reserved for journals which will be referenced for several years. The magazine has an uncluttered and clean look. Graphic design is interesting and attractive, colors look accurate and the printing is of very high quality. This is a sturdy publication that looks like it will stand up well over the years in your reference library. This issue, at sixty-five pages, seemed a little on the light side to me for a magazine costing over $10.00. I actually browsed through the magazine for a good twenty minutes before it dawned on me that there is no advertising - none whatsoever. Air Modeller is strictly modeling content. I typically enjoy browsing through the ads in a U.S. magazine, but I don't regret their absence in foreign magazines, as there is usually very little in the way of sales or offers that I would typically act upon, given the added cost and delay of international shipping. The contributing modelers are all master builders, and several of the names, Randy Lutz and Franck Oudin for example, should be familiar to many readers. The issue's topics and scales seem to reflect current trends in aircraft modeling; World War Two 1/48 scale subjects are the most heavily represented, with three (out of eight total) articles. This issue includes articles on the Macchi C.205, the Bf-109 E-3, and the Ba-349A Natter, all in 1/48 scale. There is a very interesting and unique article showing the build process used by Zdenek Sebesta's 1/4 scale scratch built instrument panels. Fans of 1:72 scale and jet aircraft are not left out however, as the magazine has excellent articles covering each of these genres. Luciano Rodriguez builds a beautiful 1/72nd scale Fine Molds Ki-61, and the article shows step-by-step photographs demonstrating some of the techniques used. Ricardo Rodriguez builds Fujimi's 1/72nd scale A-6 Intruder and this article is accompanied by 10 excellent color profiles of CAG birds from the 1970's. |
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Building the Ki-61 in 1/72nd Scale |
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A-6 Intruder CAG Bird Profiles |
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The issue features an excellent reference article titled "Xtreme Detail F4U-4 Corsair" which includes 48 full color detail photos of the aircraft's innards, and is reminiscent of a miniature "Detail & Scale" monograph. I'd imagine that "Xtreme Detail" will become a regularly appearing feature in future issues. |
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Xtreme Detail - The F4U-4 Corsair |
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In the current "Golden Age of Modeling", there are quite a few excellent magazines to choose from; Air Modeller should be counted among your choices. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and reviewing the magazine, and look forward to future issues. Air Modeller is available direct from the publisher at www.airmodeller.com, or can be ordered from Wise Owl at www.wiseowlmagazines.com. I give Air Modeler a high recommendation and sincerely thank AFV Modeller Ltd. for providing IPMS/USA with a review copy. |
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