AFV Modeller Ltd.

AIR Modeller Magazine Vol.6 (June/July-2006) and Vol.7 (Aug/Sep-2006)

Reviewed By  John Lester, IPMS# 36807

MSRP: £6.00 GBP (about $11.25 USD) For more information, or to subscribe, please direct your browser to: www.airmodeller.com. AIR Modeller is a bi-monthly magazine focusing on aviation models. It is published in the UK by the same folks who bring us AFV Modeller magazine. Each issue contains 5 or so model-building articles, a section ('Xtreme Detail') with reference materials covering a specific aircraft, and a 'New Releases' section. The magazines are full-color and printed on nice, heavy paper. There is none of the usual advertising scattered throughout the pages. I received issues 6 (June/July 2006) and 7 (August/September) for review. They contained: Issue 6: · Finemolds' Savoia S.21 (Porco Rosso) · Trimaster 1/48 He-162 Salamander · Hasegawa 1/48 F4-G Wild Weasel · Italieri 1/72 B-58 Hustler · Xtreme Detail: Reference photos & color profiles of B-58s · 'Air Born' (New Releases) Quickboost detail sets plus various manufacturers'/publishers' kits and books · Trumpeter 1/32 Me-262 Issue 7: · Fujimi 1/72 F-18A Hornet in Spanish service (part 1) · Tamiya Lancaster backdated to an Avro Manchester · Monogram 1/48 PBY-5 Catalina · Revell 1/48 Ju-88 C-6 in an unusual paint scheme · Xtreme Detail: Reference photos of A-7E Corsair II · 'Air Born' (New Releases) Aries & Quickboost detail sets plus various manufacturers'/publishers' kits and books · Hasegawa 1/48 Ki-100 Articles are, on the whole, well-written and informative. The quality of photography is uniformly excellent, and there are a LOT of pictures. For the most part, the articles are all pretty standard fare, not much different than what you would find in any other specialist magazine (like SAMI or Sky Models, for instance). Two articles, one in each issue, stand out though. Diego Quijano's essay on superdetailing a 1/72 F-18 and Brett Green/Chris Wauchop's build of the Trumpeter 1/32 Me-262 are well worth the price of admission. Mr. Quijano's model, shown in lavish detail, is quite simply stunning. The amount of detail he crammed in such a small subject is jaw-dropping, and the painting and weathering are awe-inspring. Mr. Green does his usual thorough job walking the reader through every step of his build, and Mr Wauchop displays his flair for painting and weathering to good effect. This does not mean the rest of the articles are inferior. There was something of interest to me in almost every one, and I was particularly interested to read Luciano Rodriquez's essay on building the Savoia S-21 from one of my favorite movies, Porco Rosso. About the only downside I can find is the price. The cover price is £6.00 GBP (about $11.25 USD) - which is not bad at all for what you get. But the single year subscription for people outside the UK is £48.28/ $90.00 USD (these figures were taken from the form on each issue's back cover), which is - to me - a bit steep for six issues. Your mileage may vary, of course, and the high production values and quality materials certainly warrant such a price. Bottom line: Air Modeller is an informative, well-illustrated and well-produced magazine I can easily recommend to airplane modelers.

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