Rookie Aerospace, Inc.

Aerospace Modeler Magazine #5, Winter 2007

Editor  Billy Crisler

Reviewed By  Jim Pearsall, IPMS# 2209

MSRP: $9US/issue; subscriptions (4 consecutive quarterly issues) in US are $32 , Canada $45US, and $55US elsewhere. Rookie Aerospace, Inc., 12643 Pine Valley Circle, Peyton, CO 80831. www.aerospacemodeler.com . Aerospace Modeler first came to my attention from the 2005 IPMS National Convention in Atlanta. They gave away free preview issues. Since I didn't make the 2005 Nats, I didn't get one of the preview issues. But later I saw the magazine on the rack at the local hobby shops, and I bought one. When the next one came out, I bought it too. Then I figured out that I was going to buy them anyway, why not subscribe? When I sent in my subscription, I got (as a freebie) the pre-publication issue. So now I have a complete set. Why do I want to buy a magazine? Everyone is convinced that the future of research is on the Internet. Unfortunately, the info on the internet is not always available. Pictures you saw last week are now gone, as the site is redesigned or taken down. Also, there's not a lot of editing. Information may or may not be even close to correct. (See www.dhmo.org for an example. *) Probably the biggest reason to get a magazine like this one is that it brings together all the research, the photography, the instruction and the background in one place. It will also be here in 10 or 15 years when you NEED that information. Since the articles also list a bibliography and sources, they give a basis for further research. Articles: I was quite taken aback by the B-50 lead article. I recently finished a 1/144 B-50, and it was more than a minor chore, since I didn't know about the Cobra Company Resin conversion for the KC-97. It took me 2 years to get all the parts, do resin casting, find decals, cut up a B-29 and a C-97 and do all the work required. The B-50 article covers the conversion very completely. The part of the article which covers all those subtle differences between the B-29, B-50 and C/KC-97 would have been super helpful.

The profiles are wide-ranging and cover the subject. Not only that, each page of profiles also has a facing page with an explanation. The source for each profile is also noted. From the Table of Contents page, you also note that there are articles on the F9F Panther as well as an historical article and build review on the Hughes H-1 racer. In one of his early editorials, Billy Crisler said he didn't want this magazine to just appeal to the military aircraft modeler. Therefore, there'll be at least one article of interest to the civil aircraft aficionado, or something concerning real space modeling. This is a good thing, since there are a lot of military aircraft modelers, the other 2 areas are under serviced by most modeling publications. Product Announcements: The products covered here are of interest to most modelers. Some of the products aren't mentioned in more "mainline" publications, and those are the ones of interest to the advanced case of AMS. These pages also cover the product line of at least one small manufacturer. As I said above, if I had known about Cobra Company 3 years ago, I could have saved myself a LOT of time and effort on my B-50. Reviews: The reviews are not only the usual "build and critique", but also a new feature with issue 5 is the "comparative review. In this case, it's 1/72 P-47s. The article goes into wheel wells, which are a problem on P-47 kits, propellers, canopy, engine version, fit, outline, and all those details which can cause you to build the wrong version of the P-47. Overall This is a worthwhile research source. The reviews will become outdated, the "new products" will be long out of production, but those profiles and articles will still be useful in 5, 10, even 20 years. Where else are you going to get good info on the F-107, when you finally get around to building that Trumpeter kit some time around 2015? Where do you find "more than you really need to know" about the B-50? It's here. Buy the issues. Get a subscription. This is a magazine worth supporting. * Di Hydro Mono oxygen may be more familiar if referred to as H2O

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