Model Art Co, Ltd

Model Art Magazine #730, August 2007

Reviewed By  Luke R. Bucci, PhD, IPMS# 33459

MSRP: 1050 yen (approximately $11) Publisher: Model Art Co., Ltd, 3-11 3chome, Iidabashi Chiyodaku, Tokyo, Japan (www.modelart.jp). Pages: 156. Pictures: more than one thousand of article subjects (not counting ads); mostly color. Diagrams: none. Foldouts: none. As usual, Model Art magazines are in almost 100% Japanese language. However, this is not as detrimental as it may seem for those who do not read or understand Japanese text. The pictures really do tell thousands of words (as the saying goes), and are sufficient for modelers to comprehend the gist of each article. The format is approximately 7 X 10 inches, and as usual, the printing and reproduction quality is excellent. This issue can remain on shelves a long time and maintain its quality. Model Art No. 730 contains a large number of new kit reviews spanning aircraft, armor, automobiles and ships. As usual, this issue of Model Art has about half of its pages devoted to reports of Japanese hobby shows and hundreds of advertisements, but the real value of these magazines is the review of new kits in the first half of the magazine.

This issue highlights several German WW2 armor kits of the Marder self-propelled antitank gun from pages 5-33. Kits from Dragon, Tristar, Tamiya (2), Maian and a mystery kit from cyber-hobby.com are reviewed, encompassing several variants of the Marder.

Other kits reviewed include Revells' 1:72 Eurocopter Tiger, Hasegawa's 1:32 scale Francis Gabreski's P-47D Thunderbolt, Italeri's 1:35 US Nay PT boat, Pitroad's 1:700 US Navy Commencement Bay class escort carrier, Tamiya's 1:24 Tom's SC430 Super GT 2006 racing car, Aoshima's 1:700 IJN Taiyo escort carrier upgraded kit, Garage+ 1:43 Martini Racing Indy racer, AZ Model's 1:72 Nakajima Type 91 biplane fighter, and dozens of pages of mini-reviews and photos of other new kits. There is a 3-page feature of Japanese Air Self Defense Force camouflage schemes with photographs of unusual and colorful patterns.

This issue would appeal primarily to anyone wanting to build a German Marder "tank." Otherwise, it is of interest to anyone wanting to keep up to date with the variety of new kits. The articles in this issue (compared to other issues) spend less time on building techniques and more attention to showing off the finished models.

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