Model Art Co, Ltd

Model Art Modeling Magazine #28 Summer 2008

Reviewed By  Dick Montgomery, IPMS# 14003

MSRP: 1050 yen (approximately $9) Publisher: Model Art Co www.modelart.jp Imported by Dragon USA (www.dragonmodelsusa.com The magazine is a slick, glossy 8"x12" magazine of approximately 140 pages per issue. This issue of Model Art is a gold mine for those interested in the Pacific War in World War II. The main topic for this entire issue is "The Southern Operation", covering the Battles of the Malay Peninsula, the Battle of the Java Sea, and the Indian Ocean raid. For those who are limited by the lack of fluency with the Japanese language the old adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words." will need to suffice. Only a few captions for the artwork and photographs in the magazine are in English. It is clear from the campaign and battle maps included in the publication that there is a considerable amount of military history under discussion, and it is a loss for the purchaser not to be able to read and enjoy this historical narrative, but the images and color charts for the vessels mentioned in the magazine make up for the loss of the historical text. Ships, both of the Allied navies and the Imperial Japanese Navy are featured with full color 3-view drawings, B&W line drawings and in some cases, photographs of some of the actual vessels. Plenty of images of completed models of these vessels round out the visual coverage of the topics. Color images of models of the HMS Prince of Wales, HMS Repulse, and HMS Resolution provide the modeler with excellent references for the camouflage and colors used on these vessels. Also covered in this same fashion are the destroyers Electra and Vampire, the cruiser Dorsetshire, and the carriers Hermes and Formidable. In another section of the magazine the I.J.N.carriers, Shokaku, Zuikaku, and Hiryu are featured. Photos of 1/700 scale models show color schemes for these well known vessels. The Big Gun fans are not left out. The Kongo, Hiei, Haruna, and Kirishima are featured. Again, 1/700 scale models are used to illustrate the camo and markings of these ships. Smaller I.J.N. vessels are also covered in this same fashion using 1/700 scale models and line drawings to present the Tone, Chikuma, Mogami, Mikuma, Suzuya, and Kumano. The same procedure covers the light cruisers Sendai, Jintsu, and Naka. The issue closes with a very interesting article entitled, "Revell Archives" which features Japanese text (of course!) and some color images of some ships produced by Revell over the years. This magazine is an enjoyable visual "read" and provides a wealth of reference material for the I.J.N. in one publication. If you are a naval war buff, or an I.J.N. aficionado I highly recommend this publication to you.

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