IPMS Book Review: Model Art Modeling Magazine Issue No. 756, September 2008

Model Art

Model Art Modeling Magazine Issue No. 756, September 2008

Reviewed By Scott Hollingshead, IPMS# 34786

MSRP: 1050 Yen (approximately $10.50 USD)
156 Pages
Website: www.modelart.jp

Imagine my surprise when for my first IPMS review I received a magazine printed entirely in Japanese. Fortunately, in looking at other reviews of previous issues, I was able to set forth on a plan of attack. Model Art has a unique format in that their magazine size is 182mm by 258mm (about 7 1/8 by 10 1/8 inches). As previously reported, the quality of this production is fantastic with a thick glossy paper used throughout. The articles and several advertisements appear mostly in color with occasional period black-and-white photographs and line drawings making up the rest. Many of the advertisements are also in color early in the magazine, but from page 105 on, everything is black-and-white.

In this issue, the feature article is about the IJN aircraft carrier Akagi. From page 9 to page 57, the article covers the ship and the aircraft that served aboard from 1928 until her sinking at the battle of Midway. Pages 10 and 11 show side view drawings of the early three-flight deck arrangement plus the later design of the ship. There are also drawings of five biplanes from the early period, and two biplanes and monoplanes from the later period. There are four pages dedicated to the painting and marking of aircraft for the ship from 1928 to 1941 with period photos and color drawings of the various aircraft. The magazine next goes into kit builds of the aircraft mentioned in the previous article plus the Finemolds 1/72 Nakajima A2N1-II, Nichimo 1/72 Mitsubishi A5M4, Hasegawa 1/48 Nakajima B5N1 (followed by a two-page article on its painting and markings).

The magazine next goes into a six-page article with the English text reading "Mystery of Mitsubishi A6M3 (Type Zero fighter MOD. 32) on aircraft carrier ZUIKAKU." After that comes an article on the A6M2 for the Akagi fighter group at Pearl Harbor and includes some photos of sweet 1/144 scale Zeros. There is a piece entitled "IJA/N Airplane Illustrated" that shows some period photographs and line drawings of the three flight deck arrangement on the Akagi that leads into a four-page review on the new Hasegawa 1/700 Akagi in her original configuration. The next article is on the Hasegawa 1/700 Akagi in her 1941 configuration, which is followed by three pages comparing the configurations, including line drawings of the carrier in 1929 and 1941.

After satisfying carrier aviation fans, the next article is a feature on modeling the JASDF. This piece focuses on the Raytheon Hawker U-125A and begins with low angle photo of the plane in flight accompanied by seven walk-around-style photos. There's also a story on remodeling the Matchbox 1/72 BAe-125 to represent the U-125A. This is followed by the new kit reviews section with reports about the Hasegawa 1/32 P-40E Warhawk, Tamiya 1/24 Nissan GT-R, AFV Club 1/35 IDF SHOT Kal 1973 (Centurion Mk. 5/1), Trumpeter 1/35 Geschutzwagen IVb fur 10.5cm le FH 18/1(Sf) and a Dragon 1/350 USS Buchanan DD-484 Gleaves Class Destroyer, circa 1942.

The next section of the magazine contains two pages of close-up photographs of a Nissan GT-R titled "the Legend is real." There is also an interview with Mr. Vladimir Sulc, the CEO of Eduard, which includes photos of new and future releases from his company. The final article in this issue is 43 Garage+ Vol. 48, which is about the Williams FW29, and shows the 2007 1/43 Toyota car, but no kit manufacturers are mentioned in English, even though there appear to be two different kits compared. The remainder of the magazine is devoted to showing the parts trees for new kits as well as new decal sheets.

If you are interested in information on the Akagi, this issue of Model Art is definitely for you. The reviews, even though in Japanese, give a modeler some great ideas, and views of how others are building these new releases. I certainly will be referring to my issue when I start in on my USS Buchanan.

Thanks to the folks at Model Art for making this issue available for review and thanks to the IPMS for allowing me to write my first review.

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