ModelArt

Modeling Magazine No. 772, May 2009

Reviewed By  Luke R. Bucci, IPMS# 33459

MSRP: 1150 JPY (approximately $12 USD) Website: www.modelart.jp This month has six extra pages covering the Joyful Modellers’ Convention of Hasegawa at the end. Small pictures of obviously skilled handiwork are a little bonus with this issue. The format is close to 7 x 10 inches in size and the printing and reproduction quality are excellent. Like all Model Art issues, it is presented almost entirely in Japanese. Most of the articles and reviews (but not ads) are in color. The value with ModelArt magazines is in its in-depth photographs and pictures of new models and how to build/modify them. Pictures tell the story, so a lack of English language text is not a big deal. The May 2009 issue cover shows the major feature of this month – Nissan sports car models. Pages 7-45 have separate articles about building and detailing seven different cars from the 1970s to present. These are Japanese cars built for the Japanese market since the steering wheel is on the right (wrong to us Americans) side. Some of these autos do not look familiar, so they must be the local versions, and not for export, making this issue something special for car modelers. Most of the kits are in 1/24 scale from Fujimi and Tamiya. There are plenty of pictures of finished models as well as construction shots. After a few pages of ads, the Regular Features show a continuation of building the JASDF MU-2 aircraft, followed by new kit reviews. Hasegawa’s new 1/48 "Pete" (Mitsubishi F1M2 Type Zero Observation Floatplane) is the main featured kit, with ten pages of build and background information. The WL waterline feature revisits Tamiya’s 1/700 Mogami in 1944 hybrid aircraft carrier form. Other new kits are a 1/32 Junkers Ju88A-1 from Revell, Aoshima’s new molding of 1/700 IJN Oyodo light cruiser, Academy’s 1/48 F-22A Raptor, Trumpeter’s 1/16 King Tiger tank with Henschel turret, and GSI’s 1/144 scale Japanese castle (okay, this is where not reading Japanese is not an advantage – I have no idea which one it is). The 43+ Garage feature explores building the 1/43 scale Subaru Coloni C3B racer. The rest of the magazine has the usual black-and-white ads and new kit releases followed by the Joyful Modellers’ Convention pictures. This issue is recommended if you like car models and want to build Japanese Nissan Sports Cars and keep up-to-date on new armor and aircraft kits. This magazine is always an inspiration and thanks to Model Art for the opportunity to review it.