'Aces High' magazine

[Viking]

Aces High Magazine.

WW1 Centenary.

Perhaps best known for their paints and weathering products, AK Interactive have now moved into publishing their own aviation modelling magazine 'Aces High'. Issue 2 is themed 'WW1 Centenary' and is devoted to models from that era. Five different aircraft builds are featured in 1/32 and 1/48, these being the DH.2, Sopwith Pup, and Hannover CL.II form Wingnut Wings, and Fokker DR.1 and Nieuport 23 from Eduard. More than this though, there is a feature on figure painting, a 1/32 fuel cart, and a 1/72 Mack Bulldog truck. This is a great idea, as although many of us are primarily aircraft builders, we like to add accessories and figures to our showcases.

The magazine seems to be squarely aimed at people who actually build their models, as there is only minimal text to introduce each subject. The bulk of the pages are reserved to explain and illustrate how to achieve some of those tricky results that you see on top class models. Sequences of photographs are used to show step by step how to build and paint an engine for example, or wooden propeller, or wheels, and so on.

I particularly like the section explaining how the Wingnut Wings Hannover was rigged, as this is an area I know I need to improve on myself. I really like this method of explanation, several times I found myself thinking 'oh, so that is how it is done' as I read through the articles.

Each finished model is shown from several angles, the DH.2 is a particularly impressive piece of work.

The printing throughout is on good quality glossy paper, with full colour photographs and supporting text keyed to each picture. 72 pages are provided, of which only 6 are used for advertisements, and that includes the back cover with a rather nice Wingnut Wings ad on!

'Aces High' is available through AK Interactive's own website, and I notice that Amazon and EBay also list it. The 'Next issue' teaser at the back of issue 2 tells us that issue 3 will be themed on late war Japanese fighters, figures, and vehicles. This is a very impressive new magazine, clearly written by modellers for modellers, and I wholeheartedly recommend that you get hold of a copy and see for yourself. It's a good read and you are almost certainly going to pick up some very useful new tips.

Review sample courtesy of

[Julien]

Looks good.

[Ronan71]

I've been getting them via the AK app on my iPad and I find them excellent, however I'd love to know how often they are supposed to be released, issue 5 Vietnam was out in July 2015 and to date issue 6 about the battle of Britain still has not been published.