Model Aviation World
Many of you will already be familiar with Military in Scale, the magazine edited by our very own Spencer Pollard for Traplet Publications. Model Aviation World is the result of a decision to separate the aircraft content from the AFV modelling content, which were always jostling for position in MIS.
I picked up this first issue at Telford in early November, but it went AWOL for a week and was read first by two friends of mine. Once I'd retrieved it from them, I set about reading it myself from cover to cover.
The first thing that struck me was the sheer quantity of text presented in the glossy pages of this first issue. This inaugural issue is special in that it consists of 82 pages, whereas the standard issue will have 68 pages, the same as MIS. My comment about the amount of reading matter still stands however, as the articles are rich in content, both in terms of the written word, and a multitude of pictures of various sizes of which my only complaint is the tiny sizing of the red numbered legends. This balance is achieved by use of a small but easily readable font, and appropriate sizing of the pictures.
Content
After a preamble and rousing welcome speech from Spence, which goes into some of the reasons for the existence of this mag, there is a four page "Round Up" section which gives snippets of news from around the industry. Then we dive straight into the main articles.
Spence set out to create a magazine that was not just another clone of a successful format (other than his own), and in this he has succeeded in spades. The articles are varied in subject matter, including new and older kits, scratch built and aftermarket detail, and varying techniques to achieve the effects and weathering. One or two of the kits were originally released when I was but a small boy or a mere twinkle in my parents' eyes, but the resulting models are brought up to modern standards by simple but effective techniques.
Flicking through the articles whilst I write this review reminds me just how diverse and interesting this first issue is. That might sound sycophantic, but it's the first time in a long while that I've been enthused by an aviation specific magazine - a telling indictment of my previous subscriptions, and one reason why they were allowed to lapse.
Another thing of note is that there doesn't appear to be any "favourite" scale, 2 articles in 1:72, 2 in 1:48, 1 in 1:32, and would you believe one in 1:56??? There's even an article on weathering, discussing the pros & cons of a battle weary paintwork on your models accompanied by a wealth of pictures showing both sides of the coin... very brave indeed, and bound not to find favour with everyone!
Kit Box is the name for the in brief reviews, which concentrate very much on the buildability (is that even a word?) of the reviewed items, and spans a further 4 pages. Toolbox covers the tools of our hobby as you would expect, and is followed by Transfer List, which as you can probably guess deals with the latest decal releases from various manufacturers.
I won't insult your intelligence by explaining what the Book Review section is all about, but the research side of our hobby is just as important to a lot of us as the actual build, so is worthy of inclusion.
The final section is entitled Operations Room, and here Spence makes a plea for people to get in touch with articles and information relating to modelling and aviation in general, to fill the space available.
Upcoming Issues
The inside back page gives us a taster of what will be in next month's issue, including the amazing XB-70 built by Andy Davies... better known to us as General Melchett. Spence tells me that there will also be full builds of the 1:72 Airfix Canberras in the next issue, as well as Ali's little Jindvik and a couple of Austro Hungarian flying boats.
In issue three, Spence's astounding 1:24 Mosquito two part build review begins, and he's hoping to have an article giving a detailed history of the Airfix Superkit series written by Arthur Ward, a detailed build of the Classic Airframes Sea Venom and the Airfix Hawks.
Conclusion
To save you having to read to the end of this paragraph, I'm sold. Spence's "light touch" editing style, coupled with interesting and well presented content in an easy to read format is everything I want from a magazine, and I'm confident that subscribing will be money well spent, as has my current subscription to MIS.
My modelling chums that have read this issue have also made very positive noises, which given their differing tastes in modelling genres bodes well for the general reception.
The splitting of the content into two discrete magazines might not appeal to everyone for various reasons, but if you elect to subscribe to both magazines you're getting two complete magazines of content, so your bang-per-buck isn't being diluted one iota.
(You can also view this article on the homepage here)
