Airfix Model World Magazine

Being a sucker for issue 1 of new publications, I grabbed the new Airfix Model World Magazine as soon as I saw it. Matt Irvines blog had mentioned it a few days ago so I was prepared and picked up a copy while buying "Practical Classics". Did I mention that I have a photo in the later ?

Anyway, Model World is the spiritual successor to the long lost Airfix Magazine although it's also a close relative of Tamya Magazine I suspect. There are quite a few publications aimed at the plastic kit fan nowadays so I wonder if there is space in the market, even one with such an important name in the hobby.

The content seems to be primarily aimed at aircraft, military and car modellers. Presumably this is because railway and boat modellers have more than enough stuff to read every month. The days of one magazine covering the entire model making hobby (hang on, there's an idea for a title...) are long gone. We prefer to specialise nowadays. Readers don't want one piece on their favorite topic and the rest of the pages on other peoples hobbies. Reading web forums, even railway modellers don't want one page on their own scale/gauge/era and other pages on things that aren't perfectly aligned with their interests.

Of course, I rise above all this and like to read and pinch ideas from everywhere. With this in mind I was really interested in the article on painting a WW1 tank where materials and techniques new to me are revealed. The MIG mud looks particularly interesting.

Most of the articles cover aircraft. They all look a bit like, well aircraft to me and while interesting, don't break any new ground. All look very nice I suppose, apart from a classic Spitfire kit which suffer (to my eye) from over-dark panel lines. The Saturn 5 rocket is useful and pleasantly critical of a product from the magazines namesake.

Production quality is very high, the photos are well reproduced. The layout is easy to follow although someone should have proof read the article on a vac-formed building so they didn't repeat one of the steps on consecutive pages. There's quite a lot of prototype information. If you want to build a Sea Vixen then there's a load of stuff for you.

Will I buy another copy ? Probably not, there are too many boat, train and classic car magazines (some with excellent photos) to fill my life but if there's something in there that interests me, or a project I might have a crack at in the future then you never know.

Airfix Model World Magazine website