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Favorite Modeling Magazine


TheWalrus

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So what is your favorite modeling magazine and why?

 

I have three:

 

Airfix Magazine because it has a reasonable price compared to others from the UK. Also excellent content.

 

AFV-Air Modeler because it is full of excellent detailed build articles that can teach

 

Windsock Magazine because, although it is highly focused on WWI it is an outstanding history and model building magazine. The series of build articles over the last 12 or more months teach techniques applicable to any scale moideling genre or era.

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The one magazine I try to buy when available is Military Miniatures in Review (MMiR). Unfortunately, their publication schedule is spotty and the magazine is hard to find on the newsstands. It is a quarterly magazine, but an annual subscription can last you for several years because of the irregular publication schedule. A few years back they actually went nearly a year between issues.

 

I enjoy the detailing and building articles, but often find the "news" to suffer from jetlag. In other words, by the time you get the magazine, you've read about the items online, seen them in the stores, etc. But their build reviews are top notch, normally leaps & bounds ahead of many of the reviews you find online.

 

But to be honest, between the Boresight journal from AMPS membership and the IPMS Journal, I really do not need to purchase any additional military modeling magazines.

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But to be honest, between the Boresight journal from AMPS membership and the IPMS Journal, I really do not need to purchase any additional military modeling magazines.

 

Very Much AGREE!!!

 

:Smile_sceptic:

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But to be honest, between the Boresight journal from AMPS membership and the IPMS Journal, I really do not need to purchase any additional military modeling magazines.

 

Since Aerospace Modeler Magazine folded a few years ago, I haven't bought any modeling magazine other than Boresight and the IPMS Journal. There isn't much in the magazines that interest me, and I won't buy an issue of any magazine for one article. From what I've seen, though, the Airfix magazine looks pretty good. MMiR was always good, but as has been said, you never knew when you were going to get the next issue. I lost interest in Finescale Modeler about 10 years ago...

 

Ralph

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I too miss Aerospace Modeler magazine! The good news is that editor/publisher Billy Crisler IS looking into restarting the magazine, but has NO firm plans to do so yet.

 

I still subscribe to Fine Scale Modeler, but mainly because I always have. Another of my favorites is Skymodel magazine, though it looks like it may have gone under as of late.

 

I actually think our Journal is one of the best magazines, and I enjoy it as much as any other magazine I get.

 

I would like to see a high end, glossy pic mag dedicated to aircraft. That's one reason I want to see Aerospace Modeler magazine make a comeback! I just hope the print is bigger the next time 'round!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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I like Model Aircraft from SAM Publications. I feel that they really cover all of the latest releases of kits, accessories, decals books etc. They also cover several builds per issue and include some good reference material. On top of that, they offer IPMS members a discount. I also get Military Aircraft Monthly from them. This is a great source of reference material and is very readable.

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I like Model Aircraft from SAM Publications. I feel that they really cover all of the latest releases of kits, accessories, decals books etc. They also cover several builds per issue and include some good reference material. On top of that, they offer IPMS members a discount. I also get Military Aircraft Monthly from them. This is a great source of reference material and is very readable.

 

I buy SAM and MAM. I recently gave up SAMI as I think it went down hill.

 

I also think that, value for the dollar, there isn't a better magazine than the Journal and IPMS/Canada's RT.

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I like Model Airplane International. I've always found the builds in the magazine to be good to great quality, and most of them have good nuggets to pass on. And they publish my articles! I also like Model Military International and Military in Scale. Unlike many, I also like Fine Scale Modeler. While many of the articles are pretty basic, I almost always find something of interest in each issue, and I do tend to trust the build reviews they run.

 

Also, as has been mentioned, the IPMS Journal is a top rate modeling magazine and is always read cover to cover in this house!

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  • 4 weeks later...

I like FSM, even tho, as been said - it's pretty basic now.

I also read SAMI, and for Figures I really like Amazing Figure Modeler. Plus The Journal of course. :smiley2:

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  • 2 months later...

I have three favorite modeling magazines. FSM for the Aircraft and Armor content, Scale Auto for the custom and Hot Rod model articles and the IPMS Journal for all of the above. When I can, I pick up Model Cars magazine for their custom and rod articles.

 

Dave

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I actually think our Journal is one of the best magazines, and I enjoy it as much as any other magazine I get.

 

 

Yep, Journal is the only one to which I actually subscribe. Will occasionally pick up others if a particular combo of articles jumps off the shelf at me. Narrow Gauge Gazette is a frequent draw, and I'm not really that huge of a rail guy; just a cool mag.

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I dropped SAMI after 18+ years of constant subscribing, they definately went down hill and not worth the $$ in my mind

 

Still get MMiR as it looks like they are back on track with their subscriptions

 

Then have to get The Jouirnal and Boresight.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I used to be a huge fan of Fine Scale Modeler but over the years they started to get away from my area of interest and now I can't really can't get into it.

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"I like FSM, even tho, as been said - it's pretty basic now."

 

I don't agree. FSM has run some pretty decent stuff as of late. My favorite was the article on detailing the Civil War USS Kearsarge. FSM has also really expanded their content via their excellent web site. You see a LOT of really cool stuff in the forums you wouldn't normally see in the pages of the magazine, so for the money, FSM is in my top five.

 

I have EVERY issue from the test issue to the latest, so it's now become sort of an obsession to keep the mags coming.

 

The Journal is also in the top five for me along with SAMI and MMiR.

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I wanted to get FSM again but they want the same price for their online edition as the print edition which is like 40.00 for 10 issues. A bit steep for me, but i will be getting their dvd of 25 years of issues as soon as i can.

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Back reference issues of Airpower and Wings, plus old issues of Fine Scale work for me.

 

Mark Fiedler (aAzZ09)

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My favorites used to be Model Graphix and Hobby Japan, but they became increasingly expensive, and I started to run out of space to store them. HJ began to go more heavily into toys and dolls, and became larger in size and weight, with most of it taken up by advertisements. Plus they switched over to cheaper newsprint-like paper for the back half of the mag. MG has always run a comic, but the current one has absolutely nothing to do with modeling, and it's been running a really long time. And I thought MG's slew of Russia vs Finland-based WW II comics in the 1980s was weird - at least they had modeling subject tie ins. My favorite MG comic was the one with the Ki-108 with the radar equipment that used a human brain(!).

 

I occasionally pick up issues of the various Tamiya mags, MMiR, and others, depending on what's in them. If I could read French, I'd probably buy Replic. There's some fantastic builds in there, and the paintwork is always amazing. The only mag I currently get on a consistent basis is FSM, mostly because I enjoy the review builds, although I don't always agree with their assesments. And of couse, I read the Journal, which has dramatically improved in recent years. My only gripe is that I think the paper it's printed on feels pricier than necessary. :unsure: Not every issue has stuff that interests me, but hey, it's all good! I recall someone saying that the M60-A2 article was too long, but I really enjoyed it even though I have no intention of building the Tamiya kit. (And even more so after reading about what needed to be done to bring the model up to snuff!)

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