Model Art Magazine is a monthly magazine that covers aircraft, armor, ships and car modeling. Model Art started releasing magazines in 1966 and has evolved from there over the past forty eight years.

The September issue starts off with several small articles which include the IJA/N Airplane Illustrated and a build article on the Trumpeter 1/35 Soviet JS-7 Heavy Tank which includes a walk around on a actual vehicle in a museum and the history of Russian and American heavy tanks.

The main article this month features tools. What modeler doesn't like tools? The article consists of thirty three pages of pictures of tools and a brief description of what it does and price. The tools in the article range from colored pencils, files, trimmers, drills, solvents, lights, sandpaper, saws, tweezers and punches.

History Brief

The A6M2-N floatplane was developed from the Mitsubishi A6M Zero Type 0, for the purposes of supporting amphibious operations and defending remote bases. It was based on the A6M-2 Model 11 fuselage, with a modified tail and added floats. This aircraft was the brainchild of Shinobu Mitsutake, Nakajima Aircraft Company's Chief Engineer, and Atsushi Tajima, one of the company's designers. A total of 327 were built, including the original prototype.

The Product

My sample came in a standard size box featuring attractive box art. The contents were well packaged and included; 9 grey plastic sprue, 1 in clear, 1 instruction sheet and 1 decal sheet. This kit has been around for a few years now and has been re-released with differing decal options.

The Bodi’s Wounded German Soldier is a beautifully sculpted figure with a very natural pose and extremely sharp detail. The figure is modeled holding his wounded left arm and stands about 5 ft. 8 in. tall. The box art shows the soldier under the watchful eyes of a U.S. Jeep driver and passenger, also The Bodi figures. The Bodi is a Hungarian company that produces resin figures sculpted by Krisztián Bódi in 1/35 and 1/48 scale.

The kit comes in three pieces - body, head, and left hand. The figure is molded in a medium gray resin with some minor flash at the end of the sleeve and on the back of the figure’s neck. Flash between the two legs will need to be trimmed away. Mold seams are visible on the outside of the leg. The mold seams are not apparent on the upper body, or somehow cleverly concealed in the seams of the figures tonic.

Each issue of Scale Aircraft Modeling has the same basic design and format. That's not a bad thing as it is jam packed with superb aircraft builds and tips. In this issue, there are four feature articles, an Aviation in Profile piece, and five Compact Build Reviews.

The Feature articles for this issue starts with Jay Laverty's build review of the KittyHawk Models 1/48th scale F-101A/C. natural metal finishes are tough but Mr. Laverty does justice to the kit! There are great tips about working with photoetch and preparing for the metal finish as well as using Alclad. This really hit home with me as I am almost done with the IPMS review kit of this aircraft.

Next up is Mr. Laverty's build of the hot new Airfix 1/24th Scale Typhoon. This is a large kit and will be built in multiple parts. In this issue, the cockpit and wing spars are assembled and look fantastic.

This is another finely sculpted resin figure from The Bodi. The figure is sculpted to be leaning against a motorcycle and has a recess on his butt for the motorcycle seat. The figures body is molded in a full-length leather greatcoat that is pulled back and buttoned around the legs. There is also a recess across the back for the rifle slung across the shoulder. A gas mask canister is strapped under the right arm, but there is no other equipment. The figure does have goggles around the collar.

The body has a pronounced mold seam running up the side of the legs and up the sides of each arm. There is also a seam in the figures jacket running up the arm so make sure to remove the mold seam, not the jacket seam. There is flash between the two legs that will need to be removed. The figures hands are not gloved and have good detail. Straps and the figure’s belt are crisply detailed.