History Brief:

This is a “Special Edition” version of the AH-64 as seen during the Iraqi War in 2003. The aircraft was named after the North American Indian nation, the Apache from the southern Great Plains and beyond. Originally manufactured by Hughes Helicopters(1975-1984), then by McDonnell Douglas(1984-1997) and Boeing(1997-present), it was first flown on 30 September 1975, entered service with the US Army in April 1986, and is still on active duty today. The AH-64A features a 4-blade main rotor powered by twin turbine engines, a tandem cockpit, nose mounted sensor suite, upgraded electronic missile equipment system, and a state of the art 30mm (1.2 in) M230 Chain Gun weapon system. When compared to its contemporaries, the Apache is hands-down and by far the most powerful, robust, and sophisticated combat-proven attack helicopter ever devised by man.

The Product:

Plusmodel is expanding their super line and branching out! This is good news. Along with their EASY Line of simple resin kits, they are starting to release all-wood kits. This is a fine example of the art. This is designed to represent a simple wooden guard stand. Wood is always handy, and making a guard stand to keep the guards dry is something every soldier looks forward to doing – staying dry!

The kit consists of nine small laser-cut wooden “sprues”. The rear and side supports are made of a single unit and thicker than the sides, floor, roof, and accessories. The three outside walls all have nail stud marks in them. The roof. However. is missing this feature. The instructions are a simple two-picture diagram and are pretty simple to follow.

Dragon Models has released the Marder II in 1/35 scale, another in an impressive line of German Marder (“Martin”) Tank Destroyer kits. Based on the venerable Pz.Kpfw. II chassis, this version of the Marder was phased out in 1943 for the Wespe self-propelled gun. The Marder name lived on, however, being coupled with the excellent Czech 38t chassis in the Marder III, which came in several different forms.

This is Model Art Magazine’s special quarterly issue that focuses on naval subjects. As with the regular Model Art Magazine, this is printed in Japanese with some English subtitles.

This special ship model edition focuses on the “Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands” and the naval vessels involved from both the U.S. Navy and the IJN.

The issue starts off with a two-page article about IJN anchor chain, clevises, and other fittings found on these vessels. The next eighty three pages are dedicated to the “Battle of the Vera Cruz Islands”. Within this article, they use photos of models, period photographs, line drawings, and color artwork for their illustrations.

Following this is a section called “Only Ships – New Items”. They devote several pages to this with a multitude of black and white photos showing all the new ship models and aftermarket that is coming out on the market.

This is Model Art Magazine’s Imperial Japanese Navy Warships Scalemodel Album. As with the regular Model Art Magazine, this is printed in Japanese with some English subtitles.

This special issue is chock-full of photographs of built scale models. It features ten magnificently built scale models. Some of them are a Yamato in 1/350th, Nagato in 1/350th, and Akagi in 1/350th, as a few examples. Each ship has several pages dedicated to it with a multitude of color photographs for each.

After the main gallery, there is a section devoted to some of the build notes of each model. These are highlighted with black and white photos of the models during their construction.

While the price may seem a little steep for a photo album of built models, if you have an interest in IJN subjects you would find this issue interesting.

I would like to thank Model Art and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this fine magazine.