Sorry if this has been posted before, but besides “Ships in Scale” magazine, are there any other good ship modeling periodicals out there?
Thanks,
Gip
Radio Control Boat Modeler is published quarterly and has a Scale Views column written by Don of Loyalhanna Dockyard.
Marine Modelling International comes from England, and is available at most hobby shops
I can recommend two. In the U.S., the Nautical Research Journal deals with scale ship models, generally of a high standard. It deals with other maritime/naval topics as well; it has, in fact, been the target of some criticism from ship modelers who don’t find some of the non-modeling topics particularly interesting. In fact the percentage of the magazine devoted to models varies from issue to issue - largely depending on what’s been sent to the editor. It’s published quarterly, so it’s entirely possible for a year to go by in which an individual modeler won’t find much that especially interests him/her. And the next year may see four issues that the same individual finds fascinating.
The NRJ’s parent organization, the Nautical Research Guild, produces a set of CDs containing all issues of the Journal since 1949. Those CDs are surely one of the biggest bargains in ship modeling.
My vote for best magazine devoted strictly to scale ship modeling goes to the British quarterly Model Shipwright. It’s also pretty selective about what it publishes; there’s not a great deal in it for newcomers, but some of the models featured in it are among the best you’ll ever see. The coverage includes every aspect of scale ship modeling, from 1/1200 waterline merchantmen to enormous RC models. Subscriptions are on the expensive side - largely due to the lousy state of the dollar relative to the pound, and to the expense of airmail delivery. But in my opinion it’s worth it.
Quite a few back issues of Model Shipwright are, rather surprisingly, available through Barnes and Noble. Just go to www.bn.com and type “Model Shipwright” into the search engine.
The model club to which I belong voted some years ago to take an approach toward magazine subscriptions that I think is a good idea. We meet at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort (next meeting Saturday, September 27, at 2:00; new members and guests always welcome). The museum has a small library and several computers and printers that are available to club members. We used a chunk of the club treasury to buy a subscription to Model Shipwright for the library, and we bought a set of the NRG CDs for use by any club members who want to use them. It’s a nice, convenient arrangement - especially for those members who, unlike me, live within an easy drive of the museum. We’re lucky in being affiliated with a museum and library, but I suspect lots of public libraries would welcome the gift of a subscription from a model club.
I’ll have to second prof. Tilleys vote for Model Shipwright. Most of the bookstores online that deal with used books have a selection of back issues. ABE books and Amazon have them too. I think they run about $10 a copy but they’re worth the price.
Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I am going to check out the Model Shipwright rags. I am finding, as per Prof. Tilley’s remarks, that all British Modeling magazines seem to carry a relatively hefty subscription price.
Gip
I also like Warship Modeller… expensive if you buy them new/current (close to 20$USD) but you can pick them up for cheap as part of Squadron’s monthly sales. Right now you can pick up the Jan 06 and April 06 issues for 6$ for BOTH. Most of the info does not go “bad”, except maybe the new releases are already old news…