IPMS favourite: SAM magazine review

It’s time for a look at the hardcopy mags, and SAM – Scale Aircraft Modelling – had a style update recently, so it’s a good one to choose. The cover says it’s voted “the modeller’s favourite magazine” by the UK IPMS (International Plastic Modeller’s Society), so let’s open one up.

The issue featured here is the latest copy, dated April 2009, and features an Airfix TSR-2 on the cover. Oddly, the image seems to be in mono: the 1:48 scale model is shown in colour inside, so maybe the designer thought it was a good Photoshop effect or something.

Still, that’s comment rather than criticism, and the rest of SAM makes up for it, with a total of 70 colour pages, printed on very good quality paper. The TSR-2 article includes a full build step-by-step, a useful how-to Tech Guide, and a 21-pic walkaround the two full-size aircraft, presently on display at the Duxford and Cosford air museums.

A nice SAM feature is the centre-spread, which folds out to show a really attractive set of scale drawings of the de Havilland Sea Vixen, by technical artist Mark Rolfe.

The back end of the mag is packed with new kit releases, accessories and other interesting stuff. You can visit SAM’s website here, where you can also find a FREE pdf download of a specimen issue, with the old-style front cover. SAM, we like the new one so much more! Available monthly, UK price £3.95GBP.