Wow. Just received my copy of The Weathering Magazine and I'm impressed. A well laid out and very informative magazine. I was a bit hesitant in getting a copy as I thought it would just be a vehicle to plug AK Interactive products and while it does have them they are more of an example than a must have.
My only complaint (and I'm am not really complaining ) is the use of AKatsiya who is very easy on the eye but is she really appropriate? Remembering that the hobby is not just the domain of the over 30 male crowd anymore. Younger modellers would most likely purchase this magazine as it is on par with the price for normal type publication as well as the growing female base.
What I'm trying to say is that in this day and age when our children are being bombarded with equality between the sexes and all the other PC nonsense, would the inclusion of an attractive yet slightly under-dressed woman be seen as typifying females as sex objects? Please don't get me wrong. AKatsiya is a nice distraction and for me, she does add a little more interest. I'm not an old stick in the mud, I yearn for the days of my youth when as a young boy I could go to the Doctors or the barber and be able to read People with Pics and Post just so I could look at the ladies dressed in bikinis. But nowadays when men can't even put up a tool calender at work because it has a scantily dressed female displaying the tools, do we need the likes of AKatsiya in our hobby magazines.

Just food for thought and a chance for logical debate amongst like minded peers.

Cheers,

John

I've read an article about, written by Mig Jiménez on the Spanish magazine "Euro modelismo" N 126.

He said that since the most of the modellers are male, some girls on his new magazine would have been really appreciated....moreover he said that he wanted to create a review which could speak about his two biggest passions...one of them is kit modelling

Joking aside, as far as I've understood (I haven't got the magazine yet) it doesn't seem to me that AKatsiya pics could be considered too hot. All in all you can see lots of similar pics in several advertisments nowadays.
Anyway the caption "Adult contents [+14]" printed on the cover, might solve the problems....Most of the modellers are male, but unfortunately few of them are less than 14

Cheers

Perhaps continuing your debate in the review thread will foster more comments: http://armorama.kitmaker.net/review/8063

Aye Rudi but I have read the review and I thought it best to start a new thread in the General Modelling section. This being a better place to discuss the 'other model' as opposed to the review thread which is more suited to discussing Bill's excellent review.
So just out of curiosity what is your stance? Is the 'other model' needed, a nice distraction or inappropriate for this day and age?
Cheers, John

Interesting Mauro.
My copy must have skipped the "Adult contents [+14]" part of printing. Either that or the censorships laws down here aren't as bad as I thought
Being as I stopped buying 'those magazines' years ago it is nice. Maybe Mig and AK can include a centerfold so we can decorate our hobby corners like the days of old when Pirreli calenders were considered the norm.
Having said that, is there a place for this now? In Bill's review comments some have mentioned that hot rod and RC plane mags have them but model railway mags don't, at least none that I have seen. So does that mean train models are not as sexy as plastic models or are train modellers less inclined to be stimulated or worse, plastic modellers are libido challenged and more akin to be like Peewee Herman?
Cheers, John

Considering that the magazine is mostly only available on the AK and AK USA websites (and I assume a few hobby shops, since I carry them when I can get them), then it is mostly the over 18 crowd that is buying them.

I have no problem with AKatsiya, she is only in the magazine 3-4 times, and not on every page unlike some car and motorcycle magazines, not to mention that she is wearing more clothes than most of those women in the car and motorcycle magazines.

Besides....you can see less clothed women on the internet, Facebook, etc, etc, whether you want to or not....so I think AKatsiya in the magazine a couple of times is no problem.

I would not tell any editor what he can or cannot put in a magazine.I will not try to convince anybody not to buy it,nor will I try to convince anybody it's okay to have her there.I will simply exercise my freedom of choice by NOT buying the magazine.Anybody else should make their own decision and not try to force the editor to remove the pics or convince anyone that they are okay.

Tolerance of others opinions and decisions is important regardless of wheher they are diffrent from yours.

Well, also here in Europe, the magazine is sold with any "parental warnings". I meant that the caption on the magazine cover, would have been a solution to the problem.

Some pics which depict a stunning girl aren't really a problem for me. Yes,maybe It would be better avoid looking them while you're doing your kits...Otherwise you'll risk to make a huge mess!! . However, since the new magazine is quite expensive, I'd rather have a magazine totally focused on kit modelling.... If I looked for other kinds of "models" I would have many other sources where I can find them


cheers

The saying in the UK is that sex sells but in the case of this publication I think it would sell just as well without the female models. As such when a magazine is released with semi nude females it is not going to encourage me to buy it, what is between the covers is what will make my mind up for me especially when the likes of Mig and other great model makers are the ones filling the pages. So I would rather the pages used for the ladies where occupied with more features related to the hobby.

However,in my humble opinion we can say that mr Juiménez has improved our hobby with his products (MIG and Ak). Other than being a great modeller, he's proved several times to have a great sense of marketing and business.
If he's decided to put some pin-up girls on his new magazine, it could mean that is a good marketing strategy