Model Railroader Magazine 5 x 4: March 2008

Summary

This issue was average with a couple of good articles.

Top Five

1. Scenery Step by Step - Add a grade crossing: Useful, easy to follow article showing plenty of detail. Articles that are heavy on good detail shots are always welcome. I also like that in the photo for step 5 they show a minor error. I’ll take a good representation of reality over perfection using Photoshop every time.
2. Building the Wisconsin & Southern on a shelf Part 3: I’m very happy with this series, particularly the photography. The modeling is nicely done and not complicated. I like the open look to the layout. There is a wealth of lessons in this series.
3. New York Central in Tokyo: Good coverage of an impressive layout. I imagine it must be nice to have the CEO of Kato USA among your best buds!
4. Repainting a factory-decorated model: I like painting and weathering articles and this is a decent example. I think there should be more of them. I feel there is room for more wide-ranging paint projects. MRR, please consider a revamped version of the old “Paintshop” column but don’t limit it to paint schemes and lightly weathering. Instead, focus on projects that emphasize specific techniques in painting and weathering.
5. Building and Painting Craftsman Kits: I liked the detail and information in this article.

Bottom Four

1. Editorial - Raising the Bar on Color: Why highlight the library and the internet as good sources of modeler information? Hello! It’s 2008, the rest of the western world has been tapped into this for a long time. Has MRR just figured it out or do they feel there are a lot of readers who don’t know about libraries and the internet?!!! This column was a waste of editorial space.
2. Building and Painting Craftsman Kits: I was turned off by the main photo on page 46. It looked cartoonish to me.
3. Landmark Layouts - John Armstrong’s innovative Canandaigua Southern: Same as my previous comments about this series.
4. Trackside Photos: This section is basically hidden in the morass of ads at the end of the magazine. It’s almost misplaced and forgotten there. This section should be a celebration of great efforts in modeling and photography. Along with the trashy location, there seems to be little effort going into the content for this section.

Disclaimer

Remember, this is post is just my opinion and I am biased! For the record, I have subscribed to MR continuously for almost thirty years, and I have no plans to stop anytime soon!