My wife gave me a Nikon D40X for Christmas. I find it is a great camera for modeling. It came with a Nikor 18-55mm lens, which I find a good lens for model photography. Many macro lenses are macro only on the longest (most zoomed) focal length. This little lens is macro at ALL focal lengths. Long (telephoto) focal lengths compress depth, while wide angle expands depth. I like to take model photos a bit wider than normal perspective.
Ordinarily I use a regular zoom plus add a "closeup" lens. With this lens I do not need to do that. Just zoom in to set the focus, then zoom out to the focal length I want and the lens holds focus.
So if you are looking for a new camera for modeling, get one of the D40x kits with that lens.