Paul Mahoney
Reviews By Author
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Morane Saulnier MS.406C1: France 1940Published:
MMP keeps coming up with new and interesting series in their catalog of books. This “Camera On” series is not restricted to aircraft but presents essentially photo albums dedicated to different types of equipment (appearing to be limited to WW2 subjects from what I can gather). This nicely produced, softcover book is typical of MMP’s publication quality. That is to say everything has a refined look and feel to it, with thick paper and good glossy, heavy-weight cover pages. The book starts with a very brief operational history of the MS406, followed by extensive excerpts from the Polish evaluation of the aircraft. Finding out what the potential buyers of the aircraft thought of it made for some interesting reading. After this comes the real meat of the book, about 75… more |
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PZL P.11aPublished:
This was the first time I have had a chance to read/review one of MMP’s “Single” series books. The idea behind these books (more like booklets) seems to be to get right to the point and show scale plan views, photos, profiles, etc. This volume covers the Polish WW2-era fighter PZL P.11a, predecessor to the more numerous PZL P.11c. Upon opening the narrow, softcover book, one is immediately presented with several pages of scale plans (in 1/72 and 1/48). No introductory history or anything like that, just right into the plans. This is followed by about 6 pages of photos from the pilot’s manual. The text is practically non-existent here as well, but there are loads of numbered items in each of the photos that correspond to descriptions at the bottom of the photo. Some fantastic… more |
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Junkers D.1 Landing GearPublished:
A newer addition to Scale Aircraft Conversions large line of metal landing gear is this set for the Wingnut Wings Junkers D.1. Like most of SAC’s sets, this is meant as a drop-fit replacement for the kit’s plastic landing gear. The set comprises of both main gear legs, the landing gear “wing” between the legs, and the main axle. All are made of sturdy, white metal. I could see no appreciable difference in the detail between the kit items and those in this set. They look to be almost the same. If anything, I believe the SAC details were a bit softer than the kit items. The “wing” had a bit of a molding mishap and there is some excess metal on the top port side (see the photos). I think this will be a bit challenging to clean up and retain the details of the rivets and… more |
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Sopwith Triplane Landing GearPublished:
Yet another addition to Scale Aircraft Conversions large line of metal landing gear is this set for the Wingnut Wings Sopwith Triplane. Like most of SAC’s sets, this is meant as a drop-fit replacement for the kit’s plastic landing gear. The set comprises of both main gear legs, the landing gear “wing” between the legs, main axle, tail skid, and tail skid adjusting piston. All are made of sturdy, white metal. While these (as is often the case) look to be cast copies of the original kit, there are a few highlights. One appreciable difference I saw in this set (versus the few others I have seen/used) was the ‘sprue’ attached to the main legs and the axle. Unlike the Junkers J.1 gear I recently reviewed, the Sopwith’s axle is meant to be at an angle and the sprue it was… more |
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Air Combat: Dogfights of World War IIPublished:
This is a new, hardbound publication that is comprised of the contents of four previously-released volumes in the “Duel” series from Osprey. This compendium is edited by Tony Holmes, and includes:
This book has been produced to very high standards, and it was a joy to hold and read through. The hard binding is extremely sturdy, and all pages have a nice… more |
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Building the Wingnut Wings Dolphin & Pfalz D.IIIAPublished:
This is the seventh, and latest, in Albatros’ series of “Windsock Centenary WW1 Modeling Specials,” each of which is dedicated to building a specific Wingnut Wings kit (or kits). The booklet itself is done to very high publication standards, featuring 64 full-color, glossy pages within covers of slightly thicker stock. In keeping with the format of the series, this book covers a very detailed, step by step build of WNW’s Sopwith Dolphin, as well as a more condensed build of the WNW Pfalz D.IIIA. There are also many period photos, color profiles, rigging diagrams, a section covering aftermarket sets and a bibliography. The contents are as follows:
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Junkers JU-88APublished:
MMP’s “Spotlight On” series seems designed primarily around color profiles with a relatively narrow focus on a specific subject. Most of the series covers aircraft, but I have seen at least one armor title in the group. The Ju 88A book, like most in the series, consists primarily of large, full-page color profiles of the subject matter. Upon opening the narrow, hardcover book, one is immediately presented with an introductory page briefly discussing the Ju 88’s development and a synopsis of the different subtypes within the “A” models. This is immediately followed by over 40 pages of color profiles. The last page of the book has publishing information and shows the covers of several other titles in the series. All of the 40+ illustrated pages are of color side-view… more |
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Japanese Anti-Submarine Aircraft in the Pacific WarPublished:
MMP has brought out another large, hardbound book on a topic that has been underrepresented in the world of reference books on WW2 aviation. This book is hardbound and comprised of just under 250 pages. Production quality is quite high, and there are photos and 3-view drawings throughout the book. At the end of the book are several pages in color, including 21 pages of color profiles, 1 page of color photos, and a few pages of cutaway drawings. The first few chapters of the book describe the nature of the units involved in anti-submarine warfare from both the Japanese Navy and Army Airforces. There is a brief discussion of tactics used, equipment deployed (covered in more depth later in the book), and a listing of all units dedicated to this task. Within this text,… more |
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Heinkel He 177 Units of World War 2Published:
The title of this recent issue in Osprey’s Combat Aircraft series is a bit misleading. While it is called He 177 Units of World War 2, this book is much more comprehensive than that. The entire concept, development and deployment of this interesting aircraft are thoroughly covered. Perhaps the very first paragraph of the book sums up the history of the He 177 best of all: “In the history of aviation, many aircraft, civil and military, have been the cause or subject of tortuous development, heated debate, disagreement, uncertainty, confusion, and often danger.” That pretty much says it all for Heinkel’s heavy bomber! Starting with the developmental background, including the politics of German military aircraft design in the 1930s, the author paints a… more |
Me 262 B-1a/U1Published:
New (to me) from Eagle Editions’ “EagleCal” line is this 1/48 scale sheet of decals for the Me 262 B-1a/U1 night fighter. There is a copyright of 2016 on the instructions, but this is my first exposure to this sheet. As with any other EagleCal product, my first impressions are that this is another high-quality product. Opening the ziplock bag, one finds a single, full-color instruction sheet wrapped around a decal sheet (with a protective slip of tissue paper). Three subjects are covered: two operational Luftwaffe night fighters and one a/c that was captured by the US. Aircraft markings in this sheet are:
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