The new Airfix 1/72 Tempest V kit is very nice but, in some areas there’s a slight lack of detail and sharpness. These two new releases from Brengun/Hauler in the Czech Republic can fix one of those areas of weakness.

Cast in Brengun’s standard medium grey resin, there are two different items - what they term Early and Late Wheels. What this means is reality is that early Tempests had Typhoon main wheel hubs with 5 spokes. Sometime in the JN-series, this changed to a new 4-spoke design, but the exact cut off is not known. What is known is that the first 50 Tempest Vs (JN729 to JN773 and JN792-796) were built using the centre-sections from a cancelled Typhoon contract, so it would make sense that they, at least, had the 5-spoke wheels.

I was able to obtain a copy of the Airfix kit and so could make a direct comparison of the kit and resin wheels. As the photo shows, the resin parts are much more refined and have much sharper detail.

Subtitled ‘Air-to-Air Images,’ this book by Key Publishing is a photographic collection of such images of the RAF during the Seventies and Eighties, a period marked by tensions between NATO and the Warsaw Pact in which the RAF was a major player in the defense of Western Europe through its forces in the UK and West Germany.

Author Tony Paxton was a frontline RAF fighter pilot and was seemingly never without his camera, as all the 200 or so photos in this book are all by his hand. Most are of excellent quality, given the limitations of film types of the period, and many are produced full page and in full colour.

The book is divided into a number of chapters, starting with a brief introduction to the Cold War and continuing with various aspects of the RAF. Generally these concentrate on a specific role or aircraft type. As such, the reader will find coverage of such types as the Tornado, Phantom, Lightning, Harrier and VC10 amongst many others.

The latest in Key Publishing’s ‘Historic Military Aircraft Series’, this slim volume looks at the McDonnel Douglas Phantom and English Electric Lightning in RAF service during the ‘70s and ‘80s when they were the mainstays of Britain’s air defence commitment.

As explained in the introduction, author Chris Goss inherited the photo collection of noted aviation author and artist David Howley, who many will recall for his colour profile paintings for many modelling and aviation magazines. This book features 180 of Howley’s photos, mainly in colour and mostly of good quality. Most are taken at airshows but there are also some ‘in service’ shots dating from his time as an RAF Warrant Officer.