The Book

This book is intended as a reference for anyone building a 1/72 or 1/48 scale model of a production Messerschmitt ME-163B. It contains entirely visual references, and does not tell the developmental or operational history of the type, but this information is covered in so many other references, so that is not so important. The modeling information, however, is extremely well done. The scale drawings are very useful, and whoever made the photographs did a very good job of accessing the aircraft and picturing the details, especially the interior. There are several ME-163’s on display in museums, so with some cooperation with the curators, good photos are certainly obtainable. There are some period photos included, some showing the equipment used by the crews during operations. The cockpit interior views are especially good, and I think with these, a pilot could get in one of these and fly it, if he was that suicidal.

The Book

This is a short publication that provides very accurate 4-view drawings of the Soviet two seat IL-2 Shturmovik armored attack bomber of World War II fame. The drawings are done in 1/72 and 1/48 scale, and provide information on several modifications of the aircraft, mainly armament upgrades, but there is no color or interior information. There is an excellent photograph of a pristine IL-2 on the cover, and the book would be ideal for you if you were going to super-detail an IL-2 in either of those scales. There are enough kits available of the aircraft to make getting the book worthwhile if you are working with kits of this aircraft.

Recommendation

This book contains excellent drawings of the aircraft in two scales. Recommended.

Brengun brings a very welcome addition to the model aircraft market with this Extra 300L / 330 CL aerobatic plane. I have always wanted to build one and this release is most welcome.

In the box is:

• 2 x light grey sprues
• 1 clear canopy
• 1 decal sheet
• 1 instruction booklet

The sprue is well molded with very little flash and very good detail. The only issue is the plastic is very soft.

Construction

First is the construction stages A & B assemble parts of the cockpit. In Stage A where the seats and instrument panel are built, the PE set adds improved instrument panel and also seat belts. These are welcome additions to this very simple layout.

In stage B builds parts to the cockpit floor. The part numbers are missing from two parts which are in fact parts 21 and 23. At this stage the PE set replaces the pedals.