Hub Plott
Reviews By Author
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F-80 Shooting Star in Detail and ScalePublished:
Detail & Scale publications should be well known to all but the newest to our hobby. They have a long history of publishing well-written and documented, photo-rich books covering all the variants and details as well as model kits available. This is volume twenty in their new series of publications. The book is 102 pages long with 250 photos of which approximately 180 are in color, and 12 aircraft color profiles. The book is laid out in the standard D&S format. Beginning with the introduction followed by a well-written history of the aircraft. Next, there is a history of each of the variants built(excluding the T-33 which is a book unto itself) and the F-80 in the Korean War. Next comes the details photograph sections. Here we are treated to a wealth of… more |
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Aeronautica Macchi FightersPublished:
This is the definitive book on the Macchi Mc.200.202 & 205. With over 650 photos, color artworks, detailed art and line drawings contained in its 224 pages. The book is divided into twelve sections. The first covers the development of the Aeronautica Macchi company founded by Guilio Macchi in 1913 up through modern times. It also covers the sleek and fast Macchi seaplanes designed for the times air races. Chapter two covers aspects of production and is the shortest chapter in the book at only two pages. Chapter three covers how the monoplane fighter evolved in Italy. Ouching on the Fiat G.50 and IMAM Ro.51 but concentrating on the Mc.200. Chapter four covers the Mc.200 Saetta(Lightning) of which over 1100 were built. Due to production limitations at Macchi, license-built… more |
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Medal of Honor, Volume 6: AAF Aviators of WW2, Part 2Published:
From Wikipedia: The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians, and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. The medal is normally awarded by the President of the United States (the commander in chief of the armed forces) and is presented "in the name of the United States Congress." It is often, but incorrectly, referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor. This is volume six in the series and part two dealing with WWII USAAC aviators awarded the MOH. The book is 185 pages long with 206 photos of which 28 are in color, 43 aircraft color profile plus 3 color top views, and 4 formation diagrams. Those awarded the MOH covered in… more |
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North American OV-10 BroncoPublished:
This is number 140 in the now very familiar Warpaint series from Guideline and covers the NA OV-10 Bronco. This volume has 104 pages with over 20 pages of color profiles and 250 B&W and color images. The OV-10 has a long and distinguished history be it as a warplane or firefighter. The book is broken down into six sections. Section one discusses the beginnings of Counter Insurgence aircraft (COIN) and Light Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft (LARA) of which the Bronco would be the victor of the design competition and fly off. One of the best parts of this section to me at least is the coverage of all the various designs that vied for the contract. I was aware of the Convair Charger from another publisher’s book but had no idea that nine different companies offered designs up for… more |
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Legends of Warfare F8F BearcatPublished:
David Doyle is well known to historians and modelers alike, with over 200 books to his credit. His Legends of Warfare series covers many of the important machines used in warfare. This latest volume is for the Grumman F8F Bearcat. The F8F was the last and ultimate of the Grumman propeller driven fighters. Too late for combat in WWII and with the dawn and superiority in speed of the jet, the Bearcat order was cut down considerably. The only combat was while serving with the French in Indochina. Like its contemporaries, the Sea Fury, and the La-9/11, the F8F was fast and maneuverable. And like the sea Fury it survived because of that speed and maneuverability making it a favorite on the air show circuit and air racing. The book is broken down into an introduction and two chapters… more |
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Russian BombersPublished:
Just as when one thinks of American bombers the iconic B-52 comes to mind, when thinking of Russian bombers, the same can be said for the Tu-95 Bear. The Allies had done much to prove the success of and need for long range strategic bombers in their defeat of the Nazis and Japan. The Russians (then Soviets) like many countries, had not developed much in the way of long-range bombers prior to and during WWII. The success of the British and American long-range bombers during the war would change that for the Russians. With a few American B-29s making emergency landings in Russia during operations against Japan, the Soviets were given an engineering opportunity to not only study the B-29 but per Stalin’s direction to completely reverse engineer it to become the Tupelov Tu-4.… more |
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Scale Aircraft Modelling Magazine Vol. 45 #6 August 2023Published:
"Scale Aircraft Modelling", or SAM as it is affectionately known, is well known to aircraft modelers around the world. I had not seen a copy since our local Barnes and Noble closed. The magazine has really done well under Gary Hatcher’s leadership. This issue is packed full of useful information and interesting articles. Aside from the usual sections of new kits, accessories and books coming out, the reader is presented with then articles. One article that stood out to me is about Jon Tabinour’s AMX in a commemorative WWII Italian scheme. This aircraft has a truly intricate paint scheme and his technique for replicating it, while exhaustively time consuming, has yielded outstanding results! To replicate the intricate and dense squiggle pattern, he used Winsor Newton ‘Promarker… more |
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P-47 Razorbacks of 8th AF ColoursPublished:
This book presents 104 color profiles of 8th Air Force P-47 B, C and D razorbacks. Profiles contain aircraft of the 4th, 56th, 78th, 352nd. 353rd, 355th, 359th, 361st, 495th fighter groups and 5th Rescue squadron are all within these pages. All are beautifully reproduced in color with many great schemes to be modeled. This is a great companion for building the new Dora Wings P-47B/C kit that has been just released. Each profile caption contains a brief description of the colors and markings used on the aircraft as well as a brief history of actions and each airframe’s ultimate fate. This is a fantastic color profile book that is worthy of the reference collection of any P-47, 8th AF or WWII aviation fan or modeler. Highly recommended to all! Our thanks to… more |
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The Fairey Barracuda: A Detailed Guide to the FAA’s First Torpedo Bomber, Airframe Album #19:Published:
The Fairey Barracuda will never win any aircraft beauty contests, but it proved to be a capable and long serving aircraft. Serving the British, it’s commonwealth, and a couple of foreign countries as well. The aircraft served until the early 1950s with some still existing into the early 1960s. Today, no intact example exists, but the Fleet Air Arm Museum is working to restore/build one out of a couple of recovered wrecks. The book is divided into 5 sections. First is the introduction containing a short history not only of operational use, but also the development of the air frame. The second, but labeled first section, is full of technical drawings as well as under-construction photos. The second section contains many drawings depicting the prototype as well as production and… more |
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Boeing B-29 SuperfortressPublished:
This is number 29 in the FlightCraft series and covers the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. This is the first of this series of books I have had the pleasure to see and review. The book is broken down into 8 sections with the first 45 pages of the book dealing with the real aircraft. These pages cover the design and development, the aircraft in detail. The aircraft in service, variants including the USSR and Chinese Tu-4s and camo and marking. The next 8 pages are 24 color profiles from WWII, Korea, post war, as well as the warbird FiFi and B-50s. The remaining 42 pages are dedicated to modeling the B-29. The various kits, aftermarket details and decals are covered. Build journals are there on the Monogram/Revell 1/48 kit built as “Enola Gay”. The Academy 1/72 kit as “Bockscar”.… more |