Reviews of books or magazines relating to scale modeling.

Book Author(s)
N/A
Review Author
Chris Martin
Published on
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$17.50

The following is taken directly from the publication:

The REFERENCES series books are a compilation of photographs, illustrations and drawings already published in other KAGERO PUBLISHING series as well as content that have not been released there yet due to lack of space. The REFERENCES will also feature previously unedited material.

What You Get

An 8.5 x 11.5 soft-bound book.

A small set of decals for Bf 110 C-1, L1 + IH in 1/72 and 1/48 scale.

The book has a glossy heavy card-stock cover enclosing 26 pages of heavyweight paper. All photos are black and white. Text/captions are in the original Polish with English translations underneath.

The first 12 pages contain 13 photos of Bf 110 C variants C-1, C-2, C-4, and C-7.

Book Author(s)
N/A
Review Author
Floyd S. Werner Jr.
Published on
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$33.99

A series of books from Kagero that is new to me is the TOP COLOR Series. This issue focuses on the Bf-109 in Combat.

The book comes in a protective sleeve to keep the package safe. This is important because this 8 x 11 book contains 11 full color profiles of various versions of the Messerschmitt. Many of the profiles have four view profiles, but even those that aren’t are quite colorful. There are nine Emils, one Dora and one Friedrich. So, this book focuses on the early versions of the 109. It’s interesting to see the evolution of the markings and camouflage from the Spanish Civil War to the Battle of Britain. My two favorite ones are the desert camouflaged one with different color wings and a Jabo.

Each aircraft is captioned in English and Polish. There is a lot of cool information in there.

Book Author(s)
N/A
Review Author
Chris Martin
Published on
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$17.50

Background

The following is taken directly from the publication.

The REFERENCES series books are a compilation of photographs, illustrations and drawings already published in other KAGERO PUBLISHING series as well as content that have not been released there yet due to lack of space. The REFERENCES will also feature previously unedited material.

What You Get

An 8.5 x 11.5 soft-bound book.

A small set of decals for Ju-87D-1 T6+BC in 1/72 and 1/48 scale.

The book has a heavy glossy card-stock cover enclosing 30 pages of heavyweight paper. All photos are black and white. Text/captions are in the original Polish with English translations underneath.

The first 11 pages contain 18 photos of Ju-87D variants D-1, D-3, and D-5 as well as detail views of the cockpit, under-wing drop tank mounting, drop tank, and gun pod.

Book Author(s)
Kevin Gogler
Review Author
Andy Taylor
Published on
Company
Avonmore Books
MSRP
$42.95

This is one of the rare Pacific Profiles books not written by Michael John Claringbould, although it is illustrated by him. Author Kevin Gogler is a son of a WWII Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Beaufort pilot, and this book is obviously a testament to his father and his fellow RAAF personnel who flew, and were associated, with the Beauforts and Beaufighters in the Pacific War.

From the Introduction:

“Amidst the enormous numbers of American aircraft that fought in the Pacific War, it is often forgotten that two British-designed types served operationally with the RAAF in large numbers. A combined total of some 1,280 Beauforts and Beaufighters were delivered to the RAAF and served with fifteen wartime squadrons plus a variety of training and support units.

Book Author(s)
Managing Editor: Mick Davis
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Cross & Cockade International
MSRP
$32.00

The latest journal of Cross & Cockade International — Winter 2019, features photographs of Sopwith Pups on the front cover, rear cover, and rear inside cover. These pictures all support the John Grech article on 2nd Lt. Patrick Alva O’Brien. The front cover photograph is of POW Lt. S.S. Hume behind a downed Sopwith Pup, A7340, of 66 Squadron that was lost in action on May 27, 1917.

Cross & Cockade International is a non-profit UK-based group known as the First World War Aviation Historical Society that publishes their journal four times a year. They also provide a free newsletter (sign up on their website) and occasionally publish WWI-themed books like the Sopwith Dolphin monograph I reviewed earlier for IPMS USA. This journal is the sister of the US Journal, Over The Front.

Book Author(s)
John Walter, Alan Gilliland (illustrations), and Adam Hook (illustrations).
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$22.00

John Walter is among the world's most prolific writers on small arms, and the author of 70 books, translated into more than a dozen languages, and authoritative articles in Guns Digest, Shooter's Bible, and The Armourer. This is John’s first book for Osprey. His next Osprey book in the Weapon series is scheduled for 2020. He lives in East Sussex, UK.

Book Author(s)
Damian Majsak
Review Author
Tomasz Menert
Published on
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$15.00

From the publisher’s website:

REFERENCES – a new series of A-4 size volumes. Each consists of 16–24 pages and includes selected archive photos, color painting schemes or 3D renders. Some books would contain scale drawings, too. One can find high-quality decal sheets in 1/48th and 1/72nd scales of one specific painting scheme. If the illustration differs in details from the decal, we will present photos which were used to develop sheets. Series for modelers as a supplement to other publications or compilation of already published materials.

Book Author(s)
Tom Cooper, Albert Brandolini, Adrien Fontanellaz
Illustrators: David Bocquelet; Tom Cooper, and Luca Canossa
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$29.95

Helion produces books on many aspects of Military History from the Late Medieval period through to the present day. Helion was established in 1996, and since then they have published almost 1,200 books, with 100 or more new titles coming out every year. The 'Africa@War' series covers African military history since 1945.

Book Author(s)
Krzysztof Dabrowski
Illustrators: David Bocquelet; Tom Cooper; Anderson Subtil
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Helion & Company
MSRP
$24.95

Krzysztof Dabrowski from Poland has a lifelong interest in the subject of military aviation, and has written dozens of articles on a variety of related subjects for printed magazines and the ACIG.org/ACIG.info, AeroHisto and The Boresight websites. His particular area of interest is the air warfare during the Cold War, the aircraft involved, and the experiences of their crews. This is his first instalment for Helion and he is working on a second title (Dropping the Big Ones: Live Testing of Soviet Nuclear Bombs, 1949-1962) for release in 2021.

Book Author(s)
Ryusuke Ishiguro and Tadeusz Januszewski
Review Author
Bill Kluge
Published on
Company
Mushroom Model Publications - MMP Books
MSRP
$40.00

Following the lead of the German Navy in WWI, several countries, including Britain, France, the United States, Italy and the Soviet Union all pursued development of aircraft capable of submarine transport, as well as the submarines capable of carrying them. But no country more so than Japan carried the development of these aircraft and naval vessels to the logical conclusion. During the 1920s, Japan purchased aircraft technology from Germany and submarines from France and Great Britain, and using them as a starting point, developed the most successful submarine launched aircraft and aircraft carrying submarines of any navy before and during WWII.