Attack Aircraft of The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps by Detail and Scale Aviation Publications was published 17 June 2022. This is the fourth publication by Detail & Scale that covers aircraft flown by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from the end of WWII through the deployment of the AV-8B Harrier II.

The book covers 13 aircraft – Vought AU-1 Corsair, Grumman AF-2 Guardian, Martin AM Mauler, Douglas AD / A1 Skyraider, North American AJ Savage, Douglas A2D Skyshark, DouglasA3D / A-3 Skywarrior, Douglas A4D / A-4 Skyhawk, North American A3J / A-5 / RA-5C Vigilante, Grumman A2F / A-6 Intruder, Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair II, Hawker SiddleyAV-8A / AV-8C Harrier and the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II.

I first discovered this publisher and series at an IPMS Nats a few years ago. As the title says, they specialize in WW2 Pacific aircraft, and do an excellent job covering some lesser-known subjects.

This is a softcover publication, with 120 pages in a nice, high-quality semi-gloss finish and a stiff outer cover. Publishing quality is first-rate, as is the content itself.

The introduction to the book describes the author’s intent, which is primarily to detail and clarify the various markings of Airacobras in the South and Southwest Pacific theater. This contains a brief explanation of the deployment of the type, and some explanations as to the differences between the various models of the P-39, as well as the P-400. The author is very concise and clear in spelling this all out. This is immediately followed by tables showing the various bases used by the squadrons flying the Airacobra in this region, as well as a brief glossary.

As an airplane builder, one of the necessary but boring parts for me is sanding smooth and then restoring panel lines and rivets. UMM-USA has the solution for the rivets with multiple sets. We will look at MN-006 (1/48th scale rivets), MN-021 (1/32nd scale rivets) and MN-049 (for 1/32nd and 1/24th scale rivets). Each riveter comes with a comfortable plastic handle with a wheel containing cuts with the raised pegs representing the rivets.

The book is volume 34 of Helion & Company’s Middle East @ War series and, as noted in the title, is the second volume of its coverage of Czechoslovak Arms Exports to the Middle East focusing on arms exports to Syria between 1948 and 1989.

Starting in the mid-1950’s and continuing up to the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in 1989, Syria was one of the prime customers of the Czech arm industries, particularly as successive coups resulting in Syrian politics becoming dominated by leftists and communists over the years. Initial deliveries were Panzer IV’s and StuG III’s manufactured or overhauled in Czechoslovakian factories, but as Soviet influence grew in Syria, Syrian began requesting more modern equipment or equipment of Soviet origin and in ever increasing quantities, often playing the Soviet Union against Czechoslovakia to see who they could get the better deal from.

Perhaps the most famous and most long-lived transport aeroplane in history, the DC-3 and its military versions including the C-47 Dakota are still in service around the World some 85 years after it’s first flight. There cannot have been many air forces around the world that have not operated the type and at one point or another still use them today.

It is only fitting that the almost as famous and long-lived Warpaint series of books from Guideline Publications has now seen fit to include the type – the only mystery here is why it has taken so long!

Author Adrian Balch has been a fixture of the British aviation scene for well over half a century himself and has amassed an unrivalled collection of aviation photos, some of which grace this volume.