Italian historian Paolo Varriale has taken a new look at the Aviatik’s (Berg) D.I service in WWI.

A single seat fighter designed by Julius von Berg, the Aviatik D.I first flew October 16, 1916, unfortunately killing the test pilot. Approximately 677 airframes were built, and that constituted nearly 43% of the fighters accepted by the Austro-Hungarian Army Air Service. The Aviatik (Berg) D.I was light and fast, but suffered from poor manufacturing quality leading to an adverse reputation for shedding wings.

History

Ordered in 1943, the first F8F flew in 1944. The XF8F-1 had a speed of 424 mph was armed with four .50 caliber guns in the wings and could carry two 1000lb bombs. Deliveries of the F8F-1 began in May 1945 but due to the end of the war the order was cut to 770 from 2900. Later Grumman received a contract for 126 F8F-1Bs which had four 20mm cannons instead of the .50 guns. The F8F-2 was introduced in 1948 and 293 of the -2 Bearcats were built by Grumman with the biggest differences being a taller fin & rudder and a revised cowling. Besides the U.S. Navy & Marine Corps F8Fs were used by Thailand, South Vietnam and France.

Guideline has just added the Ilyushin IL-2 to the list of titles in their “Warpaint” series.

The pages of this book are all printed on high-quality, glossy stock, and the covers are in stiffer card stock, also glossy. As with other titles in this series, the production quality is quite high.

There are not really any distinct “chapters” in the book, but each new section is labeled in bold type. The author dives right in on page one to explain the history behind the idea of the Il-2, and its subsequent creation. Having established that, he then discusses early production, modifications, and further production. The addition of a second crewman (rear gunner) is covered in depth, as this was a major change to the initial version of the aircraft. Some brief combat history is woven throughout the developmental history, as in large part it was the combat experience that resulted in the need for changes to the airframe.

Mr. Black Publications offers a very thorough and comprehensive series of books which feature “Figure Modelling”. This book is the 16th book in that series.

The book is not a Beginner’s Guide to Figure Painting, although there is much “foundation skills” information that is in the book. Rather, there are eight chapters, each featuring a specific subject, each with a different contributing author.

Each article is accompanied by a number of excellent photographs showing the project “in progress” and “completed”. A list of paints, brushes, primer, glue, and other materials used in the project are provided. This “shopping list” is something that I, as a rookie figure painter find extremely important. In each article, the author describes specific techniques such as base preparation, painting skin, armor, clothing, weapons, and “weathering”, or adding damage to the figure.

This is at least the second in this as yet un-named series from Osprey. The first that I’m aware of was Spitfire by Tony Holmes published in the same hardback format in August 2015. This appears to be a ‘handy’ size book that is possibly derived from earlier books by Paul Crickmore on the SR-71 Blackbird. Paul Crickmore has quite a history photographing and writing about the Lockheed Blackbirds leaning on his time as an Air Traffic Controller in London. Following the termination of the SR-71 program, Paul Crickmore produced a very detailed book, Lockheed SR-71: The Secret Missions Exposed that won praise from the aviation press, SR-71 crews, and the late president of the Skunk Works, Ben Rich.