MMP was founded in 1996 by Roger Wallsgrove, to publish "Mushroom Model Magazine". This quarterly modeling magazine was developed from "Mushroom Monthly", a club newsletter which ran from 1985 to 1995, achieving a world-wide reputation for quality articles, fearless and honest reviews, and a great sense of humor. From 1997, the magazine was produced in collaboration with Robert Peczkowski and Artur Juszczak (Stratus), which meant a big leap in print quality and design. MMP expanded into book publication in 1999 with Stratus, and since then they have built up a list of hard cover and soft cover titles on aircraft and aviation, naval, military vehicles, and military history. Stratus/MMP Books are distributed in North America by Casemate Publications. One can find additional information available on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mushroomModelPublications/. This English language book, Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eight, is authored by Jacek Jackiewicz and Robert Bock. It was illustrated by Jacek Jackiewicz and was published on January 8th, 2026. This tome appears to be a new edition of Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth by the same authors that was released on January 1, 2007, that was 120 pages, published by Atelier Kecay.

This full-size soft cover book [A4: 11.5” by 8.3] comes in at 184 glossy pages. The front cover features a color photograph of Consolidated B-24J-145-CO, s/n 44-40101, “Tubarão” [Shark in Portuguese]. Formerly serving with the 855^th Bomb Squadron, 491^st Bomb Group, "Tubarão", she had only completed twenty missions before being declared war weary. She replaced the 491^st BG’s B-24J-150-CO, s/n 44-40165, “Rage in Heaven” on January 5, 1945, after that plane crashed and exploded after taking off in a snowstorm. The Liberator following “Rage in Heaven” would also crash due to icing, canceling the mission. "Tubarão" would serve with the 491^st Bomb Group as an assembly ship until the end of combat operations. As an assembly ship, she retained her defensive armament along with her forward fuselage artwork, including her bombing mission markings. The assembly ship markings were green and yellow stripes on the rear fuselage and upper and lower outer wing panels. Notable is the replacement of the forward bomb bay doors of another Liberator and the black “WW” on the inside of each vertical fin, indicating “War Weary”. I counted 285 black and white photographs and illustrations along with 38 period color pictures. There are five color illustrations to assist in explaining the bomber formations. There are 192 color illustrations by Jacek Jackiewicz with most of the bombers depicting both side profiles along with dorsal and ventral views. All the fighters are shown with a color side profile illustration. Where appropriate, there are additional detailed color scrap illustrations.

Jacek Jackiewicz and Robert Bock kick off this tome with seven pages of text to provide an introduction and background into the assembly ships and formation monitors of the Eighth Air Force. An additional five pages detail the bomber formations. Then it's off to the individual assembly ships and formation monitors, most with color illustrations and supporting period photographs. The first assembly ship that is featured is B-17E, s/n 41-9043, “Little Rock-ette” over the next four and a half pages. This includes color side profiles as shown on Page 24, along with dorsal and ventral views on the following page. Twelve black and white photographs are included in addition to the scrap view. Originally assigned to the 97^th BG, 342^nd BS, she was known as “Peggy D” on her first combat mission on August 17, 1942. She was transferred to the 534^th BS, 381^st BG in July 1943 where she began her career as an assembly ship and squadron hack. She was stripped of all armament and camouflage paint, then red stripes were painted on the fuselage. The cowlings were also painted red and the “Little Rock-ette” logo in script on both sides of the fuselage [the scripts were slightly different on each side]. Her nickname was in reference to the pilot’s hometown, Little Rock, Arkansas. “Little Rock-ette” collected bodies in the April 25, 1945, Isle of Man tragedy. This involved a B-17G Flying Fortress, s/n 43-38856, crashing into a hill, killing 31 soldiers who were en route to a week’s leave in Northern Ireland. She later flew back to the United States where she was sold for scrap on October 29, 1945.

I had been aware of assembly ships, but something new to me was formation monitors in the form of war-weary fighters. An interesting example can be found on Page 33 with Republic P-47D-5-RE, s/n 42-8522. Formerly serving with the 353^rd Fighter Group [The Slybird Group] as “Betsy” [SX-U], she was stripped of armament and camouflage paint. A D/F loop antenna was added, as well as the tail markings. Note the Malcolm Hood canopy and the “WW” on the fin denoting war weary. Once modified, she served with the 92^nd BG at RAF Podington, near Bedfordshire, England. An interesting assembly ship can be found on Page 98 with Consolidated B-24D-1-CO, s/n 41-23689, displaying a paint job inspired by an AAF experimental disruptive camouflage. She flew with the 44^th BG originally before being transferred to the 576^th BS, 392^nd BG in January 1944 to assume the role of an assembly ship. This experimental camouflage was originally seen on B-24D-35-CO s/n 42-40186. Nicknamed “Minerva”, s/n 41-23689 was built in San Diego and delivered on July 18, 1942. “Minerva” was one of the first B-24s to see European service and even was a survivor of the Ploesti Raid on August 1, 1943. Unlike many other assembly ships, s/n 41-23689 retained some of her armament [dorsal and tail turrets]. In between the port and starboard color side profiles is a black and white photograph of Minerva at RAF Wending.

Consolidated B-24H-15-CF, s/n 41-29489, was built in Fort Worth, Texas. Her first assignment was to the 486^th BG but was later re-distributed to the 458^th BG, 753^rd BS, based at Horsham St. Faith, Norwich. The 458^th BG switched to B-24J Liberators for Project Azon, sending s/n 41-29489 to the 492^nd BG, 859^th BS, at North Pickenham, Norfolk. Her first mission with the 492^nd was on June 6, 1944, attacking coastal targets. She was transferred after six missions to the 448^th BG, 714^th BS at Seething, where she finally received a name, “2^nd Avenue El”, referring to the elevated railroad in Manhattan, New York. Her last combat mission was September 12, 1944. Her right stabilizer and fin were replaced by a 715^th BS ship, as well as her right auxiliary spars, which led her to being an assembly ship [and also would prevent her from flying back to the United States]. Her armament was removed and faired over, and her olive drab camouflage was replaced with black and yellow stripes, interrupted with aluminum. She took on the nickname, “The Striped Ape II”, replacing her predecessor assembly ship, “The Striped Ape”, a B-24D Liberator. Later, the bare aluminum was painted maroon, which can be seen on Page 136 and 137. All four engine nacelles were painted black. Interestingly, the inside right tail fin carried the aircraft letter V, a carryover from its service with the 715^th BS. She was salvaged in May 1945.

The sections of this book include the following:

• Eighth Air Force Assembly Ships and Formation Monitors [Table]
• Assembly Ships
  • Element Formation
  • Squadron Formation
  • Group Formation
  • Wing Formation
  • Modified Box Formation
• [Assembly Ships and Formation Monitors Focus]

The good news is there is a plethora of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Consolidated B-24 Liberator, and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt kits in 1/144, 1/72, 1/48, and even 1/32. A few kits have been released with assembly ship decals, including Hasegawa’s 1/72 B-24J “Tubarão” [kit 00976] and Italeri’s 1/72 B-24D Minerva [kit 1285]. MPC has released 1/72 kits of B-24J “Rage in Heaven” [kit 1-4403] and B-24J “Tubarão” [kit 2-2001-200]. There have been several aftermarket decal sheets for the assembly ships, but you may have to do some digging for them. One is Hussar Productions D72001, which covers six different B-24 Liberators. HADmodels has released several decal sets in both 1/72-scale and 1/48-scale for B-24 Liberators and B-17 Flying Fortresses. Another option is paint mask sets that are available from DN Models in both 1/48 and 1/32 for B-24 Liberators and a B-17 Flying Fortress, “Spotted Cow”.

Jacek Jackiewicz and Robert Bock have delivered a great tome on Eighth Air Force assembly ships and formation monitors. I was especially fond of seeing how many P-47 Thunderbolts acted as formation monitors and learning more about their role. As mentioned above, one caught my eye: Republic P-47D-5-RE, s/n 42-8522. I don’t believe I have ever seen a Malcolm hood on anything but a Mustang, but here there is a color photograph and a color side profile illustration [Page 33]. Of course, now the issue is finding a Razorback Malcolm hood. I still enjoy the use of actual photographs to support the color illustrations of each aircraft. MMP Books features this in many of their books, which I think is a huge attraction. This really brings these period photographs to life. This book is essential if you're considering building any of the Eighth Air Force assembly ships and formation monitors. I really enjoyed reading this book and plowed through 184 glossy pages over three nights. United States distribution of Stratus/MMP Books is through Casemate Publishers.

My thanks to Casemate Publishers along with Stratus/MMP Books, and the IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great book.

Highly recommended!