KLP Publishing is based in Australia producing digital guidebooks aimed specifically at the modeler. This is #4 in the “Modellers Monograph Series” and covers the camouflage painting/schemes of the Royal Hungarian Air Force from inception (post WW1) to 1945.

The e-book consists of 417 pages, with a color “cover” and loads of photos of aircraft, source documents and aircraft relics. In addition to the 200+ photos, there are 46 color profiles with very detailed explanations of the individual paint schemes.The author,Károly Magó, served with the Helicopter Defense Forces in Hungary and currently works at the Szolnok Aviation Museum doing restoration and research.He is also involved in search and recovery of aircraft wrecks within Hungary. Finally, it is worth noting that he is a modeler, and is Head Judge of the Moson Model show.

This author has conducted extensive research on the topic and has what I believe to be the definitive explanation of just what paints were used by the Royal Hungarian Air Force. Exhaustive explanations of every possible camouflage scheme are given. Apparently, for those that delve into this corner of WW2 aviation, there has been a long debate regarding just what sort of colors were used by the Hungarian Air Force during this time.Many suggest that Luftwaffe RLM colors, and/or Italian colors were the basis of Hungarian camouflage. Others have said they were Hungarian in origin. A logical and strong case, presented along a timeline, is discussed by the author as to his conclusions. Each step along the way he backs up his arguments with documents and quotes, all of which are footnoted at the end of each chapter.

Part I consists of 25 chapters, each dedicated to the paint usage and camouflage schemes applied during specific years. After this chronological ‘evolution’, there are a few chapters dedicated to night camouflage, captured aircraft, and national markings. This is really the meat of this book, and more minutiae than you could ever imagine is within each chapter. Perfect information for a modeler wanting to get his scheme ‘right’. There is so much technical information here, all backed up with documents, photos and analysis, it is extremely convincing.

Part II has four chapters, all technical in nature, which discuss the main paint companies in Hungary and their formulae.

Part III has a chapter on color deviations/tolerances, and another chapter that lists all the existing aircraft wrecks the author used when identifying specific colors applied to those airframes. He includes an in-depth analysis of the methods he used to evaluate the paint on these wrecks.

Part IV is a summary of the author’s conclusions and mentions specific modelling paints designed to match this research. Many acknowledgements are also included here.

Lastly come the Appendices:

• Appendix 1 categorizes each type of paint scheme, describes the colors associated with that scheme, and the aircraft on which they were applied.
• Appendix 2 compares existing model paints on the market with actual paint from wrecks of aircraft.
• Appendix 3 has pages and pages of side-view color profiles, with a detailed description accompanying each drawing.

As you might by now be aware, this is a heavily researched book that explains in detail the paint types and schemes used by the Royal Hungarian Air Force before and during WW2. If you are interested in painting your model in this livery, then in my opinion this will prove an invaluable resource. And the price is a fraction of what you would pay for the hardback equivalent.

Many thanks to KLP Publishing for providing the review copy, and to IPMS for allowing me to review it!