The Book

This book is aimed at serious modelers, primarily those who build in 1/72 scale, and provides excellent drawings in scale of 14 aircraft, including the following:

Henschel HS-123, Arado AR-196, Messerschmitt Bf-109A-D, Messerschmitt Bf-109E and EB, Messerschmitt Bf-109T, Messerschmitt Bf-109F, Messerschmitt ME-262, Dornier Do-17/Do-215, Curtiss P-40, North American P-51 Mustang, Douglas SBD Dauntless, Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa, and Saab J-20 Tunnan.

For each aircraft, the book follows a format I haven’t seen before. Drawings begin with the original prototype and continue through each development and production model, providing side profiles, top and bottom views, front and rear views, and fuselage cross sections. Each page has brief descriptions of the changes made to the airframes and equipment, and these are indicated by shading, showing changes in panel lines, rivet locations, overall outline, and any other differences. There is a tremendous amount of detail provided and although primarily intended for plastic modelers, a scratchbuilder would also find this book extremely useful in any scale. The quality of the drawings is frankly the best I’ve seen, and I will find them useful in my modeling. From the selection of aircraft, and the information provided, I got the impression that these drawings have been published previously, but this is the first time they have appeared all together.

The book includes primarily German aircraft, but also includes three American and one Japanese aircraft, along with a Swedish jet fighter. Each aircraft is treated equally, allowing for the differences in production models to be explained and illustrated. The only improvement I could suggest would have been for the author to include several drawings of the aircraft interiors, although this information is available from other sources.

Illustrations

The illustrations are basically line drawings showing highly detailed renditions of each aircraft, with modifications illustrated and explained very clearly. One very impressive feature is the inclusion of rear views, something almost never seen in this type of publication. Explanatory captions explain the differences and changes, and these are in English and Polish. The aircraft selected are ones that have appeared in kit form from a number of major producers, and it is easy to identify the errors the manufacturers failed to correct. Maybe the kit manufacturers should consult this guy when they do their next major kit issue.

Recommendations

Obviously, a book this size can’t cover every aircraft developed and used during World War II, but the ones that are included in the book are covered in more detail than any other source I have encountered. This book is definitely worth getting, and at the MSRP, it is a bargain. Don’t miss out on this one.

Thanks to Kagero, and Casemate Publications for the review copy.