Andy Evans is currently the Senior Editor for the SAM magazines Scale Military Modeller International and Model Aircraft Monthly. Andy has authored over a dozen books, including Crowood’s Bae/McDonnell Douglas Harrier (1998), Crowood’s Panavia Tornado (1999), Cassell’s Combat Search & Rescue (1999)Warpaint Books’ Sepecat Jaguar (2006), SAM’s The British Aerospace Sea Harrier (2007), SAM’s The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II Part 1 (2007), Dalrymple & Verdun’s The Nimrod (2007), SAM’s The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II Part 2 (2008), SAM’s The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II Part 3 (2008), SAM’s The Grumman F-14 Tomcat (2008), SAM’s The Bae (Hawker Siddeley) RAF Harrier (2010).

This volume follows on the heels of MDF (Modellers Datafiles) Scaled Down 8 on the The Dassault Mirage 2000B/C/D/N. MDF Scaled Down 10 should follow soon and will be on the Eurofighter Typhoon. This soft cover book’s cover features a pair of A-10 Warthogs in flight with the rear aircraft dropping flares. The first thing you will notice upon opening the book are the clear, well reproduced black and white pictures and the vivid color photographs gracing nearly every glossy page. I counted 16 black and white photographs, 273 color pictures, 20 color profiles, and 22 drawings.

The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II arose out of an Air Force requirement for a Close Air Support aircraft. First flight of the prototype was May 10, 1972, over 47 years ago. Fairchild Republic’s prototype won the fly off against the YA-9 in January 1973 with the Thunderbolt II becoming operational in October 1977. Production ended in 1984 with 716 aircraft. Outside of the prototypes, the A-10A model was the only production model with all other models being upgrades of existing A-10A airframes. The Warthog has survived many attempts to end its career, the latest being the F-35, however, but due to its success in battle, the A-10 continues to survive in active service with the Air Force.

The Chapters include:

• Introduction
  • Chapter 1: Design and Development – The Origins of the A-10
    • The Northrop YA-9
    • The Republic YA-10 [Page 8]
    • Into Production
    • A-10 N/AW
  • Chapter 2: The Warthog In Detail – The A-10
    • HOG UP and Wing Replacement Program [Page 19]
    • OA-10A
    • JAWS
    • Artic Hogs
    • A-10C
    • Camouflage
  • Chapter 3: Cold War to Afghanistan – Hogs In Combat
    • Colour Side Profiles [Page 41]
  • Chapter 4: Modelling the A-10
    • Hammer Hog – Peter Marshall Builds a Detailed 1:48 Italeri A-10C
    • Charcoal Lizard Hog – Chris McDowell Gets to Grips with Italeri’s 1:48 A-10
    • Hogs of War – Mac Patterson Builds the Italeri A-10C in Afghan War Mode
    • Experimental Desert Hog – Mac Patterson Builds the 1:48 HobbyBoss A-10A in the Unusual ‘Peanut’ Scheme [Page 60]
    • ‘Flipper’ Warthog – Ashley Dunn Builds the 1/48 HobbyBoss A-10A in an Experimental Camouflage Scheme
  • Appendix 1: Walkarounds and Weaponary
    • Airframe
    • Engines
    • Wheels
    • The GAU-8/A 30mm Cannon
    • The AGM-65 Maverick
    • Other Munitions
    • ECM and Designator Pods
    • Cockpit
    • A-10 Artwork – Hog Noses
    • Access Door and Nose Art [Page 87]
  • Appendix II: Technical Diagrams
  • Appendix III: A-10 Specifications
  • Appendix IV: Kitography
    • Kits
    • Decals
    • Accessories
  • Appendix V: 1/72 Scale Plans

I found the section on the introduction of the A-10 into service in Alaska quite interesting. The concept was first tested in March 1982 under ‘Operation Cool Snow Hog’. A special artic camouflage scheme was applied replacing the normal light green with white. These ‘Artic Hogs’ were not deployed operationally and by the late eighties, all Alaska Warthogs were in the current grey on grey camouflage.

I really appreciated Andy Evans’s book on the Fairchild Republic A-10 family. Although I would have loved to had this in the standard Modellers Datafile series that generally are close to 200 pages, I’m happy that this aircraft family has been addressed. Andy Evans covers the development of each of the different models in this family and then follows into combat operations The roughly second half of the book presents material geared to the modeler with color side profiles, five 1/48 build reviews, manual technical diagrams, walk-around style photo-essay, and a listing of available kits, accessories, and decals. All in all, this is a handy reference when you are ready to dive into building your Warthog.

My thanks to SAM Publications and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great book.

Highly recommended!