Perhaps one of the prettiest jet fighters, the Hawker Hunter was an inspired piece of design by the famed British designer, Sir Sidney Camm, also known for the Hurricane and Harrier. The Hunter was so good that it operated for over 40 years in British service, and this book illustrates that service life through the medium of renowned aircraft illustrator, Richard Caruana of Malta.

Caruana has been painting aircraft profiles for over 50 years now, and I remember some of his first work in locally produced booklets on the Battle of Malta. These were on sale in Matla’s aviation museum, and my parents bought them for me during their visit there in the early 80s! He helped create the short-lived Modelaid magazine in the mid-80s, but in more recent times, he is better known for his work in various modeling magazines, such as Scale Aviation Modeller International and Model Airplane International, and is the author of numerous books.

To celebrate Caruana’s Golden Anniversary, MMP Books has started a special series of books featuring his artwork, called The Fighting Colorus of Richard J Caruana, and this book is #5 in the series. The book starts with a concise history of the Hunter in British service, which is followed by the meat of the book, well over 100 full-color profiles of the type in all its various markings, from the F.1 to the FGA.9 as well as the various trainers. These are all splendidly rendered in Caruana’s distinctive style, and as the book is in landscape format, the three profiles per page are reproduced at approximately 1/55 scale: around 9.5 inches long. Each has a caption that goes into detail about the colors and markings of each machine, which is very useful for modelers and is something I wish that all so-called “modeler's books” would do! In addition to the profiles, the inside front and back covers have side-view plans in 1/72 scale of all the major markings.

This is a terrific book for the modeler with lots of eye candy and all the details that are required to reproduce any of the machines depicted using your favorite Hunter kit. The book is highly recommended! My sincere thanks to Casemate Publishers for the review sample. I hope there are many more to come in the series!