This publication is one in a series of books in the TopDrawings series. It is a 20 page, paperback, printed in 8.3x11.7 format. The publication date was Dec 19, 2018.

Other publications in this series are:

• #54 Ju-87B
• #59 Ju-88
• #52 F4U Corsair
• #49 He-219 and others.

This is a Kagero publication which is marketed in North America by Casemate.

As mentioned in this review, the text and captions throughout the publication are translated by Stanislaw Powala-Niedzwiecki. The color profiles were created by Arkadiusz Wrobel. The scale drawings were created by Maciej Noszczak.

A nice surprise is the discovery of a set of canopy masks for the Tamiya Bf-109G6 in 48^th scale contained inside the book. The text is in both Polish and English. The text in English provides a brief history of the Gustav in five well-written paragraphs. The book includes information and illustrations for the G-5, G-6, G-8, G-12, and G-14 variants. There are four pages of full color views of the G-6 and G-8. While the black and white scale drawings are marked as being in 48^th scale (to match that canopy mask set) the color illustrations are clearly not in 48^th scale. These color illustrations match up nicely with some kit parts to a 32^nd Bf-109G6 kit, which were laid over the illustrations for a size comparison. The fit was very precise.

The line drawings show various aircraft from above, below, right profile, left profile, nose-on, and from the rear. These drawings are rich in detail showing panel lines, access hatches, exhaust detail, canopy detail, and antenna placement. A “pull-out” sheet, 4 pages printed on a single sheet of paper and folded to easily fit inside the book is included. This “pull-out” features line drawings of several Gustav variants, and most significantly, highlights that aspect of one variant that makes it different from other variants. The distinguishing feature, or features, of the variants is highlighted in gray. Captions, in both Polish and English, describe those distinguishing features.

This publication is highly recommended. The color profiles are of superior quality, as are the scale profiles. The primary language is Polish, but the English translations “read” naturally and without any difficulty. The publication provides the Bf-109 enthusiast with an excellent tool to describe and define the variants presented to the reader. The illustrations and the “pull-out” sheet highlighting the differences in the Gustav variants will be extremely useful for modelers. Thanks to Casemate for the opportunity to review this excellent publication!