Talk about a modeler’s reference. This slim, 40-page volume consists of little more than profiles of vehicles used on the Eastern Front during World War 2. What writing there is (in both Polish and English) is used mainly to provide a little information on the vehicles shown. A decal sheet – not surprisingly heavy on the Polish markings - is also included to make it easier to duplicate a number of the vehicles shown.

For the modeler, this is a straight-forward, no-nonsense guide to equipment of all the major belligerents involved in this particular historic unpleasantness. The profiles are quite well done and offer a range of subjects and markings. Both Germans and Soviets are adequately covered, and there are even a few lend-lease pieces on the Soviet side.

The Spotlight ON series specializes in color profiles of a given subject. In this case it is the F-15 Eagle.

The book starts with a two pages description (landscape format) the characteristics of the aircraft and operational history of it. It is not meant to be exhaustive; it is just a primer as the real reason for this book are the fantastic 40 color profiles of the F-15 Eagle in service with different air forces.

With an aircraft that has seen such an extensive service -and combat- it is not possible to cover every single camouflage scheme worn by them. As such the book selects a representative sample of mainstream and one-off schemes, like retirement schemes and such.

Among the profiles you will find the liveries of USA -including several ANG and NASA airframes-, France (demonstrator aircraft), Israel, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Qatar.

When I was a young modeler in the late 80s, Detail and Scale publications were a revelation. Walkarounds, history, and modeling all in one book. What more could a teenage modeler in a pre-internet world want? However, I did not have the chance to see any of their publications for quite a while.

Detail & Scale now publish both digital and print books, and I was given the paper copy of the F2H Banshee Part Two which covers the “big banjos,” the F2H-3 and F2H-4. The book looks very similar to the vintage D&S paperback books, but is longer with less glossy paper. Topping out at 103 pages, the book follows the typical style in the series, with 282 photos and 15 colour profiles. One nice thing about the upgraded series is much more colour in the book, including all the profiles and 170 of the photos.

In this follow up to his volume on German aircraft, author Mark Wilkins takes an in-depth look at the concepts, design, and construction of the fighters from five of Britain’s most prominent Great War aircraft manufacturers. This profusely illustrated book uses images taken from manufacturers’ drawings and plans, period photographs and advertisements as well as numerous images of museum and privately built and owned replicas.

As an avid reader of books regarding the various aerial campaigns of World War Two, when I saw the title of this book I realized that other that reading about The US Army Air Corps’ campaign against the Romanian oil fields I really did not know much about the air war that was fought between Germany and its allies against the Soviet Air Force in southeastern Europe. Given the title of the book, I was looking forward to stories of air combat between Russian Yaks and Laggs and German Messerschmitts and Focke Wulfs, however, this book is actually more of a broad overview of the Russian campaign to drive the Germans from Hungary, particularly the city of Budapest.