Grumpy Old Modeller - The Bookshelf

What's off the stack?

It's not only kits and bits that weigh down the back of the car returning from ScaleModelWorld; it's also a very good opportunity to fill up those gaps in the bookshelves that have of course already been filled twice over.

Probably the most substantial is the "Fairey IIIF" from Ad Hoc Publications; after establishing their "..from the Cockpit" series, Ad Hoc are broadening their approach and attracting well-known authors such as Philip Jarrett, who is responsible for this considerable work. While the subject aircraft may in theory be familiar, there's so much more to it than I had expected; did you know for instance that it was the only aircraft used by both the RAF and the RN between the Wars? There is as you would expect a full account of its development, from a rather unprepossessing aircraft in to the comparatively elegant IIIF, influenced to some extent by Fairey's Fox, and its service on both land and sea, wheels and floats. The selection of photographs is truly astonishing; I don't know if it's been a life's work for the author collecting these but it can surely only have been done by someone with a real feeling for his subject. As well as producing this book to his now-expected very high standard, Roger Chesneau has done the twenty-seven colour profiles which, although using the same basic "silver" scheme, show a good variety of finishes. Sadly the only current models of the type revealed on the Hannants search function are in 1:700 and 1:350 scales by Trumpeter, with the Sangaer 1:72 vacform listed as sold out; this may be just as well for me, as I could have found myself sidetracked from my prime interests yet again! The modelling possibilities aside, I cannot recommend this bood too highly, both fro its excellent coverage of a lesser-known subject and for conveying so well the atmosphere of its time.

From the same publisher comes Tony Buttler's book on the Short Sturgeon, another of those WWII designs that found itself drafted for duties that were not those for which it was oriiginally intended. Designed as a carrier-borne attack aircraft - the first twin designed specifically for the Fleet Air Arm - it was developed after the end of the war for fleet requirements use resulting in its principal employment being as a target tug, encapsulated in the excellent cover photo. Tony Buttler tells the story from the responses to specification S.6/43 which called for a twin-engined torpedo bomber and reconnaisance aircraft until the Sturgeon's ultimate descendent the ungainly SB.3, which was devised as an insurance backup for the Fairey Gannet. There were delays to the original aircraft caused by Shorts' move from Rochester to Belfast, and the type's adaptation for the FRU role took a while, the TT.2 with the extended nose entering service with 703 NAS, the Service Tials unit, in the summer of 1951. There are reproductions of the manufacturer's drawings accompanying the text, including some of a jet-engined night fighter variant which, powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce AJ.40s, was proposed as an insurance against the Sea Hornet NF.21 but never got off the paper. Accompanying the accounts of the type's service are the opinions of those who flew it, and there is the now expected considerable number of black and white photos, accompanied by nine colour profiles and a four-view contributed by Roger Chesneau. Illustrations are as always with this publisher well chosen and splendidly reproduced, and Ad Hoc have produced another excellent book, this time on a lesser-known naval type (a Hannants seach revealed three resin kits from Magna, with that of the SB.3 on limited availability). Ad Hoc do produce exceedingly good publications, always of interest; I look forward to what else they will pull out of their hat in the future (and I live in hope that they will include an upgraded Canberra B.2/6 in time for an Airfix 1:72nd kit!).

Normally the appearance of a Hinomaru can cause my eyes to lose focus fairly quickly, and I was quite prepared to overlook the latest in Midland Publishing' "Secret Projects" series; however I couldn't resist picking it up for a quick peek on the Aviation Book Centre's stand at Telford and then of course inevitably I succumbed. It's a little different from those to which we have become accustomed in that there are no small line-drawing plans, but there are many large colour three-views, accompanied by colour profiles, usually wearing the markings of an operational unit. The projects devised for the Army and the Navy are described in different sections, and I found it interesting - entertaining is perhaps the wrong word - to read about the rivalry between the two services, not least in the matter of their Me 163 equivalent developments. Author Edwin M Dyer III admits that some of the material on which his accounts are based can be very conjectural, seemingly in some cases to come from magazine entries which could well be flights of fancy. Modellers have little in the way of counterfactual models available, though if I remember Hasegawa (Fine Molds?) did have a Mitsubishi J8M Syusui (the "163") and both the piston-engined and jet-powered versions of the canard Shinden. Fine Molds also produced the rather large Keiun, and Pegasus the 262 equivalent the Nakajima Kikka, though how many of these are currently available I don't know. The Manshu Ki-98 that is the subject of the cover painting was for a long while on the Pegasus to-do list, but I don't think it ever appeared; Ronnie Olsthoorn's depiction convinces me that It would be an interesting and attractive model (the type was done in resin by, I think, AV but it didn't come up on a Hannants' search). While I may not refer to this book as often as the other "Secret Projects" volumes on my shelves, it is a useful companion to the rest of the series.

All the Mark ! books that I've seen in this "Dozen Set" series to date have been on WW II subjects, which I have largely passed by;knowing that they came from the Four Plus stable was a recommendation of their quality, but I didn't want to add to my collection of unused decals of that period, however good. When co-author Michal Ovcacik passed this one to me at Telford, though, I was delighted; the Typhoon/EF 200o is going to be around for a long hime, and this is an excellent summary of its appearances in its various services to date. Twelve aircraft are featured with the two pages on each including a colour four-view profile and a selection of captioned photographs, some of them close-ups. There are three additional photo pages with shots of the cockpit interiors of both single- and two-seaters, and of the undercarriage. The decals are solely of the national and unit markings of each aircraft, with all others having to come from the kit; my example is in 1:72nd scale, and there is also a 1:48th version available. The book, while a useful reference in itself, is in effect a very up-market set of instructions for the decals, and is I suppose a logical extension of Modeldecal's addition of the first black and white photos to their instruction sheets! While the Italian and German "specials" are probable the most impressive markings on the sheet, and will do much to liven up the basic grey finish, I do like the inclusion of the 800 NAS marking that was applied as a zap to the inside of the port undecarriage door of 29 Squadron's ZJ813/BL; this shows a nice eye for detail. This is an excellently thought-out and produced combination of book and decal; I wonder if the 1:32nd modellers will get one? Thank you, Michal.

I nearly missed "WIngs of Stars" on the Aviation Workshop stand at Telford, only noticeing it when I came back in on the Sunday morning, surprisingly given its very colourful cover featuring a "Peashooter" of 73rd PS, 17th PG on a map of the Territory of Hawaii. With colour, and colourful, profiles of single-engine types it does exactly what it says on the cover, starting with a patriotically coloured Nieuport 28 brought back to the US after the Great War, and ending with an XP-51 wearing the Wright Field arrowhead marking. The selection in between covers many aircraft which are available in model form - given the publisher it's reasonable I feel to hope for a decal sheet, though making any selection from the considerable number of possibilities could prove a serious headache! - and illustrates the progressive, and occasionally rapid, development of military flying in the USA over the period. It's not just "pursuit" aircraft; "attack" and observation types are included - I like the J-3 Cubs - and trainers, with precursors and early variants of the T-6. The colour schemes develop as well, with some from the various camouflage trials included, and the olive drab/neutral gray starting to intrude, often accompanied by exercise markings, toward the end of the book. I am impressed by the inclusion of an extensive list of references both for the whole work and for individual subjects; among these are several of the Squadron/Signal books by the peerless Dana Bell, which are a valued part of my library. The combination of Mike Starmer's text - I liked his historical introduction very much - and Peter Freeman's colour work, which has a good sprinkling of four-views among the profiles, is first class; and there is an annotated representation of the Standard Colors inside the back cover. This is a book that no aviation enthusiast or modeller with an interest in this between-the-wars period should be without, and I hope I'm right about the decals. I understand that an equivalent US Navy volume - presumably "Wings of Gold" - is in preparation, and will I am sure be equally warmly welcomed; with my known weakness for the "yellow-wing Navy" I look forward to adding it to this at some future date.

Cold War Shield

Neil Robinson, bless his little Yorkshire socks, let me know about a new book which had come his way for review in MAM, and in which he suspected I mighr have a more than passing interest. You can I hope see from the cover that it's concerned with the RAF's fighter force between 1950 and 1960, the period of probably my most intense nostalgia; I plan to give this book a much more comprehensive review shortly, probably in the "Pick" section (now there' a surprise!). Long-time enthusiast, historian and author Roger Lindsay has included much more than just the histories of the squadrons and their equipment, and to find out just why you should buy this directly from him you should find more details at this address:- http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19210.

If you're tempted - and I can't imagine anyone with an interest in the period and subject not being tempted - you shoud consider strengthening your coffee table before the postman rings your bell.