Published: Detail & Scale
Book for iPad, iBook, Kindle and Mac
Authors: Bert Kinzey and Rock Roszak
Mac/i-Pad download reviewed here – price $9.99USD (price may vary slightly from country to country) also available in print $21.99
Review by Geoff Coughlin (November 2018)
Our sincere thanks to Bert Kinzey and Rock Roszak at Detail & Scale for supplying our download – you can see a lot more at their website and buy the downloads at the Detail & Scale website.
Here’s what’s in this book – info from Detail & Scale:
This book from Detail & Scale is a unique look at all of the American carrier-based fighters, scout/dive bombers, torpedo bombers, and attack aircraft of World War II. Each of the well-known aircraft types are covered, but so too are the lesser known aircraft that at least reached the flying prototype stage during the war. The book also includes a section with maps showing the major battles and engagements as well as the capital ship losses on both sides in the Pacific Theater. The final section covers Navy paint schemes and markings used on these aircraft in the years leading up to the war, and how they continued to evolve during the conflict.
The Navy and Marine fighter chapter covers fourteen aircraft. The most famous of these are the F2A Buffalo, F4F Wildcat, F4U Corsair, and F6F Hellcat. Also included are those aircraft that were flying operationally as the war came to an end, such as the F7F Tigercat, F8F Bearcat, and the FR-1 Fireball, although none of these arrived in theater in time to see combat. Finally, this chapter covers those aircraft that were not pursued for a variety of reasons after the prototype flew. These aircraft either carried exotic names like Airabonita, Skyrocket, Flying Pancake, Dark Shark, and Stingeree, or they were never given a name, simply being known by their designation like the Curtiss XF14C and the Boeing XF8B-1.
The next chapter covers eleven torpedo bombers, scout/dive bombers, and the beginning of a new generation of attack aircraft. Again, the well-known types, including the two Curtiss aircraft named Helldiver, the Devastator, Vindicator, Dauntless, and Avenger, are covered. Other named aircraft in the chapter are the Buccaneer, Sea Wolf, and the Destroyer, while the designation-only aircraft include the Brewster XSBA-1 and SBN-1, and the Kaiser-Fleetwings XBTK-1.
Each aircraft section includes photographs and a history of the aircraft. For those with significant histories, each variant of the aircraft is described and illustrated. Photographs of cockpit and aircraft details, long the trademark of Detail & Scale publishing, are also included for the most famous variants.
The book also includes two appendices. The first provides maps and a brief history of naval combat in the Pacific Theater in World War II. The second contains a significant amount of colorful details on the paint schemes used on Navy and Marine aircraft, and the general marking systems in use. This look begins with the colorful “Yellow Wing” aircraft of the 1930s and shows how war clouds on the horizon in 1940 began a six-year period of evolving camouflage schemes for naval combat aircraft. Details of Navy markings over the same timespan are also provided and are profusely illustrated with artwork.
OK, so what do we think?
Exceptional! That’s what we think – in every respect.
This is the latest in a number of e-books we have reviewed from Detail & Scale and like the others, such as the F-14 Part 1, F-9F Cougar and F-3, they are exceptional for the following reasons:
- Coverage – all aspects of the type are covered making them a one-stop-shop for modelling reference
- Quality of production – excellent quality throughout – full colour and sharp images – many of which are unique
- Profiles, drawings, reference for the real aircraft covering the angles and areas of most interest to scale modellers
- Accessible to more people and page count – you would have to pay so much more for a hard copy book covering the same content and the cost would be prohibitive for most people. So it doesn’t matter if you don’t have to much to spend on reference, you can get so much more from one outlay – exceptional value for money
- Subject choice – with models of just about all the aircraft featured available now (the incredible new 1:24 Airfix F6F-5 Hellcat just announced for May 2019) or in the past, many modellers will have one or more in their stash, making this a great choice
- Readily available when you want it, wherever you want it – a bit like SMN really in this and some other respects. Whatever device you want to download it onto it will be there whenever and wherever you need to see it.
I simply love this series and others on offer from Detail & Scale and I just hope that it continues to grow – take a look at the link above to the Detail & Scale website where you can sample this and all the other titles from this publisher.
Highly recommended
Geoff C.