.JPG)
.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*)
Valiant Wings
Airframe & Miniature series No.7
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Radial-engine Versions
A Complete Guide to the
Luftwaffe’s Butcher Bird by Richard A. Franks.
by Richard A. Franks
224 pages
Available thru Valiant
Wings Distributors and Directly from their website
£18.95 + P&P
Valiant Wings Publishing’s seventh title in Airframe & Miniature series features and aircraft that has just been announced as a new tooling from a major manufacturer - coincidence we think not! And so what good timing it is to see a book in this series on one of the most popular fighters of WWII the Radial-engine Versions (including A, B, C, F, G & S) of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190.
“Focke-Wulf Fw 190 – A
Complete Guide to the Luftwaffe’s Butcher Bird by Richard A. Franks.” Is a
change in the format in that it has been further increased in page numbers to
reflect the depth of material uncovered by such a well-known and popular
example - this book is a hefty 224 pages in a thick A4 sized book with a glossy
but soft cover.
Don't forget the double sided fold out plans at the end of the book in 48th scale!.JPG)
This portrait formatted
book is otherwise very similar to the other books in this series which is a
good thing. This series is usually a great “all in one” book that you can use
for most of your modelling reference. Was this book any different to it’s
predecessors? We thought we would take
you through pointing out the main parts of each chapter…
The book starts off
with a helpful glossary of German and aircraft terms used throughout this book
and then we launch into a brief introduction of several pages telling us a
little about each of the Fw-190 variants looked at in this book as well as the
concept behind it’s development with some interesting pictures of drawings and
plans of the aircraft in conception.
.JPG)
This intro is just a
taster to the next section which is a step by step plan of the evolution of
this aircraft. Firstly we look at the prototype Fw-190 with the pointed
aerodynamic nose before Focke-Wulf soon looked past this potential lethal (and
very hot cockpit) to the radial engine “A” variants in the series and then in
the later “F” and “G” variants.
.JPG)
For each of these
aircraft and even slightly different sub variants we get a side on line drawing
and informative text telling of the changes to each airframe and what might
have moved or changed from the previous model. You get to see many unique
airframes and side steps as well as miss-steps like the inline engine
“Kangaroo”, the twin seater, the A-7 with slipper tanks on the wings, a Wurger
with a turbojet and fixed upward firing guns as well as Soviet engine variants
– I never knew there were so many types of this kite. The book gives you
insight into just how and when the changes were made and the camouflage and
colours which really helps especially on the experimental airframes.
.JPG)
Speaking of camouflage
and markings there is section devoted exclusively to that area of interest and
gee it is a cloudy arena so it is good to see some in depth discussion.
The colours reproduced
in modern times from black and white photos and often hazy memories and often
false information makes this discussion sometimes a minefield for modellers
just wanting to get their model right. At least the author tries to give as
balanced and well researched view as he can. If there is ever a doubt (all too
often in this field) you are given a pointed “?” which lets you know that the
author cannot bet his life on it although I can see from this text that they
are as well informed as they could be about the type.
.JPG)
There are a few pages
covering the varied nose and tail colours you might have come across on a round
nosed’ 190 - the “farbton” (colours) as they were called of the whole service
life of the Wurger are talked about and illustrated in several line drawings
and informative text. The underwing, uppersurfaces and even exhaust “falcon”
patterns are shown in full colour which is a great help.
There are several
diagrams for those who need to brush up on this aircraft rank squadron markings
and national marking patterns. These are really handy to firstly remind you of
what the markings mean (if you forgot like I did) and also with the modelling
of your own kite. These go beyond most people’s ideas of a basic camouflage
description on this aircraft.
.JPG)
Quite logically this
colours section leads into six pages of colour side view profiles by Richard J.
Caruana. Each of these pages has four schemes on each of them. From the A3
variant to the latest F-9 and G-8 models you get to see some interesting and
obscure as well as well-known aces. These get me thinking of what my next model
of this show might look like and apart from the inspiration these very well
drawn profiles show you the variation of colours and heraldry of the unit or
pilot in a drawing next to the profile.
.JPG)
Now we get into the
plastic – each of the models you might find this aircraft in are now shown in a
review section. The open box and cover art as well as decals are shown in a
small picture as well as a brief write up in several paragraphs of each of the
kit in each scale starting at 144th scale thru 24th scale
from Mark I models obscurity thru to Revell Hasegawa and Eduard. Actually there
are every new tool Eduard Fw-190’s in 48th scale looked at which is
a surprise for me. This is an extensive section and a good guide if you want to
dip into the modelling market and am not sure of the differences of the kits on
the market.
.JPG)
There are six different
builds of the short nosed Wurger in 72nd, 48th and 32nd
scales next in the book – each are very well build models with great picture of
some of the nicer completed elements of each kit. These kits are built by the noted modellers Libor
Jekl, Steve A. Evans and Daniel Zamarbide Suarez and each of them make some
enviable kits with great text to help you emulate their success.
.JPG)
One of my favourite
sections in these series of books is the “building a collection” section in
which we get a series of 3D isometric line drawings of all variants of the
aircraft by Jacek Jackiewicz. This section takes you through, step by step and
evolutionary chance from it’s ancestor and describes in a way so easy to
follow. The prototype right through to last war variants (with all of the
special prototypes and weapons packs) are shown and interestingly the recent flying
replicas from the Flug-Werk company are here.
.JPG)
This part of the book
is a whopping forty-five pages and I can only congratulate Valiant for the
amount of work that is here and the earlier line drawings and descriptions
sections.
.JPG)
Next is a section for
the detail freaks and historians as well as people who just need to know – the
whole of the Fw-190 is captured in more detail in the next section – several
walk around pictures and technical diagrams cover every part of the Wurger
inside and out. Period, restoration and technical drawings aid your
understanding of just how this aircraft worked and what it looks like close up
inside and out. The occasional reference picture is captioned as well which
helps you understand the workings of the aeroplane. This is a really very good
section especially for modellers and scratch builders..
.JPG)
After the extensive bibliography where you can
find pretty much every book on the Butcher bird there is a real bonus for the
modeller in a set of fold-out 1/48th scale plans which I suppose will please
most modellers due to the popular scale but geez I would love some 1/32nd
scale plans. There are PLENTY of 72nd scale drawings out there and
although this is a great idea and executed with a lot of class to capture most
of the market – well – I had to pick at something didn’t I?
.JPG)
The same good quality read as the other books in the series but with
more pages and info – what is there to dislike? Another comprehensive all-in one
from Valiant Wings who really do have this section of the market stitched up.
If you were to have just one book on the short nosed Fw-190….
Adam Norenberg
You can get yours by ordering thru the Valiant Wings
website, www.valiant-wings.co.uk, or by ‘phone on 01234 273434 (+44 1234 273434 if
calling from outside the UK) or by writing to:
Valiant Wings Publishing
8 West Grove
Bedford
MK40 4BT
Also available from all good specialist bookshops,
retailers and ADH Books.