Read n' reviewed: Airframe Extra No.11: The Falklands War, from Valiant Wings Publishing

Gary has read Valiant Wings Publishing's latest title, "The Falklands War" in the Airframe & Miniature series. See the contents & his thoughts on the book in his review... 

Read n' reviewed: Airframe Extra No.11: The Falklands War, from Valiant Wings Publishing

Airframe Extra No.11: The Falklands War
From Valiant Wings Publishing
Sku number: AE11
80 pages plus covers
ISBN 978-1-912932-29-0
Price £14.95
Product Link on the Valiant Wings Publishing website

The Falklands War (2nd April to 14th June 1982) is the eleventh title in the Valiant Wings Airframe Extra series.

This 80 page book covers the historical aspects of the battles in the air and at sea in and above The Falklands between the 2nd April and 14th June 1982.

The Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial dependency, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

Airframe Extra No.11: The Falklands War's contents include:
Historical narrative by Patrick Branly
Numerous period images
Colour profiles by Richard J Caruana
Specially commissioned kit builds:
1/72nd Douglas A-4B/P Skyhawk (Airfix) by Libor Jekl
1/72nd Westland Wessex HU.5 (Italeri) by Libor Jekl
1/72nd Dassault Mirage IIIEA (Modelsvit) by Libor Jekl
1/48th Royal Navy Sea Harrier FRS.1 (Tamiya) by Steve A Evans
1/48th IA-58 Pucará (Kinetic) by Steve A Evans
1/48th Mirage IIIEBR/IIIEA/IAI M5 Dagger (Kinetic) by Steve A Evans

The history:

The first 21 pages are dedicated to a short narrative history of the conflict. I found this a very easy and approachable read, totally appropriate for the intended audience of this book.

The builds:
In short order the book switches into scale model mode and we kick off we three 1/72 aircraft builds, each by Libor Jekl. First off is the Airfix A-4B/P Skyhawk, which gave the RAF and RAN quite a run for their money during the war.

The second build is a 1/72 Wessex Hu.5 using the Italeri kit. Eight pages are dedicated to the build and painting of this model, including some scratch building and photo-etch.

The third and final 1/72 build is a colourful Mirage IIIEA using the Modelsvit kit. Not much detail is provided on this build so I assume the kit decals were used.

The profiles:

A welcome inclusion in the book are colour side profiles from Richard.J.Caruana of each of the major aircraft types used during the Falklands conflict by both sides. Period photos (mostly black and white) are also provided and will be a useful source of reference for modellers.

Rotary & fixed wing aircraft are included of course...

The first 1/48 build is next and Steve Evans kicks off with a Kinetic Mirage III/Dagger build. Despite the Kinetic box providing markings for Argentine Daggers, Steve points out the deficiencies of the kit in his 8 page construction and painting review. It's a worthwhile read if you have plans to build this model.

The second 1/48 build seems to make Steve much happier as it's the new Kinetic Pucara, drawn from the Kinetic Gold range. When announced by Kinetic this kit was somewhat of a welcome surprise and as we have come to expect the Gold range it is certainly top shelf. As with the previous builds, seven pages take from construction to painting and finishing, with any notable issues called out along the way.

For the third and final 1/48 build Steve switches away from Kinetic to Tamiya, which would normally not be a bad thing, however the Tamiya Sea Harrier tooling dates from 1971 with this particular boxing dating from 1982, some 42 years ago. 

This build, whilst interesting, would have been better had the newer Kinetic SHAR been used, as I'd expect most modellers would choose this option over the ancient Tamiya kit.

To close out the book, several more pages of side profiles are provided, including the Douglas A-4C/P/Q Skyhawks and the Dassault Super Etendard, which gained notoriety as the platform which launched Exocet missiles against HMS Sheffield on 4 May and the SS Atlantic Conveyor on 25th May 1982.

CONCLUSION - The Falklands War - Airframe Extra No.11 (Valiant Wings Publishing)
Much like the other titles in the Valiant Wings 'Airframe Extra' series, this book provides a very approachable coverage of the Falklands War. The model builds are of excellent quality and each has something to offer modellers looking to undertake their own build. This is not a particularly large or super detailed book but it does it's job very well and I have no hesitation recommending it as very good value for money.

Gary Wickham

Thanks to Valiant Wings for sending this book to us to read and review. You can purchase or find more about these books on their website...

You can see more of Gary's model making on his website Scalespot.com