BOOKSHELF Title:
Airframe Album No 5 ‘The Bristol Blenheim – the RAF's First Modern Monoplane Bomber’
Author: Richard A Franks Publisher: Valiant Wings Books UK Price: £16.95 ISBN:
978-0-9575866-5-9 Format: 130pp, softbound W
ow! Here's the perfect reference for Airfix's new 1/72 scale Blenheim kit... or FROG's ancient effort or Airfix's equally early antecedent, or Classic Airframes'
1/48 rarities, ‘The Bristol Blenheim’ – the fifth installment in Valiant Wings' popular ‘Airframe Album’ series – details ‘The RAF's First Modern Monoplane Bomber’ in absolutely astonishing depth.
Author Richard Franks traverses the total tale in just 130
pithy pages covering a technical description, prototype, production and projected variants, camouflage & markings and the production list. This lavishly illustrated book sports hundreds of drawings, color and b&w photos, and technical manual extracts.
Surprises
abound. Did you know that Hungary operated one example? Or that one glass panel ahead of the pilot was regularly painted over? Or that fighter versions sported two different ventral gun pack designs? Or that the very
last Blenheim ‘variant’ was a Mk I electric car? I
didn't, either! Along the way, you also experience, among many
fascinating facts, Blenheim design development, the convoluted evolution of the Mk IV's extended nose, and the aircraft's fascinating operational service.
Franks' detailed camouflage chapter superbly summarises
the sweep of Blenheim schemes. In fact, it's a great stand- alone summary of early World War Two RAF colours and markings. It concludes with a country-by-country survey of international Blenheim livery preceding nine pages of superb colour profiles by Richard J Caruana... that yellow Romanian fuselage band, by the way, should measure 500mm, not 500m!
Specifications, extended captions and a glossary
supplement the study, with four appendices covering scale model kits, accessories, decals and a selected bibliography conclude the contents.
I love the Blenheim, and this magnificent monograph carries
my highest recommendation. If you buy it directly from Valiant Wings, £1.00 will be donated to The Blenheim Society to help support the example at Duxford that is being restored to fly again.
Robustly recommended! David L Veres With thanks to Valiant Wings for the review copy:
Title:
Airframe Detail No.1 ‘The Blohm & Voss Bv 141 - A Technical Guide’
Author: Richard A. Franks Publisher: Valiant Wings Books UK Price: £11.95 ISBN:
978-0-9575866-7-3 Format: 66pp, softbound
V
aliant Wings kicks off its new ‘Airframe Detail’ series with a handy handbook on Blohm und Voss' exotic Bv 141 tactical reconnaissance aircraft – call it Valiant's terrific
‘Airframe & Miniature’ series on a diet; because it bears all the hallmarks of the publisher's more detailed titles, but, owing to the Bv 141's modest, twenty airframe pre-production run, in a more focused format. Notwithstanding, what a ripping reference it is!
The compact coverage spans just 66 pages, and divides into
three parts. The first provides an excellent historical summary with copious technical minutiae. The second meticulously probes Bv 141 camouflage and markings, and the third showcases a 1/48 HobbyBoss Bv 141 model build.
Author Richard Franks really puts Blohm und Voss'
asymmetrical oddity under the proverbial microscope – with lots of eye candy! The richly illustrated contents sport dozens of photos and vintage technical manual excerpts. Richard Caruana's colour plates provide superb painting guides, and extended, explanatory captions amplify all. There are two appendices – one outlining kits, decals and accessories, the other recapping references – which conclude the contents.
One minor aside; that photo of a small, mysterious ‘010’, and
not the expected ‘10’ on a Bv 141 starboard nacelle might actually be a Luftwaffe intelligence ruse to disguise production totals?
What a solid study! If you're tackling HobbyBoss' new 1/48
scale kit, or battling Airfix's ancient 1/72 scale effort, this is the only resource you need.
Roundly recommended! David L Veres With thanks to Valiant Wings for the review copy:
http://www.valiant-wings.co.uk/
FEBRUARY 2015 • VOLUME 36 • ISSUE 12 79
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