Introduction

When it comes to publications aimed at the modeller, aircraft modellers are well catered for in reference material. Publishers such as Kagero take the reference aspect to a new level with their line of Top Drawing titles.

The following part of the introduction is provided by Casemate Publishing:
The Dornier Do 17 was one of three Luftwaffe's main bomber types early in the war. Designed as a passenger and mail plane, it ultimately proved true in the military version. Its last version, powered by Bramo 323 radial engines was the Do 17 Z. Based directly on Do 17 M airframe it had revised front fuselage section to improve the crew's working conditions in the form of so-called „Waffenkopf” (armed head). A total of approximately 910 examples in several sub-variants, from Z-0 to Z-10 were built from early 1939 till mid-1940. These aircraft saw combat in Polish and French campaigns, Battle of Britain, Balkan operations, Russian campaign till 1942 and sporadically in the African campaign. The crews considered the Do 17 one of the most reliable aircraft and despite poor armour in their opinion it had good flight characteristics.

Review

This offering from Kagero in the Top Drawings line is a soft back publication written by Mariusz Łukasik. The first page of the title consists of a short introduction in English and Polish, English on the left and Polish on the right. There are 15 pages inside the book and so this is not a title for the avid reader, but the modeller will really enjoy pouring over the detail rich scale drawings inside.

All of the images inside the book relating to line drawings are presented in 1/72nd scale; if I am honest that is the largest scale that could be fitted within this title. The drawings have excellent detail present that will prove of fantastic value to those modellers who go all out to get their models just so. The drawings even show the rivet detail and so it will allow you to take things as far as you want. There are also a small number of colour profiles included, but these are not in scale.

Now you may be thinking that this offers nothing for my scale, but you would be wrong. Inside of the book there are three folded sheets of A2 paper which cover 1/72nd, 1/48th and 1/32nd scale. The paper has been printed on both sides and offers what I want from this type of book. As a bonus offering Kagero have included a set of 1/72nd scale canopy masks for the Dornier Do 17 Z.

Conclusion

As a modeller who has recently got back into wingy thingies while still retaining my interest in armour, or if you prefer targets, I am finding titles such as this of a real and practical benefit to me. This offering is a big plus for any modeller who has purchased any of the recent ICM Dornier aircraft offerings. As with most things in life the subject of cost raises it head, this book is being offered by Casemate at £17.00, I feel that is a realistic fee for the level of detail provided, but its appeal is strongly aimed at the 1/72nd scale modeller; you could of course upscale the 1/72nd scale offerings.