Introduction

Top Drawings is a really nice series of books from Kagero Publishing that are aimed specifically at the modeller who loves and needs to get the detail on their models just right. The latest one I have obtained a copy of looks at the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A.

Review

This offering from Kagero is a soft back book written by Maciej Noszczak. This is a duel language offering with English on the right and Polish on the left of each page. The cover is made from a light card with a gloss finish, inside there are 20 pages of high quality matt paper. The book is presented in a portrait style with any content that is not text presented in landscape.

The book begins with a short written introduction and that is the only pure text in this title as its purpose is to provide accurate visual reference material. The material is presented in the form of scale drawings and colour profiles.

The title offers 19 pages of scale drawings in the three main scales of 1/72nd, 1/48th and 1/24th scale and these cover the aircraft in six plains. This covers sides, front, back, top and bottom, in addition to this some aspects of the aircraft are presented in their own right in order to cover very specific areas while retaining the scale of the parts shown. I was particularly impressed to see 1/24th and 1/48th scale drawings showing wiring diagrams for the engine bay and back into the cockpit. You will also find 1/24th scale drawing showing cable diagrams for the main and tail wheels, an aspect I especially approve of.

Also provided with this release is a double page fold out of the sheet covering the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A. In the centre portion of this title there are four pages showing side profiles of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A in full colour. These side profiles are not produced to any specified scale, but they do provide some nice aircraft finishing options and provide a much needed splash of colour. A nice finishing option included with this title is a sheet of cockpit masks in 1/72nd and 1/48th scale and designed for the Tamiya Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A.

Conclusion

This offering from Kagero as part of their Top Drawings line of books looking at the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A is not a title for the person interested in reading about the aircraft; it is a title aimed very specifically at the modeller looking to build an accurate representation of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A improving on the details provided with the model. The scale drawings also enable the modeller to check the accuracy of the main parts of the aircraft. I was pleased to see the free masks and was also pleased that the other two main scales were also represented. The area of the title covering cables is a part that really gains my approval.