HISTORY

Germany put a great deal of their limited resources into new technologies during World War II. Nowhere was this more evident than in some of the revolutionary aircraft developed for the Luftwaffe. By the end of 1944, a number of jet and rocket aircraft were entering front-line service. In addition to these tangible assets, which saw varying degrees of success, the drawing boards of Germany were littered with dozens of advanced designs that never reached the prototype or production stages. Many of these designs advanced the pace and influenced the direction of aircraft development in the decades following World War II. **

Modellers have had a long fascination for the Luftwaffe’s jet arsenal and secret weapons of fact and fiction and this new Osprey Masterclass discusses the background behind these wonder weapons before covering the techniques required for constructing and the painting and finishing these late-war jets and rocket aircraft. **

** Quoted from the back cover of the book.

While the Allies largely relied on mass production to help them win World War II, Germany put a great deal of their limited resources into new technologies and wonder weapons. In addition to these tangible assets, which were used with varying degrees of success, the drawing boards of Germany were littered with dozens of advanced designs that never reached the prototype or production stages. Many of these operational and paper projects advanced the pace and influenced the direction of aircraft development in the decades following World War II, with many of the German engineers responsible for these innovations seamlessly continuing their roles in the United States and the USSR. Modellers have had a long fascination for the Luftwaffe’s jet arsenal and secret weapons of fact and fiction and this new Osprey Masterclass will explore the Luftwaffe jets and rocket planes that saw service at the end of World War II. **

** Quoted from the Osprey Publishing website

THE BOOK

Osprey Publications Ltd has released Modelling Luftwaffe Jets And Wonder Weapons in their Osprey Masterclass, the essential guide for the serious modeller series. It is a hardback spiral book with 192 pages. Included with the text are color photographs and detailed captions. It has a 2012 copyright and the ISBN is 978-1-78096-160-6.

THE CONTENTS

• Dawn of the jet age
  
• Chapter 1 – Up close and personal: the Jumo 109-004B turbojet
  
• Chapter 2 – Into service: development of the Messerschmitt Me 262
  
• Chapter 3 – The people’s fighter: large-scale Volksjäger
  
• Chapter 4 – Jet bomber: special delivery
  
• Chapter 5 – Stranger than fiction
  
• Chapter 6 – Vengeance weapons
  
• Chapter 7 – Luft ‘46
  
• Further reading and references
  
• Index

THE TEXT

The text in the book is well written. The text goes into detail of each of the individual headings listed in the contents section. The text provides a historical background of the subject being modeled as well as information on the model kit being used for the project. The text goes over all of the subjects that one would use while constructing a model kit from the beginning to the final stages of completing the project. With the book being a spiral type of book the modeler can have it open on the workbench while working on a project and following along with the step-by-step informative text.

Please refer to the scans that I have provided so that you can judge the text for yourself.

THE PHOTOGRAPHS

There are a total of 457 color photographs and 17 black and white photographs throughout the book. The black and white photographs are historical period photographs showing some of the subjects that are modeled within the covers of this volume. The color photographs are mostly of the various modeling projects of Brett Green as well as photographs of the various actual aircraft and weapons displayed in museum settings. One of the vengeance weapons shown in a museum setting that isn’t a German weapon is the Japanese Ohka bomb. It is a nice addition to the book but unlike the title of the book it is not a Luftwaffe wonder weapon and it is not covered as a modeling project. All of the modeling photographs are well framed and are close-up images to shown and assist the detail minded modeler and aircraft enthusiast and historian.

Please refer to the scans that I have provided so that you can judge the photographs for yourself.

THE CAPTIONS

The captions that accompany the photographs and illustrations provide the information as to the subject shown and provide information as to the construction steps being taken, the color and brand of paint used, scratch-built items, masking, and information on the kit pieces shown and other such valuable information.

Please refer to the scans that I have provided so that you can judge the captions for yourself.

CONCLUSION

All in all I am impressed with the book. This is a very nice addition to the Osprey Masterclass series and will be a great asset to the aircraft modeler, historian and enthusiast with its excellent and subject specific photographs and well detailed text. I would have no hesitation to add other Osprey titles to my personal library nor would I hesitate to recommend this book to others as it will be a welcome addition to the scale aircraft modeler’s reference library.

This book was provided by Osprey Publishing Ltd. Please be sure to mention that you saw the book reviewed here when you make your purchase.

REFERENCES

Take a look inside the book at the Osprey Publishing LTD web site.

Take a look inside the book at the Amazon web site.

Take a look inside the Kindle Edition at the Amazon web site.

Jim Starkweather’s video review of this title on YouTube.

Australian War Memorial web site.

National Air and Space Museum web site.