Aces 2

by 

W. Wayne Patton

Squadron/Signal Publications

Reviewed by Brett Green

Aces 2 is a compact but wide-ranging book covering the men who stood out as outstanding in their field of war. 

The book is soft cover in conventional 8.5" x 11" portrait format with 62 pages. The book is literally packed with pictures. The cover sports the most attractive image of the book, with Galland's Messerschmitt Me 262 diving through a formation of Marauders. 

Although the focus of the book is WWII aircraft aces, there is also a smattering of tanks, submarines and jets. It is also nice to see the variety of nationalities represented. In addition to some familiar (and not so familiar) German fighter aces, there is a good selection of Soviet, American, French, Israeli, New Zealander and Japanese subjects.

The aces themselves are described in text ranging from a few paragraphs to a few pages, plus pencil portraits. These appear to be mainly based on contemporary photographs. The machines of these men receive detailed attention in the form of colour profiles. 

Aces 2 contains over 130 colour profiles and detailed scrap views; plus 39 pencil sketches of the aces. The artists have generally taken care to accurately represent camouflage colours, but there are a few instances of questionable interpretations. Some of the colours used are a somewhat lurid (in particular an emerald green on two Me 262 profiles and a bright blue on a Corsair). There are no photos; and no index or contents page. A list of contents might have been handy to find a particular ace.

This book will be of interest to history buffs and will provide lots of inspiration for modellers.

Recommended.

Thanks to Squadron/Signal Publications for the review samples

Aces 2 by W. Wayne Patton is available online at Squadron.com 

Review Copyright © 2001 by Brett Green
This Page Created on 20 March, 2001
Last updated 13 June, 2004

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