S u m m a r y

F i r s t   L o o k

The name Model Alliance has been around for some time.  Most Modellers are aware of the name and associate it with limited run decals and short-run conversions to existing kits.  What is not well known though is that Model Alliance is joint venture between Hawkeye models and Oz Mods of Australia and the Aviation Workshop in the UK. 

The On Target Profiles series is a new item in the ever expanding range of Model Alliance products.  The 'Profiles' forward sums it up very well: 

"On Target 'Profiles' are not designed to be the last word on the subject of camouflage and markings, but are an addition and complement to your existing reference material on any given subject.  They are inspirational sources for modellers and aircraft enthusiasts alike. 

All of the artwork in this and all the other titles in the ongoing series, provided by a dedicated group of like-minded aviation enthusiast and aircraft modeller artists, is based upon a mixture of contemporary photographs and information from a variety of sources, to offer as wide a ranging coverage as possible, with good quality, well presented and well-researched colour scheme and markings details for specific aircraft types. 

On Target 'Profiles' are also an integral part of a bigger package, comprising these modeller-friendly On Target 'Profiles' reference books, together with exclusive Model Alliance decal sheets, kits and conversion sets in 1:144, 1:172 and 1:48 scales." 

The profile paintings are by Jon Freeman.  If the name is not familiar to you his work will certainly be.  He is the fellow responsible for the excellent profile paintings in the Aircraft in Detail section of Scale Aircraft Modelling. 

Okay then, do the books meet theses principles?  Yes they do. 

As stated above, Profile No I covers the F-104 Starfighter.  It consists of 30 pages devoted to profiles covering the aircraft and two pages covering the corresponding decal sheet.  In all ninety different aircraft are covered. 

The book is printed on good quality A-4 sized paper with stiff cardboard covers  The pages and covers are held together with staples.  The back cover folds out and the fold-out page has a colour chart of the colours used on F-104s (with FS matches where appropriate) on the facing page and a cut-out panel for ordering the decal sheet on the rear. 

The book is divided into sections for each of the users of the F-104.  Countries covered are:  Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Pakistan, Spain, Netherlands, Taiwan, and the United States.  There are also four pages devoted to what they term "special schemes"  These include Tiger Meet schemes of the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Belgium Air Force, the Italian Air force's flamboyant commemorative schemes as well as the spectacular German Air Force schemes. 

The layout of the book is such that, for the larger users at least, the left hand page shows five left-hand side views with the right hand page showing both left and right-hand side views as well as plan views of the upper and lower surfaces of a single machine.  Scattered amongst the drawings are enlargements of squadron badges and any pertinent markings. 

Detailed text accompanies each profile. The text not only describes the colour scheme by giving FS numbers or commonly used paint names it also describes the markings and points out any unusual features on the aircraft as well as giving history notes or reasons why the machine was painted in this manner. 

Whilst there are a few reasonably well known aircraft amongst the profiles the majority of them are not familiar. 

All up, an excellent opening round from Model alliance.  If you are a modeller who is searching for a "different" colour scheme for your next F-104 then you will certainly find one between these pages. 

A visit to the Model Alliance website: http://www.theaviationworkshop.co.uk/modelalliance.html reveals that this is the first of many 'Profile' books. 

Recommended.