Reviewed by Rodger Kelly
Kagero's
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Part One is available online from Squadron.com
Number 17 in
their Monographs series, Kagero's new book is part one of the coverage for the
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.
Following
the typical Kagero format, it provides details of the development of the P-47
from 1939 and the –A up to 1943 and the –D – and all of this in just 22 pages.
What follows in the next 38 pages is a combat history of the type in Europe
during 1943.
The combat
history text is well written and interesting, not the dry "who shot who down on
what day" dialogues we have all suffered through in an effort to gain an
understanding of how an aircraft type was used during WWII.
For those
who have not seen a Kagero book before, the left hand column is printed in the
Polish language and the right hand one in English. The captions to the
photographs as well as the colour artwork receive a similar approach with the
Polish language first followed by the English translation. Some of Kagero's
books have suffered from quirky translations in the past, happily, this one does
not.
The book is
abundantly illustrated throughout with black and white as well as (five) colour
photographs. The photos have been well chosen by Kagero too and many of them
will be new to all but the most hard-bitten enthusiast.
The book is
also illustrated with twenty one full colour profile paintings by Maciej
Noszczak. Whilst some of the profiles cover well known machines, there are some
obscure ones amongst them and they really do add to the overall depth of the
book.
As
with a lot of Kagero's publications, a decal sheet is also included. The sheet
provides markings in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale for the following aircraft:
·
P-47C-5-RE 41-6332 HV-M "Butch" flown by Major
Loren McCollom of the 61st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, in olive drab
over neutral grey camouflage. Modellers would do well to note that no kits of
the –C exist on the shelf and you will need to carry out a modification to back
date a –D kit to –C standard.
·
P-47D-5-RE 42-8487 UN-M "Spirit of Atalantic
City N.J." flown by Captain Walker "Bud" Mahurin of the 63rd Fighter Squadron
56th Fighter Group, in olive drab over neutral grey camouflage.
·
P-47D-21-RE 42-25512 LM-Q "Penrod and Sam"
flown by Major Robert "Bob" Johnson of the 62nd Fighter Squadron 56th Fighter
Group, in overall natural metal finish.
You are also
given a set of yellow and a set of black stencil style numbers – great for the
spare box!
The decals have been printed by Techmod. The decal sheet is
packed into a sealed plastic bag that is placed loosely into the pages of the
book.
There are
also a whopping 26 sheets of line drawings. The drawings are in both 1/72 and
1/48 scale. One of the drawings is gate-folded and shows plan views of both a –C
and –D in 1/48 scale. What is valuable are the six sheets that show the
differences between each of the versions in both written and drawn form.
The book is
typical of Kagero's Monograph series. It is A4 in size and consists of 115 pages
of text printed on glossy paper between cardboard covers.
Worth the
price from a modeller's perspective? Yes, I think so. The photos are sharp and
clear and the line drawings very informative.
Kagero's
coverage of the P-47s early years is comprehensive in both technical terms and
historical terms. I look forward to the next volume!
Recommended.
Thanks to Squadron for the review sample.
Review Copyright © 2005 by
Rodger Kelly
Page Created 27 June, 2005
Last updated 27 June, 2005
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