Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

Kagero's Mitsubishi A6M2-N "Rufe" available online from Squadron.com

Mitsubishi A6M2-N 'Rufe' by Krzysztof Janowicz is the latest addition to the ever expanding Famous Airplanes series from the Polish company Kagero.

The Mitsubishi A6M2-N 'Rufe' (Rufe was the identification code name given to the aircraft by the allies) was a single engine, single seat float plane fighter. Simplistically, the aircraft was a derivative the Mitsubishi A6M2 Model 21 'Zero'.

As with all of the Kagero books that I have seen so far, the book is in both Polish and English languages. Each page is split into two columns. 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.

The book is logically laid out. It begins with an explanation of why the Japanese developed fighter floatplanes with the following sections dealing with a technical description of the aircraft, its operational usage – by far the largest part of the book, painting and markings, and an evaluation of the aircraft.

The book is illustrated with black and wartime photographs. To be truthful, the photographs are not of the best quality and many have been seen before but I guess that this is because the subject is reasonably esoteric.

The colour profiles (by Zygmunt Szesementa) do however make up for the photographs. There are eight of them in all and they are a mixture of overall grey and dark green over grey schemes.

A decal sheet is included with the book. The decals are in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/24 scale and have been printed by Techmod. Techmod decals are very nice but require care when applying. Use plenty of water to float the decal to where you want it and you won't have a problem. Markings are offered nine different machines (the same ones as the colour profiles) in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale and three in 1/24 scale. No hinomarus are provided but these are not too hard to find elsewhere. The sheet also carries an erratum for the Kagero Famous Airplanes No 3 covering the Nakajima B6N 'Tenzan'.

The decal sheet and masking set is packed into a sealed plastic bag that is placed into a plastic mount on the inside of the front cover.

The book is B5 in size (a little smaller than the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces series). It consists of 36 pages printed on glossy paper between cardboard covers.

Whilst the poor quality photographs do let it down, the book is still worth the purchase price for both the clear well written text and the decal sheet.

Recommended.

Thanks to Squadron for the review sample.

Review Copyright © 2004 by Rodger Kelly
Page Created 19 November, 2004
Last updated 19 November, 2004

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