Battle of Taranto:
Judgement Day
Valiant Wings Publishing
Airframe Extra No.4
S u m m a r y |
| Publisher and Title: |
Valiant Wings Publications – Airframe Extra No. 4
Battle of Taranto: Judgement Day
Authors: Patrick Branly (history), Libor Jekl (1/72 kit builds)
and Steve A. Evans (1/48 kit builds).
Illustrator: Richard J. Caruana |
| ISBN: |
978-0-9930908-7-5 |
| Media: |
Soft Cover, A4 portrait format, 66 pages, black & white historical images, colour scheme illustrations, and detailed kit build articles in 1/72 & 1/48 scales, plus model paint reference section |
| Price: |
Available on-line from Valiant Wings Publishing and Hannants for £7.95, and stockists worldwide. |
| Review Type: |
First Read |
| Advantages: |
An interesting historical account, useful images, good kit build articles, good colour scheme illustrations, and useful paint reference guide. |
| Disadvantages: |
None noted. |
| Conclusion: |
This booklet certainly achieves its objective in my opinion. An interesting historical narrative whets the appetite for depicting the Battle of Taranto’s participating aircraft, whilst well written and executed build articles and attractive colour scheme illustrations inspire the urge to build a model. The colour table is just a handy bonus.
A worthy publication for a modest price; I highly recommend it. |
Reviewed by Mark Davies
HyperScale is proudly supported by Squadron.com
This book is the fourth and final in the Airframe Extra series. It aims to give historical insight and inspire aircraft modellers interested in the attack on Taranto, the FAA, Regia Aeronautica, or WW2’s Mediterranean conflict in general.
In case readers should wonder why the melodramatic sub-title “Judgement Day”, the Royal Navy’s attack on Taranto was called Operation Judgement (a codename the RN would use again for an attack against a U-Boat base in Norway in 1945, as well as the name for a German offensive at Verdun in 1916).
The graphic design and visual quality of the book is most pleasing, and it is laid out in the following sections:
-
History. This section provides an easy to read narrative, photos, and maps. It is divided under the headings of Operation Judgement, Context, Order of Battle, The Plan, The ‘Stringbag’, Everything goes wrong, The Night, and Aftermath.
-
1/72 Scale Detailed Build Articles:
-
Azur Martin Maryland by Libor Jekl.
-
Italeri Cant Z.501 Gabbiano by Steve A. Evans.
-
Airfix Fairey Swordfish by Libor Jekl.
- 1/48 Scale Detailed Build Articles:
- Colour Reference Table. This section lists model paints covering RAF/FAA and Regia Aeronautica colours divided between acrylics and enamels, and covering the Gunze Mr Aqueous, Humbrol, Lifecolor, Tamiya, and Xtracrlix/Xtracolor paint ranges. It is particularly useful from the perspective of the Regia Aeronautica colours, as these are often not referred to specifically within paint brand colour names.
The overall quality of production is very good, logically laid out, and easy to read. The detailed kit builds are particularly good examples of their genre; well written, with good explanations, descriptions and photos of the builds and fished models.
This booklet certainly achieves its objective in my opinion. An interesting historical narrative whets the appetite for depicting the Battle of Taranto’s participating aircraft, whilst well written and executed build articles and attractive colour scheme illustrations inspire the urge to build a model. The colour table is a handy bonus.
A worthy publication for a modest price; I highly recommend it.
Thanks to Valiant Wings Publishing for the sample.
Review Copyright © 2016 by Mark Davies
This Page Created on 7 March, 2016
Last updated
7 March, 2016
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