Swedish Jet Fighter
Colours
AUTHORS: Mikael Forslund, Thierry Vallet
YEAR: 2017
PUBLISHER: Mushroom Model Publications
ISBN: 978-83-65281-01-2
FOR M AT: 272 pp HardbackA
nother
volume
in the
White series
from the
proliic MMP
stable, this
book covers
exactly what
the title says:
Swedish jet
ighter colours.
Starting with
the SAAB J 21R, and coming right up
to date with the JAS 39 Gripen, it deals
with not only indigenous types but also
British types in service with Sweden.
The types featured in this book are
the SAAB J 21R; Vampire; J 29 Tunnan;
J 32B Lansen; Venom night ighter;
Hunter; Draken; Viggen; and Gripen.
There are two chapters devoted to
each type. The irst chapter on each type
consists of a development and service
history. In the case of the British types,
the development history is conined to the
story of the type’s selection and purchase
by Sweden; and as a bonus, the Venom
chapter (being about a radar equipped
night ighter) includes a section on the
development or radar in Sweden. Swedish
types in foreign service are generally
outside the scope of this book, although
the text makes some reference to exports,
and the Draken chapter includes a speciic
small section. The second chapter on each
type describes the evolution of the colours
and markings applied to each type.
An appendix describes the styles,
colours and regulations for national
markings and registration lettering,
and inishes with a short description
of special exercise markings.
Each chapter is well-illustrated
with a superb selection of photographs,
and well-drawn colour proiles.
If you have any interest in Swedish
aviation, if you’re aiming to build a
collection of Swedish jet models, or even
if you just fancy doing the recently-
announced Airix Hunter F4 in Swedish
markings (at the time of writing, shown
on the Airix website as a decal option),
this book will prove a valuable reference.
But it will undoubtedly be of wider
interest as well, especially to anyone with
an interest in colours and markings.
Thanks to Mushroom Model
Publications for the review copy.
MJCX Planes: Dornier Do 335
AUTHOR: Robert Forsyth
ILLUSTRATED BY: Adam Tooby,
Wiek Luijken & Simon Schatz
YEAR: 2018
PUBLISHER: Osprey Publishing
Ltd
ISBN: 978-1-47282-889-7
FOR M AT: 80 pp Paperback; also
available in digital formatT
his series from Osprey
turns a spotlight on
what it calls “one-
of experimental aircraft
and cutting-edge military
prototypes [which] have
pushed the boundaries of
what is possible.” The subject
of this volume, no 9 in the
series, arguably did exactly
that. The Dornier Do 335
had a unique “push-pull”
engine arrangement, giving
the power of a twin-engined
ighter in the cross-section
of a single-engine type, and
eliminating asymmetric
handling problems in thecase of an engine failure.
These advantages came
at a price, of course, and
problems which had to be
solved included escape for
the pilot in an emergency;
and a tendency for the
rear engine to catch ire:
an issue which claimed
the life of, among others,
Group Captain Alan Hards,
head of experimental
lying at Royal Aircraft
Establishment.
The book examines the
genesis and development of
the aircraft, and of the Go 9
experimental aircraft, driven
by a single propeller in the
tail. It then describes the
development of the Do 335
detailing both the actual and
intended variants. The latter
included something new to
me (but doubtless familiar
to Luftwafe ’46 fans), the
Dornier/Junkers 635 Zwilling
maritime patrol platform.
The text is amplyillustrated with photographs,
proiles, diagrams and
other drawings.
This book should prove
of particular interest to
modellers who have one of
the many kits that have been
issued in various scales over
the years – especially for
anyone building one of the
highly-detailed Z-M 1:32 kits.
Thanks to Osprey
Publishing Ltd for
the review copy.
MJCAirframe Detail Number 5
The Boulton Paul Defiant
A Technical GuideAuthor: Richard A. Franks
Year : 2018
Publisher: Valiant Wings Publishing
LtdW
hen a modeller
is researching
late 1930s or early
1940’s RAF ighters, they will
have found, up until now,
little on the Deiant, a type
which has not been seriously
considered in detail or
considered worthy of focused
attention. This book ixes the
gaping hole in the coverage of
The Boulton Paul Deiant and
its variants. I can see that in
time, that this book will be
considered the key reference
work on the type. If you are
building the 1/72 or 1/48 scale
Airix Boulton Paul Deiant
MK I/II or the Night ighter
variant and the subsequent
myriad of subtypes, you
will ind this work to be the
essential book on the subject.
The book opens with
a wonderful and compact
historical overview of the
development history of the
Deiant. This is important
because of the lack of good
source material on thetype. This book gives
us a treasure trove of
information on all aspects
of the use of the Deiant
during the war. The book
not only covers daytime
ighter operations but also
covers night ighter, Air Sea
Rescue and target towing
as well as experimental
use of the plane. One of the
lesser known but personally
more interesting roles that
the Deiant served was in
electronic counter measures
(ECM). The use of the Deiant
in ECM is well documented
in the book’s brief history.
The next section covers
the technical description
of the Deiant. Think of
this as everything you
wanted to know about the
Deiant but were afraid to
ask. This section is full of
contemporary photographs
and drawings. An additional
bonus are the colour
pictures of the preserved
airframe in the RAF Museum
collection. You can literally
build any version of the
plane using the book.
Section two is equally ine
for its coverage of camoulage
and markings. The colourproiles are truly amazing
and give an excellent guide
to the schemes worn by
the Deiant. If you have
any questions in regards to
roundel placement, squadron
codes and markings, page
81 gives you a ine guide.
The third section gives
us a fantastic build of the
Airix 1/48 scale Deiant,
showcasing this excellent
kit. I found myself agreeing
wholeheartedly that the
Airix kit is the best on the
market and will be the best
for the immediate future.
This book is simply the
new standard for reference
on this subject. This is the
best source if you are building
any Deiant kit. My thanks to
Valliant Wings for supplying
this book for review.
John Bollig76 MARCH 2019 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
BOOKS & MEDIA