Amber Books Technical Drawings of Aircraft of World War II

[Mike]

Technical Drawings of Aircraft of World War II
Amber Books via CasemateUK

This book from Amber Publishing is bound in a traditional hardback fashion with a glossy dust cover, the printing of which is mirrored on the stiff cover underneath, rather than a drab faux-fabric you often find under the jacket. The page count is a healthy 256, and each leaf is printed on a thick glossy stock in colour throughout, although most of the contemporary pictures are of course in black and white. The text is broken down into three categories as below, with a comprehensive index at the rear to aid you in finding a particular aircraft in a hurry.

Contents

Page 6

Bomber & Dive Bombers
Page 98

Fighter & Ground Attack Aicraft
Page 224

Transport, Reconnaissance, & Maritime Patrol Aircraft
page 254

Index

I don't know about you, but I've always found these kind of drawings interesting, although most that I have seen have been on the web and at too low a resolution to be truly useful. This book contains 116 of them, from the B-24J Liberator on the cover, the Arado Ar.234 jet bomber, to the Short Sunderland right at the back of the book, and you don't just get the drawings. Each drawing is carefully numbered and has a legend around it describing the parts of the airframe that is relates to, plus in the remaining space on the double page you get contemporary pictures, drawings, information and technical specs into the bargain. Some of the more well-known aircraft also get an additional double page with a large painting surrounded by additional information relating to the target of the connected arrow.

Please excuse the poor quality of this scan, as it's a big book and barely fits on the platen.

It is of course a broad-range generalist book with no single airframe covered in extreme detail, but it will be very useful for either getting to know an aircraft about which you know little or nothing, or to learn more about the layout of the interior and promote better understanding of how it all fits together. I'm constantly coming up against the limit of my knowledge and still finding out about aircraft of which I knew little or nothing before hearing about them on Britmodeller, so it will be a good source of reference for me, and I've already spotted at a few pictures and diagrams that makes me wish I'd had the book a few years ago when I was building the model. Such is life!

Conclusion
This book should appeal to a wide audience, and as it is quite affordable will doubtless find its way into many collections, where it will become well thumbed over the years. I also feel it will be especially well received by kids just beginning to learn about aircraft, and I've had to fend off my inquisitive 5 year-old on more than one occasion, at least until this review is finished.

Very highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of