dov Posted July 17, 2024 Posted July 17, 2024 Hallo I intend to build in near future some aircraft from operation Barbarossa onward to 1945. So, my first question which books you may suggest to read? I ordered some kits already in 48 scale. Pe-2 and Il-2. Some fighter too. The kits I reley on are Zvedzda, Tamiya ( Il-2), and one from ICM. This field is a white spot in my modelling life. Therefore open for any advice. Happy modelling
dragonlanceHR Posted July 17, 2024 Posted July 17, 2024 General aviation history books or modellers specific type books? I recommend the Massimo Tessitori's Sovietwarplanes site and forum as the best online one-stop-shop for modelling the VVS aircraft. As for books, Christer Bergstrom's Black Cross - Red Star series is good overall. Helion published 3 books by Mikhail Timin dealing with events of 1941. Older stuff is a bit of a minefield as there are periods of East and West propaganda books mixed with some revisionism-per-pay books by Russian authors. The definitive account of the war is still to be published. 4
tempestfan Posted July 17, 2024 Posted July 17, 2024 Midland Counties published two volumes of "Soviet Combat Aircraft" by Gordon/Khasanov 25 years ago. In my bookcase for a long time, but I can't comment on their usefulness. 1
Ed Russell Posted July 17, 2024 Posted July 17, 2024 Written by a modeller......... https://www.amazon.com.au/Soviet-Bombers-Second-World-War/dp/1781557160 https://www.amazon.com.au/Soviet-Fighters-Second-World-War/dp/1781558256 4
dov Posted July 17, 2024 Author Posted July 17, 2024 It is a first tiny step. Thank you. Generally I look less for modelling books. Modelling questions arrise of course. Due to painting or color questions. Generally I asume that production guidelines may have changed during years. I know the difference of production from the T-34 modelling. Happy modelling
TISO Posted July 17, 2024 Posted July 17, 2024 OK The best web resource now: https://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/pages/index.html And the Forum: https://massimotessitori.altervista.org/sovietwarplanes/board/index.php 2 1
tempestfan Posted July 17, 2024 Posted July 17, 2024 (edited) 10 hours ago, Ed Russell said: Written by a modeller......... https://www.amazon.com.au/Soviet-Bombers-Second-World-War/dp/1781557160 https://www.amazon.com.au/Soviet-Fighters-Second-World-War/dp/1781558256 Thanks for the tip - but let‘s invite Jason @Learstang as he may have some recommendations when it comes to more in-depth coverage than possible in those two books [actually I‘m interested in his opinion on the Polygon book on the Jak-1, but also on the AJ Press titles on the Yaks]. Edited July 17, 2024 by tempestfan FAT fingers 2
dragonlanceHR Posted July 18, 2024 Posted July 18, 2024 I've had the First Yak book since it was released decades ago. Pretty good for it's time but drawings were slightly chubby. I don't remember anything about the AJ-press Yak books. What I do know is that the best scale drawings for Yak-9 appeared in Russian M-Hobby magazine around 2017, and they are the basis for both Modelsvit and Zvezda kits. 2
John Thompson Posted July 18, 2024 Posted July 18, 2024 8 hours ago, dragonlanceHR said: What I do know is that the best scale drawings for Yak-9 appeared in Russian M-Hobby magazine around 2017, and they are the basis for both Modelsvit and Zvezda kits. The specific issues of M-Hobby with the Yak-9 drawings by Viktor Bogatov are as follows: Yak-9 (initial production, no suffix) - 6 (168) 2015 (June) Yak-9D - 7 (169) 2015 (July) Yak-9T - 8 (170) 2015 (August) Yak-9M - 9 (171) 2015 (September) For the Yak-1b (Yak-1M in Polish service), issue 2/91 of the Polish magazine Skrzydla w Miniaturze has excellent drawings by Zbigniew Luranc. John 6
Ventsislav Gramatski Posted July 29, 2024 Posted July 29, 2024 (edited) "Dragons on Bird Wings: The Combat History of the 812 IAP, Vol. I" by Igor Utkin and Vlad Antipov, published by Aviaeology, is an absolute must read. It is the only Soviet unit history ever published in English, not only is well researched and quite interesting for the subject matter alone but it is well illustrated with great quality photos and colour profiles, excellent scale drawings and detailed descriptions on the differences of the various series of Yak fighters, making it very useful to scale modelers. The 812th IAP had a very interesting history, including capturing a Bf-109 intact, shooting down an Me-262 in aerial combat, dogfights with FW-190Ds and were even strafed by Mustangs of the 359th FG over Mohrin AF in Germany. There are only two downsides to the book. One, only Vol. I was completed, which is the period between 1941 to May 1944. Two, it was published back in 2006 and finding copies is becoming increasingly difficult. My second recommendation would be the Yakovlev Yak-1 Monograph Special Edition by Sergei Kuznetsov, published by Kagero. It's split to Vol.I and Vol. II covering everything from the design, testing, manufacturing, development and combat history of the type. By far, the best researched volume on the subject, tons of fantastic scale drawings (I believe by Zbigniew Luranc), great photos and color profiles. Multiple series of the Yak-1 described in detail. It is the best source to model any version of the Yak-1. Unlike "Dragons on Bird Wings" it was published recently but in limited quantity and it is difficult to find. If you can find both volumes, and the aforementioned combat history of the 812th IAP, you are more or less settled to model any Yak fighter from the prototype I-26 from 1940 trough to mid-1944, with an added bonus to read some excellent research on the aerial war over the Eastern Front. Links for each book (out of stock at publisher, unfortunately): https://www.aviaeology.com/store/p156/Dragons-on-Bird-Wings_Volume-1.html#/ https://shop.kagero.pl/yak-1-vol-i.html https://shop.kagero.pl/yakovlev-yak-1-vol-ii.html Edited July 30, 2024 by Ventsislav Gramatski Add links for each book 3 3
dragonlanceHR Posted July 30, 2024 Posted July 30, 2024 Thank you for the review of the Kagero Yak-1 volumes, it's hard to find them from the mouths of fellow modellers.
Roman Schilhart Posted August 3, 2024 Posted August 3, 2024 When it comes to Soviet fighter aircraft, this book is quite comprehensive: It contains loads of original period photographs and color profiles of all types of single-engine aircraft used by the VVS Fighter Regiments, including lend-lease aircraft like Kittyhawk, Hurricane and Airacobra, as well as short biographies of the most successful Soviet Fighter pilots of WW2. 1 1
Milos Gazdic Posted August 4, 2024 Posted August 4, 2024 Seems like a really extensive & big book, judging by your post & reviews online.
GiampieroSilvestri Posted August 4, 2024 Posted August 4, 2024 6 hours ago, Milos Gazdic said: Seems like a really extensive & big book, judging by your post & reviews online. 768 pages with 1043 photos and 784 colour profiles. Saluti Giampiero 1
Troy Smith Posted August 4, 2024 Posted August 4, 2024 On 03/08/2024 at 14:38, Roman Schilhart said: When it comes to Soviet fighter aircraft, this book is quite comprehensive: It contains loads of original period photographs and color profiles of all types of single-engine aircraft used by the VVS Fighter Regiments, including lend-lease aircraft like Kittyhawk, Hurricane and Airacobra, as well as short biographies of the most successful Soviet Fighter pilots of WW2. seems there is an English version as well https://www.zinnfigur.com/en/Books-Media/Books/Air-Forces/Russia/Trojca-Waldemar-History-of-the-Great-Patriotic-War-Sovier-Union-Air-Aces-1941-1945.html some preview pages here https://www.super-hobby.co.uk/products/Soviet-Union-Air-Aces-1941-1945-Waldemar-Trojca.html AFAIK the 'red wing' MiG-3 is a long running myth. And a red La-7 is new one.... 2
Werdna Posted August 4, 2024 Posted August 4, 2024 I read this while on holiday a few weeks back. The author is clearly is not a fan of Stalin (not sure many are, tbh), but it was a fascinating read... https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Stalins-Falcons-Hardback/p/21714
dragonlanceHR Posted August 9, 2024 Posted August 9, 2024 On 8/4/2024 at 4:47 PM, Troy Smith said: seems there is an English version as well https://www.zinnfigur.com/en/Books-Media/Books/Air-Forces/Russia/Trojca-Waldemar-History-of-the-Great-Patriotic-War-Sovier-Union-Air-Aces-1941-1945.html some preview pages here https://www.super-hobby.co.uk/products/Soviet-Union-Air-Aces-1941-1945-Waldemar-Trojca.html AFAIK the 'red wing' MiG-3 is a long running myth. And a red La-7 is new one.... Yep. A hard pass.
dragonlanceHR Posted August 9, 2024 Posted August 9, 2024 On 8/4/2024 at 5:20 PM, Werdna said: I read this while on holiday a few weeks back. The author is clearly is not a fan of Stalin (not sure many are, tbh), but it was a fascinating read... https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Stalins-Falcons-Hardback/p/21714 Tried reading thru this one but the author's bias is just too tiresome to read. Pity because the infighting and talent poaching between KB's were brutal. And he called the I-16 ugly right at the start. Pass. 2
Werdna Posted August 9, 2024 Posted August 9, 2024 9 hours ago, dragonlanceHR said: Tried reading thru this one but the author's bias is just too tiresome to read. Pity because the infighting and talent poaching between KB's were brutal. And he called the I-16 ugly right at the start. Pass. He almost certainly doesn't have a portrait of Stalin hanging in his living room, that's true.. I still found it an interesting read though, despite the obvious bias. As for the I-16, he may be right.... 1
Milos Gazdic Posted August 10, 2024 Posted August 10, 2024 16 hours ago, dragonlanceHR said: Yep. A hard pass. So bad?
dragonlanceHR Posted August 10, 2024 Posted August 10, 2024 4 hours ago, Milos Gazdic said: So bad? Red outer wings on MiG-3 in 2024? I think so. Your mileage may vary.
dov Posted August 10, 2024 Author Posted August 10, 2024 Hallo This is quite interesting. This what counts is the verdict, they learned and got it well done. Finally. This is what counts. Happy modelling 1
Ventsislav Gramatski Posted August 10, 2024 Posted August 10, 2024 (edited) I am currently reading through the combat diary of the previously mentioned 812 IAP (the actual archival documents) as well as the memoirs of pilots from the regiment, and I continue to be amazed at just how skewed the history of Soviet combat aviation during the Second World War is, pretty much as with Soviet history in general. There are two pervasive, polar opposite views. One is the Soviet propaganda where the brave and utterly outnumbered pilots galanty overcame the hordes of German aircraft, where Soviet planes were somehow both vastly inferior and greatly superior, depending on what the narrative requires. The Germans were competent but cowardly, suffered horrendous losses, and were overcame by the stellar Soviet qualities and planes. The opposing view is the Western one where Soviet pilots were incompetent and poorly trained up to the very end of the war, fighting without tactics, Soviet planes were atrocious in terms of build quality and design, the only capable planes being those second-rate ones provided over Lend-Lease. The Luftwaffe was simply swamped by hordes of planes that were mowed down in insane amounts. There is some truth to both opinions but the actual story is far more complicated and nuanced. I find Soviet publications poorly researched and regurgitating the same inaccuracies over and over, while German pilot memoirs tend to be very professional and factologically accurate in terms of dates and events but quite opinioned in terms of qualitative and quantitative analysis. Take Daniel and Gabor Horvat's excellent recent publication on the claims by the leading aces of JG52 in Hungary between Fall 1944 and Spring 1945. Yes, they did continue to inflict serious losses on the VVSKA until the end but many (Hartmann in particular) vastly over-claimed. And it's not limited to German and Soviet claims. I don't know if it's the language barrier, the divisions of the Cold War that have flared again, or both, but I've rarely seen good research that taps into both Soviet and German (or other) archives. I am hoping to one day detail the now mostly forgotten air battles between American and Soviet planes on March 18th 1945 in the area East of Berlin. I can tell you that either narratives are very one-sided and inaccurate, and do not reflect at all the actual events and losses. Edited August 10, 2024 by Ventsislav Gramatski typos 7
expositor Posted August 11, 2024 Posted August 11, 2024 All air forces have been guilty of overclaiming, but the Soviets claimed they destroyed roughly 95,000 German aircraft (according to "Red Stars") with numerous tales of being outnumbered on occasion 10 vs 40, or 15 vs 50; odd since the entire aircraft production run of the Third Reich from 1934 is 100,000 planes of all types. Not denigrating the accomplishments of pilots of either side, but I believe the Allied losses are closer to the German claims than the Allied claims are to German losses; but I could very well be wrong. But there is the fact that many hundreds, maybe more, of German planes were captured intact and lit up in bonfires all over Germany. And I also thought the I-16 was an ugly little thing when I first saw a photo of it when I was a young kid, which was not helped later by Revell's poor rendition. It has grown on me since and I now find it quite appealing.... 1
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now