Allow me to say at the outset of this review that my copy of the book was personally transported from Australia to Southern California by its co-author and my good friend, Brett Green, and placed personally in my hands by him.

      That said, I can say that it is extremely easy to objectively review this book written by a friend, inasmuch as it is excellent - and that judgement can stand on its own merits as outlined below.

      Mr. Green was last seen in these book reviews as the author of "Augsburg's Last Eagle: Construction, Camouflage and Markings of the Late War Bf-109," also published by Eagle Editions Press.  Any reader who has purchased that book and read it knows that the standards of research and knowledge of the subject matter is outstanding.  The same is true with this book, which anyone interested in building an accurate model of the Messerschmitt Me-262 - as either the bomber or fighter version - will find invaluable in obtaining the knowledge necesary to create the best model possible of this famous airplane.

      While the first Me-262s appeared at a time of standardization in camouflage colors and patterns for Luftwaffe aircraft, the majority of these airplanes were produced duringthe deterioration of the Third Reich in the final year of the war, with a resultant lowering of standardization in paints used, colors used, and whether paint was used at all.  Green and Evans have gone to a lot of trouble to analyze photos of Ne-262s from that period and identify certain characteristics that apply to particular production batches of the 262 - from the "tadpole tails" of the early Me-262s used by Kommando Nowotny to the primned but unpainted finish of the Me-262 flown by Messerschmitt test pilot Hands Hay when he defected to the Allies on March 31, 1945.

      The authors have particularly examined the Me-262A-2a "Black X" that is displayed at the Australian War Memorial, and provide a series of color photographs of this airplane to demonstrate the actual original colors used on the airframe, which are extremely valuable for modelers.  I can attest to Brett Green's abilities as an aircraft archaeologist, having personally watched him recently as he went through an airframe undergoing restoration at a local air museum, and finding those areas of the airframe where the original paint was still in existence.  (As a result, I am not only a believer in the use of "salmon color" on Corsairs of later versions than just the F4U-1, I even know what the color looks like.) 

      The descriptions provided by the authors of various camouflage colors and markings are well-illustrated with a series of excellent profiles by aviation artist Tom Tullis, to a standard anyone familiar with his work would naturally expect.

      Overall, this volume continues the standards set by the Eagle Files series in previous publications, and makes easily available a considerable amount of previously-obscure knowledge about an airplane modelers love to build models of.

      Highly recommended.

      Book  courtesy Eagle Editions Ltd.

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