This is
the 4th in the Kecay series that I have the pleasure of reviewing,
the other volumes covering captured Bf 109’s or Fw 190’s, as well as the
Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth.
Although the current volume largely follows the same lay out of its
predecessors, it is also an addendum to the Assembly Ships, and several pages at
the opening of the new book are devoted as supplement and errata to the former
volume. Here some interesting new information is provided on the NMF with
red-trim B-17 “Little Rock-ette”.
This would certainly make for a stunning model. Additional information is also
provided for B-17F “Spotted Cow”,
B-24D “Lemon Drop” and B-24D “The Green
Dragon” amongst others.
The
remaining 110 pages or so are devoted to the topic of Hacks. Here the author,
Jacek Jackiewicz, provides a useful definition of hat a
Hack was, namely a support,
non-combat plane assigned to a unit or a base. This is rather a loose
definition, for as the tide turned against the Axis forces, a sizeable number of
captured aircraft served as Hacks,
where there use was more in the line of amusement than serious testing of enemy
equipment. In this manner, the author comments on the Polish
purchase of a Bf 109 and Bf 108 from
a
US
unit for the price of 2 bottles of liquor.
As in
the other volumes, the research in this book is meticulous, and provides a
detailed listing of all USAAF station in the
UK
from 1942-45 (both numerical and alphabetical). Once again, care has been taken
to provide photographic evidence for each type, not just the provision of
spurious profiles.
A feature
that strikes this reviewer while perusing through this book is the wide and
diverse array of aircraft used as Hacks by the USAAF. This is not limited to the
expected US types such as War Weary
P-47’s or nondescript Piper L-4’s, but unexpected modifications of standard USAF
types such as P-51B’s and P-47’s converted to twin-seaters. Most of these are in
decidedly “colorful” schemes.
The
most interesting aircraft types to me are the large number of English aircraft,
such as Airspeed
Oxford,
Westland
Lysander resplendent in yellow-black two-tug livery, as well as Tiger Moths,
Miles Masters, BP Defiant or a Dh Rhapide.
A very nice profile is provided of an Avro Anson complete with “Sad Sack”
cartoon nose-art.
Those
with a penchant for captured aircraft will no doubt be interested in details
describing a He 111 H-23 in overall black night intruder camouflage with
striking red letters, or a Fw 190 F-8 with “Stars
and Bars”.
It has
been a pleasure to receive the latest publication from Kecay. For those familiar
with their previous volumes, rest assured, the latest does not disappoint, and
provides very welcome information on a largely over-looked topic. With the
modeler in mind, a number of details are provided to assist with the making of
accurate miniatures. If I do have one minor criticism, it is that the majority
of schemes in this volume are restricted to side-profiles, and not as many
4-view schemes are offered as in their previous publications.
It would also be a
great help, if Kecay could follow the trend set by KAGERO and provide a set of
matching decals with their books. These could form the basis of a number of very
attractive and unusual models.
The new
publication is available directly from:
www.Kecay.com.
Sinuhe Hahn
May
2011
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Contributors.